20 Changemakers

Highlights
These individuals have driven SMMP in their companies, advanced their roles as meeting pros, and are helping to take our industry to the next level.

Debi Scholar, CMM, CMP, CTE, CTT Meeting and event services director
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Florham Park, N.J.

PAST A hospitality intern at Disney World during her college years, Scholar spent 20 years working in training and development at Westinghouse Furniture Systems, Dean Witter, and her own company. She started in the training realm at PwC but moved to the meetings department in 2002.

CRED With a policy dating to 1999, PwC was an early adopter of strategic meetings management. For the past two years, Scholar has been driving a Six Sigma project in PwC's meeting department to control spend and improve service. She is co-chairwoman of the National Business Travel Association's Groups and Meetings Committee and serves on the NBTA Foundation Board of Trustees. Scholar also participates on the Meeting Competitive Advantage Forum, a best practice and benchmarking team composed of 20 meetings-industry leaders from Fortune 100 companies.

SUCCESS STORY Applying SMMP in her present company: “I feel a huge sense of accomplishment from the millions of dollars we've been able to save in the last two years.”

FORWARD-THINKING In the past few years, Scholar's department has become PwC's central webconferencing resource. Moving forward, she would like to help the company's meeting planners become more comfortable organizing meetings in the virtual world.

MENTORS Fellow members of the NBTA Groups and Meetings Committee, in particular Kari Knoll Kesler, global manager of meetings and events at Honeywell, and Madlyn Caliri, CPM, director, global procurement at Reed Elsevier, have been valuable mentors to Scholar, both for what they have taught her about strategic meetings management and for what they told her they cannot teach her. “They said to me, ‘This is the way we do it, but you're going to have to figure out how an SMMP can work in your culture and environment.’ One size doesn't fit all,” says Scholar. In addition, her director, Kathy Murray, helped her to navigate through PwC stakeholders and is the executive sponsor for the SMMP.

Return to 20 Changemakers

         Subscribe in NewsGator Online   Subscribe in Bloglines

Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2010 Penton Media Inc.


Acceptable Use Policy
blog comments powered by Disqus

Search for Meeting Space

Find Event Suppliers, Request Quotes

Search 75,000 Venues


Advanced Search

The Meeting Planning Blog

Face2Face Latest Posts

Social Media

Meetings Collaborative

Rate your experience with meeting venues and suppliers.

Facility / Hotel

 
Powered by: Meetings Collaborative
Aega Awards

Apex Webinars

Demonstrating Leadership in Turbulent Times

Join MeetingsNet, the Convention Industry Council, and two meeting professionals to learn how seeking out professional development and volunteer opportunities can enhance your career advancement. Click here for free registration.
View it Now! | View APEX Archives

Webinars

Association Day: How to Plan a Winning International Meeting

Join MeetingsNet for two webinars for association professionals taking meetings outside the U.S., featuring expert panelists covering topics from launching your first international meeting to budgeting, sponsorship, and negotiations.
View on Demand | View Archived Webinars

Recent Comments

Powered by Disqus

Back to Top

Explore Our Newsletters

On Corporate Meetings & Incentives

Must-See Meeting Files

Visit the MeetingsNet expert-advice site, where we’ve got top meeting pros on camera answering a variety of your questions as well as a collection of educational—and sometimes offbeat—editors’ pick lists — from the top tech tools to the best books for meeting professionals.

Meeting Planner Survival Guide

Whether you're a novice planner or a veteran, this compilation of must-read articles is your meeting planning resource.

Pharma Meeting Management Forum

Medical Meetings and the Center for Business Intelligence present the Sixth Annual Pharmaceutical Meeting Management Forum in Philadelphia. March 14-16.

Find out more.

Suppliers/
Facilities/CVBs

MeetingsNet makes it easy to find the CVBs, tourist boards, and facilities you need for your next meeting.

Deal Finder

Special offers brought to you by MeetingsNet.

Find A Job

Targeted to all aspects of the hospitality and special events industry.

Education
Central

Upcoming Events, Live and Online

Inside Current Issue

March cover

March 2010

February cover

February 2010

January cover

January 2010

December cover

December 2009

November cover

November 2009

Browse Back Issues