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Special Edition: Atlanta International Special Events Society

MPR

Doc Waldrop / Full Circle Lighting & Productions

Doc Waldrop brings more than 30 years of experience in theatrical lighting and overall technical production to the meetings, special events, convention, motion picture, and association industries.

His lighting designs and installations have gathered praise and awards from international and Fortune 500 companies and have been featured in many industry and related magazines. He has held an executive board position, including Chapter President in 2004-2005, with the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the International Special Events Society and was recently honored with the 2008 Bob Blaesing Lifetime Achievement Award from ISES/NACE Atlanta. Doc is a founding member of Full Circle Lighting and Productions.

In his spare time (what little there is of it), Doc enjoys ripping up mountain roads on his Triumph Speed Triple motorcycle, chasing his son around, NASCAR racing, or playing a competitive game of pool, darts, croquet, or golf (OK, so the golf game could hardly be called competitive). Mr. Waldrop currently resides in Marietta, GA, but can often be found wherever his clients take him.

Ginnie Temple / Peachtree Tents & Events Twitter Facebook

Ginnie Temple is a coastal girl at heart who grew up in Brunswick, Georgia before moving to Atlanta to earn a BBA in hospitality from Georgia State University. It was during her college years that she realized her future lay in the events business when she recognized herself as the social outing ringleader. She stayed true to her path and worked for catering and event planning companies before making the perfect career move to Peachtree Tents & Events. Although Ginnie enjoys running, spin class and outdoor activities, her favorite hobby is networking and meeting new people. She has obviously found the right profession!

Roy Arriaga / Unique Event Elements Linkedin Twitter Facebook instagram

Lori Harbin / TEP Catering Linkedin Twitter

I have a passion for good food, helping projects succeed and spending quality time with my loved ones. So it should surprise no one that these passions led me directly into the special events industry. After graduating from Trinity University, I started my career at the UPS Corporate Headquarters where one of my responsibilities was planning departmental meetings and events. My love for this piece of my job led me to seek out a position with a full service special event company and soon she I coordinating corporate picnics and family days for groups up to 20,000 at The Fun Company. However, my passion for sales and marketing, along with a passion for fabulous food, ultimately led to my current position as the Director of Taste Experiences at TEP Catering.

I currently serve as the President-Elect for ISES Greater Atlanta and am an active member of MPI, ICA, and WIPA.

 

 

Special Edition: GaMPI

MPR

Annie Mullins / Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Twitter

Eileen Roehl / Murfee Meetings Group Linkedin

Eileen Roehl, CMP and her team at the Murfee Group work with organizations ranging in size, budget and industry. As a single source for full-range event management services, the Murfee Group works closely with a trusted network of professionals to produce events.

Eileen serves on the Board of the Georgia Chapter of Meeting Professionals International as Vice President Strategic Events and was named the 2013-14 “Planner of the Year”. She also teaches at Kennesaw State University’s Meeting & Event Management Certification Program and she speaks at industry events.

Allyson Wagner / Omnience, Inc. Linkedin

Allyson Wagner works for Omnience as a project specialist assisting corporate and association clients with meeting planning, on site logistics, and sustainability initiatives. Omnience provides a full range of meeting planning services to its clients, along with developing proprietary technology to She also serves as Executive Director of Meeting Professionals Network, a membership organization for independent meeting planners and not-for-profit division of Omnience.

Allyson is a member of MPI Georgia and serves on the board for the Atlanta Chapter of the Green Meetings Industry Council as immediate past president. She recently completed the Sustainable Event Planning Certificate (SEPC) course through GMIC Global and is serving on a GMIC Global task force to re-design the SEPC for 2015, as well as a task force for the GMIC Ask For It Campaign.

Kathi Cambre Kelly / KSL Resorts Linkedin

Kathi Kelly has Hospitality business for 34 years and in the Atlanta area since 1990 in the capacity of a hotel sales representative for Westin Hotels & Resorts, Starwood, Hilton, and for the past 15 years with KSL Resorts.

Kathi has been an active member in the Georgia Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. She has served on the Board of Directors and numerous committees through the years. Two things people most identify Kathi with are (1) Her ability to find viable solutions and (2) Her skills on the golf course and passion for chairing golf tournaments.

Kathi has won numerous awards with MPI and also serves on the board for SITE (Society of Incentive Travel Executives) and was “Member of the Year” in 2013.

 

 

Special Edition: Atlanta International Special Events Society

MPR

Lori Harbin / TEP Catering Linkedin Twitter

I have a passion for good food, helping projects succeed and spending quality time with my loved ones. So it should surprise no one that these passions led me directly into the special events industry. After graduating from Trinity University, I started my career at the UPS Corporate Headquarters where one of my responsibilities was planning departmental meetings and events. My love for this piece of my job led me to seek out a position with a full service special event company and soon she I coordinating corporate picnics and family days for groups up to 20,000 at The Fun Company. However, my passion for sales and marketing, along with a passion for fabulous food, ultimately led to my current position as the Director of Taste Experiences at TEP Catering.

I currently serve as the President-Elect for ISES Greater Atlanta and am an active member of MPI, ICA, and WIPA.

Doc Waltrop / Full Circle Lighting & Productions

Doc Waldrop brings more than 30 years of experience in theatrical lighting and overall technical production to the meetings, special events, convention, motion picture, and association industries.

His lighting designs and installations have gathered praise and awards from international and Fortune 500 companies and have been featured in many industry and related magazines. He has held an executive board position, including Chapter President in 2004-2005, with the Greater Atlanta Chapter of the International Special Events Society and was recently honored with the 2008 Bob Blaesing Lifetime Achievement Award from ISES/NACE Atlanta. Doc is a founding member of Full Circle Lighting and Productions.

In his spare time (what little there is of it), Doc enjoys ripping up mountain roads on his Triumph Speed Triple motorcycle, chasing his son around, NASCAR racing, or playing a competitive game of pool, darts, croquet, or golf (OK, so the golf game could hardly be called competitive). Mr. Waldrop currently resides in Marietta, GA, but can often be found wherever his clients take him.

Lee Stepancik / Proof of the Pudding Twitter Facebook

Holland Muscio / Balloonacy

Holland’s love affair with flowers started in elementary school thanks to her Mom, the Crown Grant Garden Club, her Nannie and Aunt Nancy. On her way to becoming a floral designer, balloon artist & eventpreneur she made a detour through the arts and ticketing industries. It was while working at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra that she started creating floral designs for her events and worked with the former owners of Balloonacy as one of her vendors.

After Sean’s adventures in the Navy he met Holland in Atlanta. After jobs in the IT and construction industries he was searching for a way to be self-employed. One night after a few libations, the Muscio’s were approached by the former owners with buying Balloonacy. Sean & Holland saw it as an amazing opportunity to collectively use their talents and work for themselves. In 2005 they opened Balloonacy and added floral design to their stable of event décor options. Since then they have decorated thousands events around the Metro Atlanta region. Holland handles much of the design and Sean is the production & installation designer.

 

 

Liz King with Liz King Events

Liz KingLiz King / Liz King Events Linkedin Twitter Facebook

Liz is an event planning superhero by day, and closeted tech geek and introvert by night. Distraught by the thought of everyday civilians being conquered by spreadsheets, she resolved to re-channel her organizational and tech savvy superpowers and launched Liz King Events while still running events full time for Columbia University. Liz voraciously shared content on event best practices via social media and quickly became a thought leader/influencer amongst her peers. Her hopes of being an incognito event superhero went down the drain as her cover was blown once she started making cameos on lits like ‘Successful Meetings list of 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry” and ‘Connect Magazine’s list of 40 Under 40 Up-and-Coming Event Planners in 2011″. Liz now comfortably wears her cape and employs her superpowers to helps entrepreneurs/brands like Claudia Chan and Ramit Sethi plan smart, tech-savvy events to better engage their attendees.

Outside of client events, Liz uses her prowess to educate and challenge her industry peers on how to better integrate technology into live events to create a more winsome audience experience, through auxiliary outlets techsytalk.com and PlannerTech [Founder]. When not saving gotham from the event planning woes, Liz can be found unwinding by learning how to code, brushing up on her Korean, or indulging in Korean cuisine … all in civilian geek attire, of course.

Liz King Events

Dirk Ebener with Global CIF

MPRDirk Ebener / Global CIF, LLC Linkedin Twitter

Dirk Ebener is the CEO of Global CIF, LLC, an international business consulting company, focusing on startup businesses and international trade shows. Global CIF also represents companies from China, Thailand, India, UAE, and Germany here in the USA. One of the events organized by Global CIF is Kids Business Expo next year in February at the Cobb Galleria Centre. The event will focus on providing a platform for young entrepreneurs in the age group 12-18. Attendees can participate in seminars, workshops, and a listen to key note speaker and panel discussion. Information about the event is available at www.kidsbusinessexpo.com. We can be reached at 404-735- 5646.

Kids Business Expo

Chandra Farley with Southface Energy Institute, Felicia Phillips with Pink Power, Melvin Brewer with 108B Events and Kimberly Miller with Emory University

MPR

Chandra Farley / Southface Energy Institute Linkedin Twitter Facebook

For 17 years, Chandra Farley has directed special event and program operations for companies and nonprofits including Varsity Spirit Corporation, Spark Networks, TEDx, Architecture for Humanity and her family’s restaurant and catering business. In 2009, Chandra joined Southface Energy Institute to develop the facility rental and tours program as well as manage trainings, meetings and events at the award-winning Southface Eco Office. Over 150 corporations, nonprofits and government entities have hosted green meetings and events at the Eco Office including Coca-Cola, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and Xerox. Currently, as Special Projects Manager, Chandra directs program development and management for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America Energy and Water Efficiency pilot program as well as the Grants to Green Initiative that funds metro Atlanta nonprofits to develop best practices in sustainability and implement cost-effective energy-, water- and resource-efficient upgrades. In addition, Chandra manages sustainable event metrics for Southface special events including the annual Greenprints conference and Visionary Dinner fundraiser.

As a volunteer, Chandra is currently President-Elect of the Green Meeting Industry Council-Atlanta chapter, Communications Director with Architecture for Humanity Atlanta and Facilities Coordinator for TEDxYouth@TheBeltline.

Felicia Phillips / Pink Power: A Mastermind Conference for Women Twitter Facebook

Melvin Brewer / 108B Events – Catering LLC

Melvin Brewer is the owner of one of Atlanta’s fastest growing Event Planning and Catering Companies. He has been in business for over 12 years and the growth has been extremely exciting! At 108B Events- Catering you’re sure to have a refreshing dining experience tailored to fit your affair. They are truly a force to be reckoned with! They live by the motto “Whatever It Takes, Whatever the Party calls for!’ Service in the Spirit of Excellence!”

Kimberly Miller / Emory University Woodruff Health Sciences Development

 

 

David Schenberg with BusyEvent Mobile, Eric Olson with Zerista and Lisa Keilty with PMC2

David Schenberg / BusyEvent Mobile Linkedin Twitter Facebook

After 20 years of designing and managing tradeshows and live events of every type, David Schenberg has utilized numerous technologies focused on the same goal: creating a return for the time and money spent on marketing initiatives. So while people argue over ROI and ROO, ROA (Return on Action) focuses on tracking what people actually do, while measuring and reporting on it, and driving the sales process.

David is a board member of the St. Louis MPI Chapter, and a very active industry netweaver. He is the co-founder of BusyEvent, a highly customizable multi-event mobile app that delivers ROA. David’s hobby job is as a spinning instructor blending his love for cycling and music together into getting paid to work out and relieve stress.

Eric Olson / Zerista Linkedin Twitter Facebook

Lisa Keilty / PMC2 Linkedin

Lisa Keilty, President of the Compliance Consulting firm PMC2 has spent over 26 years in the hospitality and meeting management industry. Lisa has led life sciences organizations of all sizes through numerous international projects, process improvements and SOP designs delivering business continuity and lowering risk. As a former Team Leader within Pfizer Incorporated, Lisa built a highly functioning meeting organization focused solely on healthcare meetings and interactions globally.

Through knowledge of the industry, experience in healthcare compliance and procurement, Lisa has saved Life Sciences organizations over 30 million dollars, without sacrificing meeting quality or corporate integrity.

 

 

Special Edition: Atlanta International Special Events Society

MPR

Lori Harbin / TEP Catering Linkedin Twitter

I have a passion for good food, helping projects succeed and spending quality time with my loved ones. So it should surprise no one that these passions led me directly into the special events industry. After graduating from Trinity University, I started my career at the UPS Corporate Headquarters where one of my responsibilities was planning departmental meetings and events. My love for this piece of her job led me to seek out a position with a full service special event company and soon she I coordinating corporate picnics and family days for groups up to 20,000 at The Fun Company. However, my passion for sales and marketing, along with a passion for fabulous food, ultimately led to my current position as the Director of Taste Experiences at TEP Catering.

I currently serve as the President-Elect for ISES Greater Atlanta and am an active member of MPI, ICA, and WIPA.

Erica Prewett / A Big To Do Event Linkedin Twitter Facebook instagram

Erica Prewett is the President and Lead Planner with A Big To Do Event. Erica serves as VP of Programs & Education with ISES.

 

 

Shawna McKinley with MeetGreen, Jemilah Senter with Association Forum of Chicagoland and Nancy Zavada with MeetGreen

Shawna McKinley / MeetGreen Linkedin Twitter Facebook

Shawna McKinley is a sustainability specialist who believes in the power of events to make the world a better place. In her work as Director of Sustainability at MeetGreen®, she helps event professionals take practical, smart steps to improve their events through zero waste and carbon conscious choices that generate social good, business value, and happy event participants. You can catch more about her adventures in event sustainability on her blog, Eventcellany.

Jemilah Senter / Association Forum of Chicagoland Linkedin Twitter Facebook youtube

Originally from Waukegan, IL, Senter earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing communications from Columbia College Chicago. She has been a marketing and communications professional from more than 15 year. Prior to joining Association Forum of Chicagoland in February, 2013, Senter spent the previous 8 years in various roles of increasing responsibility at the supplemental educational publisher, ETA hand2mind, where she received the Rookie of the Year Award in 2005 and the Marge Goldman ‘Attitude is Everything’ Award in 2010. Senter is a member of the Business Marketing Association Chicago where she currently serves on the membership committee and is also a member of ASAE, IAEE and AM&P.

Nancy Zavada / MeetGreen and GMIC Twitter

 

 

Special Edition: GaMPI

MPR

Candice Crossfield / Kellen Company

Candice Crossfield proudly serves as the Manager, Meetings & Expositions at the Kellen Company. Candice was previously with Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG) and has been instrumental in event coordination and member services while at ECG. Prior to ECG, Candice worked in hospitality sales for the Ritz-Carlton, Monte Carlo Productions and Disney Regional Entertainment. Candice holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Georgia State University. She is the past president of GaMPI. A native of Georgia, Candice interests include traveling, music and reading. She has a wonderful little boy, Brantley.

Larry Greene / Greene Worldwide Transportation Facebook

Greene Worldwide Transportation has been in business for 25 years. We are a 24/7 transportation company with someone in our office 24 hours a day to help you with your every need. Whether you need leisure, corporate or group transportation, we have a large, late model fleet of sedans,5 passenger suvs, vans, 6,10,14 passenger stretch limousines, 31 passenger minibuses and 56 passenger motor coaches to fit all of your needs.