The Team

Carmen Neufeld, President

February 1, 2011 marks 22 years of event management for Carmen. This is notable as she began with one event before the business cards had been delivered from the printer and now oversees the organization and management of at least 50 events per year with a team of more than a dozen.

Carmen is a promotions, networking and marketing expert who has organized events with attendance of 25 to 5,409 and budgets from $ 2,000 to $ 1,000,000!

Her commitment to the entrepreneurial spirit has led Carmen to become Chair of the Women's Enterprise Centre and the President of Women Business Owner's of Manitoba She was nominated for the YM-YWCA Women of Distinction Award in 1996 and was named Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999 . In February 2000 she was appointed the first woman Chair in the history of the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission.

Meeting Professionals International (Manitoba Chapter) nominated Carmen for an Excellence in Service award in 2005. She received the Supplier of the Year award from MPI in 2006 and recently was again named Manitoba Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in the "Impact on Local Economy" category! Carmen also accepted the Chambers of Commerce Manitoba Outstanding Small Business Award in 2006.

Read about Carmen in Women Business Owners Today

Shannon Barry, B. Sc., Senior Project Manager

Shannon joined the Planners Plus team in November of 2004. Shannon 's outgoing personality and determination to see to every detail brings a feeling of confidence to our clients.

Since joining the team Shannon has organized a number of gala dinners, conferences, fundraising events and an international summit. She is the Lead Project Manager on all events for our Aboriginal clients.

Barbro Dick, BA, Project Manager

Barbro Dick, Project Manager, has recently joined Planners Plus Inc. after a 7 year “hiatus” to have a family. She is very excited to exercise her professional muscles again! Prior to taking time out for family, Barbro held positions in marketing, communications, and event management with Manitoba Public Insurance and the Health Sciences Centre Foundation. Her most recent position was as Director of Victoria Lifeline, a program of the Victoria General Hospital Foundation. Barbro’s enthusiasm and expertise fits perfectly with the rest of the team and we are very pleased to welcome her aboard.

Sonya J. Penner, BA, MA, Project Manager

Sonya J. Penner, BA, MA, Project Manager, is a recent addition to the team having joined us in early August of 2009. Sonya was one of our valued clients at Advanced Education until she left too raise her two children. Now back in the workforce we were thrilled when she wanted to be part of the Planners Plus team! Welcome aboard Sonya!

Betty Bates, Registration Officer

Betty joined us in January of 2008 as our money gal. Betty brings years of financial experience to the team and is our go to person on any matters regarding finance. She works closely with Dani in handling all the revenue and expenditures for our clients.

Danielle (Dani) Magnusson, Office Manager and Registration Coordinator

Danielle (Dani) Magnusson, Office Manager and Registration Coordinator, joined us in 2008 and brings great attention to detail. She has become Carmen's right hand person and is helping with all the administrative work needed for an organization of this size. In addition she is the direct contact for all delegates registering for every event we are organizing.

ede Fast, C.I.M

ede joined Planners Plus in October 2009. For the past 20 years, she worked as an Executive Director in the education field where organizational, planning and administrative skills were vital. That expertise, as well as her experience in event management, were a good fit with the Planners Plus mandate. ede is “very pleased to be part of the Planners Plus team.

Our Support Team

In addition to these fine women we have and impressive list of part-time people who bring an added expertise and friendly service to our clients. Linda, Anne, Bob, Riel, David S, Charlotte, Angie, Dave N, Mavis and Bonnie.

Our Furry Friends

We welcomed Ms Peanut as our office pup! She is often visited by Ziggy (a furry princess), Chester (a great therapy dog that stops in on his way to work) and his little brother Beau (therapy dog in training). Our dog friendly environment is possible because of great landlords!