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The Commission-Free Search Directory Serving Meeting Professionals Worldwide SM

Management Team

ConventionPlanit.com Mission Statement

To provide the meeting, event and tradeshow planning community with a comprehensive web based portal designed to facilitate easy access to information, both domestically and internationally, on destinations, facilities, service providers and other industry related resources.


Katherine S. Markham, CHME
Principal & Co-Founder


As principal & co-founder of ConventionPlanit.com, Ms. Markham is responsible for sales and marketing strategies as well as new business development.

Ms. Markham began her career in group sales with Marriott Hotels and Resorts in 1980. Since then, she has held leadership positions in sales and marketing, both on property and in national sales, for major hotel, convention bureau, and service provider sectors of the meetings industry. Some of her past employers include Renaissance Hotels, Radisson Hotels International, The Homestead Resort, Associated Luxury Hotels and Resorts, Inc., Park Terrace Hotel, Greater Milwaukee Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Expovision. She is also a Certified Hotel Management Executive (CHME).

Prior to launching ConventionPlanit.com in 2003, Ms. Markham was a Principal & Co-Founder of the Alliance Service Network, a national sales office and lead generation firm for service providers. This entrepreneurial step led to the evolution of ConventionPlanit.com.

Ms. Markham was a weekly host of Your Meeting Matters, a segment of the Washington, DC radio program Association Nation, in which she engaged key players in the meetings industry in lively discussions. She is active in committees and local boards of The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), Meeting Planners International (MPI), New York Society of Association Executives (NYSAE) and Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). Ms. Markham currently serves on the marketing advisory councils for APEX and Event Technology Exposition.


David B. Markham
Principal & Co-Founder

As principal & co-founder of ConventionPlanit.com, Mr. Markham is responsible for operations, in addition to new business development.

Mr. Markham began his career at the Watergate Hotel and Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC, where over a period of several years, he assumed several management positions of increasing responsibility within the rooms and operations division. David later joined the Astor Hotel Management Company to open the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC, and held management positions in both the operations and sales and marketing departments of the Renaissance Hotel and Congressional Park Hotel.

Following his tenure with Astor Hotels, Mr. Markham assumed the role of Director of Sales & Marketing for the Madison Hotel Group and Omni Georgetown Hotel, both located in Washington, DC. From 1992 thru 2000, David was Director of Sales and Marketing in the Washington, DC office of the David Green Organization, a national representation company of leading independent hotels and resorts.

Prior to launching ConventionPlanit.com, Mr. Markham was principal & co-founder of the Alliance Service Network, a national sales office and lead generation firm for leading service providers to the meetings industry.

Mr. Markham is a member of The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and Association of Meeting Professionals (AMP's).


Julie Roberts
Director of New Business Development

Julie Roberts has extensive experience in sales and marketing in the hospitality industry. While attending college, Julie began her career in accounting in hotels and then progressed into director of sales positions with the Cle Hotel Corporation in Forbes and New Orleans. She joined Marriott Hotels at the New Orleans French Quarter Hotel and later moved to the Marriott National Sales Office in Washington, DC. Roberts went on to spend several years with the Washington, DC Convention and Visitors Bureau (now WCTC).

Ms. Roberts then joined SMG in Denver as director of sales and marketing of the Colorado Convention Center. Roberts later helped open the Harborview Center in Clearwater, Florida, and joined the team promoting the PGA’s World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Florida. Before joining ConventionPlanit.com, Julie represented the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau in the Washington, DC meetings market.

Maureen Pickell, CTC
Director of Global Accounts

Maureen S. Pickell, CTC, has worked in the travel industry for more than 25 years. She has worked as a travel agent as well as in airline sales for five different carriers. Most recently, she spent 21 years with Northwest Airlines as its manager of meeting and incentive sales based in Washington, D.C., specializing in the association market.

Maureen holds a Certified Travel Counselors degree from the Institute of Certified Travel Agents and was called on by the Professional Convention Management Association to author the chapter on Transportation for the 3rd edition of its textbook for planners entitled "Professional Meetings Management." The Potomac Chapter of Meeting Professionals International named her the 2000-2001 Supplier of the Year and she has received numerous sales and marketing achievement awards during her airline career.

Jean P. Mills
Director of Marketing Services

Jean P. Mills is a seasoned meeting planner with more than two decades of experience in conference management, exhibit hall, and sponsorship development. She began her career as Director of Meetings and Operations at the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. She went on to become Director of Meetings and Operations at the Association of Biotechnology Companies and later Director of Meetings at the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Ms. Mills was later a consultant in event management and sales for three years before joining ConventionPlanit.com as Director of Marketing Services.


Carol Mills
Regional Director of Sales

Carol Mills joins the ConventionPlanit.com sales team with strong experience in telemarketing to meeting professionals, giving her a thorough understanding of their needs and hot-button issues.

She is able to pass along this intelligence in her sales conversations with destinations, convention centers, hotels, resorts, and other suppliers. She also spent 15 years as an elementary school teacher, giving her patience and the ability to project a positive attitude. She has excellent attention to detail and is dedicated to delivering strong value to clients.


Laura Camic
Regional Director of Sales

Laura Camic brings strong marketing and sales experience to ConventionPlanit.com. Before joining ConventionPlanit.com, she spent six years as National Account Manager for Pioneer Publishing, where she sold advertising for four statewide and two national publications, posting strong sales gains each year. Earlier in her career Camic was Assistant Store Manager for Coach, a well-known retail chain. Based in Lexington, Kentucky, she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Kentucky.

Al Rickard, CAE
Director of Communications

Al Rickard is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) with 20 years of experience in public relations, marketing, publishing, public affairs, and association management. He is president of ASSOCIATION VISION, a communications company that provides services to a large client base of associations and corporations that sell to associations. In the late 1990s, Mr. Rickard served as Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs at the Greater Washington Society of Association Executives (GWSAE) and was publisher of Executive Update magazine. He also conceived and launched the Ultimate Meeting Industry Calendar.

He also led a major division of one of the nation's largest trade associations, serving as Senior Vice President for Member Services & Marketing at the National Food Processors Association. Mr. Rickard has also held vice president of communications positions at the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus and Snack Food Association.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rickard was the first Section Newsletter Editor at the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and was the first Editor of USAE newspaper, an independent trade journal covering the association/meetings/hospitality industry. He is a graduate of the ASAE Future Leaders Conference, serves on the GWSAE Nation's Capital Distinguished Speakers Series Advisory Council, was Chairman of the ASAE Communication Section Membership Marketing Committee, and has earned 18 awards for publications excellence and a Golden Bell Public Relations award from HSMAI. He also serves on the Marketing Committee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. Rickard is a member of GWSAE, ASAE, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Society of National Association Publications.


Damion Rutherford
Director of Online Marketing

Damion Rutherford is responsible for all online marketing of ConventionPlanit.com. He is one of the original Internet search engine optimizers who began this type of marketing work in 1996. He has worked with major corporations such as amazon.com (book sales) and servicemagic.com (home improvement lead generation) to achieve exponential increases in online leads. Rutherford currently has a partnership with Google to promote their “AdWords” program, Google’s main source of income. During a test period, he generated 48 percent of total revenue to Google for the Kitchen Cabinet industry through one site. He has also designed million-piece direct marketing campaigns and has also designed a radio advertising campaign for home repair contractors that ran on the Rush Limbaugh Show.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Rutherford was a highly successful telemarketer for The Smith Company, a – magazine sales and renewal firm, where he was the company’s top sales performer for 28 of 34 months and conducted cold calling campaigns that won new contracts for the company from U.S. News and World Report, TV Guide, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, among others.


Daniel Shipman
Webmaster

Daniel Shipman is Vice President of Interactive Media at SRJ Marketing Communications. He honed his web programming skills through hands-on experience in interactive marketing. Mr. Shipman has supervised and personally created a wide range of technologically advanced websites for a wide range of clients. As soon as a new technology is introduced, Mr. Shipman carefully assesses it before integrating it into his development processes. He has advanced programming knowledge of Flash, PHP, MySQL, PERL, CSS, DHTML, and HTML. Mr. Shipman attended Wayland Baptist University.

Debbie Carter
Director of Administrative Services

Ms. Carter began her career in office management with Prudential Insurance in 1975. Upon moving to Southern Florida in 1982, she worked in sales and office administration for Nautical Furnishings and later, in the same capacity with Coldwell Banker. Before joining ConventionPlanit.com, Ms. Carter previously worked part-time in sales and office administration for INESS, a telecom equipment sales and marketing firm in the Washington, DC area.

As Director of Administration, Ms. Carter performs a myriad of tasks relating to marketing and office administration.


Ashley Spitzer
Director of Internet Operations

Ashley Spitzer has been involved in the hospitality industry for her entire professional career. She has experience in Web design, marketing, event planning, and sales -- a strong combination for this industry. At ConventionPlanit.com, she handles company operations, maintains social media and the ConventionPlanit.com blog, e-newsletter, and some internet marketing. Spitzer also assists meeting planners with RFP distribution through the popular RFP ValetTM program and is the primary staff contact for member ad fulfillment, press releases and listings.

She is an active member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), especially through the Under 30 Gateway, a group for young industry professionals. Spitzer has co-presented educational sessions for both meeting planners and suppliers for The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and The Potomac Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Spitzer attended the University of Maryland.


 

 

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ConventionPlanit.com
12621 Carrington Hill Drive
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