Looking Back to Square One - where it all began.

Looking Back to Square One

Where it all began ...

Commitment, determination and resiliency are in our DNA

We are no strangers to challenge. Site Selection Services was founded in 2002 when the meetings industry was struggling in the wake of 9/11. Our vision, work ethic and determination enabled us to build a successful business when all of the cards appeared to be stacked against us.  

Our co-founders Kim and Scott knew that if they poured the same time and energy into starting a business as they’d been doing in their corporate jobs as hotel sales managers, they could achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. Never mind that the business climate was abysmal for hotels and the meetings market. Travel had come to a near standstill, meetings and events budgets were cut down to a shoestring, and meeting planners were being laid off left and right. 

But that didn’t stop them from leaving the security of their corporate jobs and taking the biggest, most rewarding leap of their lives. “Most people saw doom and gloom, but we set our sights on the opportunity,” Kim reflects. “We knew our unique combination of skills could translate into both time and cost savings for our future customers.”

The Early Days

Building a business from scratch required getting spun-up on so many elements that weren’t in the duo’s original wheelhouse. The learning curve was steep, from creating business and marketing plans to educating themselves on hotels in every corner of the world and researching cities they’d never visited. “It was quite the juggling act, between building our brand while networking like mad, convincing global sales managers to represent us and—of course—finding customers,” Kim says.

Adding to the challenge, they went from selling a product to a service. Promoting a new, free service elicited skepticism. Potential clients didn’t believe it could be free and were always asking ‘what’s the catch?’”  

Slowly but surely, one customer turned into two, turned to three and so on. After a few years of constantly getting up and showing up, the business became profitable and their vision became a reality. 

The Growth Mindset

From 2002 until 2009, Site Selection Services was still a small team of two. “Just as we were looking to expand our team and riding the wave of a growth trajectory, we had to tap into our resilience reservoirs again when the Great Recession hit in 2008.” It wasn’t a time to pull back and be cautious—it was a time test their mettle.

In 2009, in the aftermath of the financial crisis, Cami Chatterton joined the team. A successful and driven sales professional who shared Kim and Scott’s ethos, Cami left her job as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Westin San Diego to feed her own entrepreneurial spirit. It was a risk many would not have taken at that uncertain time—opting to leave a lucrative career to take a chance on going independent. 

“My idea of success became spending more time with my daughter and building a business between nap times,” Cami said. And she succeeded. Ten years later, there is no doubt she is a huge asset to the company as a high-level producer booking meetings all over the globe.  

In 2018, another force to be reckoned with joined the team. Chrissy Benson had been working as Director of Sales at L’Auberge Del Mar, tirelessly leading the Sales Team of the Year and putting in endlessly long hours. But the day she lost her stepfather, her perspective shifted as she came to see just how short life can be. 

“My early mornings and late nights building someone else’s business needed to change,” Chrissy remembers. “It was time to start building something that had deeper meaning for me and gave my life more balance.” And just like that, she took the plunge to become a Global Account Director, working alongside Cami, Kim and Scott.

The Path Forward

When it comes to charting the course of our post-pandemic path, we’re letting our history guide us forward and embracing the possibility for growth and transformation. Whether that means adding a few new members to our sales team or working hand in hand with our clients to reinvent the the meeting planning process, we are firmly believe adversity creates opportunity.

We might be doing things very differently, but our can-do team is resilient, ready to reinvent and remain your trusted partner as we create imaginative and memorable ways for people to gather in the very near future.