Influential Event Planners You Should Be Following
If you're looking for event marketing inspiration, look no further! These event pros are sure to give you some great ideas. They are influencers who have a lot to share, from social media to event management. So follow them for tips and advice on making your next event wildly successful. Note: these are in no particular order.
Corbin Ball
Named as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Event Industry by Eventex, he's an authority for events and tradeshows. In addition, he offers an expansive range of consulting services that focus on marketing analysis for meeting technology and is also a writer and a well-known speaker.
Follow Corbin: Twitter
Julius Solaris
Julius is the founder of the Event Manager Blog, which is an online resource for event planning, ideas, inspirations, and platforms. Julius is considered one of the most influential individuals in the event industry.
Follow Julius: Twitter
Marissa Pick
Marissa Pick is an accomplished content marketer and social media strategist. Marissa shares thought leadership on digital and content marketing, social media strategy, branding, etc. She also launched Marissa Pick Consulting LLC, where her clients range across diverse sectors such as luxury dog clothing, higher education, several financial institutions, and many more!
Follow Marissa: Twitter
Sue Pelletier
Sue is an award-winning professional writer and editor and has been with MeetingsNet since 1998. She covers nearly every aspect of the meetings industry and has experience in online, social media, and other forms of content publication.
Follow Sue: Twitter
Nick Borelli
With more than 20 years of events experience, Nick is currently the Director of Marketing Growth at Allseated. He's an authority when it comes to marketing for live events and event companies.
Follow Nick: Twitter
David Adler
David, Founder and current Chairman of BizBash.com, is a seasoned media and event entrepreneur. He formed BizBash to be the resource marketplace for event professionals of all types.
Follow David: Twitter
Will Curran
Will is the founder of Endless Events. He is also the host of the event industry podcasts @EventTechCast and @EventBrew. Will formed Endless Events when he was still in high school. Endless Events is a full-service event production company specializing in creating unique, unforgettable experiences utilizing state-of-the-art technology and boundless creativity.
Follow Will: Twitter
Liz Caruso
Liz is the CEO and Chief Events Strategist of Liz King Events, which started back in 2009 as a Twitter account before blossoming into an event business. She has worked with thousands of event professionals and aided many organizations and thought leaders grow their audiences through live, virtual, and hybrid events.
Follow Liz: Twitter
Aaron Kaufman
Aaron is the President and CEO of Fifth Element Group. Fifth Element Group is a thriving live experience company recognized worldwide for producing major galas and events, fundraisers, and conferences.
Follow Aaron: Twitter
Alissa Hurley
Alissa is the Vice President, Canada of McVeigh Global Meetings and Events. With over 20 years of experience, Alissa has led teams that assist companies in achieving their business and marketing pursuits. She brings a holistic perspective to meetings and events based on her vast experience as a corporate event professional, agency business leader, and supplier.
Follow Alissa: Twitter
Keith Johnston
Keith is the Managing Partner of i3 Events and has over 15 years of experience in the meetings and events business. He is prominent and highly valued for conference planning, social media, and technological assistance for event and association professionals worldwide.
Follow Keith: Twitter
Ashanti Bentil-Dhue
Diversity expert and researcher Ashanti is the co-founder of Diversity Ally, which aims to drive diversity through events. In addition to being the founder and Event Director at EventMind, she is also a speaker, event host, writer, and guest lecturer. In addition, she has been a judge on several awards panels, including the Eventex Awards, Independent Publisher Awards, and the Virtual Event Institute Awards.
Follow Ashanti: Twitter
Andrew Roby
Andrew is an Army veteran who is a Virtual Event Producer, Event Planner, and the CEO of Andrew Roby Events. Andrew is on the BRIDES list as one of the best wedding planners in America.
Follow Andrew: Twitter
Kathryn Frankson
Kathryn, Director of Event Marketing at Informa, is an award-winning marketer, industry keynote speaker, and event thought leader. Kathryn launched Informa's sales and marketing team and is the key to driving Informa's content-led events in the architecture, event planning, and hospitality space.
Follow Kathryn: Twitter
David Meerman Scott
David is a bestselling author, a marketing & business growth strategist, entrepreneur, and advisor to emerging companies. David invented the marketing concept of newsjacking, which is the strategy of making the most out of the popularity of a breaking news story to intensify your sales, generate leads, get media coverage, and grow your business.
Follow David: Twitter
Kate Patay
Kate brings over 20 years of industry experience and relationship building and is a recognized brand ambassador, consultant, and speaker. She is the Chief Strategy Officer of Patay Consulting, and one of her notable achievements is being consistently named one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Event Industry by Eventext from 2019 to 2021.
Follow Kate: Twitter
Aleksandra Panyukhina
Aleksandra is an established field and event marketing professional and the Head of Events and Experiences at parcelLab. Aleksandra has created more than 50+ brand events across five continents and has successfully launched event programs for prominent brands like Veeam Software and SEMrush.
Follow Aleksandra: Twitter
Bob Mitchell
Bob is a marketing and business development leader with extensive B2B and B2C demand generation experience. Bob is the Principal of Mitchell Partnership Alliances (integrated marketing and strategy consulting company) and has worked with different B2B multi-platform information services companies.
Follow Bob: Twitter
Howard Givner
Howard is the founder & executive director of Event Leadership Institute, a company that offers access to more than a hundred courses and videos to boost your event and meeting planning knowledge, earn CMP credits, and continue your professional development. A widely recognized expert and thought leader with over 20 years of experience in the events industry, business growth strategy, technology, and education, Howard is also a well-sought speaker who has spoken at over 100 industry conferences & events on a broad range of topics.
Follow Howard: Twitter
Simon Burton
Simon is the co-founder and director of Virtual Events Institute, which offers a training certification program that enables event professionals to produce and deliver exceptional digital event experiences. In addition, Simon is an event speaker, host, and chairman, who has presented at and hosted events of all sizes and for different types of business audiences worldwide.
Follow Simon: Twitter
Juliet Tripp
Juliet coaches event leaders and is also an international speaker. In addition, she's the Group Strategy Director of Make Events - a live events and brand communication agency. Juliet brings over a decade of experience in the events industry and is a talented speaker for personal development and branding for event professionals and hot topics in event strategy.
Follow Juliet: Twitter
Bre Donofrio
Bre created the Virtual Events & Experiences Collective on the social audio app Clubhouse. She is a prominent event planner who has curated over 1,000 unique events worldwide. Furthermore, Bre is passionate about NFTs and has expanded her reach by being a crypto enthusiast, metaverse events producer, and NFT investor and advisor.
Follow Bre: Twitter
Dahlia El Gazzar
Dahlia is the founder of DAHLIA+Agency, a Boston-based agency aiding event planners working with event technology companies. Dahlia has worked on the professional planning side and as an association collaborator. With over a decade of experience in the events and meetings sector, she's known as the coffee-fuelled 'go-to' source for branding, trend-setting tech solutions, tech news, and social media expertise.
Follow Dahlia: Twitter
Sophie Ahmed
Sophie, Co-Founder of Virtual Events Institute, has over 23 years of experience in media and events, working across leading global brands in many industry sectors and across diverse platforms. She has worked with different event brands, including Reed Exhibitions, Informa Connect, Informa Markets, and Ascential. She is currently the SVP of Market Strategy of Hubilo, a virtual event platform for virtual, hybrid, and in-person events.
Follow Sophie: Twitter
Vanessa Lovatt
Vanessa is the Chief Evangelist at Glisser, a feature-rich audience-engagement platform for virtual and hybrid events. As an established virtual and hybrid event professional, delivering high-quality digital content and training for corporate enterprises, Vanessa has also been a speaker on various panels, including UK Parliament. In addition, she founded Time 4 Equality and is an ambassador for the AllBright and She Almighty Collective.
Follow Vanessa: Twitter
Abi Cannons
As the Senior Product Marketing Manager for Grip and former Digital Innovation Success Manager for RX Global (formerly Reed Exhibitions), Abi has experience working with digital teams worldwide to assist them in finding, testing, and implementing the best event technology in the market. In addition, she was one of the judges of the Event Tech Awards 2021. Abi considers audience interaction technology paramount to virtual and hybrid events.
Follow Abi: Twitter
Sandy Hammer
Sandy Hammer is the co-founder & CMO of Allseated, an award-winning software platform that uses floorplan design tools and virtual tour technology. With over 20 years of experience in the international event industry, her portfolio includes running global events and being a national speaker. Sandy also regularly contributes to Catersource, WeddingIQ, NACE, and other distinguished publications.
Follow Sandy: Twitter
Miguel Neves
Known for being the Editor-in-Chief of EventMB, Miguel is also a speaker, trainer, and social media strategist, to name a few. In addition, he is a dynamic meeting industry professional and was the recipient of the 2013 Meeting Professionals International (MPI) RISEM Award for being the global member of the year.
Follow Miguel: Twitter
Dave Lutz
As the President and Founder of Velvet Chainsaw Consulting (VCC), Dave and his team assist conference & tradeshow organizers level up their face-to-face events by providing expert advice for creating premium education and networking experiences. He's one of the 2021 Events Industry Council (EIC) awardees who won the annual Global Recognition Awards.
Follow Dave: Twitter
Brandt Krueger
Recognized on multiple websites such as EventManagerBlog.com and Corbinball.com, Brandt has spoken worldwide at different industry events and seminars. In addition, he's a technical producer, speaker, educator, and consultant with over 20 years of experience in the meeting and events industry. Brandt is also the author of the MPI Hybrid Meetings Playbook, a go-to hybrid meetings guide sponsored by Radisson Hotel Group.
Follow Brandt: Twitter
Dan Assor
Dan is the host of the Dan Assor Show and produces content for the events and exhibitions industry. Aside from that, he's also an Event Consultant, Moderator, and Conference Producer. He recently hosted Eventprofs for Ukraine Musical Fundraiser, and you can find more of his work on his website.
Follow Dan: Twitter
Adam Parry
Adam Parry is the co-founder and editor of the event industry's global online magazine, Event Industry News. Aside from that, he is also the co-founder of Event Tech Live, the only show in Europe dedicated to event technology. Adam is also the co-organizer of the Event Technology Awards, which proclaims the very bests in the event industry worldwide.
Follow Adam: Twitter
Keneisha Williams
Keneisha founded the Black in Events Network, a global inclusive network strengthening the Black community and Black professionals working in the events industry. An event planner with more than ten years of experience in handling corporate and not-for-profit events, she's recognized by Eventex as one of the most influential people in the events industry.
Follow Keneisha: Twitter
Jennifer D. Collins
Aside from being the CEO of JDC Events, Jennifer is also the author of Events Spark Change, an invaluable toolkit for those who want to know the secrets of effectively planning an event. In her book, she shares her expertise by providing insight into the five components that create remarkable events — Sensory, Purpose, Activations, Resources, and Know-How.
Follow Jennifer: Twitter
Marco Giberti
Marco is the founder and CEO of Vesuvio Ventures and is a Media, Events, and Technology entrepreneur. Combining 30 years of consulting, operating, and investing in global exhibitions and being one of the experts in the events industry, he co-authored the books "The Face of Digital: How Digital Technologies Are Changing The $565 Billion Dollar Events Industry" and "Reinventing Live: The Always-On Future of Events."
Follow Marco: Twitter
Dwayne Rutherford
Founder & Managing Director of Debonair Corporate Events, Dwayne has planned radio station launch parties and events for known professionals such as Wyclef Jean, Jamie Foxx, Morris Peterson from Toronto Raptors, and many more. In addition, Debonair Corporate Events provides services for event planning, event design, and event production.
Follow Dwayne: Twitter
Brandi Carson
Brandi is the co-founder & Principal Planner of Posh & Private Event Design, a Houston-based firm that offers unique event planning, design, and consulting programs. The business utilizes its internally developed project management approach to event planning and design called The PACE Standard™. Brandi is exceptionally known for developing and implementing comprehensive event strategies based on her clients' needs, which led to notable publications featuring her, including Essence Magazine, YFS Magazine, and the Washingtonian Magazine.
Follow Brandi: Twitter
Fiona Robson
Fiona is Vice President & Group Commercial Director for EMEA at Encore, a leading global event production company. Fiona has vast international industry experience and is an expert in sales, meetings & events. Before joining Encore, Fiona was the head of the Sales Operations for Hilton across Europe.
Follow Fiona: Twitter
Anne Trompeter
Anne is a Partner; Strategic Account Development at Live Marketing, a leading trade show and event creative agency. Live Marketing curates and produces compelling virtual, hybrid, and face-to-face experiences. In addition, Anne has over 20 years of convention marketing expertise. She began her career at Live Marketing as a Creative Director and has worked with clients, including Fortune 500 leaders.
Follow Anne: LinkedIn
Elizabeth Irving
Elizabeth is the Chief Marketing Officer for North America at Clarion Events. She brings over 20 years of experience in the events industry and oversees the strategic direction and integration of Clarion's marketing and technology functions across North America. Before joining Clarion, she worked with Reed Exhibitions and has held various marketing leadership positions across several events.
Follow Elizabeth: LinkedIn
Laura McCartney
Product Manager for EMEA of Informa Markets, Laura is the driven expert that can always be relied upon to pioneer innovative solutions and initiatives that strengthen client relations and build customer loyalty, as described by her colleagues. She has implemented creative strategies and plans that increase customer satisfaction, enhance the customer experience, and generate business value for her clients.
Follow Laura: LinkedIn
Julia Brand
As the Director and Global Head of Events in Unit4, Julia oversees the company's overall strategy, management, organization, growth, operations, and financial performance. She has more than 14 years of expertise in events and project management.
Follow Julia: LinkedIn
Toby Lewis
Toby is the CEO of The Live Group and has over 25 years of experience in the communications and events industry. He works closely with clients to assist them in integrating digital technologies into their long-term communications strategies. He worked with different organizations ranging from Big Four Professional Services firms to HM Government departments and is renowned for transforming The Live Group into one of the country's most esteemed and most successful full-service event agencies.
Follow Toby: Twitter
Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson, President of BizBash, provides services such as Advertising, Lead Generation, and Digital Marketing, to name a few. He's also an Executive Member of Connect Meetings, a premier B2B event producer for event professionals
Follow Matt: LinkedIn
Michelle Freeman
Witty Gritty's CEO, Michelle, has developed and helped establish programs like Amplify Philly, Urban Consulate, TEDxPhiladelphia, and Flying Kite On the Ground. In addition, she brings more than a decade of expertise in marketing and events in Greater Philadelphia. Michelle is also a Publisher at Flying Kite Media, a weekly online magazine focused on what's next for the city and its suburbs.
Follow Michelle: Twitter
While it's impossible to list everyone who has ever impacted the events industry, we've tried to highlight some of the most noteworthy people. This group of people has shaped the events industry as we know it and continues to do so with their innovative ideas and passion for event planning.
