Dahlia has an OMG-attitude about all things event tech 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-fueled ‘go-to’ source for virtual/hybrid events, trend-setting solutions, eventtech news, and professional branding expertise.  

She has been recognized in a plethora of magazines, top influencer and innovator lists, too many to count! She 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!

Zenus Director of Marketing, Nick Borelli, leverages his background in experience design, event tech and digital marketing to help event professionals reach their full potential. His background includes decades of contributions to live and digital communication helping to facilitate his mission: bringing the world together through intentionally designed experiences. To further this mission, he has presented on a wide range of topics internationally, volunteered with numerous industry associations and contributed to dozens of publications. He has also served as a board member for a decade with the meetings and events industry non-profit, the SEARCH Foundation. Nick has been named a Changemaker by MeetingsNet, awarded International Volunteer of the Year by ILEA, and has won numerous marketing awards. He has served as an advisor for associations, conferences, technology companies and event suppliers. Nick is the instructor of the Enhancing Events with AI course with the Event Leadership Institute.

Gabriel is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the events and tradeshow industries. He began his career managing global events before transitioning to designing interactive experiences tailored for the live events market. Today, he leads a specialized studio that crafts dynamic activations designed to captivate and engage audiences.

Snapmatic focuses on AI image generation -  creating visually stunning outputs that emphasize precision and consistency. We work with agencies and brands to create unique AI brand activations for product launches, brand engagement, experiential marketing and marketing campaigns - all around the world.

Seth Kenvin started and runs There.App Co. based on personal experiences organizing and managing live field activities like tradeshow exhibiting, professional off-site gatherings, and on-set media production. The company's solution is a singular and simple resource for project organization and communications including capabilities to chat live, share files, monitor task completion, manage schedule and access pertinent location data like where teammates are relative to what needs to get done. Seth has led the company's development of a (currently) 10-module collaborative suite, raising millions of dollars in venture capital, and completing successful pilots with customers in events, media, experience production and more.

Prior to founding There.App Co., Seth has been involved in starting multiple ventures including: Market7, Inc., which provided an application for collaborative media production with customers including Google, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Toyota, University Of Texas and Paramount Pictures; and BigBand Networks, Inc. (now part of CommScope) which provides infrastructure for broadband data and media services with customers including Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Cox Communications. He's additionally been a consulting executive to companies in digital media production, wireless technology, mobile security, professional automation applications, and consumer applications about sports and politics. These experiences have included extensive field project execution which has been key to Seth's insights prompting the development of There.App.

Seth has additional prior experience in venture capital, investment banking and business journalism, including involvement in founding several organizations in those spheres. He has participated in billions of dollars of financial and commercial market transactions. His early career included engineering projects computerizing supply chain and manufacturing operations.

Besides his business interests and activities, Seth is an enthusiast about music, sports and writing, both as practitioner (especially blues harmonica, open water swimming, and sometimes-harsh book reviews) and fan (especially Elvis Costello, the San Francisco Giants, and whichever authors are currently on his bedside table, currently Patrick Rothfus and Marion Gibson).

Seth holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in engineering from Cornell University, and a Master’s degree in business from Stanford University.

Coming Soon!

Andrew is the Director of Sales at Accelevents, working with organizers to simplify their tech stack and increase functionality. 

Mark is a seasoned global executive with 40 years’ experience in the software industry. He has worked in large global companies and startups and brings a broad range of experience in executive management, COO, strategic planning, global sales, go-to-market strategy, and business development. Mark’s passion is breakout technologies like AI and their potential to impact our world and our quality of life.

Scott Owens is the Founder and CEO of Amego, the fastest-growing tech platform in the event marketing industry. With over a decade of experience managing technology for large-scale events at Salesforce and ServiceNow, Scott launched Amego to transform mobile attendee experiences at events across the globe. His leadership and vision have positioned Amego at the forefront of innovative event solutions, setting new standards for attendee engagement and event success worldwide.

Megan Saad is passionate about crafting meaningful event experiences, focusing on the power of impactful content. With years of experience as the Global Marketing Director for IAAPA, she excelled in driving global trade show attendance while balancing excellence with the pressure to meet performance metrics. Now, Megan partners with organizations to tackle challenges in event tech, helping them make the right choices to save time and optimize budgets.

Rachel is an event marketing strategist,event tech startup founder and industry speaker on topics that cover eventmarketing and influencer marketing. When meeting planners and associationprofessionals need to get more butts in seats, they call Rachel! She is a force to be reckoned with, whipping upcreative solutions to event marketing challenges for 22+ years. Always lookingfor new ways to supercharge attendee acquisition, she used the experience fromhundreds of campaigns to pioneer a new chapter in event marketing: theaward-winning Snöball event marketing platform. The secret to her success -fueling clever, cutting-edge digital marketing tactics with the human-2-humanvalues that the events industry is based on.

Kara Dao, a seasoned Chief Operating Officer (COO), radiates optimism and approachability, fostering trust among clients and colleagues. With 25+ years in the industry, she boasts a remarkable portfolio, notably elevating an exhibition to fivefold growth in just two years. Kara excels in managing international trade shows, driving profits while leading remote teams effectively. Kara's forward-thinking extends to her vision for event experiences, foreseeing a shift from traditional tradeshows to dynamic, purposeful showcases that prioritize attendee engagement over aimless wandering.

Patrick W. Hand Jr. Is President and Founder of FirstHand Productions. Patrick specializes on Corporate, Association, and government events.  He has built FHP from his extensive knowledge, diverse background, and his savviness of having an ingenious system combining, his base inventory, resourcing of freelance personnel, gear rental and production companies. Patrick created FirstHand Productions at the peak height of Covid where most of the people in his industry lost their jobs.  His vision and leadership allowed FirstHand to flourish when other companies struggled.  His staff size grew 300% in only 6 months.  Since then, Patrick has transformed Firsthand into being the new popular choice by Associations due to his integrity, leading edge ideas, professionalism, and the ability to maintain clients.

Patrick offers a unique combination of skills rarely seen in this industry, one that marries experience in production management with an acumen in the sales and business side.Patrick is a recognized expert in the production management and entertainment industries. Corporations, foreign dignitaries, political groups, government leaders, celebrities, non-profit organizations and foundations have all sought out his expertise. His breadth of experience, spanning more than 20 years, is as diverse as the clients who retain him, whether for full-scale production design, event management, entertainment procurement, conference and convention planning or technical supervision. Patrick has directed the production design, technical creation and stage management for events with Fortune 500 companies and the United States Government alike.

Ellen Campbell-Kaminski is President and COO for Exhibit Concepts, Inc. (ECI) where she has primary responsibility for sales, client relations, creative, marketing, strategy and media development. Ellen joined Exhibit Concepts, Inc. in August 2016 as Vice President of Marketing and assumed responsibility for Sales and Account Management in 2018. She took on the role of President and COO in September 2021.

Prior to joining Exhibit Concepts, Inc., Ellen held the position of Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Datalliance (TrueCommerce, Inc.), the leading provider of inventory replenishment software for consumer package goods and industrial markets worldwide. Before joining Datalliance, Ellen spent twelve years at LexisNexis, a leading provider of information and software serving the legal industry, holding a variety of executive positions in marketing and market planning. Before joining LexisNexis, Ellen held several marketing, sales management and product development positions at other leading software and information services companies.

Ellen holds a BA in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Georgetown University.  She is currently teaching a brand marketing course at the University of Dayton and frequently speaks on transforming marketing, marketing operations and marketing effectiveness. She also teaches several courses for Exhibitor Group’s CTSM program. Ellen serves on the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees for the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors for Women in Experiential. She lives in Dayton with her husband and enjoys writing, walking her two dogs, gardening, watercolor painting, and cooking in her free time.

Nicole, with over 20 years of experience in event and marketing management, is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for IAEE. She is responsible for developing and managing all marketing functions of IAEE including corporate branding and event marketing as well as creating and executing the comprehensive strategic marketing plan for all IAEE initiatives including chapter relations, membership, councils, events and advocacy initiatives.

Jess Schafer, a Los Angeles native, has more than 20 years of advertising and marketing experience. She launched her career at various advertising agencies in LA before spending a decade in the sporting goods industry with an international consumer brand. In 2018, she relocated to Washington, DC, and joined CSG. As the Senior Director of Strategic Accounts, Jess oversees brand development, strategic planning, and the execution of multi-channel marketing campaigns.

Casey Clements, MS, is the Senior Marketing Director at Fast Forward Events where she oversees marketing for the organization’s Consumer and Lifestyle Division, including the San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival, recently named number one wine festival in the United States by USA Today.  With a strong passion for marketing and data driven solutions, Casey and her team continue to increase both attendance and exhibitor participation across the entire Fast Forward portfolio.

Terri serves alongside Ann Marie Kimble as Co-Director of the Master’s Program at San Diego State University’s Payne School of Hospitality & Tourism Management. Aside from the duties at SDSU, Terri is the president of Breining Group Inc., whose mission is Connecting People to Opportunities through coaching, training and professional facilitation in the meeting industry.  Terri has been involved in business events for several decades and was responsible for producing meetings around the globe. She is a sought-after speaker and master facilitator, serving a variety of business entities. Considered by many to be a thought leader, Terri is an activist working tirelessly on the continuous evolution of the event industry.

Corporate lawyer Barbara Dunn is relied upon by clients and colleagues alike for her innovative approach to nonprofit and tax-exempt legal matters. She remains at the forefront of current trends in this area of the law and advises clients on meetings, hospitality and travel law; contracts; employment law; computer, trademark and copyright law; litigation and risk management; administrative law; taxes; antitrust; and governance matters.

Known for her depth in the law and candid communication style, pragmatism and workable solutions are at the core of Barbara’s commitment to those she serves. With more than a quarter century of experience, Barbara does not reinvent the wheel, saving her clients valuable time and money.

Barbara has been involved in a variety of leadership positions in organizations that serve the associations and hospitality industries. She was the first woman to serve in a leadership role as chair of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) Legal Section Council in 2005-2006.

Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Barbara was a partner at the law firm of Howe & Hutton Ltd., where she practiced for more than 20 years.

Melissa Vallone helps clients run their businesses through her dedication to effectively negotiating contracts and managing, owning, safeguarding and leveraging valuable technology and other intellectual property assets. She is appreciated for helping clients solve their problems and realize their goals in an efficient manner. 

Melissa's IP practice is focused on information technology, trademark, trade dress, unfair competition, copyright, domain name, promotions, privacy, publishing and commercial contract issues. She negotiates complex tech and IP licensing and publishing agreements. Notably, Melissa has decades of experience representing not-for-profits and associations. In addition, she serves clients in the manufacturing, publishing, high-tech and service industries. She is committed to understanding all sides of an agreement or issue which helps her to craft solutions in a way that benefits her clients and moves the ball forward.

She is a member of numerous organizations and has won several prestigious honors and awards.

Katie Nelson, Founder and CEO of Sales UpRising, is a three-time business owner who has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs to playing smarter, better games in the Big Leagues. She is firmly committed to changing the current statistic that 90% of businesses do not meet their sales goals. She has developed the message: Cashflow Is Oxygen and made it her mission to bring the fun back into sales. Katie uses her charismatic style as a speaker, consultant, and business coach to encourage business owners that they, too, can make their revenue dreams happen. With a total 25 years of in sales and $150 million sold in products and services,  Katie is adamant that every business action is a sales conversation. She has proven strategies for success that she shares to transform companies into profit-making powerhouses. Katie has learned through hard work, determination, and networking the tips to growth that she teaches across the country to entrepreneurs who are hungry to take their businesses to the next level. Katie’s workshops, Mastermind courses, one-on-one workshops and business retreats are in high demand. She is known as “The Sales Catalyst,” and her personalized-yet-versatile message empowers business owners to be their own best spokesperson. Her strategies have achieved sales of more than $7 million in her own businesses. Katie is active in the small business community in Northern Virginia, and she works with a wide variety of business associations as a member and as a coach to steer them towards successful, profitable business growth.