Your Gateway to the Future of Events

Anitra Douglas-McCarthy is the Senior Director of Recruitment at the Cornell University Graduate School where she leads the University’s efforts to recruit and enroll underrepresented scholars to Cornell’s graduate programs and summer research internship programs. She has dedicated her career to expanding student access to higher education and takes an active role in creating, supporting and promoting initiatives that foster a more inclusive and equitable climate within the higher education space.

Melissa Jones Clark oversees the experience that newcomers, long standing clients, and everyone in between has with the Meeting Tomorrow brand. With over a decade of experience in the events industry, she is passionate about the impact events can have inspiring, educating, and bringing together people across every industry that exists. Ask her about why she loves the inclusivity of virtual events, her favorite super-creative formats, and the best thrifting spots in Chicago.

Danyelle Simons is a seasoned Event Management Professional with over 20 years of experience, producing and executing corporate, non-profit and special events. She is currently the Director of Events for Professional Diversity Network (PDN) which provides access to networking, training, educational and employment opportunities.

My role combines Operations Management with exceptional Event Operations. I oversee all HR, Fiscal, Marketing, Procurement, and Facilities Operations along with curating and innovating events and programming for Business Career Services. I specialize in creating effective operational structures and I am adept at streamlining systems and improving processes for department optimization. I oversee and support event operations planning dynamic and impactful career services events for our students and employers.

A 15 year veteran in the post-secondary industry, Katherine has worked with both large-scale universities and private companies to bring compelling event experiences to life. Whether these events are small or large-scale, in-person or virtual, the goal is always the same, to inform and inspire attendees in unique and memorable ways. Katherine works for Dalhousie University, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada. When not on campus, she enjoys life by the sea with her family, at her home on a remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia.

Jael Richardson is the author of The Stone Thrower, a book columnist on CBC’s q and the founder and Executive Director for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) and FOLD Kids Book Fest in Brampton, Ontario. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award. Richardson holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.

Jasmin Miles, CMP, DES is a certified, detailed-oriented, resourceful, and creative business meeting and event strategist offering over 12 years of service in the convening industry.

Jasmin began her career at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, one of the largest hotels on the eastern seaboard, with over 2,000 guest rooms and over 500,000 square feet of meeting space. Her experiences there varied from time at the front desk, convention services and sales, granting her extensive knowledge in housing procedures and the planning and execution of meeting and events for over 50-15,000 attendees seeking convening, annually.

Jasmin continued her career by supporting the biomedical research industries, during her time as a events and senior events coordinator at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, planning and executing 30 international and domestic meetings, annually.

Jasmin enlarged her production and logistical expertise during her time as a meeting and event manager at Maritz Global Events (formerly known as Experient), a third-party meeting planning firm, where she led, managed, and strategically executed 7 programs, annually within the education, medical, rhetorical, religious and workforce industries, ranging in size from 5,000 - 25,000 attendees.

Jasmin currently serves as the Meetings Director at the Council of Chief State School Officers, where she oversees a team of (5) meeting professionals, partners with leaders across the organization to provide expertise and guidance on the Council’s approach to in-person and virtual events, and where she leads, plans and executes the complete event life cycle of over 25 business in-person and virtual meetings and events, annually.

Kevin G Smith is the Program Director for National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME). He leads strategic development, budgeting, vendor management, and implementation for all events and student development programs.

Mike directs Media West corporate operations, client relations, vendor selection and oversight, budgeting and project execution. He has over 20 years of event production experience and is passionate about the technical components of Media West events to deliver the WOW every single time. He oversees equipment contracting and specification, labor management, CAD drawings, and venue logistics. Mike loves backpacking, cycling, playing golf, and watching his boys play baseball.

Anika Price is the Program Coordinator for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC) and works with her colleagues to produce educational materials and programming for individuals impacted by breast cancer. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anika guided her team in the switch to virtual event platforms and has helped her team execute 3 meaningful virtual conferences since then.
Anika graduated in 2017 from Brigham Young University with a degree in sociology and a minor in international development. Prior to joining LBBC, Anika worked as a Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator for the English Skills Learning Center.

I am a left brain/right brain nerd who loves to tell stories of science, technology and the possibility of the impossible. I am passionate about building the products, technologies and brands that change peoples’ lives. I possess deep expertise in digital marketing, brand development for new products, and marketing communications at the enterprise level.

I have over 25 years of marketing, communications and business development experience with semiconductor leaders including Qualcomm, Intel and Zilog, leading brand development for some of the industry’s most iconic ingredient brands including Qualcomm Snapdragon® Mobile Platform, Intel Centrino® Mobile Technology and Zilog Zatara® Secure Processors.

I excel at building world class marketing and communications teams that deliver results by fostering a creative culture that allows people and their ideas to shine.

I am a unique blend of creative story teller and analytics nut. As important as the stories are to tell, it is equally important to understand if the stories resonate with your audiences. Creative marketing must be grounded in data for quick adjustment of the messaging and content as needed. If the right balance is struck, storytelling creates brand love and loyalty, resulting in value creation and profitability.

Serial entrepreneur and podcaster centered around technology and the amateur radio service. Businesses include two-way radio sales and service, electronic system design around the remote control of roadside and power company devices, computer and low-voltage system sales and service, and podcast aimed at licensees of the amateur radio service. The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo on vFairs is a monetization strategy to support the QSO Today podcast.

Colleen Jamieson is Executive Vice President of Innovatis Group, one of the world’s fastest growing association management companies supporting dozens of global technology customer communities and professional trade associations. Colleen provides strategic and operational oversight for several of our technology user communities with specific focus on improving overall member engagement and growth through events and programming.She has worked with technology associations and user groups for fifteen years.

Ann Eastham is a Career Services Manager. She earned a Bachelors in Healthcare Administration in 2010 and has worked for American Public University System in a variety of roles since 2011. In her current role, she strategizes, organizes, and facilitates all virtual events, including Virtual Career Fairs. In addition, she works to maintain all the systems that support the team, such as Jobscan (resume review platform) and the exclusive university job board, CareerLink, built by vFairs.

Born in 1980, mother of a creative at digital daughter. Experienced in sales & marketing always learning and curious for digital ecosystem.
Being global is my lifestyle choice which cheers me up. Love to work in fast paced thats why I worked as exhibiton organizer, luxury retail management, exporters unions and virtual trade platforms.

Michael Schwoerke is the Head of Marketing Planning - Employability at ACCA in London, UK. A business development and management professional, he has over 8 years of experience working in ACCA itself.

Francine Blume works at the University of Maryland Global Campus as the Assistant VP, Career Development. She is a leader in career services and experiential education, with over 35 years in the education industry. Among numerous other initiatives, Francine also led career development and planning for 86,000 UMUC students and over 200,000 alumni.

Cindy L. Dodson is the President at Meeting Services, Inc., an event planning and professional association management company. She has over 20 years of experience in managing conferences and events for corporate, association and government markets.

Ying Xie has found and led the In-TAC for the past 10 years to support newcomers find employment, and has grown it into a pan Canadian platform to support both immigrants and employers with international outreach. He has an MBA from Exeter University of UK and over 20 years of international experience in both private and public sector，including roles as diplomat, management consultant, Managing Director of international companies in Asia, Africa and Europe.

Stephen O’Connor is the CEO/Owner at O’Design Productions and Consulting, and has been heading it since the past 5 years. It is a breakthrough company that provides Audio Visual productions, consulting and training to meeting professionals, companies and associations.

Rob Allen is the National Sales Manager for Panavid. Rob is assisting in the expansion of Panavid as they look to take what they have done in the Tri-State area for the last 35+ years to other parts of the country. Rob oversees all sales, whether Installations or Productions and works closely with the sales team to ensure that every client has a great experience with Panavid. Rob started in the industry in 2008 as a Production Coordinator for many Music Videos, Fashion Shows and Commercials. In 2011, Rob began freelancing for Panavid and working on various jobs for Corporations, Non-Profits, Houses of Worship and many other industries.

Paulo is a Talent Acquisition Leader at Bell Canada with expertise in Technical Recruitment, Executive Search, and Campus Recruitment. A tech and digital junkie at heart, Paulo also leads Bell's virtual recruitment strategy, most recently supporting Bell's award-winning Campus Recruitment Program.

MC has oversight of the Junior Achievement (JA) Education and Learning Technologies, managing the blended transformation and directing ideation, design, implementation and evaluation of JA learning experiences. She brings with her over 24 years of experience of product development, technology and operations expertise, with a strong background in the education sector.

Cyndy has been with University of Calgary Career Services for over 15 years as Business Operations Team Lead. She has organized several events that connect students and employers, including Information Sessions, Panel Discussions and Career Fairs through the vFairs platform.

Marvin Lopez, MBA, serves as Program Coordinator for the California Center on Teaching Careers, housed within Tulare County Office of Education. Mr. Lopez has served as the national school district and university liaison for the last twenty years through state and federal projects. Mr. Lopez possesses knowledge in business administration, background in human resources, and expertise on best practices in the use of technology for recruitment, selection, and screening.

Derek Berndt is a digital strategist who partners with organizations to develop and improve their digital communication and technology channels to enhance audience engagement, improve brand awareness and optimize business results.

Keely Ashman is the Assistant Director of Alumni and Corporate Relations in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Keely has worked at the University of Illinois since 2011 in various roles including Office of Public Engagement, Engineering Career Services and the Department of Computer Science. She received her BA from Eastern Illinois University and is from Champaign, Illinois.