We take care of the details
so global professionals and leaders
can focus on their missions.
Associations and Meetings by Design is dedicated to serving professional associations and to hosting premiere events that advance our clients' goals. We offer guidance on best management practices, the latest community engagement tools, strategic membership management, and veteran event planners. Our team goes above and beyond to dismantle any barrier that keeps your organization from doing its best work and suggests creative inspiration to achieve even more.
Our vision is simple:
We understand the most important member
of our team is you.
WHO WE ARE
Veronica Haynes, President
Mentor to Many Spirit of a Tiger Voice of Persuasion
Veronica’s longtime leadership in the association and meeting management industries spans dozens of states and countries from Las Vegas and New York to Prague and Manchester. She worked up the hospitality and destinations ladder as Banquet Manager, Director of Food & Beverage, Director of Catering, Corporate Trouble Shooter, Sales Certification Trainer, General Manager, and then Sales Director of the largest destination management company in the world — all before building her own business from the ground up. Veronica never accepts good enough and continues to creatively grow the services available to global clients. She is proud of her team’s unparalleled passion, knowledge and above-and-beyond work ethic.
Audrey Rinehart
Association Manager
Master of Details
Energetic
Cooperative
Audrey was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. After graduating from Western Washington University with a B.S. in Sports and Exercise Science, she spent 8 years in the health and wellness industry as a personal trainer both in Seattle and Bozeman. She fell in love with Montana and moved into hospitality. Audrey spent four years in the Sales and Catering department of a local hotel, utilizing many of the interpersonal skills honed through her experience in the fitness industry. She believes in the strength of a relationship as a common denominator for trust, communication, and loyalty. Audrey is a strong force on our team who excels in organization, stays patient throughout complex projects and has a calm, professional demeanor.
Margo Cysewski
Associations
Accounting Manager
Self-Motivated
Detail Focused
Deadline Driven
Margo is a Montana native born in Billings and raised in Belgrade where she graduated high school. Her main study in high school was accounting/business courses. She landed a job at a non-profit in Bozeman where she worked for the next 25 years with 22 of those years in the Business Office. During that time, Margo attended a business course at Montana State University provided by her employer. After gaining accounting experience on the job, she decided to move on and take her skills with her. Margo is excited to be part of the accounting team and look forward to working with a great group of people with many talents.
Shaylin Eggum
Association Manager
Diligent
Gracious
Sincere
Based in Billings, Montana. As a previous program coordinator for a large dental practice she brings over thirteen years of experience in coordinating workflow, ensuring organizational requirements are met, coordinating meetings and events, and quality improvement initiatives. Her desire to support non-profit organizations and assist volunteer leaders in exceeding their goals led her to her current position as an association manager. She appreciates being able to work with a mission driven organization and finds satisfaction in playing a part in enhancing communities. Her upbeat and positive approach assist her in accomplishing her goals and meeting all expectations.
Ed Schmidt
Chief Financial Officer
Always Happy to Help
Positive
Adaptable
Ed’s association and meeting management career started in an unusual way. The complexities of travel, lodging, transportation, meals, time management, performance tracking and team psychology were primary off-field duties in his 20 years as a collegiate football coach. He brought that experience to a second career owning and managing a travel company, adapting quickly as the industry transformed following the end of airline commissions. He partnered with Veronica Haynes to diversify and expand his business three-fold in the first two years. Today, as co-owner and CFO, Ed keeps the balance between the creative visions and financial reality. The strength of the organization continues to be clearly exhibited in his leadership and attention to detail.
Katie VanNatta
Director of Operations
Organized
Multi-Talented
Up for Anything
Katie is a fourth generation Montanan who grew up near Glacier National Park. After graduating from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Business Administration, she joined the Peace Corps and worked in Bulgaria for two years. She returned to the States and worked at a camp on Flathead Lake where she learned event planning and hospitality as the Retreat Coordinator. Katie is our flexible employee with a lot of skills. She helps with conferences, websites, sales, and everything in between. As a key Account Manager at Associations and Meetings by Design, Katie leads our planning team to execute conferences with great attention to detail and, most importantly, with a great smile. She enjoys the diversity of the business and the challenge to go above and beyond.
Kassandra Carlson
Director of Communications
Engaging
Innovative
Analytical
Born and raised in Minnesota, Kassandra moved to Montana to pursue a career in Marketing, and mountains! She brings over six years of marketing experience to the AMBD team. Prior to her position as Communications Director, she worked for the international brand, Kampgrounds of America, Inc. (KOA). She enjoys that marketing is a continuously evolving field, and finds satisfaction in backing up marketing performance with quantifiable data. Kassandra stresses the importance of brand identity, and enjoys the opportunity to tell each association's unique story.
Daniel Wiemals
Digital Media Manager
Fixer
Creative
Plugged-In
Daniel grew up in Montana, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Animation and Interactive Media at the University of Montana. He met his future wife at the college and following graduation they were married, and they settled down in beautiful Washington. Daniel uses the knowledge and artistic skills garnered during his time at the University of Montana each day at AMBD, through crafting unique and attractive graphics, website and videos for our partnering organizations and events. He is always happy to share his expertise with the team, and getting to work in digital media in any capacity brings him a great deal of joy.
Jordan Marten
Production Coordinator
Visionary
Patient
Quick-Learner
Jordan is a Montana native who grew up in Helena, MT. Throughout most of his childhood, he spent time balancing school and skiing – later travelling to Oregon in high school to pursue a skiing academy. Jordan fell in love with Digital Media and Film and used his interest to attend Full Sail University in 2018. After graduating from Full Sail University with a bachelor’s degree in Digital Cinematography, he returned to Montana -- Bozeman, Montana to continue his love for skiing Big Sky Resort. Jordan is a helping hand to everyone on board, who can grasp new concepts quickly and provides organization and creativity to the team.
Berkeley, CA
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Manchester, NY
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Serving Leaders
Across the Globe
Belfast, Ireland
Leicester, United Kingdom
Tokyo, Japan
Trento (Povo), Italy