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Welcome to Marketing & Sales Executives of Detroit

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

April 2021

A Tribute to Women's History Month

Last month was Women’s History Month. I realized that MSE Detroit has much to celebrate regarding the women who have led and elevated our organization over our 32-year history. MSE Detroit has always been an inclusive & diverse organization from the very beginning when we were established in 1989. Not only have numerous board and committee seats been filled with female professionals, but five women (including myself) have been elected as president.

Going down memory lane, here are our “Fab Five.”

Our first female president was Nancy Loerch. At the time, Nancy was Executive VP at Munro & Associates, an engineering and manufacturing consulting firm. As of today, Nancy is the Owner and President of StratComm, LLC, a company that focuses on assisting defense companies with improvements in internal and external communications.

Denise Scioli McCabe traveled the MSE Detroit ranks from program chair to Board member and then to president. She accepted the position when she was Director of Sales at Blue Sky Productions, which produces the John McElroy Autoline Detroit weekly national PBS program. Today Denise is an independent marketing and advertising professional enjoying life in Florida.

Andrea Behe transitioned from an active board member to president while she was Director of Business Development at Kelly Services, a company that connects talented people with companies in need of their skills. Currently Andrea is Senior Client Partner with Korn Ferry Advisory in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan that provides products for development, succession, selection and leadership development with talent management strategy and support.

Carolyn Sauer was recruited to the MSE Detroit Board and her leadership skills quickly heralded her to the presidency. Carolyn brought with her a strong automotive background with her position as Global Sales Director (Lighting Division) at Hella. She quickly earned the reputation in MSE Detroit as having high energy for her non-stop enthusiasm and motivation. Carolyn has moved on from Hella and is now the Senior Director at MICHauto which is a key initiative of the Detroit Regional Chamber that promotes, retains and grows Michigan’s signature industry.

Lucky me…Ann K. Bruttell, I am the current sitting president of MSE Detroit. I am one of the initial members of the organization which began in 1989. Through the years my company Meeting Coordinators, Inc. has managed the day-to-day business affairs of MSE Detroit. My staff and I have always been comfortable being behind the scenes but when COVID hit the association industry hard I was asked to take the helm to lead MSE Detroit and keep the group afloat. Meeting Coordinators, Inc. is a national award-winning leader in the Association & Corporate Meeting Management industry, established in 1988. With innovative zoom programming and a new online career center MSE Detroit remains a strong and vibrant organization in the Detroit Metropolitan area.

We learned from the COVID pandemic that even in isolation, we need peer-to-peer support and interaction. If we stay strong together, we all survive. With vaccinations now readily available, we are looking forward to meeting in-person later in 2021 but keeping some of the lessons learned from quarantine.

Another shout-out also goes out to the many women who have served on our MSE Detroit Board or on various committees. Thank you for your participation, and I apologize if I have inadvertently omitted anyone.

Kristen Balasia, VP & Managing Director - Automotive Advisory Services at IHS Markit

Kathryn Brennan, President, The Brennan Group

Pamela Dancu, New Business Development at MC2 Events Exhibits Environments

Alyssa Lenchner Frensley, Sr Account Manager at Auria Solutions

Susan Gibson, Client Services/Business Development, Rehmann

Jan Griffiths, President & Founder, Gravitas Detroit

Tracy Lindsay, Co-Owner, Lindsay Exhibit Group, Inc.

Danielle Leone, Director Branding/Communication, Faurecia Glean Mobility, North America

Laura Oliveto, Vice President PR & Communications, SSDM

Gwyn Starr, Senior Sales Executive, Priority Health

Lori Jo Vest, Social Media/Digital Marketing Specialist Partner, PopSpeed Digital Marketing

As you can see, there is a great cross section of Sales and Marketing professionals in our organization. MSE Detroit is indebted to these remarkable professional women who have left a successful and indelible professional mark on our organization. I wish I could also list for you all the women who have been members in good standing to MSE Detroit…but I hope that we will soon be able to meet in person with peer-to-peer meetings for you to meet them for yourself.

Be well and be safe.

Ann K. Bruttell, MSE Detroit President

Owner, Meeting Coordinators, Inc.

abruttell@meeting-coordinators.com

248-643-6590