Successful Meetings - July 2009 - (Page 22)

PLANNER’S WORKSHOP my path to success John Foster, Esq., meetings industry's go-to guy Marching To the Beat of his Own Drum By Andrea Doyle andrea.doyle@nielsen.com F or decades, when meeting professionals have needed legal advice regarding contracts, negotiations, or dispute resolution, they have turned to Attorney John Foster. A former hotel director of sales and marketing turned lawyer, Foster is one of the longeststanding members of the meetings and incentives industry—his career spans 32 years. He admits that he fell into this industry and has come to realize that it is okay not to have your career mapped out in a straight line. His formula for success? “Do what you enjoy, work hard, and figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are and where they can best be applied to accomplish the most good for the most people,” he says. “That may change at different stages in your life. There will always be up times as well as down times. It is important to hang in there.” When Foster graduated from the University of Tennessee in the 1970s his degree was in radio and television broadcasting. He also had experience as an actor and musician in Summer Stock Theater. He landed a job as a Foster is a popular industry speaker production specialist at WBTV, a CBS affiliate in Charlotte, NC. “After a year, I realized all the glamour in the broadcasting business was on the outside looking in. There wasn’t any glamour on the inside looking out, plus I was only making $95 a week,” he says. Foster left broadcasting to join an advertising agency where he was to cultivate new accounts, not an easy task as the economy in the 1970s was in a dire state. He called on a newly opened Sheraton in Charlotte about the agency’s advertising and marketing services. “The director of sales and marketing who listened to my pitch said he didn’t need an ad agency, but he would like to hire me as a sales manager,” Foster says. Plus, he was offered $200 more a month than he was currently making. Foster accepted. He learned about all aspects of the hotel through a training program, but was let go a mere six weeks later as the economy plummeted. Out of a job and with no local prospects looming, Foster headed to Atlanta where he hoped to stay in the hotel industry to take advantage of his recent training. After knocking on numerous doors, he was hired by Hyatt Hotels, a company he ended up being a part of for 12 years. 22 I SM I July 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - July 2009

Successful Meetings - July 2009
Contents
Editor's Letter
News Update
Education
Mouth for Sale
Incentive Insights
Meetings Law
Management Matters
Gurus
Path to Success
Cover Story: ROI Guide
Medical & Pharmaceutical Meetings
Safety & Security
Industry Roundtable
Places + Spaces
Alabama
Georgia & the Carolinas
Hong Kong
Melbourne
Golf Meetings
Planning a golf meeting, 101
Formats, games, prizes, and the awards ceremony
The how, what, why, and win of hole-in-one insurance
How the PGA professional can help your meeting plans
A woman’s view of golf
Opinion: The (new) perception of golf resorts
In closing: Boondoggle is not part of the golf vocabulary
Hawaii
Business Unusual
Q&A with Michael Murray
The Latest and Greatest

Successful Meetings - July 2009