Rosealee Lee selected as director of leadership development
Rosealee Lee, CAE, an instructor in the Meeting and Event Management program at Dakota County Technical College, recently accepted the position of director of leadership development on the board of directors of Meeting Professionals International’s Minnesota chapter.
Meeting Professionals International, or MPI, boasts an active membership of 24,000 people in 70 clubs and chapters around the world, making it the hospitality industry’s largest and most influential organization.
Recently inducted into Minnesota Meetings + Events Hall of Fame as the winner of the magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Lee was the guiding force behind MPI MN’s 2007 Student Initiative Committee, which provides crucial resources to students, alumni and faculty in the state’s hospitality community.
Lee reported that industry employers are doing their part to hire trained interns and staff, but more needs to be accomplished. “We are just beginning to experience a shortage of trained workers in the hospitality community,” she said. “Research tells us that this trend will continue.”
Joining the MPI MN board in July 2009, Lee will work to help MPI’s members prosper via connectivity as well as through the advancement of knowledge, ideas, relationships and the marketplace.
“I am thrilled with the opportunity to serve on the MPI MN board,” she said. “As a member of the faculty at DCTC, I realize that our industry experience and contacts are pivotal in bringing a high-caliber education to our students.”
Rosealee Lee’s other achievements include:
- Certified Association Executive
- Founder and board member of the ARDEL Group
- Partner in Global Success, a training and consulting company
- Chair of Meeting Professionals International Student Initiative Committee
- Active memberships in the:
Meeting and Event Management
The Meeting and Event Management program prepares students to enter a truly exciting industry. Individuals already employed as meeting planners or in tourism, hotel, and convention service positions will expand their career opportunities with the program’s comprehensive curriculum.
The program serves as the missing ingredient for individuals who want to offer premier services and guest satisfaction to many different types of customers in a variety of industry businesses:
- Convention and visitor bureaus
- Travel agencies
- Meeting, conference and event management businesses
- Marketing and public relations firms
- For-profit and nonprofit corporations
- Golf and country clubs
- Zoos
- Resorts
- Guest-centered attractions offering food, lodging or meeting spaces
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for meeting and convention planners is expected to grow 20 percent through 2016, which is faster than the national average. Job openings will result from employment growth and the need to replace workers who leave the workforce or transfer to other occupations.
Salary.com reports that a typical meeting/event planner working in the U.S. earns a median base salary of $51,205 a year.
Iseek.org, the go-to source for employment and education in Minnesota, lists the following wage data for the Twin Cities seven-county metro area:
Meeting and Convention Planner
- Average wage: $23.44 /hour
- Top earners: $33.73/hour