LEARN FIRST-HAND FROM A "WHO'S WHO" OF THE MEETINGS INDUSTRY

Betsy Bair
Editorial Director, MeetingsNet,
Penton Media

Ms. Bair has served as editorial director of Association Meetings, Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Medical Meetings, Financial & Insurance Meetings, and Religious Conference Manager magazines since the early 1990s and frequently speaks on meeting planning trends and topics at industry events. She has also served in staff writing positions for Travel Agent magazine and Travel Management Daily.

Buz Buzogany, CAE, CASE
Organizer
The Green Exposition

Mr. Buzogany is the founder and a principal of SAVVY-Strategic Resource Partners, LLC, a company formed five years ago to bring non-dues revenue opportunities—advertising/sponsorship/affinity and fundraising—to not-for-profit associations. In 2007, Buzogany created a wholly-owned subsidiary, The Green Exposition. Formerly, Buzogany was an association industry veteran who served as president and CEO of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association and the Broadcast Cable Credit Association for more than a decade. Prior to joining BCFM/BCCA in 1993, Buzogany was the executive director of a for-profit arm of the National Association of Television Program Executives, pioneering one of the first e-mail and broadcast facsimile services in the world. Buzogany was a past chairman of the Association Forum of Chicagoland and holds both a Certified Association Executive (CAE) and a Certified Association Sales Executive designation. He is the only holder of the dual recognition in association history.

Agnès Canonica, CMP, CMM
Account Manager, Client Services
George P. Johnson

Ms. Canonica's professional background includes running her own international incentive company and extensive experience in pharmaceutical meeting planning. In her current position, she leads a team that executes the company’s portfolio of Latin American programs. Prior to joining GPJ, Canonica was senior projects director at Krugman Group International, Inc., where she managed the company’s Latin American meetings for Pfizer and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. Canonica obtained her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 2000 and completed her Certification in Meeting Management (CMM) in March 2008. She is also an active member of MPI. Born and raised in the south of France, Canonica also lived in Argentina and St. Martin prior to coming to the United States in 1981. She is fluent in French and Spanish, with a working knowledge of Italian and Portuguese.

Gary Clark
Vice President, Communications
Freeman

For more than 30 years, Mr. Clark has served in a variety of positions—including technical, creative, marketing, and sales, as well as senior management for AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions. Working with association and corporate customers like IBM, Kodak, American Airlines, Texas Instruments, the National Association of Broadcasters, ACM SIGGRAPH, and several Republican National Conventions, Clark has supported projects including permanent displays, business theater venues, convention general session events, marketing centers, training facilities, and entertainment productions. During this time, Clark has witnessed major changes in presentation technologies and the effects those changes have had on how people communicate and interact. He teaches both meeting planners and corporate event specialists how technologies are changing and how they affect their events, budgets, and the audience.

Tyra W. Hilliard, J.D, CMP
Consultant and Educator
Hilliard Associates

A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Ms. Hilliard develops and delivers online education, conducts in-house training, and provides consulting services in the areas of risk management and legal issues to the meetings and events industry. As a part-time faculty member at The George Washington University, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and UNLV Singapore, Hilliard teaches graduate courses in meeting and event management in classrooms, as well as online. Early in her career, Hilliard has worked in the meetings industry as a meeting planner, a catering manager, and an association executive. Her industry experience gives her a unique perspective on the legal and business aspects of meeting and event management.

Dexter King, CFE
Executive Director
International Association of Assembly Managers

Mr. King has served in his current position since 2001. As a past president of IAAM and a 33-year veteran of the sports and entertainment industry, he has managed all types of public venues--including overseeing five public venues in the Alaska region. He has also held the position of executive director of the Boise State University Pavilion and for five public venues at Oral Roberts University. King is recognized for his proactive role in education and has been instrumental in the founding of the Public Assembly Facility Management School at Oglebay Park in Wheeling, W. Va.; the Arena Management Conference; the Leadership Institute; and the University Venue Management Conference. He has played a key role in the development of the core competencies for Body of Knowledge Text Book, Public Assembly Facility Management: Principles and Practices and “Best Practice” guidelines for Safety and Security for all major public venues. In 1997, King was recognized with the highest industry honor as a recipient of IAAM’s prestigious Charles A. McElravy Award for outstanding contributions to the profession.

Steve Moore
President & CEO
Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau

Mr. Moore came to Phoenix in March 2002, after serving 13 years as the executive director of the San Antonio CVB. Previously, Moore spent 14 years serving various capacities, including executive vice president, for the Houston CVB. A 33-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Moore brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in promoting and expanding the tourism and hospitality industry. He is active in several national professional organizations including the chair-elect of the DMAI Foundation Board, PCMA, ASAE, MPI Foundation Board and the TIAA.

Mary Beth Nowak
Executive for Assembly Logistics, Meeting Management and Travel
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Ms. Nowak has been responsible for preparation and administration of all physical arrangements for the biennial Churchwide Assembly since 1991. Her responsibilities include the coordination of arrangements for the meetings of the Church Council and Conference of Bishops and she is involved in the planning process and contract negotiations for over 180 meetings and events of the ELCA. Prior to joining the ELCA, she taught meeting management and travel classes at the College of DuPage. Nowak has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry organizing conventions, incentives, and international travel. She is an active member of the Religious Conference Management Association and has been on the Chicago Liaison Council.

David Radcliffe
President
The Radcliffe Company

Mr. Radcliffe established The Radcliffe Company in 2001, as a multi-dimensional hospitality-related consulting firm—after 26 years in convention bureau management. For 14 of those years, Radcliffe was president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix CVB. He is recognized throughout the industry as a tourism and convention expert who played a key role in developing the Greater Phoenix area as a major international convention and tourism destination. Prior to the Phoenix bureau, Radcliffe served as president of the Metropolitan Tucson CVB and held other CVB CEO assignments in Eugene-Springfield, Ore. and Spokane, Wash. In 1997, he was selected as chairman of the International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (now DMAI). Radcliffe led CIC’s “Project Attrition” effort in 2003 to identify, strategize, and communicate potential solutions for the growing attrition problem for professional meeting planners and hoteliers.

Sandy Reynolds, CMP
President/Owner
Meetings & Events USA

Ms. Reynolds established Meetings & Events USA in 1995, as a local destination management company, which has since grown to a full-service meeting and event management firm with worldwide scope and experience. Reynolds formerly worked at SmithBuckln—coordinating conferences and trade shows across the country for groups ranging from 25 to 50,000 attendees. She is active in MPI, PCMA, and Association Forum of Chicagoland.

Jeffrey M. Weinman
Principal
Summit Event Management, Inc.

As a principal at Summit Event Management, Mr. Weinman is responsible for international groups ranging in size from twelve to 250 people. He stated organizing Celebrity Golf Tournaments and has grown his business by using smart strategies and creative ideas to serve an impressive list of clients—including Fortune 100 companies. Weinman and his business partner help clients realize return on their investments, offer insight in planning and execution, and produce events that create marvelous memories. Weinman is a member of MPI and serves as vice president and treasurer of SITE Chicago. He also serves on the advisory board for Mexico Tourism Board and is proud to be a founding board of director for the Progressive Services Network, a Chicago-based charity whose mission is to provide housing for physically and mentally challenged individuals.