Thomas F. (Tommy) Goodwin is the Vice President of Government Affairs for the Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (ECA), a newly formed association dedicated to the recovery and advancement of the business events industry. In this role, he leads ECA’s advocacy on behalf of the interconnected ecosystem of exhibitors, show and event organizers, suppliers, venues, and destinations that comprise the $396 billion business events landscape.

 Prior to joining ECA, he spent more than 20 years leading a wide range of government relations, public affairs, and issue advocacy efforts for several globally recognized associations and corporations, including Oracle Corp., AARP, and the Project Management Institute (PMI). Additionally, he was a research fellow at Harvard Business School focused on the international political and legal environment in which business operates.

 In 2020, The Hill included him in its annual list of association “Top Lobbyists.”

 He has a B.B.A. from The George Washington University, an M.B.A. from Auburn University, and a Postgraduate Diploma in European Union Law from King’s College London. He also holds a Certified Association Executive designation from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and a Project Management Professional certification from PMI. He currently serves as President of the National Institute of Lobbying & Ethics and the Immediate Past Chair of ASAE’s Government Relations and Advocacy Professionals Advisory Council.

Comng Soon!

Marsha Flanagan, M.Ed., CEM is the President and CEO of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events® (IAEE). As IAEE’s president, Flanagan is responsible for the management of IAEE’s full-time professional staff, producing the annual business operating plan and budget, overseeing the support of all meetings of governance units, leading business development, directing fund raising efforts, advocating for the industry and the organization’s members, providing organizational leadership and strategic counsel to the board. Also, she serves as the association’s representative with industry coalitions, partner organizations and strategic alliances.

Prior to joining PPAI, Flanagan was the Director of Content Strategy and Development at the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), where she was responsible for steering strategy and the development and delivery of all PPAI professional development and editorial offerings.

Flanagan spent 6 years in the medical industry serving in various roles overseeing operations, purchasing, revenue cycle management, marketing and business development. 

Flanagan began her career with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and spent 12 years in various roles including Executive Vice President of Professional Development where she oversaw operations, including all strategic partnerships, the design and delivery of all professional development offerings and meetings management.

She was named one of the 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry by Successful Meetings in 2017 and named to BizBash’s Inaugural Top 500 in the Events Industry in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, she was listed in Meetings Today as a 2021 Trendsetter. In 2021, she obtained her GBAC Trained Technician Certificate of Completion from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a division of ISSA.

Flanagan received her bachelor's degree from Texas Christian University and her master’s in education from the University of Arkansas specializing in Meeting, Tourism and Recreation Management. She obtained her Certified in Exhibition Management designation in 2021.

Flanagan is a 5th generation Texan, loves sports and the outdoors and spending time with family.

Chuck Grouzard is EVP of Business Development at GES with over 36 years of industry experience and the 2025 Chairperson of the IAEE Board of Directors for 2025. His leadership in business development for North America has fueled company growth by creating new revenue opportunities, initializing cost savings, and driving innovation and thought leadership.

Chuck has collaborated with clients including SEMICON West, Material Handling Industry of America, and the National Safety Council. He is currently Chairperson Elect for International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) and Chair for the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). Chuck is also past president of Exhibitions Services and Contractors Association, and the Midwest Chapter of IAEE. Chuck was recognized by Connect Corporate as one of 15 over 50 award winners for impacting and advancing the meetings and events industry.

Lisa Buchanan is IAEE’s Senior Vice President of Operations where she directs the general management of IAEE staff and is responsible for the association’s various departments including membership, chapter relations, digital strategy, marketing and communications, public relations, leading efforts towards growing IAEE membership and exploring new revenue streams. Previously she held the role of Vice President, Engagement and Digital Strategy and was formerly the Director of Membership and Chapter Engagement at the International Association for Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), where she was responsible for all membership and chapter initiatives across the globe. She works with the various chapter boards and committees to identify member needs and membership products and services. 

 Prior to joining IAEE, Buchanan spent 10 years in the medical and dental industry serving in various roles overseeing operations, purchasing, revenue cycle management, marketing, and business development.  

 Buchanan began her career with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and spent 8 years in various roles including Director of Global Chapter Relations and Member Services where she oversaw all membership and chapter functions for over 50 chapters worldwide.

Hannah Deters, CEM, CMP is the Director ofEvents and Sustainability at the International Association of Exhibitions andEvents (IAEE). Hannah leads the sustainability initiatives at IAEE and isactively involved in the overall planning and execution of all IAEE andsubsidiary-related events.  

Hannah received her BS in Recreation Management,Business Administration from Pittsburg State University. Prior to joining IAEE,Hannah was the Director of Operations for the Sunflower State Games where shecoordinated Kansas’ only amateur Olympic Style sports festival.

Coming Soon!

Karen joined the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) at the end of 2017. As Director, Global Business Development, Karen works closely with new and existing partners, sponsors, and exhibitors on showcasing their brand to the exhibition and events industry globally.

Prior to joining IAEE, Karen was with Association Forum for two years, Destinations International for eight years in various leadership roles; most recently as Executive Vice President of Sales & Business Development. Ms. Gonzales has worked for Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and started her career with Visit Denver as a senior city-wide sales manager.

Ms. Gonzales is past Chair for The Meetings’ Industry Fund, a past chair for the Events Industry Council’s Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Governance Committee and is active in several industry-related organizations. Karen has been accepted into the CMP Fellows Program and is a recognized tenured CMP who has made significant advancements in her career, as well as significant contributions through service and education to the meetings, exhibitions, and events industry.

Stephanie Phillips serves as IAEE's Director of Digital Engagement and Member Experiences, overseeing the organization's digital and data technology infrastructure as well as member and customer engagement strategies. In her role, she leads initiatives to drive membership growth and retention, manages the membership team, and collaborates with various committees to enhance member value.

With over 14 years of experience in association management, Stephanie has a proven track record in membership development, marketing, volunteer coordination, event planning, and program management. She is deeply passionate about creating exceptional member experiences and leveraging digital platforms to optimize engagement.

Jennifer Potter has over 15 years of experience in the industry. She began her career with a show organizer assisting in developing the conference programs for several of their largest trade shows. Jennifer started with IAEE in 2010 and manages the CEM Learning Program.

Stacy Powers is currently the Director, Learning Experiences at IAEE, where she is responsible for the development and planning of IAEE’s education programs which include Expo! Expo! education, the Women’s Leadership Forums, Leadership Institute, CEIR Predict, MATSO Community Meet Up Education, Consumer Events Education and IAEE webinar content. She previously held the position of Senior Education Manager.

Before joining IAEE, Stacy was Professional Development Manager at Promotional Products Association International (PPAI). Prior to that she spent 12 years as a Director of Human Resources and Compliance within the medical and dental industry.

With an initial background in Psychology, she began her career as a counselor assisting at-risk youth, battered women and children. After completing her Master of Science Degree in Human Resources and Training, she worked for Meeting Professionals International (MPI) managing various educational programs and events.

Dr. Panos Moutafis has 12 years of experience in ethical artificial intelligence and is the CEO and Co-founder of Zenus.

He received his B.Sc. in Statistics from the Athens University of Economics & Business in Greece and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Houston. Panos has a dozen publications in leading journals and conferences and a book chapter in Face Recognition Across the Imaging Spectrum.

He has been internationally recognized as an expert in ethical facial analysis, with published articles in the Harvard Business Review and the Journal of Marketing Research. His distinctions include a TEDx Talk and the best paper award by the IEEE Homeland Security Conference Biometrics, Forensics, and Physical Security.

Annaji Sailer started in the restaurant facilities industry 25+ years ago where she worked in business development, sales and marketing.  Prior to joining the RFMA staff, Annaji managed restaurant national accounts for Cintas for 5 years.  During that time, she did committee work for RFMA and sat on their board of directors. 

She joined the staff at RFMA as Membership Development Manager in 2016.  Annaji’s experience as a vendor member, exhibitor and sponsor of RFMA quickly led to her taking over exhibit and sponsorship sales.  She has spent the last 4 years building a sales and sponsorship fulfillment team that she is very proud of.  She was promoted to Senior Director of Exhibits & Strategic Partnerships in January 2022.

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.