Melissa Trout, CMP, DES
Senior Meetings Manager, Council for Exceptional Children
mtrout@exceptionalchildren.org
Number of events in 2025: 5-6
Types of events: Conferences, conventions
Average number of attendees in 2025: 300-5,000+
What is your role associated with meetings and events?
I handle all the logistics for our convention and conferences. I work with our marketing team on email and social media promotion, with the programming committee on selecting sessions and handling the proposals, and with our strategic partners on managing sponsor deliverables and offsite events.
What skills do you think are essential for planning successful meetings and events?
Developing cooperative relationships with your venue, hotel, and third-party partners is key in event planning. Being detail-oriented and adaptable to different circumstances and issues is also important.
What is your philosophy or approach to challenges and unexpected issues?
Keep the big picture in mind. I try to identify different solutions to challenges and issues. When possible, bring in third-party partners who can offer assistance and resources.
How do you keep up with industry trends, changes, and cutting-edge developments?
I listen to my industry peers and turn to them for helpful recommendations. I also follow PCMA, MPI, and industry publications for the latest industry news, trends, and suggestions for planning ahead.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
All of it. I love the beginning-to-end process of planning an event. I love seeing attendees’ reactions when they arrive on-site for the first time—there is so much joy all around. I also love the beauty in the chaos, when you’re a week out and the pressure is on.
How would you describe your biggest professional success?
Within the first year of joining the Council for Exceptional Children, I worked tirelessly with our marketing and design team to amplify
our convention experience for attendees. Our registration numbers rose by 15% from 2023 and by an additional 3% from 2024 to 2025. I also created a new registration package, which included our in-person convention, virtual convention, and closing night party (CEC Celebration).
Please share an anecdote about a unique or unusual event that you organized.
Last year’s Teacher Education Division Conference was held during the 2024 election. Anticipating this could be an emotional time, we made sensory rooms available where attendees could recharge. We also brought in a social worker in case anyone needed to talk with someone about any difficulties they were experiencing. As a meeting planner, I have always felt that part of our job is trying to anticipate attendees’ needs and having options for them.
What is the best professional advice you ever received, and what advice would you offer others in the industry?
The best professional advice I received was to plan for the unexpected.
My advice to others is to build connections with your hotel partners and third-party vendors. Meeting planning is a small community; having those connections is so valuable, whether you’re sending out an RFP or tackling an unexpected problem during the conference.
What do you hope to achieve or look forward to as you plan events in 2026?
I hope to continue doing what I love, planning meetings, well into the future. I always look forward to new approaches in planning meetings and bringing in new ideas, whether through programming, banquet event orders, or special events.
