^{_{MEDIA RELEASE}}

DAY IN THE LIFE: Rebecca Murphy, director of meetings at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions tells AMI how a chance happening on a college course pulled her into the event planning world, her views on the buffet and why you should treat vendors as an extension of your own staff.

What’s your current role and how did you get there?

I am the Director of Meetings for The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). My professional journey was interesting; this is my second career. About 20 years ago, I was in a different field.

I was going through a divorce and decided to take classes at a local community college and thought “meeting planning 101” sounds fun; I will give it a try! I have not looked back. I graduated with Hospitality and Tourism Management honours from the University of Massachusetts, Isenberg School of Business. 

How has COVID‐19 affected SCAI’s events and what you do? 

We had to pivot rather quickly in 2020 from a face‐to‐face meeting to a virtual conference. I think we had two months to put together our virtual conference. That was very challenging, but it was successful!

I have come somewhat of a zoom meeting pro! One of the speakers during one of our virtual conferences asked me to talk to his planning team.

What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?

There are two things that I find very rewarding about my job. This one is a little nerdy, but it brings me so much joy when I see the meeting come to life on‐site.

I love seeing the entrance unit go up and all the signs placed in the foyers. The other thing is my relationships with my vendor partners. 

What’s the most challenging thing about your job?

The most challenging aspect of my job is not meeting deadlines. Our industry is very deadline-driven; when one or two deadlines are missed, it has a trickledown effect.

How do I deal with it? I post reminders and ask if additional resources are required to help meet the deadlines that are past due. Timelines are critical. If you do not have a meeting timeline, I recommend creating one.

What do you wish you had known when you started meeting/event planning?

When I started taking class 20 years ago, I wish there was a course on planning and executing virtual meetings! 

What is a permanent change you would like to see in the association event planning industry? 

I am sure you don’t expect this answer, but I would be ok if buffets never came back - from an environmental and germ spreading lens. 

What are the biggest challenges when organising international events, especially in the current pandemic?

In my opinion, the biggest challenge any organization is going to face while we are in this pandemic is getting people to attend the event from other countries. It is costly for someone to have to quarantine for ten days in the country the meeting is taking place, then participate in the conference, fly home, and quarantine for an additional ten days. Financially, not many attendees will be able to do that. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received and what advice can you pass on?

Treat your vendors as an extension of your staff. I refer to all my vendors as vendor partners and introduce them as an extension of SCAI. Take the time to build a relationship with each one of them. 

This story originally appeared in AMI magazine: bit.ly/3dkLXls