What Inspires You – 7 Perspectives from Essential Employees
Amelia Earhart once said that “the most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” Through these continued unprecedented times, the decision to act in the meetings and events industry means different things to different people – creating new ideas to drive attendance, pivoting to virtual engagement and hybrid meetings, even just committing to show up to work in-person each and every day. As a leading education and training facility, the OLC is open for crucial bio-skills medical training, important research meetings and critical education events. As such, our staff members have remained essential employees, working long hours and late night to remain dedicated to clients and committed to enhancements to OLC’s preparedness and protection measures.
We asked our staff – essential employees – what inspires them to come to work, and below are 7 different perspectives:
Ellen Kaimakis, Lab Manager
A former client who hosted medical education events at the OLC for over 15 years, Ellen joined when the opportunity arose to direct lab training events and manage the lab team. She is inspired to come to work every day with the passion to be able to serve clients in creative ways, especially during these new challenging times. Ellen enjoys being able to serve the surgeons, residents, fellows and medical device community in their educational and training experiences, collaborating with her dedicated OLC colleagues to accomplish great success as a team.
Frank Contacessi, Lab Coordinator
Frank manages the set-up and run of show for medical labs at the OLC, including orthopedic bioskills training and medical device demonstrations, coordinating all details and lab equipment needs. He is inspired to come to work every day because he has an opportunity to work in a place that helps train and mold the future of healthcare and medical professionals. Frank is happy to be able to contribute in whatever way he can.
Josh Koehn, Head Houseman
Working behind the scenes at the OLC for the last four years, Josh ensures all safety standards are followed during the set-up, execution, and tear-down of the labs. He also continually researches innovative ways to meet the ever-changing equipment needs of our clients. What inspires him to come to work every day is the idea that he’s a very important part of the research and development of the medical technology that is changing lives. In addition, Josh feels that no matter how small his contribution may be, it is an important part of helping people do the things that make life worth living.
Michael Owca, Lab Associate
As part of the OLC’s “front of house” team, Michael supervises the venue’s rigorous preparedness and protections to maintain a clean and safe environment across all spaces. The things that inspire Michael to come to work every day are knowing that what he does helps bring the best possible learning environment for the future of the medical industry. Working here also helps Michael provide for his family.
Jimmy Konrad, Operations Coordinator
Jimmy manages the “front of the house” for the OLC, serving as a key client liaison before, during and after training events and meetings on critical details. Work is what inspires him, being an input of great reward in its own right. Work that is collaborative, continuously improved upon and dynamic gives Jimmy a certain sense of purpose and, more importantly, provides that distinguishing OLC value to the clients. At the end of the day, the clients at OLC go on to improve the quality of life for those around us – that is inspiration enough.
Kathy Klabacha, Office Manager
Kathy knows the importance of strategic pre-planning to deliver a meeting beyond expectations, having served as a medical meeting planner before joining the OLC. She is inspired because each day brings new opportunities and challenges, planning each event is like putting together a puzzle. Kathy enjoys putting all the pieces together and having the team surpass client expectations. She loves meeting new people and values the relationships she has made over the years with clients.
Jeri Busch, Office Coordinator
Jeri brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to ensure success, supervising the OLC’s accounting, and assisting with sales and marketing. As a seasoned meeting planner who was around and involved with the original OLC, it gives Jeri a great feeling of accomplishment to be a part of the new and improved OLC. She is inspired by her exceptional OLC colleagues, who always make sure clients receive outstanding service, whether for a small conference or large bio-skills lab.
Whether your goal is to produce a laboratory skills training for medical professionals or a hybrid or livestream seminar, the OLC event management team will work with you to create and facilitate an ideal learning and meeting environment. Get inspired today – Contact the OLC to plan a customized event.