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

Terrance Barkan
Chief Executive Officer and Founder
Association Global Services

Mr. Barkan has been involved in association management at a senior level since 1991. Early in his association management career, he served as executive director for international trade and professional societies. In his current role, Barkan acts as senior advisor and consultant on a global basis for AGS clients and staff, contributing to the development of trade and professional groups, individual member organizations, international federations, and foundations. Barkan's range of knowledge and skill includes governance, strategic planning, financial administration, technology implementation, communications, fundraising, membership administration, tax planning, and foreign currency management. He is the author of numerous articles on international association management issues and has served as a special advisor to the Chinese Federation of Industrial Economics in Beijing, China. Barkan is a former board member of the European Society of Association Executives (ESAE), a member of the international section of ASAE, and is an active volunteer in the International Association of Association Management Companies (IAAMC).

Mitchell Beer, CMM
President
The Conference Publishers

Mr. Beer is founder and president of The Conference Publishers Inc., a firm that produces conference summary reports, overnight newsletters, and other forms of print and electronic documentation for meetings and events. Beer produced the MPI white paper on onsite learning strategies, based on key sessions at the association’s 2007 Professional Education Conference—Europe, and has reported on emerging industry trends for MPI Canada. In December 2006, he became project manager for MPI’s study of the economic impact of meetings and events in Canada. An active member of MPI Ottawa since May 1997, Beer currently serves as the chapter’s vice president-communications, and has just completed two years as chair of its National Meetings Industry Day committee. He was a member of MPI’s Professional Development Strategy Group in 2006-07 and completed the global Certification in Meetings Management (CMM) in 2003.

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.

Suzanne D. Cook, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President of Research
Travel Industry Association (TIA)

Dr. Cook directs a multi-faceted program of marketing, economic, and international research and report publication at TIA—including the Travel Economic Impact Model, the only national model which provides consistent and comparable estimates of both domestic and international travel's economic impact at the national, state, and local levels. She is the principal author of many reports, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and an adjunct faculty member at The George Washington University—where she earned a doctorate of philosophy in social psychology. Cook has taught graduate level courses in research methods both in Washington, D.C. and abroad, and has served as president and chairperson of the Board of the International Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). She serves on the board of governors of the Alexandria CVA, as well as on the board of directors of the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium. Travel Agent Magazine named Cook as one of the 200 most powerful women in the travel industry. She is the recipient of the Travel and Tourism Research Association's highest and most prestigious award, The Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as the Access to Freedom Award given by the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality.

Peggy Daidakis
Executive Director
Baltimore Convention Center

Ms. Daidakis began her convention industry career with the newly formed Baltimore Convention Bureau in 1978. She moved to the Baltimore Convention Center when the facility opened in 1979 and was later promoted to assistant director. She soon became director of client services and became director of building services in 1985. A year later, Daidakis became the first female director of a major city convention center and was instrumental in the expansion of the center—which tripled its size. She now overseas a full-time staff of more than 200 who all play a part in welcoming an average of over a half-million visitors each year. Daidakis has served on the board for IAAM and as chair of the IAAM Foundation. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the Baltimore Area CVA, a member of the National Academy Foundation Advisory Committee for Hospitality and Tourism, and co-chair of the IAAM/DMAI Task Force for Best Practices of Convention Centers and Destination Marketing Organizations.

Sue Davis
Director, Special Projects
SPIE

Mrs. Davis has more than 35 years of experience planning technical meetings and exhibits, as well as negotiating contracts with hotels, convention centers, and service contractors around the globe. She joined SPIE, an international society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science and application of light, in 1972 and has managed the meetings and exhibits department for 31years. Davis was instrumental in setting up European operations—hiring staff to plan and execute events and develop technical content to serve the European constituents. She serves as staff liaison to the hospitality industry and is a founding member of the internal event strategy team, responsible for creating the vision, long-range strategy, and future road map for SPIE events around the world—including Japan, Australia, China, India, and Europe. Davis currently serves on the San Jose CVB board of directors, the Vancouver, B.C. customer advisory board, and the Salt Lake City customer advisory council.

Heather A. Doughlin, CMP
CMP Director
Convention Industry Council

Ms. Doughlin became a CMP in 1995 and has since twice re-certified. As the CMP program director, she oversees the foremost certification program in today’s meetings and convention industry—with over 12,000 individuals who have earned the designation in 34 countries worldwide. Doughlin is responsible for the administration of the CMP application, examination, and recertification processes. She recently joined CIC after a career with Hyatt Hotels Corporation that spanned 25 years. During her tenure, Doughlin’s main area of concentration was in catering and convention services, where she held progressive levels of responsibility from administrative assistant to director of catering.

Daniel N. Fenton
President and Chief Executive Officer, San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Chairman of the Board, Team San Jose

Mr. Fenton is president & CEO of the San Jose CVB. A founding member of San Jose State University’s hospitality program, Fenton serves on the executive advisory board. He is chair of the Taxicab Advisory Team in San Jose and is on the board of the Mexican Heritage Corporation and San Jose Arts & Culture Roundtable. His professional affiliations include membership in PCMA, California Society of Association Executives (CSAE), ASAE, MPI, and the Council of Engineering & Scientific Society Executives. Additionally, Fenton is in the Rotary Club of San Jose, United Way of Silicon Valley, and the San Jose Sports Authority. He graduated with distinction from Cornell University.

Paul Flackett, CITE
Managing Director
IMEX

Mr. Flackett has been in the travel industry for 25+ years. From 1987 to 1999, he served as managing director of EIBTM. In 1999, he started his own company "pf.redseven," with clients such as the Croatia CB. A member of SITE, he served on the international board of directors and as president. Currently, he serves as managing director of IMEX and as the president of the SITE Foundation. In 2004, ICCA awarded him the prestigious "Moises Schuster" and, in 2003, he was appointed chancellor of MPI.

Arthur Frommer
Founder and Author
Frommer's Travel Series

Mr. Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the Frommer travel guides, the author of a twice-weekly newspaper column syndicated by King Features, and host of a nationwide Sunday travel radio program broadcast to more than 100 stations by the WOR network. A graduate of the Yale University Law School, his travel career began in 1957 with publication of the best-selling Europe on $5 a Day, which is widely credited with having launched a massive movement by American tourists to Europe. Among the many travel books and guides he has written is The New World of Travel, a Literary Guild selection in 1988, which was an analysis of the entire American travel industry.

Richard Green
Vice President of Industry Relations and Association Sales
Marriott International Inc.

Mr. Green is Marriott’s primary liaison and spokesperson, and is actively involved with key clients and industry associations, including ASAE, PCMA, MPI, and IAEM. Green was formerly vice president of sales for the Greater Boston CVB. Prior to that, he spent ten years with Marriott Hotels Corporation as a national account executive in the Washington, D.C. office and as opening director of association sales at the San Francisco Marriott. Before joining Marriott, Green was a national sales manager at the Anaheim Area CVB. He started his 27-year industry career with Hyatt Hotels. Green recently completed a term as president of the National Alumnae Board of Directors and is a member of the University of Denver’s School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management Capital Campaign Committee.

Jon Goldman
President
LumpyMail.com

Mr. Goldman is known for his unconventional, out-of-the-box creativity, first nationally recognized when he won the Harvard Business School Award for creating the largest student-run advertising/PR agency in the country. He has conducted A/B testing and analysis of over 3,867 actual campaigns, and his “Million Dollar Lumpy Mail™ Marketing System” has been translated into Japanese. Goldman has done work for IBM, National Geographic, and Nickelodeon—in addition to numerous small- and mid-sized businesses, and his campaigns have been featured on NBC and CBS, and in The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek. His dynamic, entertaining, and highly creative style led him to be rated “Info-tainer of the Year” by the USPS and “#1 Presenter for Takeaway Content, Usability and Presentation Style” by the Direct Marketing Association.

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.

Kristin Horstman, CMP
Manager, Convention & Tradeshow Services
SmithBucklin

Ms. Horstman has more than 12 years of experience and expertise in the meetings, incentive, and convention management industry. Prior to joining SmithBucklin, she worked in the corporate market handling sales meetings, special events, and incentives. Horstman gained international experience planning her first meeting overseas in Seoul, Korea, in 2002. Since then, she has organized meetings in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Horstman earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in hospitality management from Iowa State University in 1995 and obtained her CMP in 2003. She has been a part of several industry organizations including PCMA, MPI, and SITE.

Harry Lewis
Attorney Advisor
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Mr. Lewis provides guidance to the EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Pollution Prevention Division (PPD) and develops policy in the area of Pollution Prevention (P2) as it relates to industry performance. In addition to his work in P2, Lewis has a professional background in proprietary and confidential business information and labor issues. One of his many responsibilities is to support the development of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, including "green meetings" acquisition, throughout the Agency. Lewis received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore and is admitted to the Maryland Bar.

Helen Marano
Director, Office of Travel & Tourism
U.S. Department of Commerce

Ms. Marano oversees the International Tourism Promotion program for the Department of Commerce, policy and advocacy issues affecting tourism industries in the U.S., and the statistical center on international travel and tourism for the country—incorporating the economic impact and forecasting of international travel and trends. She serves as an advisor on travel and tourism issues to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Services and the Department. Prior to joining the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Marano was the director of research and policy and planning for the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration (USTTA). She was responsible for establishing the research department for the Orlando CVB, using her expertise and previous experience at the Gallup Organization in Princeton, N.J. Before entering the tourism arena, Marano spent ten years performing research and marketing in banking. She also served on the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA) board from 2001-2004.

Rebecca A. Mebane
Director of Conferences & Meetings
National Recycling Coalition

Ms. Mebane has served as the director of conferences & meetings for the National Recycling Coalition (NRC) since March 1997. She is responsible for planning and implementing the coalition’s annual Congress & Exposition, along with involvement in the planning of smaller board and committee meetings. Mebane also developed the coalition’s green meetings policy. Before she joined the NRC, Mebane served in the meetings department of the Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) from 1986 to 1997.

Garland Preddy, CGMP
Director of Special Events
U.S. Marshals Office

Ms. Preddy has planned events for the federal government for 25 years and has taught classes to various audiences on government ethics and planning successful government events for the past 10 years. She was a member of the team writing the Certified Government Meeting Professional text and now teaches the certification class. Garland taught the government class at The George Washington University for seven years and currently teaches Meetings and Conferences. She is also an adjunct professor teaching Conventions and Meetings at George Mason University.

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. As a result, MeetingNews named Radcliffe one of “The 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry.”

Veronica Stoddart
Deputy Managing Editor for Travel
USA Today

Ms. Stoddart is USA Today's deputy managing editor for travel. Previously, she was founding editor of Caribbean Travel & Life magazine, which she edited for 10 years. Stoddart has worked as a contract editor for the National Geographic Society, as travel editor of Americas magazine, and has contributed to numerous publications during 25 years in travel journalism. She has received the Marcia Vickery-Wallace Award for Excellence in Travel Journalism, the Westin Award from the North American Travel Journalists Association, and seven Lowell Thomas Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. She is a graduate of Wellesley College.

Cathy Vijeh
Senior Manager of Meetings Administration,
Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)

Ms. Vijeh is the senior manager of meetings administration for ISACA, an international IT audit and security association with more than 65,000 members in 140 countries. She has over 15 years experience organizing meetings and conferences in both the corporate and not for profit sectors. In her 10 years with ISACA, Vijeh produced in excess of 150 conferences in 28 countries. Her experience includes organizing events in Mexico, Central America, and South America.