OKLAHOMA SGMP

                                                                                       Chapter History

In October 2000, Keith Hungerford, formerly with the Waterford Marriott, and Melinda Watkins, with the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, met to discuss the possibilities of forming an Oklahoma Chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals, Inc. (SGMP). Since this is the state capitol, both decided the opportunity for formation was invaluable.

The National Conference Logistics Center at the University of Oklahoma offered a “Meeting Planning Made Easy” conference April 25–27, 2001, to get a jump-start on the interest of meeting planning. Quentin Roberts, Director of Sales, Waterford Marriott hosted the Awareness Meeting at an evening reception on April 25th.Forty people were in attendance to find out exactly what the acronym SGMP was all about.

Under the leadership of Formation Chair Melinda Watkins, sub–committees and chairpersons were established at the May 10, 2001, formation meeting. Chairs were Crystal Mappes, CMP—Steering Committee; Melinda Watkins, Membership; Vicky Baker, CMP—Program; and Mary Waggoner, CMP—Finance.

In the following months, sub-committee meetings were held and Oklahoma was at the beginning for improving the communications and cooperation between planners and suppliers through regular meetings. Each charter member continued to recruit new members until we could reach the requirements for charting. Our goal was to charter in the fall.
 
We reached that goal in October 2001 with 54 members and chartered November 8, 2001.The Wild West Chapter became the 27th chapter of the National Society of Government Meeting Professionals. Our goal is to promote the state’s economy by creating national awareness of Oklahoma’s resources and to continue networking with local suppliers and planners to increase our membership.

In July 2017 the chapter board voted to change the name of the chapter from Wild West Chapter to Oklahoma Chapter, which was later voted on and approved by the national board.

For More on the History of SGMP click here.