MPI San Diego Board of Directors

Carrie joined MPI in 2011 and has volunteered in several different roles since 2012 on the Leadership Development and Education Committees. The summer of 2018, Carrie took up learning to play the violin as a hobby and met her goal of learning Silent Night in time for the holidays. She lives at home in La Mesa, with her husband, Howard, and their two cats, Penny and Pippa. 

He has been recognized as a Master Emcee by the San Diego Association of Bridal Consultants and regularly speaks to groups of Event Industry professionals on entertainment related topics.

Before coming back to SDSU, Alyssa worked for PRA for almost five years where she used her knowledge and expertise of San Diego to help clients design unique events to meet their budgets. Although she is not a San Diego native, Alyssa, her husband and their daughter have made San Diego their home. She became a Member of MPI in 2013 and has been involved ever since. After serving as the Director of Recruitment for a year, the Vice President of Finance for three years and most recently as Chapter President she is looking forward to her new role as Immediate Past President to focus on moving the Chapter forward through the challenges COVID-19 has presented. In her spare time she enjoys being outside taking advantage of all San Diego has to offer – especially a day at the beach or catching a baseball game!

 

Returning to the US after 4 years, he joined the meetings and events industry.  Landing a sales position in 2015 at Vario, his passion for meeting new people, and developing relationships, led him to become a member of SDMPI. Immediately looking to be more than just a member, he now has served two years as Director of Membership Recruitment and is now serving his second term as Vice President of Membership.  Nathan looks forward to learning as much as he can from his peers on his journey to becoming influential, in the meetings and events industry.  When not on site, in meetings, or at the office, Nathan can be found out on the soccer field, grilling, or out being social in America’s Finest City! 

Prior to joining Nanosonics, Lisa was the Marketing & Events Manager at San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where she oversaw 60+ events per year, including educational workshops, industry networking opportunities, golf tournaments, expos, delegation trips and signature events. She also managed graphic communications and content creation for digital and print platforms. 

Lisa graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies and a Minor in English. As a San Diego native and farmer’s daughter, she loves the unique personality of this “city of neighborhoods” and enjoys the opportunity to collaborate with various industries in Chamber events. Lisa enjoys running, hiking, surfing, snowboarding, and spending time with husband, Eric, son, Tate, and their fur baby, Kona.

She is a San Diego native, receiving her degree in Hospitality & Tourism Management from San Diego State University.  After graduation she was with Pacific Event Productions for 15 years managing their Entertainment Division and then moving into complete Event Production and Design along with the Wedding Division. She is currently with Encore Events who provide Event Production, Design, Entertainment and AV Solutions across Southern California.  In her current role she’s produced a wide range of events from Product Launches, Experiential Marketing Events, Multi-day Virtual, Hybrid and In Person Conferences,  Hospitality Events for up to 10,000 ppl and more.  When she’s not doing events she’s busy raising 2 teens with her husband.  They enjoy traveling, camping and exploring the great outdoors.   She’s been involved with MPI San Diego for many years.  Formerly the Director of Recruitment and now VP of Membership. 

Events and event marketing frankly fell into her lap when she volunteered to help plan her company’s annual seminar in Miami, FL. Sun, sand, and the challenge of creating an experience that would leave a lasting impression on attendees was all it took for her to get hooked and begin her journey in the event’s industry.  

Since then, Dayna grew to become a seasoned event marketing professional, gaining experiences that would give her a great understanding of corporate event & meeting planning,  contract negotiations, content marketing, brand strategy, and merchandise procurement.

In 2019, Dayna moved to San Diego for apparent reasons (the greatest city in the world!), and quickly became a member of the MPI San Diego chapter. 2020 is her first year as a member of the Board of Directors, and she is eager to network with peers and learn and develop her communication skills as the Director of Communications. Dayna carries the respected designation of CMP (Certified Meeting Professional.)

In her free time, she enjoys cooking, eating, brewery hopping, traveling and spending time outdoors with her friends, family, and dog-child, Archer.

She started in events at Nordstrom in San Diego in the Special Events department.  Store openings, galas, fundraisers and fashion shows are some of the projects she worked on.  Production, design and booking entertainment at an entertainment agency followed next for large convention groups.  She joined the Hornblower Cruises and Events family in the 90's and was the Wedding Sales Manager, Incentive and DMC Market Manager and eventually the Associate Director of Sales for the San Diego location.  She relocated to Austin, Texas-"Hey Ya'all" for 8 years with her husband and two boys.  The Four Seasons Resort in Austin, Texas is where she gained all of her knowledge about the hotel industry and managed special VIP events for guests, celebrities, musicians and with Austin being the Music Capitol, they all stayed at The Four Seasons when touring! Moved back to her hometown of San Diego 5 years ago and is Senior Sales Manager with Hornblower Cruises & Events.  When not working, she is cruising, attending concerts, live performances, musicals, checking out the newest restaurants, bars and new trends on the San Diego scene.

As a native of San Diego, Tina Marie has found pleasure in serving on charitable boards. She has over twelve years of quality, professional experience in the Meeting and Event industry - from the planning and execution of weddings and events to managing event sales departments in San Diego and Temecula. She is currently Director of Sales for Live Nation at the House of Blues. After serving as Director of Recruitment on the Membership team and VP of Finance, Tina Marie is thrilled to now be Director of Strategic Partnerships for MPI San Diego. Aside from working, she spends her leisure time enjoying time with her family and friends traveling, attending concerts, exploring new restaurants, and singing her heart out at karaoke venues. "Shine while you work." That’s the Tina Marie Honor style.

Since then she has been a planner-supplier for United Jewish Federation, San Diego Natural History Museum, Estancia La Jolla Hotel and Spa, and National University. Currently, Rachel works for Viasat in Carlsbad, running their state-of-the-art Conference Center and managing their vast outdoor event space for corporate functions. Rachel has worked her way up on the MPI San Diego Education team, first as a committee member, then as the Director of Education, and then as VP of Education.  She remains on the Education team, working hard to bring the best of professional development to our members.  Rachel’s older daughter is working in Boston, pursuing a career in healthcare.  Her younger daughter is in college in San Diego.  

She is now a Sales Manager for Unbridled Solutions, a full-service third-party event management company servicing clients all over the US. She is obsessed with her chocolate lab, iced coffee, and husband: in that order.

Prior to Maritz, Diane started her event career working at Concepts Worldwide as a Meeting Coordinator then Meeting Manager.  It was there that she was introduced to MPI and has stayed in contact ever since, having filled a couple different volunteer positions over the years. 
During her free time, Diane’s favorite past time is being with her dog and cat, swimming in the ocean or running. She has completed several half marathons, a few triathlons and continues to train for the next race. 

She owns a local meeting & event planning business SD Meeting & Events. SDME provides full service meeting planning, hotel site selection and local onsite event staffing.  Erin is a faculty member of the Institute for Meetings and Events in the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at San Diego State University.  Scholes carries the respected designations of CMP (Certified Meeting Professional), CMM (Certificate in Meeting Management) and the CSEP (Certified Special Event Professional).

Allison thrives at the registration desk, where she uses that passion for working with people to its full affect. You have probably seen her manning the registration desk at all the MPI San Diego Chapter events. Allison has been a member of MPI San Diego for three years and her favorite part about being a MPI member is the connections she has made with her industry peers. Allison is currently focusing her time on building as much professional knowledge as she can and is looking forward to growing in this fulfilling industry.