Just ask anyone at this year’s NSHMBA Annual Conference & Career Expo – the ‘Winds of Opportunity’ gave the Windy & City a run for its money.
With attendance, events and opportunity that moved Chicago’s McCormick place with gale force, attendees and sponsors were presented with three full days of networking, interviews, career guidance and assistance, professional development and entertainment.
Lead sponsors for this year’s event included Humana, State Farm and The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, and also more than 290 corporate, academic, non-profit and government sponsors who had booths on the career expo floor.
Not wanting to leave any opportunity unturned, pre-conference events began on Wednesday with the NSHMBA CEO reception presented by Accenture’s Executive Director of Supply Chain Practice, José T. Morales. Thursday – officially the first day of the conference – was host to a full day of seminars, workshops, and networking events, known as Professional Development Day, presented by such notable companies as Target, sponsor of the day’s opening general session on Health and its impact within the company and communities. This was followed by Best Buy, Hewitt, IBM, McDonald’s, Pitney Bowes, Sears Holding and Vanguard, all hosting breakout sessions on topics of career development, diversity, finance, global management, leadership, marketing and strategy that attendees capitalized on throughout the morning and afternoon.
Attendees were also treated to Moctesuma Esparza, the outspoken promoter of Latino films and award-winning filmmaker and producer, who closed the Comcast-sponsored general session.
Friday kept the pace and began with the NSHMBA CEO Speaker Series and its breakfast sponsored by Sara Lee Corporation. Presenting was CJ Fraleigh, CEO of North American Retail and Foodservice, and drew a turnout of more than 1,200 attendees for the early morning event. Other speakers for the day’s sessions included Edward B. Rust, State Farm CEO; Douglas R. Conant, Campbell Soup Company CEO; and Craig Herkert, SuperValu Inc CEO. Coinciding with the CEO Speaker Series was the Executive Forum sponsored by SunTrust Bank, including a keynote by Humana, and sessions on Power and Influence and Trends in Corporate and Non-profit Directorship.
Also on Friday morning was the official ribbon cutting, where NSHMBA CEO Manny Gonzalez, Chair of NSHMBA Board of Director Mark Ponce, and Commissioner for Business Affairs and Consumer Protection for the City of Chicago Norma Reyes, together with this year’s lead sponsors, recognized the 2010 Conference & Career Expo and opened the expo floor.
Gonzalez noted the great work and efforts of the sponsors, attendees and staff, who each year go above and beyond to ensure a great event.
“I am really awe-stricken at the concerted effort and work that go into pulling off our annual conference & career expo,” said Gonzalez. “To onlookers, attendees are given exactly what they are seeking; to the insiders – the sponsors, the staff, and the organizers – this is an amazing example of dedication, support, passion and sheer loyalty. We cannot thank everyone enough for making such a great event possible.”
Other notable events included the Entrepreneurial Success Program sponsored by Nationwide, and the Scholarship Luncheon, sponsored by Target, where recipients of this year’s NSHMBA Scholarship Program were recognized. NSHMBA’s tribute to female leadership past and present, was introduced with the launch of the NSHMBA Women Leadership Network. Additionally, McDonald’s was sponsor to the Education for Success Program that was designed to kick-start high school students’ scholastic pursuits by giving them a floor-level perspective of the NSHMBA 2010 Conference & Career Expo.
Putting the official cap on this year’s conference was the Brillante Awards for Excellence Ceremony, where the 2010 recipients were recognized for their dedication and steadfastness to the Hispanic community. This year’s winners included:
2010 Brillante Recipients:
Corporate Excellence
State Farm
Corporate Executive Excellence
Raymond Arroyo
Educational Excellence (academic)
University of Notre Dame-Mendoza College of Business
Entrepreneurial Excellence
Murray A. Mann
Member Service Excellence
America Baez
As with years past, the event included some of the best in hosts and entertainment. Emcee was John Quinones, Emmy award-winning co-anchor of ABC’s “Primetime” and the Luna Negra Dance Theater and Tenor Diego Silva the featured entertainment. The evening concluded with the official announcement of the location of the 2011 Conference & Career Expo in Anaheim, California, October 13-16.
With great attendance, unparalleled networking and career-enhancing opportunities and the Chicago skyline as the backdrop to it all, the NSHMBA 2010 Annual Conference & Career Expo proved to be another stellar event where all were able to partake in success.
2010 Conference Statistics
| Total Attendance: |
7,219 |
| Total Sponsors |
291 |
| Corporate Sponsors |
206 |
| Academic Sponsors |
85 |
| Students |
49.2% |
| Professionals |
50.8% |
| Students From 50 Top universities |
60.2% |
| Female Attendees |
22.1% |
| Male Attendees |
38.5% |
| Hispanic Professionals |
23.9% |
| Hispanic Students |
26% |
Race and gender were not a required field on registration