National Celebrate Services Week was established to create a week focused on getting local event service managers at hotels, convention centers, and convention and visitors bureaus together to create camaraderie and to celebrate what event service managers do for the hospitality industry. This year, ESPA's event theme was "We're All About Service," encouraging community service events.
"We are most effective as services managers when our colleagues support us, and we have fantastic partners," said Cecilia Padilla-Quillen, director of convention services for Visit Albuquerque. "We wanted to say thank you in a tangible way to the professional convention services managers at many of our full-service hotels, as well as the Albuquerque Convention Center and the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce."
Visit Albuquerque staff and several venues contributed to the CLNKids drive, donating non-perishable foods for weekend backpacks as well as school supplies. CLNkids provides high-quality early child development services for homeless children under the age of 6.
Event service managers are key partners with meeting planners in making great meetings happen.
"It's rewarding to see the meetings industry put a stronger emphasis on service to others and service to the meetings and hospitality industries," said ESPA President Denise Suttle, assistant director of convention services at Visit Albuquerque. "This week is about getting event service professionals together for networking, idea sharing and to give back to their communities since they play such a vital role in bringing people to their destinations."
For more information on ESPA and National Celebrate Services Week, visit www.espaonline.org.