Sample RSVP Section from CVent Invitation

Each month you will receive an invitation to our monthly chapter meeting through a service called Cvent.   If you can attend the program, we encourage [...]]]> Your DFW NACE board often receives questions about our policy on meeting registrations, cancellations, and what happens if you register but don’t attend a luncheon.

Sample RSVP Section from CVent Invitation

Each month you will receive an invitation to our monthly chapter meeting through a service called Cvent.   If you can attend the program, we encourage you to register by clicking “Yes” and paying online. If you cannot attend the program you can simply respond by clicking “No”, which will keep you from receiving future emails about that specific monthly program. If you opt out completely then you will not receive any future meeting information, which we certainly do not want to happen.

Once you register to attend a monthly chapter meeting please note the following cancellation and no show policy:

• Cancellations are allowed until 5pm the Friday before the meeting, and you will receive a full refund for the amount you paid. You can either cancel yourself through Cvent, or email Dionicia McCallum-Lucia at dionicia@dfwnace.com.
• After Friday at 5pm, we submit the final guarantee to the venue and/or caterer and we are charged for you, whether you attend or not. Therefore, should you cancel after 5pm on Friday or no show to the meeting, any payments made will be considered non refundable.
• If you miss a meeting that you RSVP’d for and did not pay online with a credit card please contact our Treasurer, Brooke Evans at Brooke@dfwnace.com or 214-454-4014. Payment can be submitted with a credit card through her or a check can be mailed to P.O. Box 12344, Dallas, TX 75225. We will pursue payment for all cancellations and no shows.

Please note that all cancellations must be submitted by email to Dionicia@dfwnace.com prior to 5pm the Friday before the event. No verbal Cancellations will be accepted.

Thank you for your cooperation,

The DFW NACE Board

1. Employment Experience

Automatically earn points from time spent working in the catering and event industry!

2. Formal Education

Indicate the highest level of [...]]]> “MR. OWL, HOW MANY POINTS DOES IT TAKE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION FOR CPCE? “
“IT JUST TAKES 60 AND YOU’D BE SURPRISED HOW EASY IT IS TO GET THERE – HERE’S HOW…”

1. Employment Experience

Automatically earn points from time spent working in the catering and event industry!

2. Formal Education

Indicate the highest level of education you have achieved and submit a transcript or diploma for an easy way to gain points.

3. Continuing Education (1 point per hour of education)

a. Attendance at a local catering or event organization’s monthly educational meeting (e.g., NACE, ISES, ABC, MPI, etc).

b. Company sponsored training: Think back to when you started at your company. If it was within 10 years, you can list any of the required trainings as continuing education.

c. Conferences (e.g., NACE Experience!, Catersource, Event Solutions, The Special Event, etc)

d. ServSafe® Training

e. Webinar on a catering or event topic (Note: NACE offers monthly educational webinars! See www.nace.net/cs/events)

4. Industry Membership (1 point per year of membership)

Are you a member of NACE? How about ISES, ABC or MPI? Membership in all of these organizations and a variety of other professional organizations affiliated with the catering and events industry can count for points (pending NACE approval).

5. Leadership Positions (points given per term- see application)

Have you served on a board or committee of a catering or events organization? Or have you have served on a company-sponsored committee? List your position and dates of the term you served. Depending on the position, you can get up to 6 points per term (10 points maximum in this section).

6. Professional Achievements

Whether from your company, NACE or another affiliated organization, many candidates have received an award recognizing their catering and events expertise. Earn two points for each award. Do you already have a certification (e.g., CMP, CSEP, etc)? This is another opportunity to achieve additional points.

7. NACE Support Activities

Receive points by working at a NACE booth at a trade show and for NACE related community service.

To learn more and the CPCE Designation as well as get assistance with the CPCE Application process,  contact Natalie Storrs, CPCE at 214-385-6569 or Natalie.storrs@westin.com.

Audio/Visual: Beyond Photography: Carpe Vita Photography Photo Lounge: Flash-Pics (Specialty Sound) Décor : Magic Moments Wine: Republic Beverage / Greystone Wines Catering: Wolfgang Puck Catering

Total, these gracious members contributed over $38,400.00 to this month’s meeting!

You can view the [...]]]> The 2011 DFW NACE Board of Directors would like to thank the following companies for making the January Awards Meeting such a wonderful evening:

Audio/Visual: Beyond
Photography: Carpe Vita Photography
Photo Lounge: Flash-Pics (Specialty Sound)
Décor : Magic Moments
Wine: Republic Beverage / Greystone Wines
Catering: Wolfgang Puck Catering

Total, these gracious members contributed over $38,400.00 to this month’s meeting!

You can view the photos of the evening and the awards winners in the prior blog post, and photos from the Photo Lounge may be viewed at the Flash-Pics site.

Here are the award recipients:

Winspear Opera House

2011 Best Entertainment - Encore Entertainment

2011 Best Décor - Hotel Crescent Court, The Wildflower, [...]]]> The beautiful Winspear Opera House was the scene for the annual DFW NACE awards presentation ceremonies.  Honored were all of the outstanding members, facilities and services that contributed to events and meetings during 2011.

Here are the award recipients:

Winspear Opera House

2011 Best Entertainment - Encore Entertainment

2011 Best Décor - Hotel Crescent Court, The Wildflower, BEYOND, and BBJ Linen

2011 Best Culinary Presentation - TPC Craig Ranch

2011 Best Meeting Site - Cowboys Stadium (Legends Entertainment)

2011 Best Program Content - E&J Gallo

2011 Best Overall Meeting - Bring It On and Legends Catering

2011 Business Partner of the Year - BEYOND

2011 Rising Star - Don Mamone

2011 Event Professional of the Year - Brooke Evans

2011 Caterer of the Year - Michael Carroll

2011 Lifetime Achievement - Angie Bricker

2011 President's Awards - Jessica Cates and Terry Shields

Congratulations to all of the award recipients and nominees!  Your contributions made 2011 another spectacular year for DFW NACE.

1. Attend Monthly Meetings. On average only [...]]]> Are you maximizing your NACE Membership?

You only get out of NACE what you put in so in 2012 we encourage you to take full advantage. There are exciting plans for the year ahead in the works but here are a three ways you can be sure to maximize your membership:

1. Attend Monthly Meetings. On average only about 35 – 40% of our membership attends the monthly meeting. So where are the other 60 – 65% of you? The monthly meetings are the BEST place to network with your fellow NACE members, meet new contacts and promote your business. You cannot get the full value of your NACE membership if you do not attend the meetings. So mark your calendar for the 1st Wednesday of each month (2nd Wednesday in July, no meeting in August or December. We look forward to seeing you!

2. Join a committee. In the coming weeks and months we will be looking for members to join our various committees to help us make 2012 a fantastic year. This is truly the best way to meet a variety of NACE members and to work on something that you are passionate about. We will be looking for members to join one or more of the following; Programs, Fundraising, Community Service, Education and/or Membership Committee’s. Committee work is fun and rewarding, so plan to join one this year and get the most out of your membership.
In addition to our regular committees we will be rolling out sub committees that will enable those that can’t commit to being on a committee all year to still take part of the chapter. More details to come on these but we are excited about the potential for increased involvement by the membership.

3. Did you know that you can create a customized listing for you and/or your company on the DFW NACE website? It’s easy to do. While the membership list provides your phone number and the ability to contact you but did you know that you can add a more detailed description of your product and services, and list the categories that your business provides to aid in searches. This feature is available to all current DFW NACE members. Once your listing has been reviewed and approved it will be viewable on the website.

Just visit the Add Member Services page on our site and enter your information. Be sure to select your category and use all of the key words that might be used by someone searching for your services. You can create separate listings for every category of your business. (This is a great feature since many of us don’t fit into just one category.) And the key word listing really lets you specify your services.

There is also a “Search Member Services” function available on the website. Anyone can search by name, category or key words to find NACE member services for their events. So be sure to use all the right key words to help direct someone to your listing. If you have any questions or need assistance with your listing just call our webmaster Steve Cooley at 817-410-9975

We look forward to seeing you, having you get involved and helping you to get the most our of your NACE Membership. If you have any membership questions or need anything please email me at dionicia@dfwnace.com

Dionicia L. McCallum- Lucia, CWP