the meeting planner

Julie Courtney
Strength, Patience and Innovation

Spring 2012

JULIE COURTNEY, CAE, CMP, is senior vice president education for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas. She served as Task Force Chair for the 2012 Southwest Showcase, a one-day educational- networking event cosponsored by the Texas Society of Association Executives, Texas Hill Country Chapter MPI, and IAEE Central Texas Chapter, and she is the president-elect of the Texas Hill Country Chapter MPI.

MPG :   How did you get started in this industry?

Actually, I started out going to college to become a nurse and I got my first job working at a bank.  When my fiancé moved to Austin (he was playing baseball at St. Edwards University), I went to work for an independent bank in Austin.  I waited on Chris Williston (IBAT president) and Ursula Jimenez (IBAT CFO) at that community bank and they recruited me to work in the association world.  I was a small-town girl who didn’t even know what an association was, but I was intrigued by it.

I started in the accounting department at IBAT and then transferred into membership.  Once I got on the membership side and drank the association “Kool-Aid,” I was hooked.  I especially like working with independent community banks where you get to see communities change because of their relationships with bankers.  When I was given the opportunity to work on the event side, it all connected.  I love it.

As the task force chair for this year’s SW Showcase, what leadership lessons did you learn working with three unique organizations?

The Texas Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events have very different individual mission statements but when you bring to light the event side of the three organizations, the partnership through Southwest Showcase makes perfect sense.  Serving as the task force chair taught me a lot about individual strengths and individual patience.  Each group has different deliverables and different missions.  Intertwining those into that one-day show taught me a lot about patience and about innovation.

What do you mean by “deliverables?”

Each organization brought to the table what we each wanted to accomplish.  Whether it was through education being a deliverable on the showcase floor, or the exhibitors having a wonderful event that provides RFP’s, makes more contacts and moves the sales dial, understanding the purpose of the Southwest Showcase and delivering on all of our missions was the common goal. 

Did the event achieve your goals?

I think we did.  SW Showcase has been using the same basic schedule since it began in 2000.  This year, we wanted to bring more innovation to the show floor to expand our exhibitor interaction with the buyers.  That’s why we served lunch in the expo hall.  Some people loved it – some people hated it. 

In the end, it created an atmosphere where we were all talking again and we were all thinking this is new and different.  If nothing else, we shook it up a bit – who knows what will happen next year. 

How did you develop the innovations to this year’s show?

We invited some of our key exhibitors to an information exchange before we began the planning process.  We pulled ideas from the meeting to incorporate into the new show.  Everyone agreed to try new things.  This was a chance to do something new.  Innovation can be uncomfortable but everyone was onboard.

In July, you begin your year as president of the Texas Hill Country Chapter, MPI.  What do you want to accomplish?

People join associations, especially on the event side, mainly to build relationships and connections, but also to continue their education and stay abreast of the latest topics.  I want to make sure that we are providing the best possible education for our members, whether they are industry veterans or newcomers.

If you were addressing a group of new hotel or bureau sales professionals, help them understand the best way to develop relationships with the buyers – the meeting planners. First and foremost, get involved, attend the events.  There is so much value in just being there – being with the planners.  Just being able to recognize each other is priceless.    Get involved in a committee.  You will learn so much about yourself and your industry, and you will make so many more connections.

What should the sales person do before making that first call? 

With the technology that we all have at our fingertips, you can learn a lot about a potential client or colleague by just Google searching them.  It may sound awful, but using Facebook or Linkedin to learn about the person you are reaching out to is just doing your homework.

What method of communication do you prefer?

I travel so much that email works best for me.  If you email me and say you’d like to have lunch or come by, I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.

One of my pet peeves is when we finally get to the point of sending an RFP to a property and ask them to respond via email, it never fails that someone telephones me.  It’s usually someone that I don’t know very well.  I completely understand that you may want more information, but please honor the email request.

What is your advice for newer meeting professionals?

The best advice I ever received was to take the CMP course, not necessarily to earn my CMP designation, but to familiarize myself with all of the industry jargon.  We do have our own language – how a banquet event order is written, how rooms are set.  The more organized and detailed you are, the more you will benefit when your big event arrives.

What is one thing you’d like our readers to take away from this interview?

Whatever you put into your organization, you’ll get back tenfold.  The relationships you build are going to benefit you for a lifetime.  One of the most beautiful things about the Southwest Showcase is that it’s not always about sales – it’s about the relationships and the friendships you create.  I’m honored to call most of the people on that sales floor my friends.    

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