Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Members of the Health Care Community,

The events of the past few weeks have shone a harsh spotlight on the longstanding issues of racism, inequality, and injustice that so many face every day. With these painful issues so clearly in focus, silence is not an option.

TriStar continues to stand for equality and inclusion, against racism and police brutality, and believe that Black lives matter. We’re committed to using our voices and our platform to make meaningful change, and although this is just the beginning, our actions begin now:

• Reaffirmation to an equitable and inclusive workplace that supports diversity and welcomes important conversations for growth
• Expanded involvement and volunteer efforts within our local community
• Contributions to organizations that positively impact underserved communities

Together, TriStar unites in solidarity with the Black community against racism and social injustice.

TriStar submitted three entries in the 2019 Association Media & Publishing EXCEL Awards competition—and won an award for all three!

TriStar swept the two Onsite Convention Daily categories, bringing home Gold in the digital category for the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting News Site, and another Gold in the print category for ASAE Daily Now. TriStar and ASAE have won Gold awards for Daily Now six previous times in the competition.

TriStar also won a bronze EXCEL Award in the Video (Promotion) category for its DDW® 2019 Promotion Video. Danny West, TriStar’s Video Production Manager, shot the video onsite at DDW 2018, edited it, and created all of the graphics and visual effects for the video.

This is the first year that TriStar has won EXCEL Awards in more than one digital category.

“In 2003, TriStar got its start primarily as a print publishing company, and it’s no secret that the great editorial and design of our print products have contributed significantly to our success, winning multiple awards over the years,” said Robin Reynolds, COO of TriStar.

“But as the event media business has evolved, we have invested significantly in digital technology and staff to stay ahead of the curve,” she continued. “Our mobile event apps have won multiple awards, and now one of our news sites and a video are being recognized with two of the most prestigious awards in association media. We’ve always taken great pride in our editorial and design, and we combine that same level of excellence with technological expertise in all of our digital products. That’s why it’s so rewarding to be recognized with these EXCEL Awards from AM&P.”

The EXCEL Awards recognize excellence and leadership in nonprofit association media, publishing, marketing, and communications. The competition is open to nonprofit organizations and for-profit industry service partners like TriStar submitting on behalf of association clients. Association Media & Publishing (AM&P) is the only organization dedicated to the needs of print and digital publishers in nonprofit organizations. AM&P also serves association business operations executives, communication professionals, designers, editors, and content creators, and the media they create.

TriStar Publishing, Inc., is the leading event media specialist in the healthcare market. The company was founded in 2003 and proudly serves many of the nation’s Top 50 medical meetings, providing consistent revenue growth through award-winning print, digital, and sponsorship products. TriStar’s comprehensive and customized product portfolio includes mobile event apps, daily meeting newspapers, program planners, hotel and perimeter marketing opportunities, digital solutions, corporate support services, industry supported events, and exhibit sales.

Want to learn how TriStar can produce award winning work for you?

Sponsor-supported walking challenges promote healthy activities and incentivize participants to explore the annual meeting.

TriStar is helping its association partners step up their annual meeting game with attendee walking challenges, sometimes called step challenges. These challenges not only incentivize participants to explore sessions and walk the exhibit hall, they also promote healthy choices — walking can help reduce the risk of heart disease, a timely topic as we celebrate National Heart Month in February.

In 2018, TriStar created, implemented and sold the first-ever annual meeting walking challenge at the American College of Rheumatology’s (ACR) Annual Meeting. To promote the challenge, we created a registration page on our sponsor-supported meeting news site (acrdailynewslive.org) and staffed an onsite support desk to help hundreds of attendees sign up.

After registering, participants synced their fitness trackers (including Fitbits, Apple watches, Garmin watches and the Apple Health app) with the sponsored walking challenge app. Each participant sported a walking challenge sticker — a fun conversation starter at the meeting.

Several “step booster” incentives kept participants engaged and motivated, including a free wristband at 10,000 steps and a gift card drawing when they hit 40,000 steps.

TriStar sold a sponsored leaderboard that was updated every 10 minutes, and the #walkACR hashtag also helped participants monitor their status while sharing the fun online.

The challenge winner took 152,281 steps and won complimentary registration to the 2019 annual meeting, but he wasn’t the only winner! During the four days of the friendly competition, ACR participants took 12.4 million steps.

In 2019, TriStar is debuting a walking challenge at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ Annual Clinical and Scientific Meeting and introducing a revamped Challenge the American Diabetes Association’s 79th Scientific Sessions.

Interested in a fun sponsorship opportunity that challenges attendees to stay active during your annual meeting? Let’s talk today.

Meeghan De Cagna is the type of leader who puts others’ needs before her own. No matter the situation, she executes her servant-leadership style with grace and humility, always making time to brainstorm with her colleagues and discuss creative solutions. In her role as Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer at the Endocrine Society, Meeghan leads strategic growth through the development of programs and key relationships with the Society.

Meeghan’s story is the final installment of our Women in Leadership Series, where we’ve spotlighted innovative women in leadership positions who are paving the way in their association or company. They offer insight into their careers, tips for women starting out and their “secret sauce” ingredients for getting where they are today.

Meeghan De Cagna   →  Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer, Endocrine Society

Q: What is your current position and how long have you been in your field?

A: I currently have the great good fortune to serve as the Chief Strategic Partnerships Officer at the Endocrine Society—the largest professional organization in the world for scientists and clinicians who work in the areas of endocrine diseases and disorders. The field of endocrinology is quite broad covering some of the world’s most challenging diseases, including diabetes and obesity, to the rarest diseases, such as acromegaly or Cushing’s Syndrome.
My specific role is to lead strategic growth through the development of programs and key relationships with Society supporters such as academia, industry, foundations, government and regulatory bodies, and patients. I’ve been a working professional for 25 years and a Society staff member for 2.5 years.

Q: Who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader and how did he/she affect your leadership style?

A: I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors in my personal and professional life and each of these key relationships have influenced my leadership style. Professionally, for more than 18 years, I worked for a woman named Barbara Harris, and she had the greatest influence on me—going from a young woman and recent college graduate to a seasoned executive over the course of those years truly shaped me.

More than anything, Barbara taught me about being resilient and championing other women. She taught me that you can make a major career shift mid-life and have an extraordinary “second act.” I’m in the midst of my second act right now; I never would have dreamed that I would come into the association world or healthcare and yet here I am, doing work that I love and am passionate about. It’s that passion for the work that fuels my performance and my leadership.

Q: What’s one leadership lesson you’ve learned in your career?

A: I’ve learned so many, but servant-leadership is what resonates with me. Service, advocacy and putting others’ needs before my own. I strive to lead with grace and humility, listening before speaking, having high expectations of myself and my staff, learning from but also forgiving failures.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A: Don’t view failure as a character flaw. Trust your talent, your intellect, your resourcefulness. You are so much more than you think you are.

Q: What strategies would you recommend to women who are trying to achieve a more prominent role in their organization?

A: Find mentors within your organization and outside of it. Be clear about what you’d like to learn, recognize that your professional growth and development is your responsibility. Don’t get caught up in titles, how large your staff is, what the organizational chart looks like or office gossip. Focus on the breadth and scope of the work you are doing. Become someone who cultivates relationships, connects people and opportunities. Lastly, keep your word.

Q: What is your secret sauce?

A:Two ingredients in my secret sauce for life:

1. Live in a state of gratitude for all the experiences, the successes, the failures. I find that gratitude leads to learning and growth, it challenges you to reflect, to seek insight from others and to find the positive, always.
2. Have an insatiable curiosity every day to learn something new.

That’s a wrap for our Women in Leadership Series. Read part one here , two here and three here.

With more than 20 years of marketing, management and meeting planning, Diedra Crawford is an expert in her field and a leader in her industry. As Industry Sales and Operations Director for Digestive Disease Week® (DDW), she oversees exhibitor and vendor relationships, contract negotiations, and event logistics for the world’s largest gathering of digestive disease health professionals. Diedra’s story is part two of our Women in Leadership Series, where we’ve spotlighted innovative women in leadership positions who are paving the way in their association or company. They offer insight into their careers, tips for women starting out and their “secret sauce” ingredients for getting where they are today.

Diedra Crawford  → 
Industry Sales and Operations Director, DDW

Q: What is your current position and how long have you been in your field?

A: Industry Sales and Operations Director, DDW

Q: Who has had a tremendous impact on you as a leader and how did he/she affect your leadership style?

A: I have two people: 1. Jackie Russo, IAEE (International Association of Exhibitions and Events) industry icon. I saw her at one of my first IAEE events and was super impressed with her. I met her at that meeting, and we’ve been friends since then. She showed me that you can be a female in this industry and still be beloved and recognized as an industry leader. This affected my leadership style by boosting my confidence that you can be nice, friendly, fair and female as a leader. And you don’t have to be a 50-plus-year-old male to make a difference in this industry.  2. My previous boss, Chris Dolnack at NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation). Chris taught me the value of being authentic. Always be yourself and stand firm on your values.

Q: What’s one leadership lesson you’ve learned in your career?

A: Listening, which leads into collaboration.

Q: What advice would you give to your younger self?

A:Be more open, but hold true to your values. Your values ground you.

Q: What strategies would you recommend to women who are trying to achieve a more prominent role in their organization?

A: Claim your ideas and get credit for them; demonstrate your value and be heard.

Q: What is your secret sauce?

A: Not sure this meets the secret sauce question, but the beach or lake with my family and dogs refreshes me. 

Stay tuned for part three and four of our Women in Leadership Series. Read part one here.