News & Announcements

2012 NEC Registration Now Open
Attendee registration is now available for the 2012 SGMP National Education Conference (NEC) on the NEC conference website. The NEC will be held in New Orleans, La, on May 16-18.

Details on travel and lodging at our host hotel plus important calendars, agendas, and sponsorship opportunities can also be found on the conference website.

Exhibitor registration is still available. Supplier members are encouraged to registered to exhibit immediately, it is anticipated that the entire expo hall will sell out soon.

Chapter Education Scholarship
The 2012 Education Scholarship Application is now available. There are four scholarships available. The purpose the scholarship is to promote and support the on-going professional development of members and prospective members of SGMP. Scholarships may be used to attend the 2012 NC SGMP Annual Conference or the 2012 SGMP National Conference.

Application deadline: Wednesday, Feb. 29.

Download the Application.

Thirty Dollar Special New Membership Rate Extended
October 2011 marked the 30th Anniversary of SGMP. To celebrate 30 years of SGMP, new meeting planners can join SGMP at a special rate of $30 now through March 31. The special rate only applies to meeting planners and must be a new membership. It is not for planners that renew their membership.

2012 January Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting Photos
Photos from the anuary Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting are now available in the Photo Gallery.

2011 Mid-Winter Meeting & Silent Auction Photos
Photos from the Mid-Winter Meeting & Silent Auction are now available in the Photo Gallery.

2011 November Meeting Photos
Photos from the November Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting are now available in the Photo Gallery.

2011 November Meeting Photos
The application for planner scholarships to attend the 2012 National Education Conference in New Orleans has been posted to the SGMP website and is available for downloading. Full and partial scholarships will be awarded to offset the costs of transportation, registration and lodging.

In exchange for funding, scholarship recipients will participate in several tasks and projects before, during and after the conference. Scholarship recipients are expected to attend all conference sessions, moderate at least one breakout session and submit an article about their experience at the conference following the conference. More details can be found in the application.

All planner members are encouraged to apply. Materials are due to SGMP no later than Wednesday, Dec. 7. Questions? Contact Lisa Silverman MA, CGMP, education and training manager, at lisa.silverman@sgmp.org.

All applicants will be notified by January 31, 2012.

2011-12 Service Projects
The Community Service committee has announced two service projects for the year. One will occur this fall 2011 and the other in spring 2012.

Fall: National Guard Food Drive

The North Carolina Chapter of SGMP will collect non-perishable food items to donate to the NC National Guard. The NC National Guard will deploy thousands of reservists this year to places like Iraq and Afghanistan but also to cities and towns in the United States affected by natural disasters. Many members of the NC National Guard are under-employed or serving away from their families, making it hard to provide for their families, especially during the holidays. During November and December, please bring non-perishable food items or grocery store gift certificates to our meetings and everything collected will be taken the National Guard for distribution. We have the opportunity to make many families feel appreciated during the holiday season.

Spring: Dress for Success
Promotion of the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire. During the Spring, we will collect professional attire including accessories to donate to the local chapter of Dress for Success.

SGMP 30 Anniversary Presentation
The presentation on 30 years of SGMP from the October meeting is now available online. View Presentation.

2011 October Meeting Photos
Photos from the October Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting are now available in the Photo Gallery.

Call for Silent Auction Donations
The Special Events and Fundraising committee is accepting donations for the silent auction during the Mid-Year Winter Meeting. All of the funds collected from this event will go to the Chapter for scholarship and educational opportunities. We encourage all members—planner and supplier—to get involved and donate items. Donations can be anything. We know that our supplier members will donate wonderful items, as they have most generously done in the past.

A donation form should be completed for each item that is donated. Forms should be returned to Carolyn Boggs by email at boggs@sog.unc.edu or by fax 919-962-2706. The deadline to submit your donation form is Friday, Nov. 25.

If you wish to donate an item and cannot attend the meeting, please feel to contact Carolyn Boggs. The committee is happy to assist you to store and bring all items to the event.

Donations for Monthly Meeting Raffle Needed
The Special Events & Fundraising committee is very pleased to announce that we have a new and fun idea to raise funds for our Chapter while giving members a chance to win great prizes — Monthly Meeting Raffle.

Donations are now being accepted for various items of $20 - $50 value for the raffle. You might be thinking to yourself, what should I donate? Well, a great place to start is by imagining what you would like to win. A few suggestions are below. A donation form can be found here.

• Holiday or Seasonal gifts
• Books
• Movie gift cards
• Jewelry
• Homemade breads, cakes and pies
• CDs
• Gas cards
• Grocery store gift cards
• Stationary
• Coffee favorites

Questions? Contact Carolyn Boggs at boggs@sog.unc.edu or Max Silver at max@Sheratonraleigh.com.

2011 September Meeting Photos
Photos from the September Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting are now available in the Photo Gallery.

SGMP Turns 30, Offers Special Membership Rates
The month of October marks the 30th Anniversary of SGMP. There is a new incentive for planners that join beginning on October 1 and through December 31. New meeting planners can join at a special rate of $30. The special rate only applies to meeting planners and must be a new membership! It is not for planners that renew their membership.

Mark Your Calendar: September Chapter Educational Lunch Meeting
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 14
Location: Sheraton Raleigh Hotel, 421 S. Salisbury St, Raleigh
Speaker: Charles Sadler, Executive Director and CEO, SGMP

Planner & Supplier of the Year Nominations

The nomination process is now open for Planner of the Year and Supplier of the Year for the Chapter. Nominations must be submitted using the official nomination form. The form can be downloaded here.

All nominations must be submitted to Diane C. Godwin by Monday, Aug. 1.