SOCRATES CALA
Socrates A. Calá, CMP of the CALPRO Group - a full service Conference and Convention Management & Marketing Company, prior to joining the CALPRO Group, has worked with the Washington, DC and Rochester Riverside Convention Centers and has over 15 years of extensive experience in the hospitality, convention and conference planning industry.
Mr. Calá began his studies of the hospitality industry at the Rochester Institute of Technology. While in college Mr. Calá develop a passion for not only the hospitality industry as a whole but for entrepreneurial as well. Every position he held in the industry he develop a full understanding and was rewarded managerial positions for the organizations. Towards his later years in college his career and experiences with meeting planning began at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Along with the day to day operations of the convention center and its events he participated in designing and implementing procedures for several new facilities under the umbrella of The Rochester Riverside Convention Center management team. Namely High Falls and its historic district and the implementation of suite catering for the AAA Baseball team Red Wings Baseball Stadium. These experiences afforded him an opportunity to come to Washington DC and and became a member of the operations staff at The Washington DC Convention Center. In this facility Mr. Calá was able to perfect his meeting planning and facility management skills with national and international clients. He was fortunate enough to be a major part of the New Washington Convention Center and became a major support to the transition team for the new facility. His knowledge and understanding of the new facility allowed him a position on the planning and logistics team for the Grand Opening of the new world class state of the art meeting planning facility. After several months of planning and executing some of the largest shows that took place in the facility he decided to take his knowledge and joined his families meeting management and marketing company, The CALPRO Group.
Through The CALPRO Group Mr. Calá has managed, planned and marketed events successfully across the country and internationally. His travels have allowed him the opportunity to work in many convention centers and meeting planning facilities throughout the country. Mr. Calá lends his experience to various professional groups and organizations. He has a Bachelors degree in Hotel Resort Management from Rochester Institute of Technology. His dedication to the Meeting Planning and Hospitality industry has lead him to acquire his certification as a Certified Meeting Professional(CMP), and attend and complete the professional training from the Oglebay School of Public Assembly in Facility Management. (IAAM, Wheeling, WV). He also has held several positions within industry associations (ACOM, PAFMS, etc).
