Desirée Abeleda recently started at the American Heart Association as assistant manager for one of the organization's major fundraisers, Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting and Auction, an annual event hosting business, medical, and political leaders for a weekend of food and wine. Until last month, Abeleda worked in the meetings and conferences department at the American Political Science Association, a role she held for a year and a half. Abeleda works out of the American Heart Association’s Arlington office.
Audiovisual Services: “[At the APSA] I really enjoyed working with Terry Arnold of AVW, which is now part of Freeman. Some of our attendees were less experienced with using audiovisual equipment, but Terry and his team knew our audience so well that they were prepared to assist in any way they could. Sometimes our room [agendas] changed with only a few weeks notice before the conference, and Terry’s team was nothing but helpful and accommodating. We also worked with Jennifer Manigross at Freeman, who, in addition to producing anything and everything we could imagine, even remembered little things like my supervisor’s birthday.”
Photography: “Mike Moffa of Moffa Photography is based in Philadelphia, but he did such a great job with [APSA’s] 2006 conference that we decided to go with him again [the next year]. We’ve had over 70 concurrent sessions going on at once, and I’ve seen Mike literally running from one event to the next so he can capture every moment.”
Venue: “[APSA] committee members stay at the Hotel Palomar when they have in-house committee meetings. Many of them travel pretty far for a one-day meeting, and I’ve heard nothing but compliments about the accommodations and the staff. Slava Lutikova in their group sales department was always so helpful and responsive in helping us arrange all of our housing needs.”
