The deluge of hiring and promoting continues in the trade show industry, with a plethora of event-related organizations appointing new leaders and boosting existing team members up the organizational ladder. Check them out: 

Visit Phoenix

Following an extensive nationwide search, the executive committee of Visit Phoenix has appointed Ron Price as president and CEO. He brings 25 years of experience in the tourism industry to his leadership role, most recently serving as president and CEO of the Arlington Texas Convention and Visitors Bureau, and prior to that, as the assistant executive director of Visit San Antonio. Prior to his time in the DMO world, Price served more than 12 years as a Marriott International executive. 

Price currently serves on the board of directors and executive committee for the U.S. Travel Association and the board of directors for Destinations International.

Hubilo

Virtual and hybrid events platform provider Hubilo Technologies Inc. is continuing the exponential growth of its workforce, most recently with new leadership team members. They include 23-year marketing veteran Cathy Song Novelli as senior vice president of marketing and communications; 20-year sales expert Greg Volm as senior vice president of sales and success; 20-year human resources professional Anita Menon as senior vice president of talent and culture; 15-year finance veteran Abhishek Jain as vice president of finance; 13-year technology expert Sudip Mitra as senior vice president of engineering; and 13-year software professional Shailesh Hedge as head of product.

Vancouver Convention Centre 

The Vancouver Convention Centre has welcomed Phil Adams as its new director of sales. He brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in business development and sales to his new role, including an extensive background in Canada’s major events, sports and entertainment industries. Most recently, Adams served as senior director, Western Canada Operations at Canadian Soccer Business.

Toy Association 

The Toy Association promoted Kimberly Carcone to senior vice president of global market events, effective June 1. As an integral member of the association’s senior management team, she will be responsible for the management of the organization’s live go-to-market events, including Toy Fair New York, Toy Fair Dallas, Toy Fair Everywhere and The Toy Association’s virtual Private Previews.

A seasoned professional with nearly three decades of experience in nonprofit and corporate event management, marketing and publishing in New York City and Washington, D.C., Carcone joined The Toy Association in 2007 and served most recently as vice president of market events. 

MCI USA

MCI USA  has hired Chris Williams as its senior vice president, registration and housing, responsible for leading its strategic events, meetings and incentives team in providing registration and housing services to some of the largest and most complex events in the trade show and meeting industry.   

He previously spent 25 years at leading registration services provider CompuSystems, where he served as its president for the last seven years, and prior to that, as senior vice president of sales for 15 years.  

MarketTime  

B2B software as a service (SaaS) solutions provider MarketTime has tapped e-commerce pioneer Chris Happ as its new CEO. He brings decades of experience as an entrepreneur and B2B marketplace leader to his executive role, in which he will be responsible for the company’s sales, marketing and executive leadership. 

Happ previously served as a co-founder and investor in Goby and blueSolutions, and in leadership roles at Hubwoo, Ariba, Empirian and PwC. He will work closely with MarketTime  Founder and President Hemal Patel.

IAAPA 

Keith Stephenson is the new director of public affairs for IAAPA North America. He will lead IAAPA’s government relations and advocacy initiatives on key issues impacting the attractions industry in the U.S. and Canada. 

With 25 years of public affairs and trade association experience representing the hotel and lodging, food and beverage, and retail segments of the hospitality and travel and tourism industry, Stephenson most recently served as the director of state and local government affairs for the National Restaurant Association, where he managed a complex portfolio of policy issues in many of the largest U.S. consumer markets. 

mdg 

Association, event and corporate marketing solutions agency mdg, A Freeman Company, has appointed Erin Lee to oversee the continued growth and transformation of its digital, data and web departments. She will collaborate with Customer Journey Architect Marc Blumer, Freeman’s Senior Vice President of Data Solutions Ken Holsinger, as well as a team of strategists. 

Digitell

Global events industry veteran William Patrick Carlson has joined digital broadcasting company Digitell as its vice president of business development. He will be responsible for developing a framework to best serve the ever-growing digital and hybrid event needs of corporate, global and enterprise clients. 

Carlson brings more than 22 years of industry experience to his new position, including serving as global accounts director and vice president of global expansion at Gartner, and previous roles at event research companies including United Business Media and Obscura Digital.

MSM Inc.

Live and digital experience agency MSM Inc. has made two key hires to drive growth and expand opportunities in its live and digital experience offerings. 

As product/project manager, Erin Gongwer will be responsible for developing MSM’s suite of virtual experience solutions, while Meghan Schmidt has been appointed as human resources generalist, responsible for rebuilding and expanding MSM’s operations and production teams.

AMC Institute 

Association management company trade organization AMC Institute has tapped new talent to join its management team, including Krista LeZotte as vice president, events, membership and education, and Thomas Pigg as manager, membership and marketing/communications.

A recognized leader in the business events industry, LeZotte was most recently responsible for the oversight of operations and engagement for the American Society of Association Executives’ programs and conferences. Pigg brings more than a decade of experience developing and executing professional and educational programming for nonprofits.  

CSI Worldwide 

Trade show services provider CSI Worldwide has tapped industry veteran Bobby Lee as president of its general service contracting division. With deep roots in the industry dating back to 1985, Lee co-founded Metropolitan Exposition in 2001 and grew it into one of the nation’s top service contractors until it was Metro-Expo was acquired in 2016 by Freeman. 

“I’m ready to get back to my roots, doing what I love – helping others – while establishing CSI Worldwide as a premiere yet boutique General Service Contractor, working with one of my oldest friends in the industry, [CSI Worldwide CEO] Dave Centrowitz,” Lee said.

BeyondLive 

Leading-edge 3-D virtual experience developer BeyondLive, Inc. has hired Patrick King as a business development manager. With more than 25 years of experience working in Silicon Valley, King brings vast knowledge in high technology sales, channels, services and business development and has substantial experience selling software, hardware and service solutions throughout the U.S.

International Market Centers

International Market Centers has appointed William B. Furlong as CEO of Juniper, IMC’s new fully integrated omnichannel B2B e-commerce platform for the wholesale furniture, gift and home décor industries. Furlong brings 25 years of digital innovation and leadership experience to his new leadership role, including 11 years as vice president of North American markets for Expedia Group. He has also held positions at Microsoft, Time Warner and Morgan Stanley. 

Additionally, IMC recently promoted Chelsea Peabody Bohannon to senior PR manager.

Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority

RSCVA President and CEO Charles Harris joined the board of directors for the U.S. Travel Association. This new appointment is intended to help give Reno Tahoe an authoritative voice in addressing key industry issues in the post-pandemic tourism recovery and supporting the Washington D.C.-based organization’s mission to increase national travel.

“I’m honored to join such a prestigious organization and to support the recovery of the tourism industry across the U.S.,” Harris said. “The U.S. Travel Association will be a key player in the recovery of national travel, and I’m eager to be a voice for the destination of Reno Tahoe as we work to ensure a brighter future for our destination and for the industry as a whole.”  

IMS Technology Services 

Event staging and systems integration solutions provider IMS Technology Services has expanded its team with several promotions and new hires, including Mike Schisler hired as a senior project manager; Christopher Kissel hired as a national account manager; Chris Leonard promoted to director, technical operations; Brook Kebede promoted to production supervisor, and Brian Johnson promoted to warehouse supervisor.

Have any People News to share? Reach out to lpsavas@tsnn.com.  

Don’t miss any event-related news: Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter HERE and engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram!