Erin Johnson knew that something had to change. A few years ago, she was working in the meeting-planning department at American Express, handling big meetings and big budgets for Johnson & Johnson Co. But while everyone in her department understood the quality — and quantity — of her work, she found herself being overlooked when it came to getting recognition.

“I was doing equal work but always standing on the sidelines watching other people get more kudos,” recalls Johnson, CMP, currently foundation services specialist for meeting planning and special events at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J.

The only difference she could identify between herself and her colleagues was that they were better at promoting themselves.

So she got down to business, becoming more vocal during meetings, asking for higher-profile projects, and making sure that copies of any notes of praise found their way into the right hands.

“You have to get up there and say, ‘Look what I did,’” she says. “That's a learned skill.”

A Certain Image

What Johnson did not realize was that the steps she started taking in order to get recognized are the same ones that branding experts use to promote products. Just as certain images pop into your mind when you think of Apple computers, Ford trucks, Johnson worked hard to make sure that when people think of her, they make certain associations: highly skilled, knowledgeable, motivated.

In other words, she was building her own brand, realizing that people interact with you based on that. “There are meeting planners who will follow a convention services manager from property to property,” says Pamela Wynne, CMP, CMM, vice president of client relations at EMC Meeting Solutions, Brielle, N.J. “It has nothing to do with the meeting space. They want to work with this convention services manager so badly that they will follow him wherever he goes. When you think of that person, there are probably certain characteristics that come up: attention to detail, dedication to the program, the ability to troubleshoot any situation.”

Wynne should know about branding: While manager of corporate meeting planning at Educational Testing Service, Princeton, N.J., she spent a lot of time honing her brand, making sure that she left the right impression wherever she went. She set herself up as an expert, speaking at internal events on topics ranging from meetings best practices to business etiquette. Finding a natural talent for public speaking, she applied and was accepted as a platinum speaker for Meeting Professionals International, gaining valuable exposure outside her company.

Through MPI, she was asked to speak at EMC on procurement and meeting consolidation issues. For a year and a half, every time she made a presentation, that company's president would joke about hiring her. Then one day, she did just that and created a position for Wynne.

“They knew they wanted me because of everything I'd been doing — speaking, being on their advisory council, being interviewed in the industry magazines. So I brought, I guess, a certain amount of credibility.”

Who Says That Self-Promotion Stinks?

Just as an excellent product might go unnoticed without advertising and promotion, a meeting executive's work — even if he or she does great work — doesn't always speak for itself.

“You have to help people connect the dots,” says Karl D. Speak, principal at consulting group Beyond Marketing Thought and author of Be Your Own Brand. “The impressions you leave are just as important as the work you do. Meeting planners … measure themselves by, ‘Did I get it accomplished?’ What they should say is, ‘What impression did I leave when I accomplished it?’”

In fact, self-promotion is an uncomfortable concept for a lot of planners. As Mariela McIlwraith, CMP, CMM, director of conference services, conferences & accommodation at the University of British Columbia, put it, “I don't see myself as having actively promoted myself, but rather have focused on promoting my organization or the event I am planning.”

And of course, that's a priority. “Yes, you want to be an equal player, and you want your autonomy level to go up, but you really aren't hired to be the star,” Johnson says, adding that at her quarterly board of trustees meetings, “it's important that I support them to do the work they were hired to do. That is my job — to make them look glamorous. I am not the star of the day.”

That can be frustrating at times for Vanessa Hubbard, CMP, senior corporate meeting planner and former colleague of Pamela Wynne at Educational Testing Service. “If management isn't closely involved with the planning of the meeting, they see it as flawless. … A problem can never get to the level where the attendees know about it. So it sometimes can be a thankless job.”

Even when planners get compliments, their first instinct is to deflect them and modestly say it was a team effort, Johnson points out. “There has to be a point where you say, ‘Yes, I did do a great job. Thanks!’ But I think that's uncomfortable for many people, not only meeting planners.”