| Home | About SITE | Chapters | Education | Events | Member Center | Press Room | Resources | Resource Directory | ISITE | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SITE Chapter of the Year Award
 Chapter of the Year Program Information All winning chapters have some key things in common:
SITE Chapter of the Year:
Other finalists (worth mentioning)
Finland is geographically a large country but only 5.2 million people live there. The membership represents regions from the very south to the north, majority of the members work within the inbound incentive travel. Despite the long distances, SITE Finland has managed to arrange interesting educational events always attended always by more than half of the membership. SITE Finland has its own web-site in Finnish in order to serve its members best. Special attention is given to forward information about coming national and international events within SITE and to encourage the members to use direct links from our web-site to SITE HQ pages. Events are reported on the web-site with pictures. SITE Finland membership roster can be found on the web-site. With a simple feedback form the members can communicate their ideas for activities and development to the BOD. One of the leading thoughts for SITE Chapter Finland is inter-chapter active cooperation and networking.
The chapter claims its most successful event of 2006 was its Forum Finncentive followed by the Incentive Travel Seminar in Tallinn, Estonia. Despite some negative comments from the membership of taking their expertise in incentive travel to a competing country, the Forum Finncentive organizing committee chaired decided that it would be more beneficial to both countries if everyone knew how incentive travel programs should be organized. At the end the feedback from the participants ran from very good to excellent, and many stated they had got new ideas in the “benchmarking” exercise. The success was based on SITE members from both countries working together. The chapter relies heavily on strategic and budget planning for success. It presents its strategic plan and budget at the AGM for acceptance. Each Board Member also chairs a sub-committee for such positions as Education, PR-Communication, Forum Finncentive and other events, Web-site, Membership, International Contacts, and Administration). The plan encourages members to participate in international SITE events. SITE Finland offers the following chapter benefits:
SITE Chapter of the Year Application for SITE Finland pdf HONORABLE MENTIONS Education – SITE Florida
After polling their membership, the chapter focused on “quality over quantity” this year and focused on 4 main events that proved and extremely successful method as the chapter saw an increase in attendance in all events, including the very successful Summer Swing. The morning with Peter Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russel. He presented the results of the 2006 National Travel Monitor. There were some amazing shifts in the numbers compared to the 2005 National Travel Monitor. After that we welcomed the well known speaker on several SITE meetings, Bruce Tepper, CITE, CTC and Vice President of Joselyn, Tepper & Associates, Inc. His topic “Delivering the Incentive Experience: What Buyers Want” gave the audience some inside information about our interesting industry. Brenda Anderson, CEO of SITE International, talked about the state of the SITE Association and afterwards about her book. “Playing the Quantum Field”. In her book she writes about “how changing your choices can change your life”. She gave some examples and showed another side of her interesting life. The last speaker was Dr. Robert Winters, President and CEO of MindPower Sports. In our Summer Seminar in Fort Lauderdale in June 2005 he also participated as speaker and everybody was so motivated after his presentation, that we asked him to come back in 2006. During his speech “fighting can'tism, getting your mind to yes” he got the audience actively involved. Special Event – SITE Southern California SITE Southern California continues to raise the bar through their planning, volunteers and commitment to SITE and the local community. The Holiday Event and Charity Auction continue to be the chapter's most successful event. This event brings the whole SITE family together in the spirit of giving. Suppliers have the opportunity to have their product in front of more than 200 planners. Planners can meet suppliers in a casual, festive environment. Everyone gets the chance to get some great deals on travel packages. In 2005 the event sold out in 35 minutes and plan for a capacity of 400. The 2006 event went on sale on September 12 th , the tables selling out in less than a half-hour, with a capacity of more than 500. The chapter determines “successful” not only by the number of attendees, but also the proportion of planners to suppliers. Sponsors host the buyers for the most part, however for the 2005 Luncheon they upped their parameter that there had to be five planners at every hosted table. In addition they have now added the successful golf tournament that included many planners and suppliers that weren't able to get a seat at the Holiday Event. The reception the evening prior to the Holiday Event has also grown to include more than 300 participants. The chapter has had continued pressure from suppliers to increase the size of the Luncheon. The location determined that we could accommodate 400 guests maximum. They still pre-sold 30 hosted tables and allowed room for individual guest registration. To date they continue to raise the bar with our fund raising and for 2003 - $64,000, 2004-$80,000, and 2005 was over $100,000. Membership – Great Britain
Bearing in mind that 2 years ago the chapter was in a state of collapse a lot has been achieved. In addition to this they took over a bank account in deficit and funds have been generated in excess of £6,000 which can now be used for education, promotion and an e-newsletter to name a few. They have made good use of the tools provided to us from HQ and thanks also go to FutureSITE for funding the on line registration process which was extremely helpful. The Great Britain Chapter has over the past year managed to retain and grow its membership thus propelling the awareness of SITE as a global organisation throughout the UK incentive and meetings industry. The chapter is a true example of the fact that a few dedicated people can achieve great things. The chapter provides value for its members at a local level while at the same time is part of an international organisation with the platform to share information and grow as an individual within the meetings and incentive industry at all levels. They have recruited 19 new members. Our recruitment programme is simple - keeping in touch with new people and asking them to join in person almost like an invitation to a special fraternity or club. The strength and continued growth of SITE Great Britain is a true reflection on the positive spirit and work of the chapter leadership. In two years, the chapter has almost doubled in membership and continues to provide valuable education, networking and opportunities to the local community. SITE Chapter of the Year Questionaire SITE Great Britian word document Wild Card: New Zealand - Seceding with Success The SITE New Zealand Chapter faced the challenge of setting up a new chapter of SITE after seceding from the joint Australia/New Zealand chapter in April 2006. To create awareness of the new SITE New Zealand Chapter they have used industry events, trade shows and the MICE media in New Zealand and Australia to promote and brand the new Chapter. They have ensured that each month there are media releases submitted to MICE media. This ensures branding of the chapter, increasing industry awareness and membership opportunities and so far they have managed a 100% hit rate with in print exposure. Through their industry contacts and networks we have sourced trade show and event opportunities that have provided us with a platform to recruit new members. Each board member took up the challenge to recruit a new member in order to build our membership base. A monthly newsletter is now distributed to members and potential members from the New Zealand industry. Welcome letters to new members, membership forms with testimonials from NZ Chapter members, newsletters, posters and banners have helped to coordinate efforts to increase the profile and membership of the SITE New Zealand Chapter. Their message to the New Zealand industry is “ Become part of something global and you can support the New Zealand industry. Need an incentive? Join SITE” New Zealand has done a fantastic job of promoting/marketing the new chapter thru national press, a newsletter, attendance at international conferences and an educational event. The chapter continues to grow rapidly and is at a level most new chapters do not achieve for years. In short months, the chapter has gone from being a chapter in formation to a full SITE chapter. They deserve to be recognized for their efforts. |
