About the People: A Blog Series introducing the employees of UT Conferences and Events Services
Vol. 2. Issue 1. Megan Henderson | By Diva Janeway | Created Date: February 11, 2022
Meeting Megan for the first time was so spectacular, and now working with her has been such a pleasure. She is honestly one of the best supervisors I personally think anyone could have! She is always willing to answer questions and she genuinely cares about the people who work with her. It has been so much fun working on this blog and learning more about Megan Henderson!
Megan started here at Conferences in the summer of 2006 as a temporary student worker. She returned for an internship lasting a full year in 2007. Then completed a second internship in the Spring of 2008, and became a full-time employee in the Fall of 2008. She has now been with UT Conferences and Event Services for 15 years! Megan’s background is in Hospitality & Tourism Management for her undergraduate degree and a Master’s in Management and Human Resources. Megan is now our official Director of Conferences!
The day-to-day for Megan can change up depending on what is going on at Conferences! First, she begins her day by always planning a task project for the day. Then onto emails– focusing on ones that are short and can be responded to quickly before managing top priority tasks. Megan will then complete contracts with vendors, campus partners, and communicate with clients to meet the needs of the event.
Megan is a professional “pretend planner”; she is constantly planning various solutions to avoid obstacles, however some of the plans never come to fruition!
Megan has several memorable moments at Conferences and Event Services. She explained an experience to me, it was when she figured out this was the career for her. In the Summer of ‘07, Megan was a Conferences Intern and was in charge of the Destination Imagination pre-teen party. Megan had laid out a plan for the circus-themed night in which she had a specific layout for tables and how things would be run. This would allow guests the ability to grab-and-go when getting their pizza as opposed to the more traditional route of never-ending lines. Megan had an encounter with an older gentleman, a vendor, who had much more experience than Megan. He tried to go about the project his way, but Megan stood her ground and was successful in her original plan. From then on out, she knew this is what she wanted to do in her career.
Another memorable situation was almost scary in the moment, but now is something most of the office remembers and Megan is now able to laugh about. On Megan’s first conference as Lead Coordinator,
Goldschmidt 2010 a tall, Russian man, who spoke little to no English, came up to Megan while she was working the doors. The man proceeded to physically pick up Megan and carry her around for a short, but what seemed like a long period of time. The rest of the evening, Megan’s coworkers would group around her to make sure the man knew he could not do that anymore. This same man also danced with several women there and other employees kept a continuous count of how many women the man danced with. It was definitely a highlight of events for Megan and some others that are still at
Conferences!!
A few Fun Facts about Megan:
- She is a CAT person!! Megan has a precious kitty named Gizmo!
- Outdoorsy kinda gal!
- If weather is dependent, you will find Megan reading next to the pool, and if it is bitter cold, she will be curled up inside binge-watching TV shows!
- She prefers the beach over the mountains!
- Megan has traveled to Jamaica, and while I am writing this, she is in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico right now!! She would love to go back to Jamaica, but would also love to travel to Europe and see that side of the world!
- Her dream vacation spot is Maldives!
- Megan’s favorite season is Fall because it is a beautiful time in East TN, and she “loves the trees and all, and the weather is usually still really warm. We get football season, then Hockey season, and then on to basketball– it’s a great time for sports!”
- Her favorite part about living and working in Knoxville is that it has always felt like home to her. She loves that it’s a “small town with a big city feel!”
- Megan’s favorite holiday is Christmas because it is such a special time for her family and she is able to spend it with people she loves and values the most!
- Her personal hobbies: SPORTS, SPORTS, and more SPORTS!! Megan lives to enjoy sports, “I would rather go to a sporting event than almost any other activity!” She is a season ticket holder for basketball, football, and baseball for UTK! She also enjoys gaining certifications in Krav Maga. She is currently level 6 certified!
- Special note: If you are like me, and have no idea what Krav Maga is– this is for you. Krav Maga is the fighting style of the Israeli Defense Forces–also a great self-defense practice! If you or anyone you know would be interested in more information check out the website here → https://battlerockkravmaga.com/
- Megan claims Todd and Janice, the owners are incredible people to work with and to reach out if you are interested!
Thank you, Megan, for sharing all the things above! I hope you have a relaxing time in Cabo and safe travels back home!
Stay tuned for next week’s posting about our Senior Conference Specialist, Jessica Swett!
