Get to Know Your 2018-2019 Board

Jaime Britt

President

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Be confident in your abilities; if you're not secure in what you do, no one else will be either.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? My hope is provide the support and guidance to the current board of directors and chapter members to help them achieve the goals and expectations they have being a part of this organization.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? The ability to time travel...I’d like to be able to meet some of my family members that came before me, as well as experience different decades.

Julie Wibbenmeyer, CMP

President-Elect

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: My advice is to find a job you love and surround yourself with a great team of people. 

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? I hope to use this year to prepare, learn and absorb everything I can for my upcoming year as President.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? Can my wish be that I wish for unlimited wishes? Ultimately – I wish for peace, love and happiness to all.

Julie Krull, DMCP

Immediate Past President

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Listen!

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? Creating a great foundation of leaders for the future of MPI St. Louis.

• And let’s throw in a fun question- if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? To be able to read minds-I’d love to know what everyone is thinking!

Ashley Patrick, CMP

Vice President-Finance

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: The best advice I have received is that networking is key. This industry is built on relationships. Taking the time to create and foster relationships is not only helpful from a business standpoint but also to help you grow professionally.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? As VP of Finance, my main objective is to make sure the chapter is remaining fiscally responsible so we can continue to provide quality education and engaging networking events for our members.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? I would wish for a large animal sanctuary so I could rescue all of the animals, like dogs, cats, goats, donkeys, horses and so many more.

Kelly Whitman, CMP

Vice President-Communications

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Meetings and events are team sports. Work with a great team and you'll always succeed.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? Looking forward to the launch of our new website and having more communications with our membership.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? That I would have the opportunity to sail around the world.

Kaitlin Jakel, CMP

Vice President-Education

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Get involved and never stop learning. The industry is constantly changing and if you’re keep doing the same thing you’ve always done, you’re actually moving backwards.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? My biggest goals this term are to bring quality education to the chapter and to let everyone know as early as possible, what to look forward to – who are our speakers, our topics and what venues are we going to be at.  The education committee has significantly grown in size this year and we’re even still looking for volunteers to help achieve this initiative.  Even if you don’t have time to volunteer, I’d love to hear from you on what you’d like to see in the future.  My email door is always open – kmjakel@express-scripts.com 

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? For unlimited wishes – duh!

Christina Eller

Vice President-Membership

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Dedication and hard work are at the core of what makes every professional successful. Be true to yourself and your goals and you will be successful. 

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? I hope to find new and unique ways to engage our members with networking and educational events. As a group, we can support each other’s professional goals, provide education, mentor young professionals and continue to make advancements in an industry that we are all so passionate about.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? Easy! I would travel the world. There are so many amazing countries and cultures outside of where we live. I would grab a best friend and travel far away!

Brittany Nelson

Director of Member Care

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: People do business with people they trust-build your success on being trustworthy. Also, understand you can only do what you can control and to let go of the rest.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? My goal is to continue to create interesting, fun networking events that provide valuable experiences for our members and to advance our MPI footprint in Saint Louis. I would also love to see how we can increase committee involvement, as well.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? For an unlimited amount of wishes! My top wishes are more serious and in depth. But for the sake of space and entertainment, my most fun wishes would be that fried food would be good for you, ability to travel in time, and ability to speak any language!

Troy Rolen

Director of Member Recruitment

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Don't sweat the little things. Events change, they don't go as planned, but that’s not always a bad thing.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? What I hope to achieve while being on the board this year is to help grow our chapter and get more people involved at MPI.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? I'd probably wish for a house on a lake close to St. Louis. Mostly because I love doing water sports and going fishing.

Bethanie Rivolta

Director of Media & Communications

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Continue to learn and think outside the box. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone says, “It’s the way we’ve always done it.” MPI has amazing educational opportunities to take advantage of.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? Communications has a solid committee with eager volunteers and I’m excited to get to work and accomplish the goals we’ve set forth this year.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? To see the world. I love to travel and there are SO many places that I want to see.

Elizabeth Cordes, CMP

Director of Monthly Programs

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Treat everyone with respect and kindness. You never know who you are dealing with or who they might know.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? I’m extremely excited about being the Director of Monthly Programs and one of my goals is to have speakers and venues secured way in advance so all our members can know who and when our meeting will occur so they can plan to attend.

• And let’s throw in a fun question- if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? 100 more wishes, but if I could not do that, then I would want a boatload of money and not a rowboat...but a cruise ship.

Julie Davinroy, CMP

Director of EduCon

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Every day is different, don’t stress the small stuff and have fun. A job is a job, but doing what you love while having fun is a career.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? To continue to raise knowledge of MPI so members become engaged and involved. To increase educational content and enhance member’s professional goals.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? A cure for cancer, sorry it’s no fun but too many people suffer from this horrible disease. A fun one would be to travel the world on a magic cart ride.

Kate Skredenske

Director of Special Events

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: Always throw your hat in the ring. Volunteer for anything and everything even if it out of your comfort zone just to gain the knowledge. And, always do things that will make you stand out.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? I hope to gain great experience and knowledge from the amazing board members! Everyone is full of great ideas, and I hope to see what the next year brings!

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? I would want to be granted unlimited wishes for the rest of my life. Is that cheating the system? Haha!

Jill Metherd, DMCP

Director of Strategic Partnership Marketing

• Best advice you have received or can give to people in the meetings industry: To remember that it is all about the guest experience. If you are happy, most of the time your guests will be too.

• What do you hope to achieve during your tenure on the Board this year? I hope to reach the sponsorship goal, doing this will enable the board to provide better educational opportunities to the membership.

• And let’s throw in a fun question - if you were granted one wish in your lifetime by a magical genie, what would that wish be? I would wish to win the powerball – imagine all the good you could do with a few hundred million dollars...