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Craig Ardis, CMM

PAST Ardis spent 22 years as director, global special events, for Alticor Inc. in Ada, Mich. Early last year, he took his business experience to Zimmer Inc., a manufacturer of orthopedic products and instruments in Warsaw, Ind., to build its SMMP from the ground up.

CRED Ardis serves on Meeting Professionals International’s executive advisory council, formed in 2008 to help make the association more relevant to globally focused meeting executives. He was recently nominated as 2009–2010 vice chairman of finance on the executive committee of MPI’s international board of directors, where he served in 2003–2004 as vice chairman of member services. Ardis has been named to four industry advisory committees, served on the inaugural Corporate Circle of Excellence committee, was a Foundation board member of the Convention Industry Council, sat on MPI’s CMM advisory committee, was chosen as MPI’s Planner of the Year at the chapter level, and developed and initiated a corporate student meeting professional internship program.

FORWARD THINKING Ardis is on the fast track to creating an SMMP for his new employer that will manage spend, manage the Zimmer event brand, and guide the company through the complicated regulatory environment. He spent his first year with Zimmer conducting a needs assessment for the multiple global groups managing a heavy schedule of meetings, consolidating meeting spend, and identifying the company’s meeting planners’ needs for training to be successful.

ADVICE For people who want a career in the meetings industry, Ardis recommends finding a university with a good meetings management program or, better yet, a solid business program. “I can make a meeting planner but I can’t make a good businessperson,” he says. “We’re not counting coffee cups. We’re managing spend and managing the brand, and we’re driven by the goals and objectives of the company.”

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