Director of Technology Services Mahesh Rathi is known for being a huge Atlanta Falcons fan, so it was no surprise when he won a leadership role with the Super Bowl LIII volunteer committee. That honor, coupled with Mahesh’s 10-year anniversary with Meeting Expectations, kicks off an exciting time for a Meeting Expectations team member who cares deeply about his colleagues, clients and work. Mahesh considers Meeting Expectations to be his “second family”, as most of his family still resides in India. We recently sat down with Mahesh to learn more about these exciting times and what drives his passion for events and association management.
J: What is your role at Meeting Expectations?
M: At Meeting Expectations, I am the Director of Technology Solutions. My role is to help our internal and external clients with their technology needs to provide innovative solutions for associations and event planners so that they can do the job better. And in turn, also see how we can enhance our attendee experiences when they attend conferences.
J: Why do you love doing what you do?
M: I’ve always loved working in technology. Technology is something that comes easy [to me]. It’s very intuitive and I love helping our colleagues and our clients in providing the best technology I can – so they can, in turn, help their members and their attendees have a better experience.
J: What brought you to the U.S.?
M: I’m from India, from an extended family and at that time, twenty-one years ago, coming to the U.S. for education or for work was considered prestigious. My great grandmother used to always tell me and my father that ‘he’s [Mahesh] the only one who’s good at studies’, who will listen, who can go to the U.S. She always insisted that I should work hard and apply to schools here.
J: What brought you to ME?
M: When I came to Meeting Expectations for an interview, I loved the company environment, I loved what ME was doing with multiple clients, helping them do their conferences, events and manage members. I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to join.
J: What has made you stay so long with ME?
M: Family is important to me. Meeting Expectations has become a second family for me. All the people that work here are nice, they are always looking out for each other. So many of my colleagues know that I am vegetarian… so when I am going to events where I don’t recognize the food, they always look out for me – ‘Mahesh you should eat this, you should not eat this’ – which is really what a family does. The culture here, all the people here, is the most important reason why I am here.
J: You are a huge Atlanta Falcons fan, tell us a little bit about how long you’ve been a fan and why you support the hometown team.
M: I’m not just a Falcons fan, I support all Georgia teams. Football is something that I– for me football meant soccer when I came to the U.S. After I started watching American football, I really enjoyed it and the Falcons are the home team. I do like to go to the games, and I do support all the home teams in Atlanta.
J: We hear you have a very special role coming up in January for the Super Bowl, what is it?
M: I’ve been selected as a captain for the Super Bowl volunteers and in late January and February when the Super Bowl is in Atlanta, we will be, 10,000 of us, volunteering on streets at the airport at the hotels providing the best southern hospitality to the million plus visitors that are expected during that time in Atlanta.
J: That’s amazing! What are all the duties that come with this role?
M: During the week of the Super Bowl, we will be managing the volunteers in teams of anywhere from thirty to one-hundred volunteers at a time. We will be managing them and placing them strategically at various locations in Atlanta, explaining to them what the duties would be and we will be doing that during the ten days that the Super Bowl is here.
