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ConventionPlanit.com gets inside the brains of meeting professionals. How? Before we launched the site, we asked meeting professionals what they need in a Web portal. What they told us is what you see on ConventionPlanit.com!
The Advisory Council continues to play an active role, sharing advice and recommendations for new features and additions to ConventionPlanit.com. Members of the Council are listed below:
Carrie Abernathy, CMP, CEM, CSEP
Lead Meeting Planner, Industry Engagement
Altria Group
Richmond, VA
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Carrie Abernathy, CMP, CEM, CSEP, is an event planner, speaker, leadership coach and writer. Carrie was 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, Carries is CEO of “A Woman with Drive”—a blog that ties in her love of all things golf and leadership together.
Carrie and co-host Juliet Tripp out of the UK host the weekly Podcast #Like an Event Boss (now on Apple and Spotify) to discuss topics related to leadership and the events industry.
In 2020 and 2021 Carrie also co-hosted the talkcast series “Events: From Black to White” - a discussion on equality in the events industry - with her colleague Derrick Johnson. She is the founder of the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force—a committee that is now being led by the Events Industry Council. She also is a contributor to Golf & Travel Magazine, and TSNN/Corporate Event News.
Carrie has also served on several advisory councils and committees that include: PCMA’s Emerging Leaders Committee, Cleveland CVB Advisory Board, Team San Jose Advisory Council, Reno-Tahoe Advisory Board, Salt Lake City Advisory Council, Monterey Advisory Board, Destination Hotels Advisory Council, Green Meetings Industry Council Foundation (Chair- 2014/2015). She has received several industry accolades and was named Collaborate Magazine's "40 under 40" industry planners to watch. She was also named Smart Meetings Magazine’s Top 50 Smart Women of 2017 and inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2019. That year, she was named Successful Meetings Magazine’s “Top 25 Most Influential” in the meetings industry as well. Carrie has been a finalist for the prestigious “Meeting Planner of the Year” honor for PCMA and in 2021 Carrie was named a Changemaker of the Year for MeetingsNet Magazine for the 2nd consecutive time. Carrie’s current home base is Virginia, where you can often find her golfing or on the lake when she isn’t trying to run the world!
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Elizabeth Carter
Senior Enterpise Event Planner
Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.
Fairfield, IA
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Elizabeth Carter joined Cambridge in 2022 and has more
than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry.
In her current role, Carter helps enterprises at Cambridge
plan conferences and meetings. She also assists Cambridge’s
Event Planning Team to coordinate other industry-related
events for financial professionals. Carter earned a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Public Relations from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Carter has been planning financial conferences and events
for 16 years, many of which were spent in Washington D.C. as
the Senior Meeting Planner at Investment Company Institute (ICI).
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Windy Christner, CMP
Windy Christner Meetings and Events, LLC
Annadale, VA
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Windy Christner has more than 20 years of experience in the meetings industry and
has been at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) for more than eight years. The APhA meetings include an
Annual Meeting and Exposition held in the spring with about 7,000 attendees and an exposition of over 200 companies,
and a Combined Forces Pharmacy Seminar held in the fall for approximately 1,200 attendees and an exposition of over
100 companies.
A big fan of ConventionPlanit.com, she calls the site "a reliable and current source for anything
and everything meeting related. It's a one-stop shop for any planner."
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Ray Ezelle
Executive Director
Discover Dunwoody
Dunwoody, GA
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Ray is a senior hospitality sales, marketing, event and business development executive, with more than 25 years of Industry experience. Ezelle has served as Vice President of Sales, Sports and Services with Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, Roanoke, Virginia; Executive Vice President of Business Development, Connections Housing, Suwanee, Georgia; Vice President, Connect Meetings, Norcross, Georgia; and Area Director of Sales and Marketing, PCH Hotels – Resort Collection on Alabama RTJ Golf Trail. Ray founded Total Hospitality Industry Solutions (THIS) in Suwanee with Gary Schirmacher, another industry veteran.
Discover Dunwoody is the official destination marketing organization for Dunwoody, which is located in the Atlanta Perimeter area.
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Cecilia Ferrara
Associate Director, Seminars, Colleges and Webinars
American Association for Justice
Washington, DC
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Cecilia has nearly a decade of non-profit administration experience, with a focus on meeting management and support. After assisting the association with the Government Affairs and Annual Conferences--along with smaller events such as quarterly board meetings—Cecilia oversaw the launch of the Educational Institute’s own Global Trade Educational Conference (G.TEC) in 2015. Managing the conference from conception to completion, Cecilia found ConventionPlanit to be an invaluable tool in the site selection process. “They are an incredible resource, from RFP Valet to making hotel and location recommendations,” she says. “I cannot thank or recommend them enough.”
Cecilia is actively working towards her CMP designation and hopes to receive it within the next year.
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Karin Soyster Fitzgerald, CMP, CAE
Chief Operating Officer
United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation
Herndon, VA
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Karin Fitzgerald is an experienced association executive who lives and breathes non-profits. She currently serves as the COO of the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation. Prior to USGIF, she served as the chief operations officer and deputy executive director of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
Fitzgerald began her association career at the American Subcontractors Association in the mid-80s and has worked for several industries serving in various departments, including meetings, education, membership services, human resources and government affairs. Karin has extensive leadership experience as a volunteer of several professional societies and associations, including the American Society of Association Executives; the Professional Convention Management Association, where she served as president of the Capital Chapter; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute Program, where she served as chairman of the Northeast Board of Trustees; and the Association of Meeting Professionals, where she served as chairman of the board.
Fitzgerald holds a B.S. from Radford University, and is a graduate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management, with the IOM designation. She holds both the Certified Meeting Professional and Certified Association Executive designations. Fitzgerald is also a Qualified Administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®.
When she is not working, you'll find her out with one of her 12 nieces or nephews or fundraising for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
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Darlene Lyons
Executive Vice President
T3 Events
Las Vegas, Nevada
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Darlene Lyons is the founder and President of EzEvents, Inc. She is an active Author, trainer and speaker on the subject of professional event management. She has over 25 years of experience and has been responsible for the planning and execution of over 5,000 events on the North American continent.
She has worked with many of the worlds’ leading speakers and entertainers, and thrives on the excitement of the event industry. Darlene is responsible for the day-to-day operations of EzEvents. Her role includes leadership of the event teams, strategic development and execution of new event strategies, new business development, and event execution.
Prior to creating EzEvents in 2000, Darlene was the Director of Events for a global home portal, Homes.com. In that role she and her team managed over 30 events a month, resulting in record sales and rapid growth. Darlene currently serves as Past President a Director at the Orangevale Chamber of Commerce. In 2012 she cofounded The Orangevale Food Bank. She has a passion for street ministry and enjoys being involved in the community.
“I enjoy using the many features offered by Convention Planit.com. I often depend on the site to get my job done with ease regardless if the event task is big or small,” she says.
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Karen Malone
Vice President of Meetings
Healthcare Information & Systems Society
Chicago, Illinois
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Karen Malone oversees nine staff at the Healthcare Information & Systems Society (HIMSS) and runs the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, an $18 million event that is ranked #64 on the nation's Tradeshow 200 list. Nearly 900 exhibitors and 25,000 attendees participate in the conference.
Malone has 20 years of experience in meeting planning, and before joining HIMSS in 1997 worked at Smith Bucklin Associates, the nation's largest association management company.
She has been recognized numerous times for her accomplishments. She was named by Meeting News Magazine one of the 25 most influential people in the meetings industry, in July 2006 was featured on the cover and the main story of Meetings and Conventions Magazine, in October 2006 was named by Tradeshow Week as one of the 100 most influential people in the tradeshow business, and in December 2006 was named by the ExpoGroup as Show Manager of the Year.
Malone uses all the resources she can find to help her plan events, and appreciates what ConventionPlanit.com has to offer. "The site is an excellent resource and toolkit," she says.
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Kasey R. McNeil, CEM
Director of Meetings & Exhibits
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Washington, DC
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Kasey McNeil has been a meeting planner for more than 17 years. She has led management of exhibits for annual conferences and other events for numerous associations. McNeil has worked with the International & American Association for Dental Research, AAPA, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), where she managed exhibits for the annual citywide convention as well as the association’s smaller conferences.
McNeil has also served as the Exhibit Operations and Events Manager at the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA)/Digestive Disease Week (DDW), where she managed exhibits for the annual citywide convention, including security, expo floor and vendors, general contractors, and 250-450 ancillary meetings and industry supported seminars during each conference. Prior to working in conference planning, McNeil worked in hotel management for eight years as a banquet manager and catering sales manager at hotels such as the Hilton, Embassy Suites and Doubletree.
Her favorite feature of ConventionPlanit.com is RFP OrganizationSM. She particularly enjoys the platform's ability to organize quotes for service providers without having to re-key any information. "I would highly recommend this free service to both meeting planners and tradeshow managers," she says.
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Mary Power, FASAE, CAE, CMP
Executive Coach
MPowering Leaders Executive Counciling
Arlington, Virginia
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Well-known industry player Mary Power planned on entering the profession ever since her days at Michigan State University, where she majored in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management.
In her new role as the Presidnet & CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, she will undertake the unique challenge of understanding the
complexities of CBBB's mission and how all of the pieces fit together. She will also focus on helping people understand what CBBB and its chapters do.
Most recently, she was a Principal at Celtic Partners, a Virginia consulting firm. Power's leadership skills distinguish her in the industry. As a past President & CEO of
the Convention Industry Council (CIC), she fostered consensus on the industry's biggest issues among the 32
meetings-related associations that belong to the CIC.
She also served as the Executive Director of the Human Resource Certification Institute, where she worked to strengthen the Institute's international presence. She made HRCI's certification designations a worldwide standard for the HR profession. She has a broad perspective on the industry, having worked for Sheraton and InterContinental Hotels for 20 years.
Always looking for new ideas herself, Power is a big fan of the "Stellar Tips" section of ConventionPlanit.com, where she finds some of the best new ideas from meeting professional colleagues.
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Valerie Sumner
Principal
VRS Meetings & Events Inc.
McLean, Virginia
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Valerie Sumner is principal of VRS Meetings & Events Inc., a full-service meeting and event management firm. She was previously president for all divisions of the TCI Companies, and also worked for The Capital Informer, Radisson Hotels, and Americana Hotels.
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Annette M. Suriani, CMP, CFMP, DES
Principal and Meeting Strategist
AMS Meetings Solutions
Fairfax, Virginia
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Annette M. Suriani, CMP, CFMP, DES is chief business events strategist for AMS Meetings Solutions, an association and meetings management firm she founded in 2012. She has been an event planner for 20+ years working with professional societies, trade associations, Boards of Certification, faith-based groups, Foundations and social groups. She has a proven track record managing trade shows and annual meetings. Annette is a well-respected leader in the meetings industry not only through her business but through her volunteer commitments with PCMA Capital Chapter, PCMA Headquarters and Kids Give Back. She also hones her event planning skills by serving as the Chairman of the Social Committee for the 200 unit condominium complex she lives in by planning monthly events that include wine and cheese tastings, Zumba classes and happy hours.
She currently serves as the Executive Director of the Association of Meeting Professionals and works with approximately half a dozen clients on their annual meetings and events.
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Carrine V. M. Todman-Lewis, DBA, MTA, CMP, CVEP
Meeting Industry Consultant/Event Strategist
Washington, DC Metro
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Carrine Todman-Lewis is an accomplished meeting industry professional with 10 years of progressively responsible experience planning and managing conferences, meetings, and special events for government and association clients for audiences ranging from 25 to more than 2,500. Carrine has extensive meeting industry knowledge and a proven track record of success in customer service excellence. She is a personable and influential communicator with exceptional organization, financial management, and contract negotiation skills.
Carrine was the conference lead on the team that won the 2009 Assistant Secretary’s Outstanding Contractor award from the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She was the 2005 recipient of the Maralyn Eisenstodt Scholarship, which recognizes a professional dedicated to a career in meetings and hospitality. She is a Certified Meeting Professional and a Certified Government Meeting Professional. She recently added Certified Virtual Event Producer to her repertoire. She is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association, where she serves on the Emerging Professionals Committee and is a student mentor. She is also a member of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals.
Carrine earned a Master’s degree in Event and Meeting Management and a Professional Event Management Certificate from The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She also earned undergraduate degrees in Business Administration—Marketing and Business Management Technology from the University of the Virgin Islands, in St. Thomas, VI. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration degree with a Leadership specialization at Walden University. Her area of research interest is service quality in the hotel industry.
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David Williams, CMP
President
Administrative Management Services, Inc.
Cleveland, Ohio
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David L. Williams has a broad range of experience from several perspectives and more than 30+ years in the association/conference management industry.
AMS has managed hundreds of conferences and several associations with a membership base ranging from 50 to 5,000. With offices in Ohio and New York, AMS and Williams are noted in the hospitality industry for their integrity and attention to detail.
He is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). He is Past Chair of the International Relations Task Force and Committee of PCMA, past Board member of PCMA and a current Trustee of the PCMA Education Foundation.
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Leslie Zeck, CMP, CMM
Director of Meetings
International and American Associations for Dental Research
Alexandria, Virginia
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Leslie Zeck, CMP, CMM oversees a department of three meeting professionals as the Director of Meetings at the International and American Associations for Dental Research. The team is responsible for planning the annual conventions for each organization annually for up to 7,000 attendees, as well as regional conferences in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.
Zeck has more than 20 years of experience in the meetings and events industry having planned everything from Congressional receptions and gala dinners, to national and international conventions and meetings.
Before joining the ACEC recently, Zeck served as the Manager of Events and Conferences at the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Red Cross national headquarters. She holds a Masters degree in non-profit management and health policy from Virginia Tech University.
A big part of her online activity takes place on ConventionPlanit.com, which Zeck calls "user-friendly and reliable."
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