April 16, 2019
Meghan Likes, Senior Meeting Planner, at CWT Meetings & Events is one of seven industry pros that Minnesota Meetings + Events selected to honor in the magazine’s Hall of Fame.
It takes a formidable set of skills to be a meetings and events planner. Unbridled creativity, impeccable organization and the ability to charm and manage people are part of a good planner’s daily life.
Meghan shares her insight on finding a mentor, work-life balance and going with the flow.
On life at CWT
“CWT has been on my radar since 2008. I was working for a nonprofit at the time and one of my board of directors was this amazing woman. She worked for CWT and I thought: ‘If they hired this wonderful, smart person, I want to be around more of those people.’”
“My biggest challenge is just that there are not enough hours in the day to connect with everyone I want to connect with and do everything that I want to do. The account that I’m on, we’re working on between 75-100 meetings a year. Just to keep up with all of those connections and those people is time-consuming."
On work-life balance
“You need to understand your capacity and find a manager that supports you and recognizes the amount of work that goes into meetings and events. Once you find them, don’t let them go. My supervisors and bosses are fantastic women. They’ve been in the meetings and events industry for years so they totally understand the challenges and how to support me as an individual and as an employee.”
“I like to get outside and go for a big hike to either ramp myself up or wind myself down. It’s just peaceful and meditative and gets me in a clearer headspace.”
On improvising
“You can plan down to the last detail, but when you’re working with weather conditions or a hundred different humans or just the unpredictability of life, you need to have the skills to figure out a resolution to anything that pops up. I love going with the flow. Once you’re on-site, you just need to make things happen.”