About ADME
President's Message
It is with great pride that I have been elected to lead the organization and membership of the Association of Destination Management Executives. As my employees will attest, I firmly believe that members of an industry organization must jump in and get involved. Over the years my involvement in ADME has given me so much more than I could have ever imagined and I am honored to give back to the organization and take the lead in “Driving Forward – The Value of DMCs.”
The first rule of the road is to know where you are going and why you are going there. I also believe it is important to know where you have come from. Looking in the rearview mirror, ADME has much to celebrate! The organization is now 14 years old; however, we are always up to something new…
- Education is consistently a focus of ADME and for the first time at our Annual Meeting we had three (3) complete tracks of education with sessions specifically targeted to DMC owners, sales and operations professionals
- We are in the final phases of writing the new Best Practices in Destination Management Book
- Our Certification and Accreditation programs reached new heights with47 new DMCPs and 17 new ADMCs last year - bringing our total to 41 ADMCs in 51 locations in just 18 months
- We’ve recently introduced a new logo, a redesigned ADME web site and now a new web site – www.DMCBestPractices.org to continue to drive industry best practices and professionalism
- We established an industry Task Force, a collaboration of DMCs from throughout North America representing a wide range of locations, sizes and length of time in the DMC profession. This group was charged with developing best practices and their efforts resulted in a new DMC contract template, a new proposal agreement and a revised ADME Professional Code of Ethics. You will find these new documents in our Member Login section - the link is just to your right. I am excited by their progress and can’t wait to see what new items they put forth this year!
I continue to be in awe of our constant achievements! We are able to accomplish what we do because of the dedication of our ADME Board, our committee volunteers, our valued industry sponsors and the amazing ADME staff. Together, we continue to harness our passion and experiences to drive the DMC industry forward.
As your new Board begins mapping the future of ADME, we hope to bring even more networking and educational opportunities to our members throughout the year. We’ll look to expand our international reach and promise to work hard to continue to position DMCs as strategic partners in the meetings industry during these tough economic times.
As your journey continues, I encourage each of you to get involved. Reach out to ADME and other industry resources or better yet, ask for directions from peers. We’re all in this together, but only you can be in charge of where the road takes you. I encourage you all to jump into the driver’s seat and lead the way for your clients, your local hospitality communities and your companies.
Nicole Marsh, CMP, DMCP
The Arrangers DMC
2009-2010 ADME President