Mike McAllen
COO, Founder,
Grass Shack Events & Media,
www.grassshackroad.com
Like many who have taken a fairly circuitous route before landing in the meetings and events business, Oakland, Calif.’s Mike McAllen entered the industry after a previous life as a fireman, with an injury forcing him into a career change.
And now, as leader of Grass Shack Events & Media, his work life is changing once again. After being solely a purveyor of meetings and events production—it’s still his bread and butter—he’s now involved in broadcasting event content via podcasts. According to McAllen, this growing content channel is but one more tool that speaks to the trend getting attendees fully engaged before, during and after an event.
“You have a lot more choices with engagement,” McAllen says of how meetings have evolved since he entered the business 13 years ago, fueled by the ferocious growth curve of technology advancements in the industry. “With a podcast you can have a continuous show, and you can keep the audience engaged in a community, and today everyone has a cell phone in their hands and can download it through an RSS feed.”
Podcasts can be especially relevant to the needs of associations, he offers.
“For an association, they already have an audience, so it can be a weekly or monthly show having to do with their association,” he says. “And you have all this content at the shows, so you can record it and do a TED-style radio hour; you record the session and then you do an interview for beforehand, and then you can run the session. There’s just so many options to create engagement with these podcasts, and it’s also a great sponsorship opportunity.”
To catch an episode of McAllen’s podcasts, visit www.grassshackroad.com/blog.
PLANNERS
Rachel Linder is the newest addition to the Attendee Management team as senior manager, conferences and events. She’s building her expertise within meeting technology, participating in the industry’s first Mobile App Certificate Program as she works toward her CMP certification. Additionally, Linder is the chair of the Education Committee for MPI’s Texas Hill Country Chapter.
Meeting Sites Resource (MSR) announced the promotion of Robyn Mietkiewicz, CMP, CMM, to Senior Director, Global Meeting Management. She has been with MSR for over 11 years and has been a member of MSR’s Executive Team. Mietkiewicz is a past president of the MPI Orange County Chapter and was recognized with the 2013 Convention Industry Council’s Pacesetters Award and the 2014 MPI Rise Award for Member of the Year.
Arielle Galimidi, CMP, joined the dynami group as manager, event marketing. The dynami group is a full-service production company specializing in solutions for meetings and events. Galimidi’s mission is to help clients communicate their message while engaging and connecting with their audience.
SUPPLIERS
Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek appointed David Wahba as director of sales. Bringing nearly 20 years of managerial sales experience to his new role, he will lead the development of sales strategies across the dual-hotel complex that offers 1,498 guest rooms and 175,000 square feet of meeting space in total.
Matthew Echevarria is the new director of catering and conference services at The Westin Fort Lauderdale. The property recently finalized a multimillion-dollar renovation of its 298 guest rooms and offers 22,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 5,049-square-foot Florida Grand Ballroom. With more than 10 years of experience, Echevarria is a Certified Wedding & Event Planner (CWEP) and Certified Meeting Planner (CMP).
Poken announced the appointment of Christina Tzavellas as senior sales and business development manager, focusing on the U.S. associations market. Poken, the 360° event platform, provides networking, lead generation and engagement solutions to the event industry. Its products and services include registration and badging, web and mobile apps, digital document collection, gamification and full metrics reporting. Tzavellas joins Poken as a 25-year business strategist within the meetings, conventions and tradeshows industry.
