Marriott Exec To Lead SITE In Taking Incentives Global
<FONT SIZE="+3"><B>Marriott Exec To Lead SITE In Taking Incentives Global</B>
By Lauren Bielski
Dave Riddell, newly elected president of the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives, has accepted his post at a time when the organization is changing its structure and the composition of its board to support a global agenda.
SITE's ultimate goal is to take the concept of incentives-a largely American invention-and bring them, in culturally appropriate form, to businesses worldwide. At the same time, the organization, whose membership is made up mostly of suppliers, will work with its Corporate Advisory Council to bring more corporate buyers on board.
"We hope the organizational changes will also have the effect of spurring chapter growth," said Riddell, who is vice president of marketing at Marriott.
Riddell-who will replace Louise Hall Reider, director of meetings and incentives for BTI Americas-will oversee a restructuring of the U.S. territory from 10 regions into local chapters. With chapter status, the regional groups will have to maintain a much tighter relationship with the board and be more accountable regarding the frequency and content of local chapter mini-trade shows, educational seminars and events, Riddell said. In return, they will receive revenue-sharing payments from the organization that will allow them to augment local programs. This is part of an overall plan to realign the organization so that all chapters worldwide hold roughly equal weight, Riddell said.
In another change, chapters based in regions outside the United States will be allowed to elect members to the board, which gathers four times annually-at the two SITE educational conferences, SITE University and the International Conference; and at two trade shows, the Incentive Travel & Meeting Executives Show in Chicago and the European Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition in Geneva.
"Everyone talks about becoming global, but the reality is, you've got to get people of all backgrounds on board if that's the only direction you want the organization to take," Riddell said.
More than half of the organization's members are from Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. SITE will formally inaugurate its 19th chapter, based in Malaysia, later this month.
The new direction that Riddell inherited and wants to reinforce is that of "think globally, act locally, and visit another place and absorb their world view because it will help you think out of the box and move into different markets," he said. "The communication has to come from both directions; we can't just impose our ways on them."
In addition to Riddell, other newly elected SITE officers are: president-elect, Sandi Cottrell, vice president of PRA Destination Management Co. in Costa Mesa, Calif.; vice president for education, Wendy Moffatt, managing director of Spectra Travel, a U.K. DMC; vice president of finance, Terrence Epton, executive vice president of USA Hosts, a Las Vegas-based destination management firm with offices nationwide; and vice president of marketing, Tasso Pappas, managing director of CIB Performance in Brussels. The new member-at-large, Jacques Arnoux, is managing director of Pacific World Ltd.