Board of Directors
Nancy Elder, CAE, Chairman of the Board
Nancy Elder, CAE, as Director of Meetings and Industry Relations for the American Society for Microbiology, is responsible for professional education program development, face-to-face meeting and distance learning product development and launches, industry relations and the exhibits programs, meeting management, and product marketing for the Society.... More
John Folks is President & Principal of Minding Your Business, Inc. (MYB), a strategic meetings & event agency headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York and Portland, OR. An active member of our industry for 25 years, and a PCMA member since 1989. Folks started MYB with partner Max Suzenaar in 1993, and eventually joined the agency full-time in 1999. Supported by a team of 30 full-time professionals, MYB provides meeting management, marketing, measurement and event production services to associations and Fortune 500 companies, for both domestic and international programs.... More
Kati S. Quigley, CMP, Secretary-Treasurer
Kati Quigley is the director of event marketing for the CMG Events team at Microsoft. Kati’s team has responsibility for a large majority of the company’s strategic events. Kati manages a team of 22 event marketing managers including 5 that reside in Europe; they focus on large branded and internal conferences, CXO events, product launches and tradeshows.... More
Sharon DelaBarre, CMP, Immediate Past Chairman of the Board
Sharon DelaBarre has more than 18 years of experience as an independent planner. She and her husband, Del, founded DelaBarre & Associates, Inc., a general management consulting company, more than 28 years ago. Over the years the meeting component has grown from approximately 20 percent of the business to above 80 percent. Focusing mainly on non-profits and government related or technology conferences and expositions, she currently manages between eight and 10 conferences and one technology trade show annually.... More
Jack Chiasson, CMP, is the Executive Director for the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA). Jack served as NAILBA's director of conventions and events immediately prior to accepting this position, and previously served in leadership positions at the United Way of America, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Association Management Group, and the Public Risk Management Association.... More
Gregory T. Deininger, Director
Greg was promoted to his current position in December 2000. From 1999 to 2000 Greg held the position of Regional Vice President for Marriott's Midwest, National Accounts Organization. He began his career with Marriott in 1978. From 1978 to 1991 he directed the sales and marketing efforts for several Marriott Hotels including the Schaumburg Marriott, Chicago Downtown Marriott and the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Washington D.C.... More
Sue M. Dykema, CAE, is Deputy Executive Director of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the leading organization of board-certified plastic surgeons specializing in cosmetic plastic surgery. Sue also serves as Executive Director of the Society of Plastic Surgical Skin Care Specialists, an affiliate organization of nurses and aestheticians employed by plastic surgeons.... More
Dave Fellers, CAE, has been Executive Director of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Oak Brook, Illinois since January 2001. RSNA is a 40,000 member organization that holds the world's largest medical meeting (62,000 attendees) annually in Chicago. He has previously served as Executive Director of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Arlington Heights, and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Rolling Meadows.... More
Susan Katz is Director of Corporate Events for the True Value Company. True Value is hardware cooperative with 6,000 members throughout the United States. With her staff, she is responsible for the production of three exhibits a year, two of which are in the top 100 tradeshows in the country. She has been in the industry for over 25 years and prior to joining True Value, she worked for several non-profit organizations including the National Safety Council and the American Dental Association.... More
David Peckinpaugh, CMP, Director
David Peckinpaugh, CMP is the President and CEO of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau.... More
Joseph V. Popolo Jr., Director
Joseph V. (Joe) Popolo, Jr. is CEO of Freeman. Joe joined the company as assistant treasurer in 1997, was promoted to vice president, finance and treasurer in 1999, and named president in 2001. He took on the role of CEO in July 2008 when Don Freeman transitioned to his current role as Chairman. Prior to joining Freeman, Joe served as government affairs representative for Roadway Services Inc. in Washington, D.C.... More
Robin Preston is the Assistant Executive Director of Conferences, Exhibits, Sponsorships for the National School Boards Association.... More
Deidre Ross, MHA, CMP, Director
Deidre has been Director, Conference Services for the American Library Association since November, 1995. Previous to that she was a Convention Manager for SmithBucklin when it was Smith, Bucklin & Associates. Deidre manages a team of 9 people and various suppliers to put on two major meeting each year…a Midwinter Meeting of about 10,000 – 12,000 and an Annual Conference of 22,000 – 28,000 (depending on the location). Both include exhibitions. The Annual Conference is one of Trade Show Week’s Top 200 tradeshows in the U.S.... More
Gary Schirmacher, CMP, Director
Gary Schirmacher has twenty-one years of experience in the hotel and meeting planning industry. Gary joined Conferon, Inc., now known as Experient , in January 1996, as the Director for the Western Region.. He was awarded the company's highest award, the Pinnacle Award, in 2005. He is currently the Senior Vice President/Western Region for Experient.... More
Greg Van Dyke is the Senior Vice President, Marketing for PSAV Presentation Services. PSAV is the leading provider of audiovisual and event technology support to hotels, associations, producers and meeting planners worldwide. Greg started the marketing department at PSAV in 2002. He has supported PCMA through chapter education programs on effective meeting communication and contributed to the 5th Edition of Professional Meeting Management on Audiovisual Principles that Improve Meeting Communication.... More
Tina Marie Wehmeir is with TALLEY MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC. and is the Managing Partner and also serves as Executive Director for the national Women’s Jewelry Association (WJA) and the International Jewelry Design Guild (IJDG). With more than 16 years of experience in the association/hospitality arena, Wehmeir has an extensive background that has provided a solid senior experience level in management, leadership, marketing and key industry relationships.... More
With more than 12 years of experience in the field of meeting planning, Johnnie White was appointed Director of Meetings and Conventions at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in early July 2006. In this role, Johnnie is responsible for the strategic management and planning of the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics Scientific Symposium, as well as more than 40 other meetings, symposia, workshops and physician training programs.... More
Deborah Sexton, President and CEO
Deborah Sexton joined the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) in March 2005 as President and CEO. In conjunction with this role, she also serves as President of the PCMA Education Foundation.... More
News Feed