During its 2015 conference in Los Cabos, Mexico, the Association of Destination Management Executives International recognized achievement in several categories, including a new Members Choice Award. Amberlee Huggins, DMCP, (left) and Alayna Alariana, DMCP, Capitol Services, Inc., a DMC Network Company, accepted the ADMEI Members’ Choice Award for a concert organized in Washington, D.C., for 6,000 guests, staged on the plaza between the Carnegie Library and the Washington Convention Center. More ADME International Achievement Awards.

Kuching, Malaysia, will be the site of the International Congress and Convention Association’s 55th annual congress in November 2016 and the local host committee is already gearing up for the event. ICCA’s Event Director Mieke Van Loenen and CEO Martin Sirk (fifth and sixth from left) join representatives of the ICCA 2016 Local Host Committee, co-chaired by executives at the Borneo Convention Centre and the Sarawak Convention Bureau, for a Drumming-in Ceremony at the Sarawak Cultural Village in Malasia. Before heading to Kuching in 2016, ICCA will hold its 2015 Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Multicultural Affairs Congress (PHLDiversity), a division of the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, hosted its 9th Annual Business Opportunity Luncheon, featuring Ana Aponte-Curtis, vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Events Planning Department. The luncheon gave minority businesses and agencies the chance to learn about contracting opportunities that will exist as part of the NAACP’s National Conference, coming to Philadelphia July 11–15. The luncheon also featured an interview with Geoff Ballotti, president and CEO of Wyndham Hotel Group. Pictured are Greg DeShields, executive director of PHLDiversity (left), with Aponte-Curtis and Ballotti.

In February, the Society of Incentive Travel Excellence held its 2015 Executive Summit at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai. The annual Summit brings SITE’s Board of Directors and the SITE Foundation Board of Trustees to an emerging incentive destination, with the mission of educating local suppliers on the unique needs of the incentive travel market. Dressed in the traditional abaya of the Gulf region are Summit attendees (from left) Aileen Zerbonia, senior manager corporate events, Informatica; Carina Bauer, CEO, IMEX Exhibitions; Pamela Shepherd, CEO, Distinctive Destinations; Annamaria Ruffini, president and CEO, Events In & Out; and Lynn Pavony, director incentive sales, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. 

Society of Incentive Travel Excellence Executive Summit attendees don the traditional Arab thobe during their meeting in Dubai: (from left) Jonathan Richards, sales manager, North America and Europe, Maui Jim Sunglasses; Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director, Creative Travel, India; and Padraic Gilligan, managing director, SoolNua

Visit Tampa Bay, Tampa Convention Center, and other Tampa, Fla., hospitality partners hosted meeting professionals on a two-day familiarization trip during the city’s annual Gasparilla Pirate Fest Invasion, a late January carnival and parade celebrating the mythical Spanish pirate Jose Gaspar. From left, Eric Blanc, Tampa Convention Center; Matt Warhola, guest; Kelly Warhola, AACSB International—the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business; and Lisa Chamberlain, Visit Tampa Bay

The four chefs competing in the finale of the IACC–Americas Copper Skillet, a cooking competition among the International Association of Conference Centers member facilities, were given a “mystery basket” of proteins (filet of beet and jumbo prawns) and 30 minutes on the clock to cook up a winning dish. The winners—Chef Laura Leonetti from the Villanova University Hotel & Conference Center in the Senior Chef category, and Chef Zachary Miller from the The Inn at Virginia Tech in the Junior Chef category—compete in the International Copper Skillet final in mid-April.