Meetings & Incentives Worldwide Named Finalist for Three 2027 SITE Crystal Awards
For Immediate Release
Contact: Sara O’Neil or Veronica Ferguson
Marketing and Public Relations
soneil@meetings-incentives.com
vferguson@meetings-incentives.com
The Prestigious Awards Represent the Highest Honor in Incentive Travel
Caledonia, WI (Sept. 30, 2026) — Meetings & Incentives Worldwide (M&IW), a global leader in event management, is a finalist for three 2027 SITE Crystal Awards. The company is recognized for Excellence in Incentive Travel: Europe, Most Creative Solution Deployed to Overcome Adversity, and Most Impactful Effort Toward CSR as Part of an Incentive Program.
This is M&IW’s fourth consecutive year receiving a Crystal Award nomination. After winning the 2025 SITE Crystal Award for Most Creative Solution Deployed to Overcome Adversity, the company was a 2026 finalist for Excellence in Incentive Travel: Asia-Pacific and Excellence in Incentive Travel: Europe.
“This recognition is a direct reflection of the exceptional work M&IW delivers every day,” said Tracy Norum, CMP, CITP, CIS, Sr. Director, Incentives & Engagement, M&IW. “To be a finalist once is an honor. To receive three nominations is truly something to celebrate.”
About the SITE Crystal Awards
Considered the highest honor in the incentive travel industry, the recognition from the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE) celebrates creative, practical, and truly memorable incentive travel programs that keep employees engaged, drive business results, and improve the bottom line for global corporations.
The awards are aimed at incentive travel professionals all over the world. Winners represent excellence in their profession and offer inspirational examples of how incentive travel experiences benefit qualifiers, their companies, and the destinations where they are hosted.
Winners of the 2027 awards will be announced at SITE Global Conference 2027 in Vancouver in March. The full list of finalists is available here.
About M&IW’s 2027 SITE Crystal Award Nominations
Excellence in Incentive Travel: Europe
An annual late spring program ready to go to contract for May 2026 dates in Abu Dhabi when a fresh wave of regional conflict immediately halted plans. Together, M&IW and the customer shifted their focus to Europe and designed a timeless incentive in Venice, Italy.
M&IW crafted an incentive that readily welcomed attendees from around the world to “La Serenissima” and unmasked many of the city’s gems. Through a range of thoughtfully customized half- and full-day tours, personalized local gifting, a full group daytrip to Verona, and an over-the-top Carnivale-inspired awards gala, this program delighted attendees and delivered on every objective.
“What a rewarding experience!” said an attendee. “I’ve been on other incentive trips before, and this was easily the best of them all.”
“This trip was unlike any other,” said Angie Gross, CIS, HMCC, Customer Success Lead, M&IW. “Our team outdid themselves when creatively designing every aspect of our time in Venice, ultimately delivering an incredibly successful and effective incentive trip.”
Romeo & Juliet in Verona
awards gala
Most Creative Solution Deployed to Overcome Adversity
Select subsidiary brands of AF Group partnered with M&IW to reward their top agents with a trip to Punta Mita, Mexico. That is, until a short outburst of cartel violence led M&IW and AF Group to shift to Oahu, Hawai’i, instead, delivering an equally special experience in just seven weeks.
Despite the compressed timeline, the original program dates were preserved, and the program included more than half a dozen custom experiences, fully customized branding, personalized “unreasonable hospitality” surprises for every attendee. daily gifting experiences, a CSR giveback activity, and an awards evening inspired by the Hawaiian gods and goddesses.
“I am amazed at the team’s ability to pivot locations on such short notice,” said an attendee. “Had I not known this occurred, I would not have be able to tell that this was not the original location.”
M&IW also compensated supplier partners from the original destination beyond their cancellation fees to acknowledge their time and commitment to excellence.
“We’re incredibly proud of how quickly we not only planned but truly elevated this program, with small touches that delivered outsized impact,” said Nicole Raudabaugh, CMP, CIS, Sr. Customer Success Manager, M&IW. “The gratitude and appreciation from attendees made the additional time and effort worthwhile.”
Most Impactful Effort Toward CSR as Part of an Incentive Program
This nomination is for the same AF Group program as the previous category, highlighting the program’s widespread excellence and impact.
The program concentrated on three distinct CSR elements:
- CSR giveback activity: Attendees packed emergency readiness kits for local Boys & Girls Clubs to help local families recover from recent Kona lows that caused flooding, loss of power, and widespread destruction across the island.
- Food waste management: Unused meals from evening functions were donated to a local nonprofit serving families impacted by the recent flooding. 82 pounds of food were donated, equating to 253 points of CO2e diverted and more than 18,000 gallons of water saved.
- Gifting giveback: The onsite “Get a Pair, Gift a Pair” experience allowed attendees to choose a pair of OluKai sandals as their gift before decorating a pair of Crocs for local Boys & Girls Clubs.
“The very best part [of the trip] was all of the giving,” said an attendee. “I’ve never heard of a company being this generous, thoughtful, and kind.”
“We’re immensely proud of the difference these efforts made,” said Raudabaugh, “and grateful to our Hawaiian supplier and community partners who helped turn our plans into reality. We look forward to continuing demonstrating the many positive gains incentive travel delivers.”
About Meetings & Incentives Worldwide
Meetings & Incentives Worldwide designs event experiences rooted in human connection, elevated by human touch, and powered by smart technology.
Boutique by design and enterprise by capacity, we are a privately held, women-owned agency with more than 55 years of experience. We believe meetings are a lever for change with the power to generate momentum that lasts. We create those moments consistently and at scale, delivering the outcome and experience our customers want—on time, on budget, and with measurable impact.
By combining human-centered design with operational expertise, we engineer events that move business forward.
To learn more, visit meetings-incentives.com.