Carrie Abernathy
CEO
A Woman With Drive
Marlys Arnold
Trade Show Consultant & Author
Exhibit Marketers Cafe
Amelie Bahlsen
Director, Experiential Strategy
Storycraft LAB
Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins
Director, Strategic Operations
Silver Fox
Melissa Biele
Chief Strategy Officer
Experiential Marketing Strategies
Melissa Blackshear
Technology Product Manager
Maritz Global Events
Sarah Bondar
COO
The Charles Group, Inc.
John Carey
Marketing Coordinator
Hubb
Evan Casey
Vice President - Sales
MPI
Navin Chand
President & Founder
New Moon Ideas Inc.
Shawn Cheng
Project Manager
MCI Group
Naomi Clare
CEO
Storycraft Lab
Michael Clarke
Director, B2B Marketing & Events – U.S. & Canada
Marriott International
Lawrence Coburn
CEO
twine (twine.nyc)
Allison Crooker
Director, Event Content
VMware
Laura Doerfler, CMP
Senior Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Lynn Edwards
Owner
Proper Planning
Melissa Fant
Director, Global Accounts
MCW Events
Natalie Fulgencio-Turner
Co-founder/Head Curator
Common Collective
Darcy Gabriele
AE
eventcore
Kerri Garbis
Founder & CEO
Ovation
Rachael Green
CEO, Founder
The RGC Experience - Rach Green Cocktails
Curtis Haley
Founder
Beyond Consulting LLC
Megan Henshall
Global Events Account Manager
Google
Dominic Housiaux
Principal
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Bryan Huneycutt
President
HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting
Therese Jardine
Principal
Strategic Event Procurement
Marshall Jones
Vice President, Regional Sales
Prestige Global Meeting Source
Lauren Katz
Exhibits and Artifacts Program Manager
NASA HQ
Jodi B. Katzman
Director, Events & Production
JBK Productions
Liz King Caruso
CEO
techsytalk
Jennifer Kingen Kush
Founder and Strategist
Kingen Kush Solutions
Michael Kophs
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Microsoft
Elisa Kuhar
Chief Operating Officer
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Hilary Laney
Owner and CEO
Evia
Kim Lawrence
CEO & Executive Producer
The Line Collective
KiKi L'Italien
Editor-in-Chief
Association Chat
JT Long
Editorial Director
Smart Meetings
Julie Lynch
Head of Events
F5
Allie Magyar
Founder & CEO
Hubb
Rae Malcham
Senior Technical Project Manager
Hubb
Danny Maldonado
CEO
Fulcra
Maya Manciagli
Strategist
Storycraft Lab
Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey
CEO
Nifty Method
Justin Martinez
Event & Program Coordinator / Community Engagement Manager
Technology Association of Oregon
Dacia Massengill
Digital Strategist
NASA
Rachel Matthews
Experience Strategist
GPJ
Raime Merriman
VP Marketing
Hubb
Laurel Miller
President
Seamless Event Solutions
Trevor Mitchell
Executive Director/CEO
American Mensa and the Mensa Foundation
James Morgan
Principal Lecturer
School of Architecture, University of Westminster
Katy Mull
Director, Experience Strategy
Storycraft Lab
Anh Nguyen
Principal + Founder
Spark Event Collective
Dan Noake
Managing Partner
Hammerton Barca
Deanna Nwosu
Founder
Deanna Camille
Melissa Opland
Sr. Sponsorship Program Manager
AWS
Gail Orfanos, CMP, HMCC
Owner | Meetings and Event Planner
Go Meetings + Events, LLC
Lisa Peyton
Senior Marketing Manager
Hubb
Ann Plana
VP, Strategic Initiatives
eventcore
Lori Pugh Marcum
Head of Meeting Innovation
Meeting Professionals International
Jherica Rhodes
Coordinator
MPI
Ken Roden
Director of Customer Experience Makreting
Highspot
Lizzy Rudge
Marketing Specialist
eventcore
Deanna Schuler
Owner
Steady Course LLC
Olivia Scott
Founder & Principal Consultant
Omerge Alliances
Crystal Shipps
Education Operations and Development
MPI
Stephanie Siemens
Growth Marketing Associate
Iron Horse
Tim Simpson
Brand & Engagement Chief Strategist
Design Studio by Maritz Global Events
Sara Smith
Event Program Manager
Microsoft
Nancy Snowden
Manager, Curriculum and Instructional Design
Meeting Professionals International
Amanda Solon
Corporate Events, Senior
Epicor
Jessie States
Director, MPI Academy
Meeting Professionals International
Devon Stiles
Director, Strategy & Solution Design
Maritz Global Events
Jamie Timperley
President
Dynamic Events
Kat Tranzillo
Sr. Digital Event Experience Manager
Workday
Josh Vande Krol
Chief Operations Officer
Hubb, Inc.
Alisha Wenc
Director, Educational Programs and Events
C200
Brandon Wernli
President
BW Events LLC
Marcus White
Managing Member
MCW Events, LLC
Carrie Abernathy
CEO
A Woman With Drive
Carrie Abernathy, CMP, CEM, CSEP, is an event industry visionary, speaker, planner, podcast host and writer. Carrie is co-Founder of the Association for Women in Events, a community for all those that identify as women in the events sector. She is currently the Lead Meeting Planner for the Industry Engagement team at Altria Group Distribution Company. Additionally, Carrie is CEO of “A Woman with Drive”—a blog that ties in her love of all things golf and leadership together.
Carrie also co-hosts the talkcast series “Events: From Black to White” - a discussion on equality in the events industry and co-hosts a weekly Podcast #Like an Event Boss (now on Apple and Spotify). She is the founder of the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, contributor to Golf & Travel Magazine and TSNN/Corporate Event News.
As Collaborate Magazine's "40 under 40", Smart Meetings Magazine’s Top 50 Smart Women of 2017, and named Successful Meetings Magazine’s “Top 25 Most Influential” she is one of the top event industry planners to watch.
Marlys Arnold
Trade Show Consultant & Author
Exhibit Marketers Cafe
Over the past two decades, I've helped thousands of trade show exhibitors gather more qualified leads, outshine their competition, and maximize their exhibiting investment. I've written two books on the subject, in addition to being a familiar industry voice in various publications and podcasts, including my own Trade Show Insights blog and podcast.
For nearly 10 years, I've said that both trade show organizers and exhibitors needed to do more to expand the reach of their events beyond just the 3-4 days on the actual show floor. It only took a global pandemic to wake the entire industry up to the potential of virtual exhibiting!
Even if you're not familiar with how a virtual trade show works, I am. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly ... and I'll show you how to be one of the best!
Amelie Bahlsen
Director, Experiential Strategy
Storycraft LAB
Amelie is passionate about learning and engagement strategies that support meaningful human interaction and a lasting content experience.
She worked on the Exhibition Development for the Smithsonian Institution, Inter-American Development Bank, ASAE and provided Content and Engagement Strategy for online events for C200, Microsoft, CEMA and NASA.
She holds Masters Degrees in Exhibition Design and Fashion Design and works with teams as they navigate and curate their content, supporting strategic decision making aligned with a perspective on the attendee and the designed experience. This results in memorable and bespoke experiences, that ensure that all attendees are engaged with the message and content.
Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins
Director, Strategic Operations
Silver Fox
Melissa Biele
Chief Strategy Officer
Experiential Marketing Strategies
Melissa Blackshear
Technology Product Manager
Maritz Global Events
Sarah Bondar
COO
The Charles Group, Inc.
Known as the person who never misses a detail, my passion is in designing and delivering memorable, creative, award winning events.
With a bachelors degree in Events Management from the prestigious UK Center for Events Management, and more than 17 years experience in the events industry, I love what I do and it shows! As COO of The Charles Group, Inc. I'm proud to be part of a strong and passionate team of dedicated professionals designing award winning special events for various corporate clients both in person and virtually.
John Carey
Marketing Coordinator
Hubb
Evan Casey
Vice President - Sales
MPI
Navin Chand
President & Founder
New Moon Ideas Inc.
A proud founder and president of New Moon Ideas. I've been in the marketing industry for over 20 years on both the client and agency side of the business, having spent time in the US and Canada. While my expertise is most recently in the technology sector working on a global scale, my experience ranges from retail and packaged goods to alcohol and entertainment.
I consider myself a soul marketing artist who creates fresh, exciting and thoughtful ideas through my academic background, understanding of social behavioral insights and a strong belief in the human, emotional quotient that is often misunderstood in our industry. Outside of work my passions include world traveling, hockey, good friends, good food and good times.
Shawn Cheng
Project Manager
MCI Group
Award-winning business event manager | Experience curator | Innovation enthusiast | Collaborator | Learnaholic
Current adventures:
- Creating community & designing experience with MCI Group
- Sharing passion and knowledge on technology & engagement with Dahlia Plus
Topics of expertise & interests: Hybrid/In-person/Virtual event design; virtual event production; event marketing and strategy; Monetization, Community building, experience deisgn.
Here to learn, network, steal ideas. But if I can help you in anyways, it will makes my day.
Naomi Clare
CEO
Storycraft Lab
Naomi Clare Crellin is the Founder and CEO at Storycraft Lab, an experiential engagement strategy agency, and Editor and Host of The Futures Forum, an innovation think tank for the experiential industry.
Naomi’s career has seen her work across platforms and media to help make the challenging actionable, using her expertise in the intersection of engagement and strategic message to craft audience journeys that are moving and memorable. She has led experiential teams in creative development and delivery for clients such as the Smithsonian, Bloomberg, The King Center, the State Department, The World Bank, Microsoft and Intel.
With a long history of teaching narrative exhibition design and design thinking, Naomi has a particular passion for the role of content, education and learning in meaningful audience engagement. As an artist,
Naomi’s digital media work has been exhibited as far afield as the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin and the ICA Budapest. Naomi’s artistic lens results in a celebration of the process of creation, and she finds great joy in
providing the frameworks for creativity and expression to occur – whether that is for her team, their clients, or their audiences.
Naomi holds a Master’s Degree in Interior Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Sheffield in England.
Michael Clarke
Director, B2B Marketing & Events – U.S. & Canada
Marriott International
Michael leads a dynamic team of marketing and business event professionals inside the Global Sales Organization at Marriott International. With a focus of assisting the GSO Team in staying connected with Marriott’s largest volume customers within association, corporate, intermediary, wholesale, retail and TMC segments, he works with key GSO executive and associate stakeholders to provide strategy and relevant, personalized information and content to group, business transient and leisure travel customer channels, enabling more efficient decision making and problem solving across Marriott’s portfolio of 30 brands.
In addition, Michael manages Marriott’s meeting, event and tradeshow division, producing internal sales and external customer facing events across all segments and within all premium and luxury brands. Further, he is responsible for all of Marriott’s sponsor and partner programs with all industry associations and organizations.
He and his team recently launched Marriott’s series of hybrid events – Connect With Confidence – showcasing an effective planning approach to both virtual and in-person events with the purpose of encouraging our industry to once again consider face-to-face business events within a well-being environment.
Lawrence Coburn
CEO
twine (twine.nyc)
Lawrence Coburn is a serial entrepreneur who lives in the Mission District of San Francisco with his wife and daughter. He is the CEO and co-founder of twine (twine.nyc), a deep networking module for virtual, in-person, and hybrid events that he launched in 2020. Previously, he founded DoubleDutch, the market leader for mobile event apps, which was acquired by Cvent in 2019. When not working, you can find Lawrence riding bicycles with his family, on the basketball court, or reading Science Fiction.
Allison Crooker
Director, Event Content
VMware
Laura Doerfler, CMP
Senior Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Lynn Edwards
Owner
Proper Planning
Lynn brings over 30 years and a wealth of experience to event management. Lynn and her team provide a comprehensive and efficient method for producing innovative events across the country. Her experience working in hotels, convention centers, convention & visitors bureaus and now owning Proper Planning for nearly 20 years, gives her a well-rounded background in the events business.
Lynn is experienced in overall event strategy, creative event design, event marketing, digital events, sponsorship development, contract negotiations, vendor management and overall meeting production.
Sam Eitzen is the co-founder and CEO of Snapbar, an Inc. 500 company, that uses photo and video technology to help event planners, agencies and marketers create better engagement and content for their events and campaigns. He also co-founded Keep Your City Smiling, a care package company that supports small businesses struggling as a result of the pandemic.
Along with his team at Snapbar, Sam has had the privilege of working at events like CES, Coachella, SXSW with clients including Google, Nike, Disney, Louis Vuitton, MasterCard and many others.
Before starting Snapbar with his brother, Sam served as Marketing Director and then COO at Rhino, a Kickstarter-funded camera gear startup. During his time there, Rhino become a globally recognized brand in the camera gear space with their products being used in the film departments at Apple, NBC, Universal, GoPro, BBC, and Tesla.
Melissa Fant
Director, Global Accounts
MCW Events
Natalie Fulgencio-Turner
Co-founder/Head Curator
Common Collective
Darcy Gabriele
AE
eventcore
Kerri Garbis
Founder & CEO
Ovation
Rachael Green
CEO, Founder
The RGC Experience - Rach Green Cocktails
Rachael has over 10 years experience in the events and F&B industries and uses the ability to interrupt the pattern of virtual events by connecting, engaging and bringing edutainment to people globally over her live virtual events. In addition to becoming a sommelier, Rachael has served high profile people such as Kirsten Dunst and collaborated with the industry’s leading Virtual Events Legends. She has held dozens of virtual events in 2020 making drinks for and entertaining thousands of people, making her experience the perfect solution for connecting your group virtually in the same room!
Rachael holds space for over 10,000 virtual eventprofs through the new social app Clubhouse, where she founded the Virtual Events & Experiences Collective club. The community holds conversations all day, everyday to share content on events, clubhouse, community, and even mental health!
Curtis Haley
Founder
Beyond Consulting LLC
At certain points in his life, Curtis Haley has been an event manager, a nonprofit director, a professional trainer, a keynote speaker, a project management professional, a political organizer, and even an aspiring MC and game show host. In the midst of COVID-19, he put all of those experiences together to create his own event consulting firm: Beyond Consulting LLC.
A lifelong Oregonian, Curtis graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon on a Presidential Scholarship in 2011. He began his career in the student leadership world as a successful nonprofit director, speaker, trainer and coach for Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) before transitioning to full-time event management and support. Curtis lives in Portland with his wife Elissa, their dog Lily, their surly cat Peanut, and their baby boy who will be joining the world in July 2021.
Megan Henshall
Global Events Account Manager
Google
Dominic Housiaux
Principal
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Bryan Huneycutt
President
HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting
Bryan Huneycutt has worked in the performing arts for over 35 years in a variety of performance and leadership roles. His performance career spanned a variety of roles; including dancer, puppeteer, stilt walker, stunt performer, parade performer and float driver before transitioning to leadership. Since assuming a leadership role, he has managed Emmy winning parades, stage shows, special events and fireworks and the opening of the Shanghai Resort as the Program Manager for Entertainment Safety with Disney Parks and Resorts Live Entertainment. Bryan earned his Master of Tourism Administration Degree from George Washington University focused on Event and Meeting Management and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Performance Psychology at Grand Canyon University. In addition, he is a Co-Founder of the Safety Advisors Forum-Live Entertainment (SAF-LE) and recently served on the Board of Directors for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, where he leads the Safety & Health Commission. Bryan is the President and CEO for HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting.
Therese Jardine
Principal
Strategic Event Procurement
I'm passionate about taking the Pain out of Procurement for Events.
I provide a "Procurement Insider" view to event agencies and suppliers to help them navigate their clients' Procurement policies.
I also help event organizers build an effective Procurement strategy to support their event portfolios.
Marshall Jones
Vice President, Regional Sales
Prestige Global Meeting Source
Prestige Global Meeting Source, founded in 1986, provides site selection and event services to clients. Our experienced sales partners work to find and contract the best possible hotels, resorts, DMCs and cruises for groups and continue through to full-service event development and management.
Lauren Katz
Exhibits and Artifacts Program Manager
NASA HQ
Jodi B. Katzman
Director, Events & Production
JBK Productions
Jodi B. Katzman is an award-winning events management and production professional with expertise in event creation, planning, management and execution of high-profile, world-class events, business programs and TV projects, including several Olympic Games, Super Bowl, Presidential Conventions, 9/11 Memorial Commemorations, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nickelodeon Studios Grand Opening, Miss America Pageants, and Tony and Grammy Awards. Over her career, she has produced events and programs for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, MTV, Blockbuster, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Sunkist and Snapple and created cutting-edge employee incentive recognition programs and special events for Avon Products. Most recently, she added management of exhibits and attraction experiences to her repertoire. She has stage-managed 50+ theatrical productions, concerts and events.
Jodi has received numerous accolades for her work, including two Telly Awards, Avon Products' President's Award, with the distinction of receiving the recognition after only two years of service, and won the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions 1st Place award for Best New Product for Madame Tussauds Orlando and Sydney Justice League: A Call for Heroes experience. She received an Esprit Award for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Premiere Launch and awarded Special Events Magazine’s Gala Award for the Hong Kong USA Festival and Tai Chi in the Park. She was also twice named the Cambridge Who's Who Professional of the Year in Event Management, one of the few honorees with the distinction of receiving this recognition two years in a row.
In our current pandemic environment, Jodi has become a leader in events-related Covid-19 compliance and safety. She is a Health Education Services Certified Covid-19 Compliance Officer, Certified Covid Safety Officer, and Certified Pandemic Compliance Advisor for Meetings & Events, and currently holds 12 Covid-19 health & safety certifications, including OSHA Production Infection Control, Safe Sets International Covid-19 Level A Certification for Production and Level B for Leadership, Event Leadership Institute’s Pandemic On-Site Protocol certification, Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Contact Tracing certification and Event Safety Alliance’s Event Safety Access certification. Jodi completed WHO’s Covid-19 Mass Gatherings Risk Assessment training and she serves as Leadership Chair of Risk Assessment & Safety Protocols for the Live Events Coalition.
Liz King Caruso
CEO
techsytalk
Liz King Caruso is an Event Strategist, Consultant and Speaker. As CEO of Liz King Events and techsytalk, she has helped countless thought leaders grow their audience and sell their products through in-person, virtual & hybrid events. Liz is a big-picture person - passionate about tying events into an overall sales and marketing strategy and being efficient at every point of the process. Technology is her niche and she's obsessed with helping organizations of every size leverage technology to produce more engaging & seamless event experiences.
In addition to her client work, Liz connects & educates her industry colleagues through platforms she has built - techsytalk GLOBAL, the techsytalk community & IGNITE Consulting program.
Liz has been featured as Eventex's 50 Most Innovative Virtual Meeting Planners, Successful Meetings list of 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry, Top 5 Women in Event Tech, amongst other awards.
Jennifer Kingen Kush
Founder and Strategist
Kingen Kush Solutions
Jennifer Kingen Kush has over a decade of experience designing impactful online experiences that drive results.
As the founder of Kingen Kush Solutions (KKS), her expertise focuses on strategy, experience design, content development, tech solutions to production, and metrics.
The KKS Team works with organizations to design and deliver profitable events to amplify their reach and drive results for long-term strategic goals. KKS is proud all of their client events in 2020 and 2021 have been successful as profitable and exceeded goals.
Previously, Jennifer led the PCMA’s Digital Experience Institute [DEI] dedicated to the research, education, and content for hybrid and digital events, including leading the global DES Certification. Jennifer led the consulting arm of DEIand produced PCMA’s digital events since their inception in 2010.
Michael Kophs
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Microsoft
Elisa Kuhar
Chief Operating Officer
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Hilary Laney
Owner and CEO
Evia
Kim Lawrence
CEO & Executive Producer
The Line Collective
Focus, determination and the desire for excellence fuels Kim, which she brings
every day to her clients’ preparation and program execution. As an Executive
Producer, she goes beyond the surface to bring to life visually the essence of
the brand and the message. Clients look to Kim for her innate ability to weave
and tell their story.
A former NCAA champion rower for the University of Washington, Kim brings
her commitment to strategy, planning, preparation and performance under
stiff competition to her professional career and acclaimed success in corporate,
entertainment, nonprofit films and events.
Her background in theater enables her to sense when to create drama or lift
with laughter, and has garnered her acclimated recognition with her clients
and in the media industry – whether it’s on film, live on camera or in front of
an audience of thousands.
Kim Lawrence’s work reaches from Fortune 500 companies to the Academy
Award’s red carpet to hard-hitting documentaries around the world. With
multiple Telly Awards and the Silver Sierra Award at Yosemite Film Festival,
her credits include work for Microsoft, IBM, T-Mobile, Starbucks, Amazon, the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Heifer International, PATH and many more.
KiKi L'Italien
Editor-in-Chief
Association Chat
JT Long
Editorial Director
Smart Meetings
Julie Lynch
Head of Events
F5
Goal-driven marketing strategist with proven success building, planning, creating and driving events and programs. Extensive background managing programs, people, communications, multi-faceted global teams and budgets that deliver amazing experiences and solid business results. Placing the customer at the center of all we do is what I do.
Allie Magyar
Founder & CEO
Hubb
Rae Malcham
Senior Technical Project Manager
Hubb
Danny Maldonado
CEO
Fulcra
Maya Manciagli
Strategist
Storycraft Lab
Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey
CEO
Nifty Method
Justin Martinez
Event & Program Coordinator / Community Engagement Manager
Technology Association of Oregon
Justin Martinez, Event & Program Coordinator, joins TAO with an extensive hospitality background. Justin has worked on various projects including weddings, galas, continuing education programs, trade shows and conventions in Houston, San Francisco and most recently opening and managing events for two newly built downtown Portland Hotels.
His experience and penchant to deliver new and exciting experiences while connecting with others to provide a unique and fun addition to any event.
Dacia Massengill
Digital Strategist
NASA
Rachel Matthews
Experience Strategist
GPJ
Raime Merriman
VP Marketing
Hubb
Laurel Miller
President
Seamless Event Solutions
Trevor Mitchell
Executive Director/CEO
American Mensa and the Mensa Foundation
Trevor S. Mitchell, MBA, CAE, CDP is the Executive Director/CEO of American Mensa, Ltd. and the Mensa Foundation, Trevor provides leadership toward the achievement of the organization's mission, vision, strategy, and annual goals and objectives. Trevor works with both boards in developing strategies that support the mission, developing and implementing the strategic goals and objectives of American Mensa, and enabling the board to fulfill its governance function effectively. Trevor has been involved in association management for over 15 years and has contributed to the profession through speaking, writing, and volunteering.
James Morgan
Principal Lecturer
School of Architecture, University of Westminster
Katy Mull
Director, Experience Strategy
Storycraft Lab
I help teams elevate understanding of audience – What drives them? Why do they fall in love? What makes them pause and think? Or share with their friends? How does this experience function as an element of their Human journey? Through Empathy, Imagination and Creativity, I leverage my background in media + digital and human-centered design to conceptualize innovative approaches to engagement. My passion for storytelling and study of digital experiences offer a unique perspective on journey mapping and innovative UX.
I’ve spent several years as a multimedia storyteller in the nonprofit sector, producing and editing short video stories and creating narratives that dealt with a diverse range of topics, including advocacy issues, human-centered stories, and international policy discussions. My personal pursuit of stories about human connection has translated into my work as an experience designer.
Anh Nguyen
Principal + Founder
Spark Event Collective
Dan Noake
Managing Partner
Hammerton Barca
Deanna Nwosu
Founder
Deanna Camille
Deanna is a hostess at heart. This led to her career in event planning which allowed her to coordinate countless opportunities to connect with clients, vendors, and stakeholders across all social strata.
A Certified Meeting Professional since 2017 and Digital Event Strategist since 2020, she is also an active member of Meeting Professionals International, serving on the membership and marketing committees for the Ohio chapter. In 2020 she launched Deanna Camille - a company focused on thought leadership, creating community and training in the meeting and event industry.
Melissa Opland
Sr. Sponsorship Program Manager
AWS
Gail Orfanos, CMP, HMCC
Owner | Meetings and Event Planner
Go Meetings + Events, LLC
Lisa Peyton
Senior Marketing Manager
Hubb
I'm equal parts bleeding edge technologist, passionate educator and data driven strategist. I strongly believe in the power of technology to educate, entertain and connect people around the world. I leverage the principles of psychology, immersive storytelling and digital channel expertise to help brands understand, reach and emotionally connect with their customers.
Bleeding Edge Technologist
Technology touches every aspect of our lives and the positive impact of today's technology far outweighs any perceived negative effects. I relish pioneering innovative technological capabilities that allow people to connect and learn in new ways.
Passionate Educator
I love to teach. During the course of my life, teachers have provided much needed support, encouragement, wisdom and a belief in my abilities that was lacking in other areas of my life. I highly value the opportunity to provide that support to my students through an experiential and hands-on approach both in person and through remote learning.
Data Driven Strategist
The most effective strategies are rooted in research and insights derived from data. With over a decade of digital marketing and social media experience, I know how to capture and analyze data in order to make better marketing decisions, meet marketing objectives and optimize campaign performance.
Ann Plana
VP, Strategic Initiatives
eventcore
Ann Plana is a core member of the Untethered planning team and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at
eventcore, a best in class event tech provider, with a core focus on registration.
Ann spoke at Untethered 2020 about creating an engaging and seamless attendee experience by leveraging the right event technology.
Lori Pugh Marcum
Head of Meeting Innovation
Meeting Professionals International
Jherica Rhodes
Coordinator
MPI
Ken Roden
Director of Customer Experience Makreting
Highspot
Lizzy Rudge
Marketing Specialist
eventcore
Deanna Schuler
Owner
Steady Course LLC
Deanna has worked in corporate events for more than 15 years, managing event content and the content teams to deliver top notch educational experiences, oversee event technology implementation, and define some of the largest corporate events in the technology industry. She is passionate about seeing the industry develop more professionals with specific event content expertise. Every event needs a content manager and through that lens, the content manager needs to 1) create a tight content strategy, 2) build strong session catalogs, and 3) deploy intuitive, powerful user tools. These are the backbone of successful corporate events.
Olivia Scott
Founder & Principal Consultant
Omerge Alliances
Crystal Shipps
Education Operations and Development
MPI
Stephanie Siemens
Growth Marketing Associate
Iron Horse
Tim Simpson
Brand & Engagement Chief Strategist
Design Studio by Maritz Global Events
Tim is a global creative marketer with roots in the advertising, telecommunications, transportation and logistics industries. With an MFA in Poetry and an eclectic and varied background, Tim brings something unique to any organization looking to build an iconic brand and foster smart, original programs and initiatives. After 9 years developing multiple brands owned by a global Fortune 150, Tim branched out in July 2016 to start his own practice (TS Creative Consulting). In mid-2018, Tim joined forces with the Design Studio by Maritz Global Events to drive growth and deliver direct client strategy consulting; and continues his advisory and mentorship work for start-ups and small/mid-sized businesses.
Tim is a versatile and dynamic leader with a natural way of guiding and setting the tempo for large teams of writers, strategists and designers while specializing in Experience Design, Marketing Strategy, Brand Development & Redesign, Strategic Communications, and Creative Disruption & Transformations.
Sara Smith
Event Program Manager
Microsoft
Nancy Snowden
Manager, Curriculum and Instructional Design
Meeting Professionals International
Amanda Solon
Corporate Events, Senior
Epicor
Jessie States
Director, MPI Academy
Meeting Professionals International
Devon Stiles
Director, Strategy & Solution Design
Maritz Global Events
Jamie Timperley
President
Dynamic Events
Kat Tranzillo
Sr. Digital Event Experience Manager
Workday
Josh Vande Krol
Chief Operations Officer
Hubb, Inc.
I started my career in education, even taught my brother in law's brother for a bit during a 3rd grade teaching internship. During a summer break I started working in a technology company and found that I could still teach, but just in a different setting.
In my professional career, I am a technologist at heart with a breadth of experience in multiple industries and in a variety of organizational sizes. I've helped create technology solutions for multiple companies and fields, including Microsoft, PIMCO, Kaiser Permanente and Tableau. I believe in implementing best practices of business processes through that are people centric. I have certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, Agile and Scrum. I am both a certified Scrum Master and Product Owner. I am currently helping Hubb move beyond an early stage start-up to their next level of maturity.
Hubb is my fourth start-up in five different industries, ranging from the travel industry, healthcare, finance, hospitality and manufacturing, often joining the company as one of the first employee(s) or pursuing my entrepreneurial spirit as a co-owner/co-founder.
Hubb has been the most fulfilling experience I've had to date and also the reason why I have worked here longer than anywhere else. I love the people, the culture, the product and the industry. Making the impossible possible has been something that I've seen realized here more so than anywhere else. And that's due solely to the perseverance, the dedication and the commitment our team members take to tackle the job until it's done. Sometimes a person work's choice is solely because they need a job and that's all it is to them.
Hubb has been a whole lot more than that for me and for many of us because of the relationships we've built, the challenges we've faced and the awesome future that is in front of us.
Alisha Wenc
Director, Educational Programs and Events
C200
Brandon Wernli
President
BW Events LLC
Over 15 years of event technology experience deploying solutions involving an array of registration platforms, BI tools, analytics, integrations, BLE, RFID, attendee journeys, artificial intelligence, AR/VR, wayfinding, proximity-based messaging/personalization, virtual events and more. Responsible for overseeing the global technology deployment and strategy for clients like Google, Cisco, Intuit and many others.
Owner of BW Events, one of the fastest growing event technology consulting agencies in the world. For more than a decade BW Events has consulted agencies, event planners and program managers on their event technology needs. For those planning a virtual or in-person event, BW’s professionals will carefully assess your needs, offer recommended solutions and cover any or all of the following services: architect, project management, design, configure, Q&A, integrate, deploy, support, and analyze. BW Events was invited to be a member of the esteemed AJ Digital Collective – a best of bread community for digital events in 2020 and today.
Marcus White
Managing Member
MCW Events, LLC
Founder and Managing Member of Seattle-based MCW Events, Marcus White, CMP is more commonly known as the Minister of Make it Happen. Leveraging his own carefully cultivated and nurtured relationships throughout the industry since dirt was invented [approximately 24 years ago], he can’t help but deliver human-centered and transformative programs. His client resume humbly boasts of strong relationships with Tableau, Twitch, InVisionApp, Valve and more. His industry experience and international exposure has given him a voice across several speaking engagement platforms. All the while, whether he’s chartering some 18+ odd jets or playing with Sparkles [his beloved dog], Marcus diligently and with great intentionality, takes pride in developing and leading his growing deep bench of 20+ team members.
Carrie Abernathy
CEO
A Woman With Drive
Michaela Alexander
Manager, Customer Advocacy & Engagement
Autodesk
Rick Altman
Director
BetterPresenting.com
Colette Apke
Assistant Director, Exhibits & Sponsorship
AVMA
Marlys Arnold
Trade Show Consultant & Author
Exhibit Marketers Cafe
Jenn Artura
Senior Director, Global Strategic Events, Incentives & Experiential
Veritas Technologies LLC
Ibrahim Ayub
Experience & Design Strategist
Guided
Amelie Bahlsen
Director, Experiential Strategy
Storycraft LAB
Amy Baker
CEO
Winston Baker, Inc.
Chris Baker
Health & Safety Supervisor
Vigilant EHS
Judy Basso
Event Planner and Online Educator
Judy Basso Events
Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins
Director, Strategic Operations
Silver Fox
Bryanne Baye
Senior Manager, Corporate Events
Mendix
Karen Bertani
Director, Global Engagement and Knowledge Sharing
CASSS
Melissa Biele
Chief Strategy Officer
Experiential Marketing Strategies
Abby Binshaieg
Product Marketing Manager
Hubb
Melissa Blackshear
Technology Product Manager
Maritz Global Events
Sarah Bondar
COO
The Charles Group, Inc.
Jessica Brown
Senior Director, Strategy
Opus Agency
Michelle Bruno
President
Bruno Group Signature Services
Ashley Cardini
Owner, The Mindful
The Mindful
John Carey
Marketing Coordinator
Hubb
Evan Casey
Vice President - Sales
MPI
Ashlie Castaldo
Digital Marketing Director
Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights
Claudia Cavariani
Manager
Dafing Group
Navin Chand
President & Founder
New Moon Ideas Inc.
Humphrey Chen
CEO
CLIPr AI
Shawn Cheng
Project Manager
MCI Group
Lacey Chimienti
Event Venue Specialist
Martiz Global Events onsite at Google
Naomi Clare
CEO
Storycraft Lab
Michael Clarke
Director, B2B Marketing & Events – U.S. & Canada
Marriott International
Lawrence Coburn
CEO
twine (twine.nyc)
Paul Coulter
Director of Group Sales
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
Cynda Covert
Events & Tradeshow Advisor, Senior
FIS
Allison Crooker
Director, Event Content
VMware
Will Curran
Chief Event Einstein
Endless Events
J. Damany Daniel
Chief Imaginator
The Event Nerd
Kara Dao
Senior Director, Client Engagement and Operations
JDC Events
Ed DiAntonio
Director of Catering and Event Management
WDW Swan and Dolphin Resort
Michael Doane
President
Source of Knowledge
Laura Doerfler, CMP
Senior Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Eric Doyle
Client Solutions Manager
Evia
Holly Duckworth
Ms
Leadership Solutions International
Lynn Edwards
Owner
Proper Planning
Dahlia El Gazzar
Tech Evangelist
DAHLIA+ Agency
Amanda Engler
CEO
Amanda V Engler LLC
Paul Eschen
Vice President, Growth Marketing
Maritz Global Events
Melissa Fant
Director, Global Accounts
MCW Events
SHARON FISHER
CEO/IdeaSparker
PLAY WITH A PURPOSE
Michael Frale
Member Services Specialist
American Epilepsy Society
Natalie Fulgencio-Turner
Co-founder/Head Curator
Common Collective
Darcy Gabriele
AE
eventcore
Kerri Garbis
Founder & CEO
Ovation
Marco Giberti
Founder and CEO
Vesuvio Ventures
Ella Glasgow
Executive Producer
Beyond Virtual Events
Cristina Graham
Director of Education and Professional Development
American Epilepsy Society
Addie Graham-Kramer
Chief Executive Officer
The Event Company
Rachael Green
CEO, Founder
The RGC Experience - Rach Green Cocktails
Jenna Gullotti
Account Manager
Digitell
Curtis Haley
Founder
Beyond Consulting LLC
Katie Hance
Sr. Marketing Manager-North America and Corporate
ControlUp
Megan Henshall
Global Events Account Manager
Google
Emma Hilditch
Content Director
Virtual Events Institute
Dominic Housiaux
Principal
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Jes Hudgins
Director, Events & Creative Services
LaCome Events
Lisa Hufford
CEO
Simplicity Consulting
Bryan Huneycutt
President
HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting
Ify Ifebi
Founder & CEO
Vendorspace
Therese Jardine
Principal
Strategic Event Procurement
Jiju John
Director of Engineering and Innovation
Evia
Mark Johnson
CEO
eventcore
Marshall Jones
Vice President, Regional Sales
Prestige Global Meeting Source
Paul Jones
Founder
Bridgio
Lauren Katz
Exhibits and Artifacts Program Manager
NASA HQ
Jodi B. Katzman
Director, Events & Production
JBK Productions
Liz King Caruso
CEO
techsytalk
Jennifer Kingen Kush
Founder and Strategist
Kingen Kush Solutions
Michael Kophs
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Microsoft
Elisa Kuhar
Chief Operating Officer
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
ELIZABETH KUNSEY, CMP
Senior Manager: Meetings and Events
American Epilepsy Society (AES)
Hilary Laney
Owner and CEO
Evia
Kim Lawrence
CEO & Executive Producer
The Line Collective
Michelle Lee
Account Manager
Hubb
Linda Lindamood
Vice President of Safety & Logistics
Linder Global Events
Robson Lisboa
Business Development Manager
Midiacode
KiKi L'Italien
Editor-in-Chief
Association Chat
JT Long
Editorial Director
Smart Meetings
Julie Lynch
Head of Events
F5
Allie Magyar
Founder & CEO
Hubb
Rae Malcham
Senior Technical Project Manager
Hubb
Danny Maldonado
CEO
Fulcra
Maya Manciagli
Strategist
Storycraft Lab
Stephen Mapes
Planning & Strategy
Impact XM
Vanessa Martin
Director
VM Consultoria em Eventos
Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey
CEO
Nifty Method
Justin Martinez
Event & Program Coordinator / Community Engagement Manager
Technology Association of Oregon
Dacia Massengill
Digital Strategist
NASA
Rachel Matthews
Experience Strategist
GPJ
Oren Mauldin
Client Solutions Manager
Evia
Jamie McIntire
Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Erik McKinney
Executive Creative Director
Impact XM
Raime Merriman
VP Marketing
Hubb
Laurel Miller
President
Seamless Event Solutions
Trevor Mitchell
Executive Director/CEO
American Mensa and the Mensa Foundation
Orlando Monge
Regional Vice President, Venue
Encore
James Morgan
Principal Lecturer
School of Architecture, University of Westminster
James C. Morris
VP, Client Service
Impact XM
Shayna Moskowitz
Director of Meetings and Event Technology
Part 2 Events
Mia Mulholland
Best Buddies International
Katy Mull
Director, Experience Strategy
Storycraft Lab
Eileen Murray
Executive Director
American Epilepsy Society (AES)
Anh Nguyen
Principal + Founder
Spark Event Collective
Dan Noake
Managing Partner
Hammerton Barca
Deanna Nwosu
Founder
Deanna Camille
Susan Oliver
Associate Executive Director, Advancement
American Epilepsy Society
Melissa Opland
Sr. Sponsorship Program Manager
AWS
Gail Orfanos, CMP, HMCC
Owner | Meetings and Event Planner
Go Meetings + Events, LLC
Anne Ornelas
Senior Operations Manager
CASSS
Melissa Osburn-Riley
Event Marketing Manager
Amazon (AWS)
Amber Owens
Founder + Head of Activation
BrandFelt Activation
Dana Pake
Strategists
MCW Events
Nira Paliwoda
Founder/President
Two Shes Productions
Mark Parsons
Managing Director
Events Intelligence
Chrissy Parsons
Strategic Account Manager
Dynamic Events
Kate Patay
Chief Strategist
Patay Consulting
Deana Patterson
Promotions Manager
Pinch A Penny
Lisa Peyton
Senior Marketing Manager
Hubb
SarahEmily Pina
Manager of Conferences and Trainings
National Consumer Law Center
Ann Plana
VP, Strategic Initiatives
eventcore
Lori Pugh Marcum
Head of Meeting Innovation
Meeting Professionals International
Jherica Rhodes
Coordinator
MPI
Ken Roden
Director of Customer Experience Makreting
Highspot
Rosemarie Rossetti
President
Rossetti Enterprises Inc.
Lizzy Rudge
Marketing Specialist
eventcore
Annette Sandler
Director, Live Content
AVIXA
Michael Sandler
VP, Sales Operations
Impact XM
Deanna Schuler
Owner
Steady Course LLC
Olivia Scott
Founder & Principal Consultant
Omerge Alliances
Justin Searle
Manager, Development and Industry Relations
American Epilepsy Society
Nancy Shaffer
Founder CEO
BRAVO! Events
Shelby Sherman
Event Specialist
Dynamic Events
Crystal Shipps
Education Operations and Development
MPI
Stephanie Siemens
Growth Marketing Associate
Iron Horse
Tim Simpson
Brand & Engagement Chief Strategist
Design Studio by Maritz Global Events
Sara Smith
Event Program Manager
Microsoft
Angela Smith
Head of Experiential Events & Field Marketing
Atlassian
Nancy Snowden
Manager, Curriculum and Instructional Design
Meeting Professionals International
Yasmin Solomon
Production Management
Drawing Booth
Amanda Solon
Corporate Events, Senior
Epicor
Jessie States
Director, MPI Academy
Meeting Professionals International
Devon Stiles
Director, Strategy & Solution Design
Maritz Global Events
Elyse Stoner
Founder & Chief Strategist
Fresh Perspective Consulting
Amy Street
Founder
ACS Events and Consulting Services
Elke Sudin
CEO
Drawing Booth
Mahider Tadesse
Founder
Hallpax
Stephanie Teichman
President
Sports Travel Management, LLC
Emily Thompson
Meetings & Events Planner
American Epilepsy Society
Jamie Timperley
President
Dynamic Events
Lindsay Torres
Account Manager
Inspira Marketing
Kat Tranzillo
Sr. Digital Event Experience Manager
Workday
Melissa Vande Kieft
Founder
Living in the Wait
Josh Vande Krol
Chief Operations Officer
Hubb, Inc.
Alisha Wenc
Director, Educational Programs and Events
C200
Brandon Wernli
President
BW Events LLC
Marcus White
Managing Member
MCW Events, LLC
Matt Wittek
CEO & Founder
Fill it Forward
Amanda Young
Owner, Operator
Young Events Consulting
Arthur Zards
Founder
Lab Z
Carrie Abernathy
CEO
A Woman With Drive
Carrie Abernathy, CMP, CEM, CSEP, is an event industry visionary, speaker, planner, podcast host and writer. Carrie is co-Founder of the Association for Women in Events, a community for all those that identify as women in the events sector. She is currently the Lead Meeting Planner for the Industry Engagement team at Altria Group Distribution Company. Additionally, Carrie is CEO of “A Woman with Drive”—a blog that ties in her love of all things golf and leadership together.
Carrie also co-hosts the talkcast series “Events: From Black to White” - a discussion on equality in the events industry and co-hosts a weekly Podcast #Like an Event Boss (now on Apple and Spotify). She is the founder of the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force, contributor to Golf & Travel Magazine and TSNN/Corporate Event News.
As Collaborate Magazine's "40 under 40", Smart Meetings Magazine’s Top 50 Smart Women of 2017, and named Successful Meetings Magazine’s “Top 25 Most Influential” she is one of the top event industry planners to watch.
Michaela Alexander
Manager, Customer Advocacy & Engagement
Autodesk
Rick Altman
Director
BetterPresenting.com
www.betterpresenting.com/go/about
Colette Apke
Assistant Director, Exhibits & Sponsorship
AVMA
Colette currently is the Assistant Director, Exhibits & Sponsorship for AVMA. A passionate event professional and strategic refiner with over 13 years of experience with meetings, exhibits, and partnerships. Her passion comes from being able to take an idea and help it grow into a memorable experience that brings people together! Colette recently was honored with Association Forum's Forty Under 40 Award, has served on the MPI-Chicago Area Chapter Board of Directors for 2 years, Association Forum's Holiday Showcase Program Advisory Group and Forum Forward Program Advisory Group. She currently is serving on the CEIR Research Council and ASAE's Meetings & Exhibitions Advisory Council. Born and raised Chicagoan, mom to an 8 going-on 13-year-old daughter named Sophie, 2 bonus kids, Grace (16) and Michael (20), and 2 boxers, Daisy and Ginger. Proud south-paw (Where're all my fellow left-handers at?), and a fan of any team that beats the Cubs.
Marlys Arnold
Trade Show Consultant & Author
Exhibit Marketers Cafe
Over the past two decades, I've helped thousands of trade show exhibitors gather more qualified leads, outshine their competition, and maximize their exhibiting investment. I've written two books on the subject, in addition to being a familiar industry voice in various publications and podcasts, including my own Trade Show Insights blog and podcast.
For nearly 10 years, I've said that both trade show organizers and exhibitors needed to do more to expand the reach of their events beyond just the 3-4 days on the actual show floor. It only took a global pandemic to wake the entire industry up to the potential of virtual exhibiting!
Even if you're not familiar with how a virtual trade show works, I am. I've seen the good, the bad, and the ugly ... and I'll show you how to be one of the best!
Jenn Artura
Senior Director, Global Strategic Events, Incentives & Experiential
Veritas Technologies LLC
Jenn Artura is head of global events, incentives, and experiential marketing at Veritas Technologies, located in Silicon Valley.
Jenn is an award-winning experiential designer and inspirational executive with 20 years in sales and marketing leadership roles within high-tech B2B organizations. Her diverse background includes direct sales, sales enablement, marketing, business development, creative design, and production, which eventually led to the Events world where Jenn began transforming business objectives into creative, one kind, memorable end-to-end experiences.
Jenn has led Veritas's strategy, production, and execution for just about every event. She produces both in-person and virtual experiences, including sales conferences, training events, user conferences, sales incentive programs, trade shows, product launches, advisory boards, new hire onboarding programs, and a new executive briefing center design.
As Vice President for the Association of Women in Events (AWE), an organization dedicated to women's empowerment in all facets of the Events Industry, Jenn led several internal teams, launched the online user community, mentored volunteers, and managed various strategic programs. Before that, Jenn served on the organization's Board of Directors and co-led Elevate, its annual women's leadership event.
Jenn loves the endless opportunities events provide to inspire and drive behavior in others. In recognition of this, Jenn has won various experiential design and leadership awards, including an Event Marketer B2B Technology Award and the 2018 "100 Women Who Inspire" Innovator Award" from Smart Meetings Magazine. Jenn recently received the "2020 Planner of the Year Award" from Smart Meetings magazine for contributions to the industry during COVID-19. She was just was named "1 of 10 top Women in Experiential Marketing" by Event Marketer Magazine. In 2020, the Club VIP sales incentive program designed and led by Jenn was named 1 of 3 finalists in the Global C&IT Awards for Best Incentive Program of the Year, receiving a high commendation. Jenn has been featured in several event industry publications and is also an industry speaker on leadership, event strategy, career advancement, women's empowerment, and experiential design. She also enjoys mentoring young women who have chosen a career in event marketing.
Jenn is passionate about the power of events to change lives and the world, leveraging them to drive corporate social responsibility and create opportunities to give back to the community. As a result, she led many charitable initiatives and fundraisers for organizations, including the Special Olympics, Ronald McDonald House, Dress for Success, COVID-19 relief, and scholarship programs for college-bound students.
Ibrahim Ayub
Experience & Design Strategist
Guided
Ibrahim is an impact-driven experience strategist and designer. He's currently completing his MBA at INSEAD and is also a teaching Fellow for the Social Innovation Design Executive Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Ibrahim’s fascinated by individual and social behavior, speaking internationally and publishing pieces on topics at the intersection of design and social causes. In 2020 he launched “Justli,” an online platform that crowdsources and curates racial justice resources to help people continually learn, act, and grow towards creating an equitable society. Previously he spent 5+ years at PwC as a management consultant, advising clients from Fortune 500 companies to local nonprofits on empathizing with users to design meaningful products, services, and experiences. Ibrahim has a holistic background, graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with an M.S.E. in Systems Engineering, and a B.S.E. in Computer Science, and also completing certifications in behavioral-science habits coaching, User Experience, Cultural Ethnography, and Visual Design. Outside of work, he enjoys South Asian dance, improv, mindfulness, and boxing. Ibrahim grew up in Massachusetts, lived in New York for 6 years, and is now based in Singapore.
Amelie Bahlsen
Director, Experiential Strategy
Storycraft LAB
Amelie is passionate about learning and engagement strategies that support meaningful human interaction and a lasting content experience.
She worked on the Exhibition Development for the Smithsonian Institution, Inter-American Development Bank, ASAE and provided Content and Engagement Strategy for online events for C200, Microsoft, CEMA and NASA.
She holds Masters Degrees in Exhibition Design and Fashion Design and works with teams as they navigate and curate their content, supporting strategic decision making aligned with a perspective on the attendee and the designed experience. This results in memorable and bespoke experiences, that ensure that all attendees are engaged with the message and content.
Amy Baker
CEO
Winston Baker, Inc.
Chris Baker
Health & Safety Supervisor
Vigilant EHS
Judy Basso
Event Planner and Online Educator
Judy Basso Events
I have been in the Events Industry since 1989. My passion for creative, well thought out and outstanding events has kept me fueled all this time. I have owned my event planning and décor company since then. I also pursued my passion for self development and studied extensively about the laws attractions and the power of vision boards. I have now dedicated my time to mentoring and teaching people how to manifest things in their lives that they want. I have experienced this many time for myself and have seen how much this has helped so many people that have taken my program. I will be launching a new online program in the spring of 2021. Be sure to check out my Brain Bite (15 min) session: "What is a Vision Board - and why do I need one?"
I was on the founding board for the International Special Events Society - launching the first chapter in Canada. A couple years later, I was also on the Founding Board of the Canadian Events Society. The events that we worked on ranged from large, international corporate events on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, to "intimate" dinners for 1000 to wine festivals, to galas and more.
Jeremy Baxter-Jenkins
Director, Strategic Operations
Silver Fox
Bryanne Baye
Senior Manager, Corporate Events
Mendix
Bryanne has been in Corporate Events since 2013. Her passion for the art of putting on these events lies in connecting several parts, pieces and people together to make amazing and unexpected experiences. Bryanne is currently the Sr. Manager of Corporate Events for Mendix, the leading low-code development platform, and leads a powerful team of three!
Karen Bertani
Director, Global Engagement and Knowledge Sharing
CASSS
Melissa Biele
Chief Strategy Officer
Experiential Marketing Strategies
Abby Binshaieg
Product Marketing Manager
Hubb
My background includes front-end web development, operations, sales, marketing, and product, which naturally influenced my career towards my current role as a Product Marketing Manager. As a newer member of the Hubb team, I'm super excited to learn from industry experts and to co-create the future of events together!
Melissa Blackshear
Technology Product Manager
Maritz Global Events
Sarah Bondar
COO
The Charles Group, Inc.
Known as the person who never misses a detail, my passion is in designing and delivering memorable, creative, award winning events.
With a bachelors degree in Events Management from the prestigious UK Center for Events Management, and more than 17 years experience in the events industry, I love what I do and it shows! As COO of The Charles Group, Inc. I'm proud to be part of a strong and passionate team of dedicated professionals designing award winning special events for various corporate clients both in person and virtually.
Jessica Brown
Senior Director, Strategy
Opus Agency
Strategic leader with 20 years of project and corporate event management experience. Proven ability to motivate and inspire teams of varying sizes to deliver outstanding results on time and on budget. Solutions oriented and effective team player with strong multi-tasking and organizational skills, a decisive approach based on the big picture, and focused on details to ensure excellence in all deliverables.
Michelle Bruno
President
Bruno Group Signature Services
Michelle Bruno is a technical marketing writer, event-technology blogger and technology journalist based in Salt Lake City. She writes for event-industry publications and develops content and content strategies for event-industry technology companies and agencies at Bruno Group Signature Services. She also publishes Event Tech Brief, a website on event technology and serves as a judge for several event technology award competitions.
Ashley Cardini
Owner, The Mindful
The Mindful
Ashley is a mindfulness meditation and breathwork coach for high achievers, as well as wellness consultant for the meeting planning industry. After working for 13 years as a corporate event planner in professional sports and financial services and witnessing the burn out and stress that became so prevalent in the corporate environment, she knew there had to be another way to operate.
She’s seen first-hand the positive effects that mindfulness and meditation can have on focus, productivity and communication and teaches accessible meditation techniques for any level in office or at conferences and retreats.
Ashley is a Certified yoga instructor and MINDFRESH meditation instructor. She is a Master Energy Healer and has studied directly under some of the most world-renowned teachers in the wellness industry. She's currently enrolled in the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is excited to help clients curate environments that lead to better health.
Visit www.ashleycardini.com/untethered for additional resources mentioned including "5 ways to INFUSE Mindfulness into your next meeting"
John Carey
Marketing Coordinator
Hubb
Evan Casey
Vice President - Sales
MPI
Ashlie Castaldo
Digital Marketing Director
Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights
I am a highly motivated, people-focused Digital Marketing Director specializing in branding, social media management, and content creation. I can take charge, execute campaigns, and am able to build bridges of communication across a variety of modern platforms. My topics of passion are social media political advocacy, and disinformation, as well as the democratization of media.
Claudia Cavariani
Manager
Dafing Group
Claudia Cavariani is Operations Manager of Dafing Group. She is also advisor of Glocal Audioguide, a promising Brazilian startup selected recently to join the Startup Jam Program powered by Google Business Group.
In the past few years, she has been studying the impact events have on host communities. She is currently working on ORIGIN'ALL Spirit, a solo project related to the support the events industry can bring to local communities after the pandemic. She passionately believes that cooperation, authenticity, and fresh perspectives will be key during the events industry recovery.
As an experienced Event Travel Manager, Claudia has a knack for telling stories, a flair for innovation, and a fifteen- year career in the tourism industry organizing events and incentives for prestigious brands. With storytelling as her core skill, she blends destination awareness, cultural consciousness, and startling solutions to shape events, incentive programs and integrated marketing strategies for companies and destinations.
Navin Chand
President & Founder
New Moon Ideas Inc.
A proud founder and president of New Moon Ideas. I've been in the marketing industry for over 20 years on both the client and agency side of the business, having spent time in the US and Canada. While my expertise is most recently in the technology sector working on a global scale, my experience ranges from retail and packaged goods to alcohol and entertainment.
I consider myself a soul marketing artist who creates fresh, exciting and thoughtful ideas through my academic background, understanding of social behavioral insights and a strong belief in the human, emotional quotient that is often misunderstood in our industry. Outside of work my passions include world traveling, hockey, good friends, good food and good times.
Humphrey Chen
CEO
CLIPr AI
Humphrey Chen is the CEO and Co-Founder of CLIPr, a video analysis and management (VAM) platform using AI and machine learning to help users quickly identify, organize, search, interact and share the important moments within video content. He has experience in start-ups and machine learning, with roles including Chief Product Officer for VidMob, leading New Technologies at Verizon Wireless during the launch of 4G LTE networks, and as Head of Key Initiatives for Amazon’s Computer Vision team, leading the launch of Amazon Textract. Chen currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Noom, DialPad, GrayMeta, and VidMob. Chen earned his Bachelors of Science from MIT and is a Harvard Business School graduate.
Shawn Cheng
Project Manager
MCI Group
Award-winning business event manager | Experience curator | Innovation enthusiast | Collaborator | Learnaholic
Current adventures:
- Creating community & designing experience with MCI Group
- Sharing passion and knowledge on technology & engagement with Dahlia Plus
Topics of expertise & interests: Hybrid/In-person/Virtual event design; virtual event production; event marketing and strategy; Monetization, Community building, experience deisgn.
Here to learn, network, steal ideas. But if I can help you in anyways, it will makes my day.
Lacey Chimienti
Event Venue Specialist
Martiz Global Events onsite at Google
I create experiences. Big and small, digital and physical. Currently, I am the Event Venue Manager supporting all [digital] programs and events for the Google School for Leaders Schoolhouse venue. The Schoolhouse is a unique approach to design, allowing for varied learning experiences all under the same roof. Designed for optimal flexibility and curated for learning and leadership development experiences, it is a space that inspires a shift in how faculty teach, how participants engage and how experiences are delivered. I manage all aspects of the space from event and program management, design consultation, project management, budgets and more. I oversee each client's experience from organization to fruition and provide consultative planning and support to all clients, service partners and colleagues to ensure event success at all stages. When I am not immersed in the digital event world, you will find me outside hiking, mountain biking or trail running.
20+ year events technology leader with a passion for delivering innovative technology solutions for enterprise professionals. Dedicated to building client partnerships by putting customer service and user experiences as top priorities
Naomi Clare
CEO
Storycraft Lab
Naomi Clare Crellin is the Founder and CEO at Storycraft Lab, an experiential engagement strategy agency, and Editor and Host of The Futures Forum, an innovation think tank for the experiential industry.
Naomi’s career has seen her work across platforms and media to help make the challenging actionable, using her expertise in the intersection of engagement and strategic message to craft audience journeys that are moving and memorable. She has led experiential teams in creative development and delivery for clients such as the Smithsonian, Bloomberg, The King Center, the State Department, The World Bank, Microsoft and Intel.
With a long history of teaching narrative exhibition design and design thinking, Naomi has a particular passion for the role of content, education and learning in meaningful audience engagement. As an artist,
Naomi’s digital media work has been exhibited as far afield as the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin and the ICA Budapest. Naomi’s artistic lens results in a celebration of the process of creation, and she finds great joy in
providing the frameworks for creativity and expression to occur – whether that is for her team, their clients, or their audiences.
Naomi holds a Master’s Degree in Interior Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Sheffield in England.
Michael Clarke
Director, B2B Marketing & Events – U.S. & Canada
Marriott International
Michael leads a dynamic team of marketing and business event professionals inside the Global Sales Organization at Marriott International. With a focus of assisting the GSO Team in staying connected with Marriott’s largest volume customers within association, corporate, intermediary, wholesale, retail and TMC segments, he works with key GSO executive and associate stakeholders to provide strategy and relevant, personalized information and content to group, business transient and leisure travel customer channels, enabling more efficient decision making and problem solving across Marriott’s portfolio of 30 brands.
In addition, Michael manages Marriott’s meeting, event and tradeshow division, producing internal sales and external customer facing events across all segments and within all premium and luxury brands. Further, he is responsible for all of Marriott’s sponsor and partner programs with all industry associations and organizations.
He and his team recently launched Marriott’s series of hybrid events – Connect With Confidence – showcasing an effective planning approach to both virtual and in-person events with the purpose of encouraging our industry to once again consider face-to-face business events within a well-being environment.
Lawrence Coburn
CEO
twine (twine.nyc)
Lawrence Coburn is a serial entrepreneur who lives in the Mission District of San Francisco with his wife and daughter. He is the CEO and co-founder of twine (twine.nyc), a deep networking module for virtual, in-person, and hybrid events that he launched in 2020. Previously, he founded DoubleDutch, the market leader for mobile event apps, which was acquired by Cvent in 2019. When not working, you can find Lawrence riding bicycles with his family, on the basketball court, or reading Science Fiction.
Paul Coulter
Director of Group Sales
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin
Paul is Director of Group Sales for the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, one of the largest convention resorts in North America. He's represented the resort for fifteen years and brings a wealth of experience and insight into the event space. In addition to this leadership role, Paul also serves as Vice-Chairman for Corporate Event Marketing Association, one of the leading industry associations.
His team at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin has partnered with multiple groups since the onset of the pandemic to deliver safe and clean event experiences for groups up to 1500 people.
Cynda Covert
Events & Tradeshow Advisor, Senior
FIS
Cynda joined the FIS Global Events and Tradeshows team with five years of event management experience as a third-party planner. Making the switch to in-house corporate events was a welcomed challenge. She brings knowledge of international markets and budget management to her role as an Events and Trade Show Advisor Senior. She and a team of five determine logistics, communications, and related activities that support company conferences, meetings and incentives.
A Florida native, Cynda holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Florida. She has earned the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation, and is using it to give back in the community by volunteering her skills as an event planner.
In her free time, she enjoys cheering on local Jacksonville teams like the Jumbo Shrimp, Icemen, and of course, the Jaguars.
Allison Crooker
Director, Event Content
VMware
Will Curran
Chief Event Einstein
Endless Events
As the founder of Endless Events, Will Curran has been named one of the most influential people in the meeting & events industry, one of the 40 under 40 event industry leaders, 35 entrepreneurs under the age of 35, and Inc Magazine’s Coolest College Start-up all before graduating college. Will has been producing in-person and virtual events since high school when he started his first company and has now worked in the production of large event clients such as Emerald City Comicon, Anheuser-Busch, Warner Brothers, Morton Salt & Uber. His team’s mission is to simplify the event planning process by creating the equation for an event’s perfect solution. They also relentlessly seek to be the name in customer service in the events industry. From event logistics to business development to technical production, Will Curran has a diverse background in growing events and companies to the next level.
J. Damany Daniel
Chief Imaginator
The Event Nerd
J. Damany Daniel (the J is silent) hails from Brooklyn, NY and merges all the style of the big city with the charm, warmth, and humour (yes, with a “u”- he secretly wants to be Australian) of one of your best friends. An experienced and award-winning event producer, Damany (AKA “The Event Nerd”) has produced experiences for clients across the globe and always brings a unique flair to everything he touches. An avid student of emerging trends in technology and storytelling and the impact of community and culture, this event nerd firmly believes that technology can do more than just amaze people at events. If used properly, technology can and does provide opportunities to connect people, extend the reach of events far past the closing curtain, and create immersive experiences that have guests and clients alike connected with the cause and experience in ways they never thought possible. Listed as one of Special Events Magazine's 30 under 40 to watch, Damany's passion for technology is matched only by his love of the arts and culture.
A humorous and engaging presenter, Damany brings his passion for experiences and his love of people to everything he is a part of. An avid lover of music and dancing, Damany’s been known to tear up more than a few dance floors in his time. When he’s not dancing, producing events or “nerding out” over the study of creativity, Damany’s indulging in his love for great food, delicious brews, and scintillating conversation.
In addition to his work leading the badassery that is The Event Nerd team, Damany's commitment to culture is shown through his work within the city as a founding member of Dallas’ Mayor’s Star Council, and within the historic Deep Ellum community of Dallas as a Trustee of the Deep Ellum Foundation. By working and celebrating its successes, Damany continues to stand as a creative leader within the community and the city.
Kara Dao
Senior Director, Client Engagement and Operations
JDC Events
A multi faceted executive and leader in global events industry. Passionate about exhibitions, experiential events and operational best practices. I'm known for my ability to wear multiple hats and manage multiple, complex programs with limited resources. I have a well-earned reputation as a persuasive and engaging communicator and cross-functional team leader.
I have a strong desire to understand clients and the purpose of their events. Working through the creative development of an event's strategy and purpose gives me goosebumps!
Strong experience in: Creative Development, Global/National expansion, Profit Loss Accountability, Strategy Mapping, High Performance Team Development, Operational Best Practices, Cultural Change
Ed DiAntonio
Director of Catering and Event Management
WDW Swan and Dolphin Resort
Ed DiAntonio, CPCE, CMP, Complex Director of Catering/Event Management at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, has over 35 years of hospitality experience, primarily in Catering and Convention Services management. Ed has been at the Swan & Dolphin since 2003.
Ed’s prior employers include the following: The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in AZ, The Hilton Anatole in Dallas, TX; The Ritz-Carlton, Aspen (later named the St.Regis); The Silvertree Hotel, Snowmass, and The Westin Tabor Center, Denver, The St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, CA; The Westin Copley Place and The Park Plaza Hotel, both in Boston, MA.
Ed is active in NACE, where he just finished his board term as Immediate Past- President, 2019-2020 on the NACE National Board. Currently he serves as the Chair of the Governance and Elections Committee through the end of 2021. Ed has served on the Board of NACE’s Orlando Chapter, where he was a three-term President. In 2007 Ed was chosen as NACE, National Co-Caterer Member of The Year.
Ed and The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Catering Team have earned Catering Magazine’s Catering Team of The Year 2005, Catersource’s ACE award for the South Region 2008 as well as many other accolades.
Michael Doane
President
Source of Knowledge
Graduate of USC, 23 years as Owner of Source of Knowledge (eventcapture.com) focused on live and virtual conference recording, live streaming and hybrid content management
Laura Doerfler, CMP
Senior Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Eric Doyle
Client Solutions Manager
Evia
Results-driven and active Event Project Manager with a 10+ years’ verifiable track record in organizing and managing small and large events – from proposal to delivery. Experienced planning corporate events for Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, and Tableau. A highly efficient team player who has excellent presentation skills, contagious enthusiasm and deep-rooted passion for excellence. Established reputation for unique event management abilities to achieve the desired results. Known for meeting and exceeding expectations of employers.
Holly Duckworth
Ms
Leadership Solutions International
Holly Duckworth, CAE, CMP, LSP, CWMF unleashes human potential through mindfulness techniques applied in employee relations, business culture, sales, and customer experience. As a trainer, speaker, and coach, Leadership Solutions International, her company improves business results in 24/7 industries, meetings, real estate, financial services, and health care.
Offering mindful experiential sessions for online, in-person, and hybrid events from 15 minutes to multiple days. Contact me to explore how mindfulness will make your meetings more engaging and relevant to stressed participants.
Lynn Edwards
Owner
Proper Planning
Lynn brings over 30 years and a wealth of experience to event management. Lynn and her team provide a comprehensive and efficient method for producing innovative events across the country. Her experience working in hotels, convention centers, convention & visitors bureaus and now owning Proper Planning for nearly 20 years, gives her a well-rounded background in the events business.
Lynn is experienced in overall event strategy, creative event design, event marketing, digital events, sponsorship development, contract negotiations, vendor management and overall meeting production.
Sam Eitzen is the co-founder and CEO of Snapbar, an Inc. 500 company, that uses photo and video technology to help event planners, agencies and marketers create better engagement and content for their events and campaigns. He also co-founded Keep Your City Smiling, a care package company that supports small businesses struggling as a result of the pandemic.
Along with his team at Snapbar, Sam has had the privilege of working at events like CES, Coachella, SXSW with clients including Google, Nike, Disney, Louis Vuitton, MasterCard and many others.
Before starting Snapbar with his brother, Sam served as Marketing Director and then COO at Rhino, a Kickstarter-funded camera gear startup. During his time there, Rhino become a globally recognized brand in the camera gear space with their products being used in the film departments at Apple, NBC, Universal, GoPro, BBC, and Tesla.
Dahlia El Gazzar
Tech Evangelist
DAHLIA+ Agency
Dahlia has an OMG-attitude about all things eventtech and experience design. She’s her own brand, with more than a decade of experience in the meetings and events sector, working on both the professional planning side and as an association collaborator, Dahlia is known as the coffee-fuelled ‘go-to’ source for trend-setting solutions, eventtech news, and professional branding expertise.
Recently featured in:
Eventex 100 Top Influencers in Events Industry 2020
Smart Meetings Magazine 2019 Smartest Women in the Industry - Hall Fame
Top 500 People in Events by BizBash 2019
Smart Meetings Magazine 2017 + 2018 Top 100 Smartest Women in the meetings industry who inspire us
Top 25 women in the meetings industry list by Meetings & Conventions Magazine
Top 20 of the #eventprofs US & Canada Power 100 List
Top Five Women in Event Tech List
MeetingsNet's 2015 Changemakers
2014 Meetings Today Magazine's Trendsetter & Industry mover & shaker.
She is an Evernote aficionado, speaks globally on meetings and events technology, new-and-upcoming technology solutions and platforms. and Her mission is to empower event professionals with practical intel on everything tech related and educate them on the emerging digital innovation opportunities to elevate their events and audience engagement.
She wants you to break the status quo and #getshiftdone!
Amanda Engler
CEO
Amanda V Engler LLC
Amanda Engler's mission is to help women who love events start and scale their own virtual event planning businesses so they can be successful in today's world while finding harmony in their personal lives.
She launched Cashed Boosting Secrets: Virtual Event Unlocked 6-week program and Event Professionals: Explode Your Profits & Protect Your Time Facebook community to show other event profs that they don't need to live in the hustle & struggle to be successful.
And, many event professionals today have removed burnt out from their lives and more financially free thanks to Amanda and her online programs.
Today, as the fearless leader of this thriving community of hundreds of event professionals, Amanda is passionate about showing others how to make the shift from event planner to entrepreneur.
In addition to her programs, Amanda also works one-on-one with motivated event professionals who want to scale their business fast. Her talks on authority building, mindset shifts, and virtual events resonate with event professionals around the world.
Paul Eschen
Vice President, Growth Marketing
Maritz Global Events
As Head of Growth Marketing, Paul designs and implements strategies to help the company achieve its growth goals. A member of the company’s leadership team, Paul is also responsible for key business initiatives, including designing offerings that make clients and prospects’ lives easier. Paul is known for his transformative ability to align sales and marketing teams to drive business results. In his current role, he leads a team tasked with managing lead generation, product marketing, sales enablement, digital strategy and brand management, among other priorities. He's passionate about digital and hybrid event experiences, and has worked closely with MGE's sales team and clients to constantly be thinking about what the future of events holds for all of us.
Melissa Fant
Director, Global Accounts
MCW Events
SHARON FISHER
CEO/IdeaSparker
PLAY WITH A PURPOSE
Enthusiastic. Relevant. Creative. Play with a Purpose is an experiential strategy firm devoted to sparking more innovative, participatory, connected and fun events. We custom design play-based experiences to help organizations solve challenges in an innovative and compelling way.
A passionate advocate for the power of PLAY in business, Sharon and her team create interactions that make a point, generate ideas, facilitate learning, create connections, inspire change and make people laugh. Whether your event is virtual or live (or one of the many combos in-between) you can show courageous leadership by infusing more play. Sharon’s crazy obsession with play started in college. When all her friends were getting “real degrees”, she chose to major in “whistle blowing” as her father called her BSED degree in Recreation. Since then, she’s created with clients including Disney Imagineering & Disney Publishing, Chevrolet, Camp Jeep, BBDO, Novartis, American Express, Frito Lay, Novartis, Deloitte, McDonalds and the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission. The winner of numerous awards, her most prized include being named one of Orlando’s Best Paces to Work and setting two Guinness World Records.
Michael Frale
Member Services Specialist
American Epilepsy Society
Michael has served as Member Services Specialist with AES since July 2019. He is responsible for delivering exceptional customer service to members and other society customers and stakeholders. Mike also has primary oversight for integrity and accurate maintenance of member records. Prior to joining AES Mike was Audience Services Associate at Paramount Theatre in Aurora, IL and a Production Manager with Schaumburg Summer Theater. He also completed an internship with the American Academy of Pediatrics. He holds a BA in Theatre from Lewis University and a certificate in Social Media Marketing for Business from Harper College.
Natalie Fulgencio-Turner
Co-founder/Head Curator
Common Collective
Darcy Gabriele
AE
eventcore
Kerri Garbis
Founder & CEO
Ovation
Marco Giberti
Founder and CEO
Vesuvio Ventures
Marco is a successful entrepreneur and investor with more than 25 years of intensive experience as Co-Founder and CEO in media, technology, and the events industry companies. In this capacity, he sits on Boards of Directors as well as on advisory boards and he assists co-founders and CEOs in consultative capacities to help drive business planning, growth, and strategy. Marco is Founder and CEO of Vesuvio Ventures, providing early stage entrepreneurs access to coaching, partnerships, advisory, and capital.
Ella Glasgow
Executive Producer
Beyond Virtual Events
Ella Glasgow is an award-winning vocalist, 2 time best selling author, mommy to a precocious almost 6-year-old, and the CEO/Producer at Beyond Virtual Events. Meeting planners hire her to create impactful virtual events so they can wow their community, increase connections and commitment to their cause without pulling their hair out trying to deal with the logistics and delivery of their events. She does this using her Signature E.N.C.O.R.E. Method™ for transformational virtual experiences that have their audiences wanting to pay cash money to attend again and again.
Cristina Graham
Director of Education and Professional Development
American Epilepsy Society
Cristina has over eighteen years of association management experience and joined AES in August, 2019. Her responsibilities strategic oversight for all aspects of AES education and professional development activities, including maintenance of accreditation standards, CE and non-CE initiatives, e-learning, and integration of AES clinical practice guidance into applied education resources. Prior to AES, she was Director of Professional Development for the 50,000 member American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), Society Manager for the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, and in member services with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). She holds a B.S. in Community Health, Emphasis in Health Promotion from Northern Illinois University and an MRA certificate in Principals of Management from The Management Association.
Addie Graham-Kramer
Chief Executive Officer
The Event Company
Party hats, cocktail glasses and sequin gowns are just a few things that you can find plenty of in this entrepreneur’s home. Life is always a party with Addie Graham-Kramer. Literally. Graham-Kramer is an award-winning event designer that has been internationally recognized for her leadership and work throughout the industry for nearly two decades. Since launching The Event Company in 2013, she and her talented team have designed and planned over 300 corporate + non-profit + social events in 17 states across the country. As the premier corporate + non-profit event design company in the region, The Event Company has helped to lead events that have raised more than $8.7 million over the last seven years. Addie is passionate about encouraging other females to be empowered to follow their dreams, just as she has done, and to give all that they can to their community. Because of this, she was recently recognized by her peers in the events industry as one of Connect Magazine’s “40 Under 40.” When she’s not building dreams through events, Addie stays busy playing a superhero alongside husband, Drew and their two boys, William and Calvin.
Rachael Green
CEO, Founder
The RGC Experience - Rach Green Cocktails
Rachael has over 10 years experience in the events and F&B industries and uses the ability to interrupt the pattern of virtual events by connecting, engaging and bringing edutainment to people globally over her live virtual events. In addition to becoming a sommelier, Rachael has served high profile people such as Kirsten Dunst and collaborated with the industry’s leading Virtual Events Legends. She has held dozens of virtual events in 2020 making drinks for and entertaining thousands of people, making her experience the perfect solution for connecting your group virtually in the same room!
Rachael holds space for over 10,000 virtual eventprofs through the new social app Clubhouse, where she founded the Virtual Events & Experiences Collective club. The community holds conversations all day, everyday to share content on events, clubhouse, community, and even mental health!
Jenna Gullotti
Account Manager
Digitell
Account Manager for Digitell Inc, a virtual, live streaming and hybrid event company with years of experiece. Works closely with clients and channel partners to help execute engaging and interactive events.
Curtis Haley
Founder
Beyond Consulting LLC
At certain points in his life, Curtis Haley has been an event manager, a nonprofit director, a professional trainer, a keynote speaker, a project management professional, a political organizer, and even an aspiring MC and game show host. In the midst of COVID-19, he put all of those experiences together to create his own event consulting firm: Beyond Consulting LLC.
A lifelong Oregonian, Curtis graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon on a Presidential Scholarship in 2011. He began his career in the student leadership world as a successful nonprofit director, speaker, trainer and coach for Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) before transitioning to full-time event management and support. Curtis lives in Portland with his wife Elissa, their dog Lily, their surly cat Peanut, and their baby boy who will be joining the world in July 2021.
Katie Hance
Sr. Marketing Manager-North America and Corporate
ControlUp
I am an experienced event and corporate marketing manager with over 8 + years in the tech industry. I have a passion for hosting world class events that are memorable for years to come through innovative experiences, and networking opportunities. I also LOVE animals and assist a local non profit "The Pittie Party (dog rescue)" located in Central Florida with events.
Megan Henshall
Global Events Account Manager
Google
Emma Hilditch
Content Director
Virtual Events Institute
Dominic Housiaux
Principal
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
Jes Hudgins
Director, Events & Creative Services
LaCome Events
Jes has been in the events and creative services industry for ten years and has partnered with many organizations such as a bird of prey nonprofit center, an urban art museum, the Prince of Dubai, and many more. Making the move from North Carolina to Denver, CO, Jes has been immersed in the downtown market producing events in the social, tech, corporate, and nonprofit sectors. During this time Jes has focused on sponsorship and how to best execute benefits within the event while showcasing the sponsor company with flair. She has worked with executing sponsorship for companies such as Google, Zendesk, Slack, Cooley, JLL, Amazon, Lockton, CBRE, and more.
Lisa Hufford
CEO
Simplicity Consulting
Lisa Hufford is Founder and CEO of Seattle-based Simplicity Consulting, providing on-demand enterprise marketing services to leading brands including Microsoft, Amazon, Providence and more. Our mission is to help everyone thrive in the new world of work. Founded in 2006, Simplicity helps companies accelerate growth, add a fresh perspective, and increase capacity—at the speed of business—with access to its curated community of 6,000+ marketing, communications, and business operations experts.
Simplicity has been an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company in America for five consecutive years and recognized by Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the largest woman-owned business in Washington state. Lisa has been named an Inc. Top 10 Female Entrepreneur and selected as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneurial Winning Woman. She is the author of three books: Navigating the Talent Shift: How to Build On-Demand Teams That Drive Innovation, Control Costs, and Get Results, Personal Brand Playbook, and Work, Your Way: Reinvent yourself, Create the Life you want and Thrive as a consultant.
Bryan Huneycutt
President
HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting
Bryan Huneycutt has worked in the performing arts for over 35 years in a variety of performance and leadership roles. His performance career spanned a variety of roles; including dancer, puppeteer, stilt walker, stunt performer, parade performer and float driver before transitioning to leadership. Since assuming a leadership role, he has managed Emmy winning parades, stage shows, special events and fireworks and the opening of the Shanghai Resort as the Program Manager for Entertainment Safety with Disney Parks and Resorts Live Entertainment. Bryan earned his Master of Tourism Administration Degree from George Washington University focused on Event and Meeting Management and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Performance Psychology at Grand Canyon University. In addition, he is a Co-Founder of the Safety Advisors Forum-Live Entertainment (SAF-LE) and recently served on the Board of Directors for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, where he leads the Safety & Health Commission. Bryan is the President and CEO for HuneyBadger Entertainment Consulting.
Ify Ifebi
Founder & CEO
Vendorspace
Ify Ifebi is an event producer, mompreneur and founder at Vendorspace, a marketplace that connects vendors with event organizers and event opportunities. With over 14 years of entertainment and event production experience, she has a passion for bringing people together for purpose-driven impact. She believes events are a secret growth hack for any business and works to curate memorable experiences that promote culture, community and social responsibility.
Therese Jardine
Principal
Strategic Event Procurement
I'm passionate about taking the Pain out of Procurement for Events.
I provide a "Procurement Insider" view to event agencies and suppliers to help them navigate their clients' Procurement policies.
I also help event organizers build an effective Procurement strategy to support their event portfolios.
Jiju John
Director of Engineering and Innovation
Evia
Jiju John is Director of Engineering and Innovation at Evia where he leads a globally distributed and diverse team of software engineers responsible for building and operating innovative products and platforms. Jiju brings more than 20 years of product development experience in enterprise software.
A visionary leader with the architectural skills, experience, and insight to elevate any application, computing platform infrastructure, and data operation to the cloud. Experience in multiple disciplines of product and cloud service engineering including Development Management and Program Management. Hands-on expertise in designing, delivering, and managing AWS Cloud Services.
He is AWS certified solution architect.
Mark Johnson
CEO
eventcore
eventcore CEO Mark Johnson is a strategic, results-oriented executive in the increasingly complex field of event technology. He is passionate about finding those opportunities that can create value and drive strategy. An enthusiastic, engaging and influential leader, Mark uses his 20+ years of industry experience to help companies realize there are no limits on what their events can be.
Marshall Jones
Vice President, Regional Sales
Prestige Global Meeting Source
Prestige Global Meeting Source, founded in 1986, provides site selection and event services to clients. Our experienced sales partners work to find and contract the best possible hotels, resorts, DMCs and cruises for groups and continue through to full-service event development and management.
Paul Jones
Founder
Bridgio
Paul Jones is the Founder of Bridgio, a company that focuses on creating community conversations that result in more authentic peer connections. He is a master facilitator and people chemist. His unique facilitation style stems from his 12 years of outdoor leadership experience, including being a river guide for four years on the Snake River in Jackson, Wyoming. During that time, he literally lived in a van down by the river. His mission is to end people connection deserts and believes better human connection leads to better mental health and quality of life.
Lauren Katz
Exhibits and Artifacts Program Manager
NASA HQ
Jodi B. Katzman
Director, Events & Production
JBK Productions
Jodi B. Katzman is an award-winning events management and production professional with expertise in event creation, planning, management and execution of high-profile, world-class events, business programs and TV projects, including several Olympic Games, Super Bowl, Presidential Conventions, 9/11 Memorial Commemorations, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nickelodeon Studios Grand Opening, Miss America Pageants, and Tony and Grammy Awards. Over her career, she has produced events and programs for clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Verizon, MTV, Blockbuster, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Sunkist and Snapple and created cutting-edge employee incentive recognition programs and special events for Avon Products. Most recently, she added management of exhibits and attraction experiences to her repertoire. She has stage-managed 50+ theatrical productions, concerts and events.
Jodi has received numerous accolades for her work, including two Telly Awards, Avon Products' President's Award, with the distinction of receiving the recognition after only two years of service, and won the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions 1st Place award for Best New Product for Madame Tussauds Orlando and Sydney Justice League: A Call for Heroes experience. She received an Esprit Award for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Premiere Launch and awarded Special Events Magazine’s Gala Award for the Hong Kong USA Festival and Tai Chi in the Park. She was also twice named the Cambridge Who's Who Professional of the Year in Event Management, one of the few honorees with the distinction of receiving this recognition two years in a row.
In our current pandemic environment, Jodi has become a leader in events-related Covid-19 compliance and safety. She is a Health Education Services Certified Covid-19 Compliance Officer, Certified Covid Safety Officer, and Certified Pandemic Compliance Advisor for Meetings & Events, and currently holds 12 Covid-19 health & safety certifications, including OSHA Production Infection Control, Safe Sets International Covid-19 Level A Certification for Production and Level B for Leadership, Event Leadership Institute’s Pandemic On-Site Protocol certification, Johns Hopkins Covid-19 Contact Tracing certification and Event Safety Alliance’s Event Safety Access certification. Jodi completed WHO’s Covid-19 Mass Gatherings Risk Assessment training and she serves as Leadership Chair of Risk Assessment & Safety Protocols for the Live Events Coalition.
Liz King Caruso
CEO
techsytalk
Liz King Caruso is an Event Strategist, Consultant and Speaker. As CEO of Liz King Events and techsytalk, she has helped countless thought leaders grow their audience and sell their products through in-person, virtual & hybrid events. Liz is a big-picture person - passionate about tying events into an overall sales and marketing strategy and being efficient at every point of the process. Technology is her niche and she's obsessed with helping organizations of every size leverage technology to produce more engaging & seamless event experiences.
In addition to her client work, Liz connects & educates her industry colleagues through platforms she has built - techsytalk GLOBAL, the techsytalk community & IGNITE Consulting program.
Liz has been featured as Eventex's 50 Most Innovative Virtual Meeting Planners, Successful Meetings list of 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry, Top 5 Women in Event Tech, amongst other awards.
Jennifer Kingen Kush
Founder and Strategist
Kingen Kush Solutions
Jennifer Kingen Kush has over a decade of experience designing impactful online experiences that drive results.
As the founder of Kingen Kush Solutions (KKS), her expertise focuses on strategy, experience design, content development, tech solutions to production, and metrics.
The KKS Team works with organizations to design and deliver profitable events to amplify their reach and drive results for long-term strategic goals. KKS is proud all of their client events in 2020 and 2021 have been successful as profitable and exceeded goals.
Previously, Jennifer led the PCMA’s Digital Experience Institute [DEI] dedicated to the research, education, and content for hybrid and digital events, including leading the global DES Certification. Jennifer led the consulting arm of DEIand produced PCMA’s digital events since their inception in 2010.
Michael Kophs
Sr. Product Marketing Manager
Microsoft
Elisa Kuhar
Chief Operating Officer
Lankey & Limey Ltd. & Risky Business Resources
ELIZABETH KUNSEY, CMP
Senior Manager: Meetings and Events
American Epilepsy Society (AES)
Elizabeth began her 35+ year career in the hospitality industry in corporate travel management, servicing travelers with United Technologies Corporation, General Electric and NBC. She also spent time selling experiences with a Destination Management Company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Finally, she landed in planning meetings for associations and has worked with the American Epilepsy Society for the last 20 years.
As senior manager of meetings and events, Elizabeth has strategic management responsibility for all aspects of live and virtual events, ranging from the 6,000 person Annual Meeting to smaller Board and committee events. Her professional affiliations have included the Greater Hartford Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Greater Midwest Chapter.
Hilary Laney
Owner and CEO
Evia
Kim Lawrence
CEO & Executive Producer
The Line Collective
Focus, determination and the desire for excellence fuels Kim, which she brings
every day to her clients’ preparation and program execution. As an Executive
Producer, she goes beyond the surface to bring to life visually the essence of
the brand and the message. Clients look to Kim for her innate ability to weave
and tell their story.
A former NCAA champion rower for the University of Washington, Kim brings
her commitment to strategy, planning, preparation and performance under
stiff competition to her professional career and acclaimed success in corporate,
entertainment, nonprofit films and events.
Her background in theater enables her to sense when to create drama or lift
with laughter, and has garnered her acclimated recognition with her clients
and in the media industry – whether it’s on film, live on camera or in front of
an audience of thousands.
Kim Lawrence’s work reaches from Fortune 500 companies to the Academy
Award’s red carpet to hard-hitting documentaries around the world. With
multiple Telly Awards and the Silver Sierra Award at Yosemite Film Festival,
her credits include work for Microsoft, IBM, T-Mobile, Starbucks, Amazon, the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Heifer International, PATH and many more.
Michelle Lee
Account Manager
Hubb
Linda Lindamood
Vice President of Safety & Logistics
Linder Global Events
Linda Lindamood has served as the Vice President of Safety & Logistics for Linder Global Events since 2009.
Linda has distinguished herself as leader in the live events industry, as well as a subject matter expert in, COVID-19 prevention, mitigation, response and resiliency, logistics, incident management, transportation and crowd management, security and agency liaison. Linda is a trusted thought partner and continues to lead Linder’s liaison efforts with local and federal agencies, law enforcement and emergency managers to the design and development and operational testing of emergency management plans, including transportation, crowd management, safety and security strategies, disaster prevention, evacuation, response and resilience plans, for day to day operations and large-scale public events. She was also accepted into the Navy Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Security and Defense, Executive Leaders Program, representing for the first time in the history of the program the Live Events Industry. She is expected to graduate this April 2021.
Linda has been the project manager for several major events in the Washington DC area. Her most recent iconic events included the Grand Opening of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Memorial, the 50 Anniversary of Apollo 11 and Go For The Moon, which drew over 500,000 spectators on the National Mall. Other notable events are the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade, Grand Opening and Dedication of the National Museum of African American History and Culture (SEAR 1), Grand Opening of the DC’s waterfront community The Wharf and Major League Baseball Allstar Weekend Assembly Event. All events were high profile, large scale public events drawing audiences in the thousands.
Before joining Linder in 2009, Linda worked for Walt Disney Company, in Orlando, Florida. Throughout her 14-year tenure Linda held various leadership roles. She credits her most rewarding and professional experience in the role of Magic Kingdom Park Duty Manager where she was immersed in and responsible for the day to day operation of the world’s most famous theme park. Linda’s extensive training and duties afforded opportunities to lead thousands of employees, (Cast Members) to provide and ensure a safe, secure environment for millions of visitors the Park yearly.
When Linda is away from work, she loves to spend time with her family. She is married, has 2 children, 3 granddaughters, 4 puppies and a bunch of wildlife critters running around their family home nestled back in the woods. Oh, and just for a little more fun, Linda and her wife Cindy have both of their Moms living with them…. The gangs all here!!!
Robson Lisboa
Business Development Manager
Midiacode
In 1995, when he worked for Sony, he had to produce a video for an event that would take place in England and Japan. From then on, he never moved away from digital technologies for knowledge, education and events. More than 26 years of experience in technology markets (Sony, Nokia, Samsung, Santillana) implementing web / mobile services, apps and digital content platforms. MBA in Multimedia Art and Strategic Management of Technological Innovation (Unicamp). Master in Education and Technology and PhD student in Open Innovation by Unicamp. Today it acts as BDM of Midiacode, a mobile marketing and mobile content platform, widely used in events!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robsonlisboa/
KiKi L'Italien
Editor-in-Chief
Association Chat
JT Long
Editorial Director
Smart Meetings
Julie Lynch
Head of Events
F5
Goal-driven marketing strategist with proven success building, planning, creating and driving events and programs. Extensive background managing programs, people, communications, multi-faceted global teams and budgets that deliver amazing experiences and solid business results. Placing the customer at the center of all we do is what I do.
Allie Magyar
Founder & CEO
Hubb
Rae Malcham
Senior Technical Project Manager
Hubb
Danny Maldonado
CEO
Fulcra
Maya Manciagli
Strategist
Storycraft Lab
Stephen Mapes
Planning & Strategy
Impact XM
A 30+ year veteran of the event and trade show business, Steve has led the development of integrated exhibit and event communication strategies for clients that include award winning Business Theater, Biointeractivity, Interactive Learning and Virtual Events.
He presents at conferences on various topics such as Attendee Psychology, Industry Trends and Technology and writes for diverse publications such as Design Management International and peer reviewed journals.
Steve has been an associate professor (adjunct) for the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University, and holds a MBA and an MA.
Vanessa Martin
Director
VM Consultoria em Eventos
The knowledge and skills as a consultant and specialist in event management for over 30 years of experience, and the commitment to results, assure my qualification among some of Brazilian’s best companies.
International speaker, post-graduation lecturer, columnist and author/co-author of 9 books about events, widely adopted by the best Brazilian universities, published in Brazil and in England.
Lindsay Martin-Bilbrey
CEO
Nifty Method
Justin Martinez
Event & Program Coordinator / Community Engagement Manager
Technology Association of Oregon
Justin Martinez, Event & Program Coordinator, joins TAO with an extensive hospitality background. Justin has worked on various projects including weddings, galas, continuing education programs, trade shows and conventions in Houston, San Francisco and most recently opening and managing events for two newly built downtown Portland Hotels.
His experience and penchant to deliver new and exciting experiences while connecting with others to provide a unique and fun addition to any event.
Dacia Massengill
Digital Strategist
NASA
Rachel Matthews
Experience Strategist
GPJ
Oren Mauldin
Client Solutions Manager
Evia
Oren is a certified digital event professional (DES, PCMA) with over 10 years of experience organizing and managing events from proposal to delivery. He is a highly efficient team player who has an earned reputation for unique event management that drives results.
For the past 3 years Oren has been working with companies to architect and deliver customer solutions for hybrid and virtual events, working with corporations such as AWS, Microsoft, Smartsheet, ServiceNow, Tableau & Starbucks. Outside the office Oren is a film enthusiast and critic, and enjoys sharing his love of art and music with his 3 children.
Jamie McIntire
Strategic Account Executive
eventcore
Jamie started her career in the events industry in 2002. Before she worked at eventcore as a Strategic Account Executive, she was in the hospitality industry in catering and conference services. Jamie is passionate about event tech and believes the right software could improve the event experience. She loves to grow and learn, and has embraced all of the learning opportunities that were presented this past year in the event technology community.
Erik McKinney
Executive Creative Director
Impact XM
Erik McKinney has over two decades of experience in the industry leading award-winning experiential work across clients like Amazon, Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola Mazda, Lexus, and more. He is a B2C and B2B creative hybrid with demonstrated ability in crafting compelling stories that drive engagement across the live and digital world.
Raime Merriman
VP Marketing
Hubb
Laurel Miller
President
Seamless Event Solutions
Trevor Mitchell
Executive Director/CEO
American Mensa and the Mensa Foundation
Trevor S. Mitchell, MBA, CAE, CDP is the Executive Director/CEO of American Mensa, Ltd. and the Mensa Foundation, Trevor provides leadership toward the achievement of the organization's mission, vision, strategy, and annual goals and objectives. Trevor works with both boards in developing strategies that support the mission, developing and implementing the strategic goals and objectives of American Mensa, and enabling the board to fulfill its governance function effectively. Trevor has been involved in association management for over 15 years and has contributed to the profession through speaking, writing, and volunteering.
Orlando Monge
Regional Vice President, Venue
Encore
Orlando Monge is Regional Vice President, Venues for Encore in Central Florida. Encore is the largest Event Technology Company in the world with over 12,000 employees and 3,000 venues Globally. He is an industry veteran of over 30 years and has held various leadership positions in both Sales and Operations through his career. Among Orlando’s customers are Marriott Hotels, Walt Disney World, Hilton Hotels, and Four Seasons.
Originally from San Juan Puerto Rico, Orlando is an Orlando resident for 35 years. Orlando and his wife Leticia have been married for 30 years, and have a son, a daughter, recently became a grandfather. Orlando has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida. He is a competitive tennis player, loves to travel especially to Spain, and reading Spanish novels and all kinds of biographies.
James Morgan
Principal Lecturer
School of Architecture, University of Westminster
James C. Morris
VP, Client Service
Impact XM
As Impact XM’s Vice President of Client Service, James is responsible for growing, maintaining, and enhancing the strength of Impact’s client base, overseeing business development and client services activities and functions. James has over 15 years of experience in the event channel across a diverse range of roles, including marketing, business development, customer relationship management, project management, and consulting services. James leads the dynamic client service and account support team, ensuring successful clients engagements worldwide. He partners with strategic account leaders and senior consultants to develop strategies for successful client engagements.
James holds a BA in Political Science Degree from the University of Pittsburgh, a Masters in International Business Administration and a law degree.
Shayna Moskowitz
Director of Meetings and Event Technology
Part 2 Events
Shayna Moskowitz, DES is the Director of Meetings and Event Technology at Part 2 Events, a boutique-women owned meeting and event management company headquartered in New York, NY. She is located in Silver Spring, MD and has more than 10 years of experience crafting and executing meaningful events in the non-profit and corporate sectors. Shayna is passionate about customer service and guest experience. In her downtime, Shayna enjoys spending time with friends and family, drinking lots of coffee, and cheering on her hometown sports teams.
Mia Mulholland
Best Buddies International
Mia Mulholland is the Senior Director of Mission Impact for Best Buddies International, a global nonprofit committed to supporting individuals with disabilities to create inclusive friendships, secure rewarding jobs, develop leadership skills, and live independently. In her role Mia leads the organization’s global programmatic training events, which include the Best Buddies International Leadership Conference and Staff Leadership Conference. Additionally, Mia oversees Best Buddies’ volunteer constituent management system, Best Buddies Online, and supports the organization’s strategic learning plan for organizational learning and staff development.
Mia joined the Best Buddies team in 2002 and played an instrumental role in the development and launch of Best Buddies Iowa. She has held several leadership positions in the organization since launching her career, most recently serving as the Senior Director of Programs overseeing the advancement of friendship and leadership development programs nationwide.
Katy Mull
Director, Experience Strategy
Storycraft Lab
I help teams elevate understanding of audience – What drives them? Why do they fall in love? What makes them pause and think? Or share with their friends? How does this experience function as an element of their Human journey? Through Empathy, Imagination and Creativity, I leverage my background in media + digital and human-centered design to conceptualize innovative approaches to engagement. My passion for storytelling and study of digital experiences offer a unique perspective on journey mapping and innovative UX.
I’ve spent several years as a multimedia storyteller in the nonprofit sector, producing and editing short video stories and creating narratives that dealt with a diverse range of topics, including advocacy issues, human-centered stories, and international policy discussions. My personal pursuit of stories about human connection has translated into my work as an experience designer.
Eileen Murray
Executive Director
American Epilepsy Society (AES)
Eileen Murray has been Executive Director of the American Epilepsy Society (AES) since December 2013. Eileen provides strategic leadership and executive oversight for all aspects of the Society, working closely with the Executive Committee and the Board. She currently serves on the NINDS National Advisory Council, the American Academy of Pediatrics Children and Youth with Epilepsy Advisory Committee, and the Executive Leadership Committee of the Epilepsy Foundation SUDEP Institute. With more than 25 years of association experience, prior to joining AES Eileen served as Acting Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). Prior to joining the AAD Eileen worked for nine years at the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), as Vice President and Executive Director of the AHIMA Foundation. Earlier in her career she served in development and membership marketing roles at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Bar Association. Eileen holds an MM in Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Business with a concentration in Public and Non-Profit Management and Marketing. She is also a Certified Association Executive (CAE).
Anh Nguyen
Principal + Founder
Spark Event Collective
Dan Noake
Managing Partner
Hammerton Barca
Deanna Nwosu
Founder
Deanna Camille
Deanna is a hostess at heart. This led to her career in event planning which allowed her to coordinate countless opportunities to connect with clients, vendors, and stakeholders across all social strata.
A Certified Meeting Professional since 2017 and Digital Event Strategist since 2020, she is also an active member of Meeting Professionals International, serving on the membership and marketing committees for the Ohio chapter. In 2020 she launched Deanna Camille - a company focused on thought leadership, creating community and training in the meeting and event industry.
Susan Oliver
Associate Executive Director, Advancement
American Epilepsy Society
Susan joined AES in July 2016, after serving the Society in a consulting role for a year prior. She brings thirty years of management, fundraising, and marketing experience in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. In her role at AES she is responsible for strategic management of the philanthropic development programs, industry relations, membership, and marketing and branding for the Society. Susan has provided development, marketing, and planning services to many organizations, including the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association; Polaris Charter Academy; the American Brain Tumor Association; HealthConnect One; the Foundation for Women’s Cancer; the American Health Information Management Association; Oak Park’s Unity Temple; WTTW Chicago; the Center for Tax & Budget Accountability, and the Lagniappe Project. She has been a senior staff member at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, Playing for Keeps, the National Lekotek Center, the Family Resource Coalition, Boston University, and Harvard University. She has served as an adjunct faculty member in DePaul University’s College of Commerce in the marketing department, teaching undergraduate and graduate marketing courses. Susan holds the B.A. degree from Harvard University and the M.B.A. degree from Boston University.
Melissa Opland
Sr. Sponsorship Program Manager
AWS
Gail Orfanos, CMP, HMCC
Owner | Meetings and Event Planner
Go Meetings + Events, LLC
Anne Ornelas
Senior Operations Manager
CASSS
Experienced leader, problem solver, lover of innovation, and digital event strategist with 22 years working in associations. Currently working externally, helping members engage in a new digital world, while internally developing new practices to ensure our team has the tools and resources to accomplish their goals.
Melissa Osburn-Riley
Event Marketing Manager
Amazon (AWS)
Amber Owens
Founder + Head of Activation
BrandFelt Activation
Amber, better known as Amber the Activator, is a self motivator and an inspiration for people creating their own voice . She has been in the world of marketing and advertising for over 8 plus years working to plan , strategize and execute profitable brand activations and campaigns for top Fortune 500 companies and small businesses. She wholeheartedly believes in the quote "whatever you are thinking, think bigger" . Amber is the founder of BrandFelt Activation, an Event Marketing company designed to connect and convert brands with their audience through brand activations and campaigns. Outside of creating brandfelt experiences, she is an active voice in the community encouraging others to redefine their definition of success, defy the odds and activate a life of their dreams.
Dana Pake
Strategists
MCW Events
Dana Pake is a designer of human connections, passionate about taking calculated risks to get signal from the noise and creating engaging and inspiring programs - whether virtual, hybrid or IRL. She leads with empathy driven decisions. And she's maniacal about helping clients of all stripes create transformative experiences that ultimately helps propel the business forward. Her superpower is seeing challenges as probortunities. (Problems aren't problems but opportunities!).
In the past year she has produced virtual and hybrid programs for the Democratic National Convention, Twitch, GitHub and advised clients including Slack to name a few.
Prior to taking on the role as an independent Event Strategist + Executive Producer, Dana was the Global Head of Events at InVision and was the the lead producer on the Tableau Conference, known as the super bowl of data events. When not dreaming up ways to up-level events, Dana loves creating magical moments and connection with the humans that matter most in her life- her family.
Nira Paliwoda
Founder/President
Two Shes Productions
In 1999, Nira Paliwoda founded Two Shes Productions, an entertainment services company that offers Marketing/PR Services, Event Production, Talent Management and Consulting. A long time member of such organizations as the Recording Academy, Association for Independent Music Publishers, and Women In Music, her unique expertise attracted a range of corporate clients from MTV Networks, Sony, and Palm Pictures, to Lander Analytics, TokenFest and NamesCon.
In 2011, Nira decided to put some focus on shedding light on a number of issues that she feels strongly about. She co-founded U.S. Veg Corp, an event production and marketing company specifically centered on plant-based and green living, and launched the NYC Vegetarian Food Festival that same year. Since then, U.S. Veg Corp has increased its roster to include the AZ Vegetarian Food Festival, the CA Vegetarian Food Festival among other events.
Mark Parsons
Managing Director
Events Intelligence
Mark Parsons runs Events Intelligence, a big data business which uses machine learning to understand the similarity between companies and find new exhibitors at scale. For the last four years he has helped the strategy and deal teams at major organisers using data-led origination tactics. He is a Chartered Accountant, holds an Executive MBA from London Business School, and a MSc in Data Science and Business Analytics from NYU Stern.
Chrissy Parsons
Strategic Account Manager
Dynamic Events
Experienced senior event manager with proven success producing high profile, multifaceted internal and external programs and events at local, national and international levels. Effective in dynamic, fast-paced work environments with proven ability to communicate cross-functionally within all levels of leadership. Results-driven, ambitious and skilled team player.
Kate Patay
Chief Strategist
Patay Consulting
Kate Patay, CPCE, is the Chief Strategy Officer of Patay Consulting, a firm designed to help businesses and individuals identify their unique brand and voice. She is an international speaker & consultant, SEARCH Foundation Chairwoman and ambassador for Meetings Mean Business. She’s been a recognized industry professional, brand ambassador and influencer for over 20 years in many facets of live events, and has served on the boards of numerous industry organizations. She currently speaks for and coaches some of the top leaders and companies in our industry and beyond.
Deana Patterson
Promotions Manager
Pinch A Penny
Lisa Peyton
Senior Marketing Manager
Hubb
I'm equal parts bleeding edge technologist, passionate educator and data driven strategist. I strongly believe in the power of technology to educate, entertain and connect people around the world. I leverage the principles of psychology, immersive storytelling and digital channel expertise to help brands understand, reach and emotionally connect with their customers.
Bleeding Edge Technologist
Technology touches every aspect of our lives and the positive impact of today's technology far outweighs any perceived negative effects. I relish pioneering innovative technological capabilities that allow people to connect and learn in new ways.
Passionate Educator
I love to teach. During the course of my life, teachers have provided much needed support, encouragement, wisdom and a belief in my abilities that was lacking in other areas of my life. I highly value the opportunity to provide that support to my students through an experiential and hands-on approach both in person and through remote learning.
Data Driven Strategist
The most effective strategies are rooted in research and insights derived from data. With over a decade of digital marketing and social media experience, I know how to capture and analyze data in order to make better marketing decisions, meet marketing objectives and optimize campaign performance.
SarahEmily Pina
Manager of Conferences and Trainings
National Consumer Law Center
SarahEmily Pina builds and oversees flagship conferences and trainings for the National Consumer Law Center in Boston, Massachusetts. She has marveled at the adept shifts so many organizations and companies have made in 2020, from making the most of new and emerging technology to changing the very landscape of how we gather and learn. A seasoned event and conference planner, Ms. Pina actively looks for ways to build experiences and educational opportunities that are meaningful and collaborative. She is also a certified yoga instructor and enjoys singing, hiking, and dreaming up names for her future dog.
Ann Plana
VP, Strategic Initiatives
eventcore
Ann Plana is a core member of the Untethered planning team and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at
eventcore, a best in class event tech provider, with a core focus on registration.
Ann spoke at Untethered 2020 about creating an engaging and seamless attendee experience by leveraging the right event technology.
Lori Pugh Marcum
Head of Meeting Innovation
Meeting Professionals International
Jherica Rhodes
Coordinator
MPI
Ken Roden
Director of Customer Experience Makreting
Highspot
Rosemarie Rossetti
President
Rossetti Enterprises Inc.
Rosemarie Rossetti, Ph.D. is an internationally known expert in disability inclusion. She is a powerful speaker, trainer, author, and consultant. She is the founder and president of Rossetti Enterprises Inc. since January 1997. www.RosemarieSpeaks.com
Rosemarie speaks to and consults with meeting professionals to help them save time, reduce stress, and achieve success in planning more diverse and inclusive meetings and events. Her presentation "Accommodating People with Disabilities at In-Person and Virtual Meetings and Events" has been a game-changer in the meetings industry. This helps meeting professionals have more awareness and sensitivity to the special needs of meeting and event participants. She has numerous podcast interviews, videos, webinars, and articles on this subject.
Having been paralyzed from the waist down with a spinal cord injury, she speaks from her wheelchair sharing her own dramatic personal story and experiences speaking at and attending meetings and events.
Rosemarie is a MPI Inclusive Event Designer. She was a featured speaker at the MPI World Education Congress and has spoken at six MPI Chapter and Regional Events. Her other clients include the American Society of Association Executives, Hubb, Society of Government Meeting Professionals, Northstar Meetings Group, and Alliance of Independent Meeting Professionals.
She has also earned recognition for her accessible home, the Universal Design Living Laboratory that is the top-rated universal design home in North America. www.udll.com
Lizzy Rudge
Marketing Specialist
eventcore
Annette Sandler
Director, Live Content
AVIXA
Annette Sandler has worked in live events for over 10 years delivering creative, connected experiences. At AVIXA, Annette curates in-person and digital content that shines a spotlight on the power of AV technology and integrated experiences. Most recently, Annette produced the first-ever virtual InfoComm show – InfoComm 2020 Connected – bringing together AV professionals from around the globe to learn from top manufacturers, tune into keynotes and presentations on trends in technology and markets, and forge new relationships. Annette was previously a senior event producer for Bloomberg, responsible for establishing dynamic and engaging content programs for industry audiences across the company’s brands, including Bloomberg Next Bloomberg Law, and Bloomberg Government. Annette’s events have appeared on Bloomberg TV and been covered by media outlets including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News and World Report.
Michael Sandler
VP, Sales Operations
Impact XM
With over 20 years of direct industry experience in sales management and training, Mike has built a career around creating customized marketing strategies with a focus on measurement / maximizing ROI/ROO. Mike has worked with top brands such as Maersk, Altria, Geico, Nasdaq, Costar, and McKesson Corporation. Mike currently leads a team of Account Directors and Business Development Directors at Impact XM responsible for client satisfaction and growth.
Deanna Schuler
Owner
Steady Course LLC
Deanna has worked in corporate events for more than 15 years, managing event content and the content teams to deliver top notch educational experiences, oversee event technology implementation, and define some of the largest corporate events in the technology industry. She is passionate about seeing the industry develop more professionals with specific event content expertise. Every event needs a content manager and through that lens, the content manager needs to 1) create a tight content strategy, 2) build strong session catalogs, and 3) deploy intuitive, powerful user tools. These are the backbone of successful corporate events.
Olivia Scott
Founder & Principal Consultant
Omerge Alliances
Justin Searle
Manager, Development and Industry Relations
American Epilepsy Society
Justin has been on staff at AES since March 2017. In his current role he is responsible for developing and managing stakeholder communications, outreach and engagement opportunities as well as supporting solicitation and stewardship activities. He also ensures compliance with all policies related to funding and acceptance of support from industry donors. Justin started his service with AES in member services, and prior to joining AES worked in guest services management at the Bristol Museum and Art Galleries and the Bristol Zoological Society in the United Kingdom. He holds a B.A. in American Studies from Indiana University.
Nancy Shaffer
Founder CEO
BRAVO! Events
Shelby Sherman
Event Specialist
Dynamic Events
Shelby is an enthusiastic event planning professional working as an Event Specialist at Dynamic Events. Shelby has executed events for a variety of clients from large corporations to small associations. She takes pride in her ability to take clients hopes and dreams, brainstorm, and bring them to life at the event. Shelby earned her bachelor's degree in Communications at Eastern Washington University where she spent her time heavily involved in event planning for the university. Outside of work, you would probably find Shelby either jamming at a concert, searching for the best new gluten-free food in Portland, or hiking in mountains alongside her friends and family.
Crystal Shipps
Education Operations and Development
MPI
Stephanie Siemens
Growth Marketing Associate
Iron Horse
Tim Simpson
Brand & Engagement Chief Strategist
Design Studio by Maritz Global Events
Tim is a global creative marketer with roots in the advertising, telecommunications, transportation and logistics industries. With an MFA in Poetry and an eclectic and varied background, Tim brings something unique to any organization looking to build an iconic brand and foster smart, original programs and initiatives. After 9 years developing multiple brands owned by a global Fortune 150, Tim branched out in July 2016 to start his own practice (TS Creative Consulting). In mid-2018, Tim joined forces with the Design Studio by Maritz Global Events to drive growth and deliver direct client strategy consulting; and continues his advisory and mentorship work for start-ups and small/mid-sized businesses.
Tim is a versatile and dynamic leader with a natural way of guiding and setting the tempo for large teams of writers, strategists and designers while specializing in Experience Design, Marketing Strategy, Brand Development & Redesign, Strategic Communications, and Creative Disruption & Transformations.
Sara Smith
Event Program Manager
Microsoft
Angela Smith
Head of Experiential Events & Field Marketing
Atlassian
As Head of Experiential Events and Field Marketing at Atlassian, Angie counts herself lucky to be working in a marketer’s Shangri-La! A company with great products, a fantastic reputation in technology, a vibrant giving culture and surrounded by some of the coolest people around. Working for a company that builds products that ‘unleash the potential in every team’, Angie says she is excited to be in an environment that feeds her desire to pioneer and experiment with new ideas.
Angie is leading the #dreamteam behind the launch of the first ever industry conference for Teams. Even a global pandemic where the only thing consistent has been change will stand in her way.
As a 20+ year veteran on both the brand and agency side, her experience includes all facets of event marketing including event design, content/campaign development, GTM strategies, digital engagement, channel/partner programs, sales enablement, measurement, incentive programs, coaching, and public speaking. She has been tapped by publications such as Event Marketer Magazine, BtoB Magazine, Special Events, Virtual Edge, Successful Meetings, Meetings Net, 1:1 Magazine and other leading titles and analyst reports for her insight into emerging best practices around event and marketing communications campaign development.
Angie is passionate about sharing how together we can create a future where we thrive, not just survive and her first piece of advice is to cultivate gratitude, it is life-changing.
Nancy Snowden
Manager, Curriculum and Instructional Design
Meeting Professionals International
Yasmin Solomon
Production Management
Drawing Booth
Yasmin is Drawing Booth’s Production Manager and a Creative Strategist exploring communication, creative, and experiential workflows and event-flows. She facilitates change through multimedia storytelling by placing deep ideas within easier reach and making complex systems easier to navigate with an aim towards stakeholder engagement by sparking moments of co-creation and innovation.
Amanda Solon
Corporate Events, Senior
Epicor
Jessie States
Director, MPI Academy
Meeting Professionals International
Devon Stiles
Director, Strategy & Solution Design
Maritz Global Events
Elyse Stoner
Founder & Chief Strategist
Fresh Perspective Consulting
Elyse Stoner, DES, an award-winning marketing practitioner, author and speaker, combines her unique professional experiences, her natural abilities to view the world from a different viewpoint, but to turn those observations into implementable actions as the Founder & Chief Strategist of Fresh Perspective Consulting. She partners with event stakeholders to ensure a strong ROM* (*Return on the Moment) through customized target audience evaluation, strategic goal setting, implementation and follow-through programs that will increase each Moments’ marketing muscle. She is a certified Digital Event Strategist, combining this expertise to produce and support the ROM of digital and virtual programs.
Amy Street
Founder
ACS Events and Consulting Services
Amy Street has worked in the events industry for over ten years and is currently studying for the CMP.
Elke Sudin
CEO
Drawing Booth
Elke Reva Sudin is a Brooklyn based visual artist and entrepreneur. Her ability to bridge seemingly disconnected concepts through her work has become a hallmark of her synergetic mindset on canvas and in her professional projects. In 2014 Elke founded Drawing Booth as the first digital only live event sketching company and has since grown across the US and UK. Follow her @elkerevasudin and her company @drawingbooth.
Mahider Tadesse
Founder
Hallpax
Dynamic and results-driven entrepreneur with an accomplished track record of starting and expanding innovative business services. Skilled in marketing, operations, coaching, budgeting, and leadership. Experienced in starting and growing companies by building a strong team.
Highly-customer centric with excellent relationship building skills as evidenced by over 10 years of repeat clients and over 50 new accounts every year primarily through referrals. Self-confident, organized and resilient with entrepreneurial spirit.
Stephanie Teichman
President
Sports Travel Management, LLC
Emily Thompson
Meetings & Events Planner
American Epilepsy Society
Emily Thompson is the Meetings & Events Planner at the American Epilepsy Society, joining AES staff in February 2017. She has been in the association and events industry for 4 years. In her role at AES she is responsible for planning and on-site oversight for in-person AES meetings, and supports the Sr. Manager, Meetings and Events in organizing, planning, and executing the Annual Meeting. This includes planning and negotiation of space contracts, developing and monitoring adherence to budgetary requirements, on- site vendor/contractor management and post-event evaluation. Emily has a BA in Theatre from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and holds the Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) designation.
Jamie Timperley
President
Dynamic Events
Lindsay Torres
Account Manager
Inspira Marketing
Lindsay is an integrated marketing professional with a background in business development (both B2B & B2C), partnership strategy, communications, consumer marketing, experiential marketing and advertising. Her specialties are account management, business development, customer service, campaigns, marketing, digital/TV production, social media management, product launch experience, public relations, project management, activation and proposals.
Kat Tranzillo
Sr. Digital Event Experience Manager
Workday
Melissa Vande Kieft
Founder
Living in the Wait
Melissa Vande Kieft is the Founder of Living in the Wait, an online resource to encourage and guide those who find themselves in a period of uncertainty wondering when their wait will end. She created this site based on her own experience navigating 3 1/2 years of infertility.
With more than 15 years as an event planner, Melissa enjoys all things related to logistics and details and recently launched MV Consulting to work with clients on their event needs. Her event portfolio includes gatherings from five people to more than 6,500 and spans tailgates to road races, galas to workshops and conferences to fundraisers. What Melissa loves most about events is the opportunity they provide for people to make memories, create traditions, honor loved ones and connect on an emotional level. Events are so powerful! She recently hosted her first virtual event, the Living Through Infertility Summit. Attendees came together from four countries and 13 states, all to have heart-level conversations about the day-to-day aspects of navigating infertility.
She’s a first-time mom, speaker, Fertility Coach and Consultant. Currently, she is writing her first book, drawing from her personal experience about waiting and the transformation it brings. In her spare time, you’ll find her in the great outdoors or watching college sports with her guy, Ry, and almost two-year-old daughter, Crosbee, the coolest person she knows.
Josh Vande Krol
Chief Operations Officer
Hubb, Inc.
I started my career in education, even taught my brother in law's brother for a bit during a 3rd grade teaching internship. During a summer break I started working in a technology company and found that I could still teach, but just in a different setting.
In my professional career, I am a technologist at heart with a breadth of experience in multiple industries and in a variety of organizational sizes. I've helped create technology solutions for multiple companies and fields, including Microsoft, PIMCO, Kaiser Permanente and Tableau. I believe in implementing best practices of business processes through that are people centric. I have certifications in Lean, Six Sigma, Agile and Scrum. I am both a certified Scrum Master and Product Owner. I am currently helping Hubb move beyond an early stage start-up to their next level of maturity.
Hubb is my fourth start-up in five different industries, ranging from the travel industry, healthcare, finance, hospitality and manufacturing, often joining the company as one of the first employee(s) or pursuing my entrepreneurial spirit as a co-owner/co-founder.
Hubb has been the most fulfilling experience I've had to date and also the reason why I have worked here longer than anywhere else. I love the people, the culture, the product and the industry. Making the impossible possible has been something that I've seen realized here more so than anywhere else. And that's due solely to the perseverance, the dedication and the commitment our team members take to tackle the job until it's done. Sometimes a person work's choice is solely because they need a job and that's all it is to them.
Hubb has been a whole lot more than that for me and for many of us because of the relationships we've built, the challenges we've faced and the awesome future that is in front of us.
Alisha Wenc
Director, Educational Programs and Events
C200
Brandon Wernli
President
BW Events LLC
Over 15 years of event technology experience deploying solutions involving an array of registration platforms, BI tools, analytics, integrations, BLE, RFID, attendee journeys, artificial intelligence, AR/VR, wayfinding, proximity-based messaging/personalization, virtual events and more. Responsible for overseeing the global technology deployment and strategy for clients like Google, Cisco, Intuit and many others.
Owner of BW Events, one of the fastest growing event technology consulting agencies in the world. For more than a decade BW Events has consulted agencies, event planners and program managers on their event technology needs. For those planning a virtual or in-person event, BW’s professionals will carefully assess your needs, offer recommended solutions and cover any or all of the following services: architect, project management, design, configure, Q&A, integrate, deploy, support, and analyze. BW Events was invited to be a member of the esteemed AJ Digital Collective – a best of bread community for digital events in 2020 and today.
Marcus White
Managing Member
MCW Events, LLC
Founder and Managing Member of Seattle-based MCW Events, Marcus White, CMP is more commonly known as the Minister of Make it Happen. Leveraging his own carefully cultivated and nurtured relationships throughout the industry since dirt was invented [approximately 24 years ago], he can’t help but deliver human-centered and transformative programs. His client resume humbly boasts of strong relationships with Tableau, Twitch, InVisionApp, Valve and more. His industry experience and international exposure has given him a voice across several speaking engagement platforms. All the while, whether he’s chartering some 18+ odd jets or playing with Sparkles [his beloved dog], Marcus diligently and with great intentionality, takes pride in developing and leading his growing deep bench of 20+ team members.
Matt Wittek
CEO & Founder
Fill it Forward
Fill it Forward founder Matt Wittek is a social entrepreneur on a mission to inspire the world to reuse. Since 2003, Matt has been empowering people to make worldwide change by creating environmentally and socially responsible products and technology.
An industry leader and innovator, Matt has converted his passion for environmental sustainability into creative solutions that are amplifying the impact of reuse around the world.
Amanda Young
Owner, Operator
Young Events Consulting
Amanda Young has been a leader in the industry for over 20 who has overseen over 300 events. She started her career managing user and industry conferences for a $500M software provider. Following that, Amanda spent nearly a decade at GE, launching SMMP programs, streamlining internal processes such as, and implementing technology and data solutions to measure event ROI. Today, Amanda is the President of Young Events Consulting, partnering with clients to modernize their events portfolio, operations and team positioning. As Amanda states: “As planners, we not only need to be creative problem solvers, but understand the needs of the business, while driving ROI for key stakeholders no matter the size and scope of the event.”
Arthur Zards
Founder
Lab Z
Arthurs passion is teaching, coaching and creating memorable experiences.
He is the founder of Lab Z, an Experience Design agency that focuses on a new approach to create authentic engagements within organization culture, brands, events, and customers, through intentional design of emotion and meaning. A recent Lab Z development have been creating a framework for Human experience design that has been shared with top organizations and lectured at Kellogg School of Management. Ask him about it. His book will be published late Spring 2021. He is extremely excited (some would say too much) in this new area of experiences, emotion, meaning, and story in the experiential economy, and welcomes anyone to have a conversation with him about this topic.
He is a self-described TED fanatic and is the founder and curator for TEDxNaperville. He has produced a decade of large scale events, experiences, and coached over 250+ speakers, from Olympic medalists, billionaire entrepreneurs and even a few astronauts on how to get their idea to stand out from the crowd.
His superpower is to take an idea, and craft an experience around it that’s memorable, impactful, and authentic.
In his spare time he carves Tiki Moai, jumps off cliffs in his paraglider and grills a mean Argentina style Picanha on his home made steel 850 lb wood fired grill he calls the Lapalapa Goucho. His mantra is to “create an idea, get people excited, do it, repeat.”
