2016 FICP Chair Caryn Taylor Lucia, SEI (left), welcoming Susan Harding, FM Global, at the first-timer’s reception

Dianna Hermesmeyer, CMP, Liberty Mutual (left), gets to know Kim Huang, AB, at the first-timer’s reception before the FICP Annual Conference opening session.

Connecting at the 2015 Annual Conference (from left) Julia Bailey and Jill Harris, CMP, both of Protective Life Insurance; Dan Young, CMP, Thrivent Financial; Nicky de Champlain, JPdL Destination Management; Lisa Ramsey, Protective Life; and Grant Snider, Meeting Escrow Inc.

Some of the FICP staffers who make the annual conference come to life (from left): Kelly Sherrard, membership & operations coordinator; Christina Pfitzinger, operations manager; Lydia Kamicar, education senior manager; Ellie Hurley, events director; and Francesca Malin, events coordinator

Hyatt Hotels hosted Monday night’s dinearound. Enjoying their small-group networking opportunity (from left): Ann Rice, Safety National; Hualani Baptiste, Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa; Bouchra Assody, Sheraton Montreal; Siaochi Leong, Fairmont Hotels; Steve Pliska, Hyatt Resorts Caribbean; Sandra Edstrom, Hanover Life Reassurance Co. of America; Ileana Castillo, Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau; and Jana Stern, Voya Financial

Connecting during TheNetwork Live, FICP’s appointment-based tabletop trade show (from left): Isabel Mahon, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts; Michael Burke, CMP, The Hanover Insurance Group; and Katie Senkowski, CMP, AIG Benefit Solutions

A panel of planners discussed the rewards and challenges of booking international meetings—including how to acknowledge and ease attendee concerns after terrorist attacks like those that occurred in Paris just before the 2015 annual conference got under way. From left: moderator Alison Hall, MeetingsNet; Dianna Hermesmeyer, CMP, Liberty Mutual; Koleen Roach, Securian Financial; Kathy DeLand, Cigna; Tawny Herron, CMP, CMM, The Standard; and Linda Bourbonnie, Crump

Seeming delighted to be on their way to the Allure of the Seas cruise ship are Joe Fijol, 360 Destination Group (left), and Wayne Lindbom, The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island

Lunch is served on deck five! FICP members and hospitality partners get a taste of cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas.

FICP attendees returning from their day aboard the largest cruise ship in the world, Allure of the Seas.

Peer-to-peer sharing during TheNetwork Live: Sherri Wiseman, CMP, Pacific Life (left), catches up with Jamie Kiger, Nationwide.

Victoria De La Garza, NEXT Financial Group (left), getting together with Lynn Schwandt, CMP, Thrivent Financial

Could there be more-welcoming greeters for FICP’s TheNetwork Live? David Riederman, Hyatt Hotels Corp. (left), and Padraic Gilligan, Ovation Global DMC, really got into their jobs.

Networking before the Monday night dinearound (from left): Joann Galvin, CMP, Voya Financial; Julie Stovroff, Preferred Hotels & Resorts; Anne Erickson, Philip Myers Entertainment; Linda Bourbonnie, Crump; Shirley Crane, Cirque Productions; and Shari Wallack, Buy the Sea

Thoroughly enjoying an educational session: Karen Farquharson, XTRA Airways (left), and Denise Dornfeld, AlliedPRA

A Junkanoo Carnival is no less festive when rainy weather means it has to be moved inside. Pictured are performers before weaving their way through a crowd of planners and hospitality partners in the Atlantis, Paradise Island, ballroom.

Looking very judgy is Jonathan Howe, Esq., who helped to design (and then performed as the judge in) two mock trials at the FICP Annual Conference. The well-received education session explored the ethics and legalities of two cases, one involving a planner having his way with the intellectual property of several DMCs and the other a question of who dropped the ball when service at a meeting came up short—was it Peter Planner or Sally Sellem? Find out more in the January issue of MeetingsNet.

An elegant table setting poolside at Atlantis, Paradise Island, ready for FICP’s closing night dinner

Atlantis, Paradise Island, provided an amazing and varied setting for the FICP Annual Conference. Above all, the friendliness, helpfulness, and attentiveness of the staff far exceeded expectations.