About Sharron

My story -
Throughout my career in the hotels and association management industries, I found the greatest joy and personal satisfaction came from training others and watching them develop both personally and professionally in their own careers. Today I am still in touch with many of them, and their stories enrich my life.  In 2009 I developed my own website, PlanningHelper.com, as a means to offer a helping hand to anyone who wants to learn about the meeting and event planning business or needs a reliable "how-to” resource to ease the pain of conquering new on-the-job or volunteer responsibilities.  It's free.  Why? Giving back to an industry that has been very good to me.  If I can make the learning process a little easier for you than it was for me, I will receive the reward I seek. 

My history -
I transitioned into association management, a long-term goal, in 1999 after serving the hotel and convention center industry for 18 years in partnership with state, regional and national associations. My scope of responsibility as a meeting and event planner for a major trade association has included planning and coordinating more than 25 meetings and events per year for as many as 1,000; recruitment, retention and oversight of services for members and sponsors; training and mentoring personnel. The SoCal Chapter has grown from 300 members to nearly 900, the second largest chapter in the nation. NAIOP serves more than 15,000 members nationwide.  I am still engaged with NAIOP SoCal on a mentoring and consulting basis.

My specialties -
Developing long term, trusting partnerships with sponsors, members, hotels and venues, service providers and personnel has a been an ongoing study and a strength.  These partnerships enable and enhance the success of meetings and events. Training and motivating novice meeting and event planners with a focus on ethics has been pure joy for me over the years.  Ethics plays a huge part in building trusting relationships.  I have learned from great teachers who took me under their wings and taught me how to be successful, first in hotel personnel then sales and marketing, and then in association management, meeting and event planning.  I am grateful to all of them.


Personal beliefs -
Never get complacent.  Stay balanced.  Embrace new things.  Appreciate millennials.  Love children and teen-agers. They are works of art :)      

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