Blanca Ferreris, CMP, CMM, works in New York City as a senior business events manager at RIMS, Risk Management Society. As a 2019 15 Over 50 honoree, Ferreris discusses her passion for the events industry.
What I do: I am responsible for contracting more than 75 hotel agreements per year. I manage our exhibitor housing and hospitality processes (more than 31,000 peak room nights). I also am responsible for our Canada conference and I am accountable for the overall management and delivery of the RIMS Canada Conference, which attracts more than 2,000 participants.
How I got here: I worked at John Wiley & Sons publishers for 10 years and was responsible for planning their exhibition participation at over 75 conferences per year. In 1989, I left Wiley to join RIMS
’ Government Affairs Department and planned their legislative seminars. I planned the first RIMS on the Hill conference, which continues to this day. In 2000, I joined the events and education department at RIMS.
Impressive stats: I am responsible for our Annual Conference’s total room block and hospitality revenue generated by our affiliates, which has an estimated economic impact to a city in excess of $30 million.
Specific improvement I’ve made: I have worked with my team to develop policies and provide hotel offerings that guide our attendees and exhibitors to stay within the official hotel block. We currently have a 75 percent in-block adoption rate which, for a conference with attendance of 10,000, this is an admirable accomplishment.
What I do outside of work: I like to volunteer at my church; take weekend trips with my husband and spend precious time with my four grandchildren: Esme, Gabriel, Amelia and Ava.
