Why Horizon?

I’ve worked closely with Paula and Alice at HMM for ten years, and in a word, they are terrific!  My role has been as a consultant member of the four-person team that has planned, structured, organized, advertised, conducted, evaluated and stayed connected with a large national network of professionals, advocates, consumers and government workers — all dedicated to ending homelessness. We’ve organized 6 four-day conferences — five on site and one online — with an annual attendance now of around 1,000, though when we started in 2012, we had 600 attendees. Paula is a consummate professional with decades of meeting management experience, and Alice is a master of all aspects of digital and online tools. They work together seamlessly and routinely go out of their way to assure that the needs of the client are met; they help us stay focused and on time, on budget, and on target; they’re excellent problem solvers, including seeing potential issues well in advance and proposing intelligent, workable solutions; and they treat everyone they encounter with respect, kindness and honesty. I can’t wait to start working on our next meeting, and I would say that they are the best one-stop for meeting management around. Go with HMM!

In 2007, IIAT was tasked with making a change in the management of our largest meeting of the year. We realized that we needed to have a more coordinated and professional approach to presenting a well-respected and successful annual meeting. We began looking for a group to handle the site selection, contract negotiations and to work as our liaison between the hotel and other vendors. After interviewing several different companies, we chose Horizon Meeting Management. For the past thirteen years, we have continued to congratulate ourselves on that decision.

I have had the great fortune and privilege to work side-by-side with Paula Sasser from the first day of our agreement with Horizon. Over the years, she has become like family to our staff who respect her judgement, her work ethic and her professionalism. As I work with various hotel groups, I realized early on that she was respected and admired for her clear communication, her fair treatment of people, and her desire to work with all parties of an event to make it a success.

Admittedly, repeatedly pulling off one successful event after another is reason enough to stay with Horizon, but the added benefit of the peace of mind knowing that my needs will always get met, that my plans will be executed to perfection and that I can feel confident that all activities and actions were handled in a way that allowed all players to feel valued and appreciated.

I love to tell people that I am the inspiration and that Paula is the perspiration for our event, but truly, she is the one who inspires me, who cheers me when things get hectic and who truly cares about our association and what we represent.

We chose Horizon Meeting Management to manage and execute our biennial Housing First Partners Conference held at major cities in the United States since 2012.  They proved to be professional and reliable, delivering expert execution even when things didn’t quite go as planned! From initial planning to follow up post event, Horizon has worked with us to produce a conference that met our expectations and our attendees expectations.  The impressive chemistry between the Horizon team and ours goes a long way in ensuring that our partners, guests, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees enjoy their experience attending the conference.  They are hardworking, enthusiastic ‘can do’ event professionals and it is an absolute pleasure at all times working with them! Until the next conference!

Horizon Meeting Management continues to prove its value at every meeting we have.  They take care of the minutiae of meeting management that drives me crazy, and that allows me the time and space to concentrate on putting on a superior meeting for our members.  I'm still in charge, it's just a matter of adding highly competent, professional staff for just the services and times I need them.