Board of Directors
Executive Committee:
President Elect
Annie Matthews
Sales Manager, PSAV
214-306-9331
Annie is a native Texan, born and bred right here in Dallas. She graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University with a degree in International Business and minor in Spanish. She’s always been in sales and got into the audio-visual business with AVW-Telav (currently Freeman AV) back in ’00. She is currently a sales manager with PSAV at their Dallas Corporate offices in Coppell. Annie started out attending, and eventually serving with, MPI back in 2000 when she first got started in the AV industry. She has helped out chairing a few different events and committees and is excited to be serving her first year on the Board of Directors for MPI Dallas/Forth Worth.
Annie’s hobbies include riding her bike around White Rock Lake, searching for patio’s on a beautiful sunny day, and spending time with her two rescue kitties, Pete & Tilley..jpg?sfvrsn=bcea6cdc_2&MaxWidth=500&MaxHeight=350&ScaleUp=false&Quality=High&Method=ResizeFitToAreaArguments&Signature=6410F51EBE80FDC4B23EC9BD64BDB165945B053D "OfficialLogo (1)")
Vice President of Educational Events
Robert Sanchez, CMP
Director, National Accounts
Global Cynergies
President
Tuula Westlake, CASE, HMCC, PMP
469-980-4333
Tuula is a strategic marketing professional and customer advocate with over 15 years of experience in driving strategic initiatives and resolving complex business problems in a matrix environment in Fortune 100 companies.
As a passionate advocate for continuous learning Tuula received the December 2016 MPI Dallas/Fort Worth Sprit Award for her work as a Co-Chair of MPI D/FW Chapter Mentor Program. During the 2017-2018 term Tuula was a VP of Communications and 2018-2019 she was an Incoming President for the MPI D/FW Chapter.
Tuula has a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and an MBA in Marketing Management. She also holds CASE and PMP certifications.
Stacey Brooks
See Pink
I’ve loved being a photographer and entrepreneur for almost 20 years now. My varied past includes fashion photography, weddings, social events, and family portraits. But through it all, my work has had one thing in common… PEOPLE. I truly love people! I love their celebrations, their smiles, their stories, and seeing how they relate to the world. I bring that love of people to every corporate event I photograph and every MPI meeting I attend.
I’m excited to serve our members and my friends on the MPI board and learn even more about our amazing industry and how MPI can help us all grow to our full potential. Thank you for trusting me!
Vice President of Educational Events
Stephanie Evans, CMP
Stephanie B. Evans, CMP is the Managing Partner of Wedding Event Design (W.E.D.) and Conference Manager for Gartner. With over 20 years of corporate, live events and sports entertainment/management experience, Stephanie continues to develop event management solutions to drive growth, marketability and profitability in challenging and competitive markets.
Stephanie is a native of Dallas and a lover of all things Dallas sports: Stars, Mavericks, Rangers and Cowboys. Stephanie loves to volunteer with various local organizations and has been recognized by the Dallas Independent School District for her role in mentoring and working with interns in the Hospitality and Tourism program.
As a graduate of Ashford University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Undergraduate Degree from Northwood University in Business Administration/Marketing, Stephanie credits her milestones and continued success in her career to all her mentors along the way.
In her spare time, Stephanie loves concerts, traveling and exploring new adventures with her family. Her personal mantra is “Life is an adventure or nothing at all.”
Vice President of Special Events
Melissa Tacker, CWP
Melissa is passionate about building relationships and connecting with people. From non-profit organizations, full service event venues, owning her own wedding and event planning firm to now working for Big D Party Rentals as an Event Specialist, she has been lucky to enjoy all aspects of the hospitality industry. With over a decade of experience, she is excited to continue strengthening connections with hospitality industry and MPI D/FW.
In Melissa’s spare time she enjoys being with her family, traveling and volunteering with children in foster care.
Vice President of Leadership
Joe Derrig, CMP
Joe has 15 years of corporate event planning experience. He has worked on a variety of event types from corporate training conferences to client facing marketing events to holiday parties. His largest event to date was for 8,000 attendees. Joe prides himself on developing strategic and creative solutions, staying agile with change, and utilizing his project management skills.
Joe is currently the Event Marketing Manager for Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP where his focus is on successfully planning, promoting, delivering, and tracking ROI on all BAL in-person and virtual events. Prior to his role at BAL, Joe had 11 years of service with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Joe is a Chicago native, graduate of Illinois State University, and a former member of the MPI Chicago Chapter. Joe’s outside of work hobbies includes enjoying lake life in Little Elm, spending time with his dogs, obsessing about cars, and enjoying theatre productions at Dallas Summer Musicals
Vice President of Finance and Sponsorship
Lauren Twichell
Lauren earned her Hospitality Degree at the University of Houston for Hotel and Restaurant Management in 2009. She went on to manage multiple restaurants across Texas and was happy to come back home to Dallas in 2011. Lauren accepted her first catering position with Kent Rathbun Catering as the Sales Manager, hired to develop their catering program. By 2012 she was promoted to the Director of Catering and truly realized she was meant for this crazy industry.
In 2014, she accepted a position with Food Glorious Food and managed multiple properties, further expanding her knowledge of venue management and honing her skills in off premise catering. In 2017 she became the Senior Sales Manager for Off Premise Catering in the Texas market with Wolfgang Puck Catering. She is now the Director of Business Development for CN Catering. As an active member of Dallas’ wedding and event industry, Lauren serves as a board member of both, MPI and the DFW NACE chapter and enjoys any opportunity to connect with other event professionals. At home, Lauren and her husband Caleb have two sweet little girls and two darling puppies, that keep them busy around the clock!
Directors:
Director of Educational Events
Kristi Walker, CIS, MS, CMP
diredevents@mpidfw.org
A lifelong Texan and passionate event professional, Kristi Walker has over 8 years of experience in the industry and has organized a vast number of events around the world. Kristi’s experience includes detailed organizing and planning of logistics for conferences, conventions, incentive travel, special events and destination management. She is a member of MPI and SITE, a Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) and Certified Incentive Specialist (CIS), and received her bachelor’s and graduate degree from University of North Texas. Kristi is a fitness fanatic, sports enthusiast, and world traveler; finding new adventures and exciting activities everywhere she goes.
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Director of Leadership
Nicole Chattin, CMP, CIS
Bright Spot
Nicole has over 16 years of experience in the event and hospitality industry. She loves to plan conferences and international incentive trips that inspire and motivate her clients and attendees.
Nicole’s expertise in event planning includes curating the big picture, focusing on the details, onsite execution, and follow up. She strives for perfection and success in every program she operates. Nicole is passionate about improving event processes and procedures to enhance efficiencies. She excels at monitoring program budgets while adding value with cost savings. Nicole is bilingual in Spanish and English and enjoys utilizing this skill during event planning, whether with attendees or hotels.
Nicole is a member of MPI (Meeting Professionals International) and is the MPI DFW Director of Leadership for 2020-2021.
Nicole maintains a CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and CIS (Certified Incentive Specialist) certification.
Nicole enjoys traveling the world, practicing her Spanish, and discovering new restaurants. She enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Mike and her dogs Emmie and Otis.
Staff:
Chapter Administrator
Caitlin Watson
Account Executive, Madeleine Crouch & Co., Inc.
(972) 233-9107 ext. 201
chapadmin@mpidfw.org
Caitlin went to Arizona State where she received a BIS with concentrations in business and tourism development. She has worked in hospitality for the last 10 years. She originally became a student member of MPI in 2009 for the Arizona Sunbelt Chapter. Currently, Caitlin works for Madeleine Crouch and Company an association management company, with a focus in non-profits, as an Account Executive. She has works with several clients and continues to provide them with professional service. It was through her involvement with the different associations that she joined MPI D/FW in 2018 and has been supporting them as their Chapter Administrator.
