2013 Holiday Charity Winner!

It's time to announce our 2013 Annual Holiday Charity Winner!

Face Autism, Inc., was created in 2009 by a team of interested professionals and parents to provide sensory friendly activities, support groups, referral for therapeutic services, structured classes, and other necessary resources. As a non profit organization, Face Autism, Inc., is committed solely to providing these services to families through outreach and fundraising efforts.

Paragon Events will donate to Face Autism after the organization earned 24% of the votes during our annual Holiday Charity Drive.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the drive!

Paragon Events is Awarded CME Symposium Contract

Paragon Events has been awarded the contract for the 2014 CME symposium hosted by the Northwest Medical Center Medical Staff Committee.

Managed by Paragon Events and held at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, the Symposium will attract more than 200 healthcare professionals interested in the ever-changing climate of healthcare initiatives.

The symposium is entitled “Current Trends in Medicine: Technology, Accountability, and Performance Outcomes.”

Possible topics of interest will include practice management, current medical trends (including pain management, wound care, theroplasty, digestive care and cardiothoracic techniques), the Affordable Care Act, ICD-10, PQRS and electronic medical records. 

Paragon Events has managed four CME programs for Northwest Medical Center.

Kayla Schwenk Earns Major Promotion

MEDIA ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/6/2014

Kayla Schwenk, Paragon Events’ Project Manager, Earns Promotion to Assistant Director of Meetings & Events

What: Kayla Schwenk is promoted to Assistant Director of Meetings & Events at Paragon Events after 4 years of employment with Paragon Events as an events intern and then as Project Manager. The promotion was given by President and Managing Director Renee Radabaugh.

Who: Kayla Schwenk serves the Paragon Events team as the Assistant Director of Meetings and Events. Kayla also holds the role of Chapter Administrator for the Orlando Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (GOAMPI). Kayla was recently awarded with the GOAMPI Presidents Award as recognition for her above-and-beyond service.

Kayla is responsible for directing all national and international meetings ranging from 400-2,000 attendees. She manages all pre-event, on-site and post-event logistics for Paragon meetings and events. Kayla supports Paragon Events’ strategic alliances and partnerships and serves as a representative of Paragon Events to business partners and the community.

When:  December 1, 2013

Where: Paragon Events is a full-service association management, event planning and marketing firm headquartered in Delray Beach, Florida with offices in Orlando, FL, Los Angeles, CA, Richmond, VA, Pittsburgh, PA, Washington, D.C. and Sydney, Australia. Paragon Events offers a wide range of services nationally and internationally, currently providing association management and event services in markets as distant as Malaysia, North Africa, Dubai and Germany.

Why: “Kayla has excellent project management skills and in-depth understanding of the event industry,” says Radabaugh. “She shows strong communication skills with excellent influencing, negotiation and relationship  building techniques. After working with her for several years I knew she was the right person to take on the Assistant Director position.”

Contact: Kacey Mullaney, PR Strategist at Paragon Events, Kacey@paragon-group.com

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Paragon Events Announces its International Expansion

New office location in Sydney, Australia set to open January 6, 2014

DELRAY BEACH, FL: Paragon Events is officially adding its first international office location, set to open its doors in Sydney, Australia on January 6th, 2014. 

The Sydney office will be led by Paragon staff member Kristen Antony, who is relocating to the area in late December.

“I am beyond excited about Paragon Events’ expansion and the opportunity for me to move to Australia to head the Sydney location,” says Antony. “The decision to open an office in Sydney was very strategic. Travel between Australia and the United States is booming, and Paragon Events wants to capture a piece of that market. We can offer our event management, destination management and incentive travel services to Australian corporations traveling to and planning events in the US, and vice-versa.”

Antony currently serves Paragon Events as a Meetings Manager. Her duties include sponsorship strategies, registration creation, and project management of small- to mid-size meetings and special events. Antony also holds the role of Chapter Administrator to the Pittsburgh chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), a global association of individuals in the meetings and events industry with hundreds of chapters worldwide. Paragon Events currently manages six MPI association chapters. 

Antony will continue to offer event management services to her American clients as well as continue to support MPI Pittsburgh, but the Sydney office location will allow Paragon Events to dive further into the growing destination management and incentive travel industries.

Currently, over 1.1 million Australians travel to the US annually, for both business and personal purposes. Australian travel expenditures in the US hit $5.4 billion in 2012, a 10% increase from 2011.

"We plan to expand our international client base with our new office in Sydney,” says Renee Radabaugh, President and Managing Director of Paragon Events. “We have had the opportunity to work with many international businesses as they plan large-scale corporate events and participate in incentive travel. Our Sydney location will allow us to offer even better service and continue to grow."

  

The Sydney office will be the seventh Paragon Events headquarters worldwide; office locations already exist in Delray Beach, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Los Angeles, California; Pittsburgh, PA; Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, DC.

The Sydney-based office will also expand Paragon Events' already internationally recognized internship program, which boasts a 93% job placement rate. Paragon Events will begin employing Australian interns in late 2014, with plans to partner with Australian universities and offer internship programs in event management, destination management, marketing, accounting, and graphic design.

Paragon Events is an award-winning event planning firm specializing in meeting planning, corporate brand strategy, association management, high-end society events, destination management, corporate incentive travel and full-service marketing and advertising.

Paragon Events' Annual Holiday Charity Drive

Each year, Paragon Events hosts a Holiday Charity Drive in order to draw awareness to the nonprofit organizations that the Paragon Events' team cares about. 

For every vote received, Paragon Events will donate $1. The donation will go to the charity with the most votes on December 31. The donation will not exceed $1,000.

Choose a charity below, then click the red link above to vote! 

The winner will be announced via e-mail on January 8, 2014.

Thanksgiving Recipe: Chef Ron's Ultimate Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients:

12 tbs unsalted butter, melted

2.5 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 3/4 cups sugar

Salt

2 lbs cream cheese (room temp)

1/4 cup sour cream

1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin

6 eggs, lightly beaten (room temp)

1 tbs vanilla extract

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 cups sweetened whipped cream

1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Recipe:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Brush a 10-inch springform pan with some of the butter. Stir the remaining butter with the crumbs, 1/4 cup of the sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan, packing it tightly and evenly. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack, then wrap the outside of the springform pan with foil and place in a roasting pan.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, beat the cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups sugar and beat until just light, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beaters as needed. Beat in the sour cream, then add the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla, 1 teaspoon salt and the spices and beat until just combined. Pour into the cooled crust.

Gently place the roasting pan in the oven (don't pull the rack out) and pour the boiling water into the roasting pan until it comes about halfway up the side of the springform pan. Bake until the outside of the cheesecake sets but the center is still loose, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and open the door briefly to let out some heat. Leave the cheesecake in the oven for 1 more hour, then carefully remove from the roasting pan and cool on a rack. Run a knife around the edges, cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.

Bring the cheesecake to room temperature 30 minutes before serving. Unlock and remove the springform ring. To finish, place a dollop of the whipped cream on each slice and sprinkle with the toasted pecans.

Happy Veterans Day to Our Own Veteran, Jeffrey Clarke

Paragon Events salutes all who served, including our own web designer, Jeffrey Clarke.

Jeffrey Clarke is Paragon Events' lead web designer and newest addition to the team. Jeffrey enlisted in the California Air National Guard in March, 2002 and currently serves in the Tennessee Air National Guard as a 2nd Lieutenant.

Jeffrey has been stationed in California, North Carolina, New York, Mississippi, Colombia and Afghanistan throughout his 11 years of service.

Thank you to all of our customers and colleagues who support veterans with programs like the Wounded Warrior Project (GOAMPI) and the Pet Partner Program.

 
Why do we celebrate Veterans Day?

•     To thank and honor living military personnel for their patriotism and willingness to serve and protect America.
•     To remember the close of World War I, which ended with the "Armistice with Germany" on November 11, 1918.

Thank you, veterans, for all you have done and continue to do for our country.