September was another active month for the corporate events industry, especially among industry suppliers, with organizations across the U.S. tapping new leadership, promoting seasoned staff, and welcoming experienced professionals to executive teams. 

CEN’s take on the biggest move in September: Tavar James has joined the executive team of AI-powered, full-service event planning and services platform BoomPop as its new vice president of events and industry advocacy. 

The big picture: James most recently served as head of events and experiences at virtual professional coaching platform BetterUp, and prior to that, as senior director, global head of field marketing and events at fraud management company Riskfied. He started his career in hospitality working his way up from a front desk auditor to a sales and event coordinator to director of events for leading hotel brands including Ritz-Carlton and Marriott International, then ventured into corporate event planning for the financial services and tech industries. “Throughout my career, I’ve overseen global even teams responsible for event portfolios of all sizes and scopes and have led teams through an IPO and two company rebrands,” he said. 

Need to know: James is responsible for overseeing BoomPop’s event services organization, which consists of more than 28 world class planners of various backgrounds, as well as heading its industry advocacy, where he is responsible for building a bridge between BoomPop’s brand and the travel and events industry through partnerships, thought leadership, and community.  

What he’s saying: “Companies are still grappling with the challenges of remote culture, including how to maintain engaged teams and thriving company cultures. Offsites and events have become the new focal point, and teams look to us for help in creating exceptional in-person events and experiences, and we need the technology and tools to rise to this challenge. That’s why I’m thrilled to join BoomPop as vice president of events and industry advocacy.”   

Seattle Convention Center

Jennifer LeMaster assumed the helm of the Seattle Convention Center (SCC) as its new president and CEO on September 16. As the first female CEO in the venue’s 36-year history, she replaced Jeff Blosser, who retired earlier this year. Bringing extensive strategic planning, hospitality management, and economic development experience from her 26 years in the meetings and events industry, LeMaster will work to advance the mission of the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District. 

LeMaster joins the SCC from the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), where she worked for almost 12 years, most recently as chief administrative officer. Her responsibilities included the development and implementation of strategic planning initiatives that reshaped culture, internal governance, brand positioning, and future growth of the GWCCA facilities. Some of her most notable achievements included working as a hotel project development lead and asset manager for the new Signia by Hilton Atlanta, the first publicly owned-publicly financed convention hotel on the GWCC campus, as well as guiding public affairs during the development of the $1.7B Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Visit Atlantic City  

Visit Atlantic City President and CEO Larry Sieg announced he will be retiring from the organization at the end of 2024. Gary Musich, the CVB’s current vice president of sales, will succeed him as president and CEO. 

Sieg steered the CVB through key developments that helped to strengthen Atlantic City’s position as a leading travel and tourism destination. Under his leadership, the organization played a critical role in the city’s economic development by promoting conventions, meetings, and tourism, and his leadership was instrumental in rebranding the organization, integrating leisure marketing with the CRDA, and contributing to increased visitor numbers and enhanced experiences for travelers. 

With more than 25 years of experience in sales and hospitality, Musich brings an extensive background in driving business growth and fostering key relationships across the tourism sector.  

SmartSource 

Event technology solutions provider SmartSource selected 20-year event industry veteran Kristen Knowles as its new vice president of sales. Based in Las Vegas, she has held senior-level positions at MGM Resorts Event Productions and Freeman, where she demonstrated extensive experience in revenue and sales generation, budgeting, hospitality operations management, event management, team development, and contract negotiations.  

Javits Center  

New York’s Javits Center welcomed Stephanie Gaspari as its new sales manager, responsible for generating new business from prospective international and national convention and trade show clients. Gaspari previously worked at Emerald X, where she managed year-over-year revenue growth in booth space, sponsorship, and ancillary opportunities, and was instrumental in helping launch PLAY USA, a new toy, games, arts and crafts section within NY NOW.  

San Diego Tourism Authority  

The San Diego Tourism Authority (SDTA) appointed April Anderson as national sales director for the Southeast region, charged with promoting and selling San Diego as a hotel meetings destination in key states including Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas. Bringing more than 25 years of experience working in the hotel, global sales, and meetings and events industries, Anderson most recently served as a senior sales manager at ACCESS DMC, where she opened the Atlanta office and was recognized as a top sales producer. She also spent more than a decade in San Diego working in group sales at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina and Coronado Island Marriott Resort and Spa after starting her hospitality career at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. 

Oak View Group  

Oak View Group (OVG), managers and operators of the Greater Richmond Convention Center (GRCC), named Nathanael Harris as its new general manager. Bringing more than 15 years of experience in venue management, marketing, and business development to his new role, Harris previously served as the general manager of OVG’s Virginia State University (VSU) Multi-Purpose Center, where he managed day-to-day operations for more than 180 annual events. Prior to his time at VSU, he served as director of marketing for OVG at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, MA. 

Visit Anaheim  

Visit Anaheim recently made two executive promotions and welcomed two new members to its executive team. 

After serving as the organization’s interim CEO since last year, hospitality, travel and tourism veteran Christina Dawson has been promoted to COO, responsible for leading the day-to-day operations of Visit Anaheim, partnership, and business intelligence. A vital part of the organization’s team for 24 years, she has serving in a range of leadership roles such as senior vice president, operations; vice president of partnership; and manager, tourism development. 

After just 18 months at the organization as senior vice president, sales and services, Ronnie Collins was promoted to chief sales officer, responsible for further elevating Visit Anaheim’s sales operations, including overseeing its international tourism sales strategy. Under his leadership, the CVB has launched several new programs, including an incentive program for hotels to generate group business and redeploying Visit Anaheim’s meeting sales team to better service local hotels. He previously served as director of sales for Visit Phoenix for six years.   

Twenty-five-year hospitality and travel industry veteran Adriel Terbeche was recently appointed vice president of tourism and international sales, focused on the MICE market to boost the organization’s international reach. She previously served in various property, regional and global sales roles, primarily within the leisure, international MICE and airline sectors, including at Marriott International, where she led regional sales and account management teams focused on driving sales into Marriott’s Southwest regional properties, including Anaheim. Additionally, Terbeche spent time as a consultant in Europe developing tour and travel business for the Royal Uno All Inclusive Resort in Cancun.

Visit Anaheim also tapped sports, entertainment, and hospitality sales and marketing leader Scott Oklin as its new chief marketing officer. He is responsible for the CVB’s marketing and leisure sales initiatives, providing leadership and direction in creating comprehensive and strategic marketing, and publicity programs. Oklin previously served as head of sales at Travelzoo, where he led its business development efforts for nearly a decade and was integral in establishing partnerships with some of the most well-known destinations and travel brands in the industry. Prior to Travelzoo, he held significant roles with Goldstar, a live entertainment ticketing platform, and the Washington Commanders, where he specialized in sponsorship activation.  

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe  

Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino recently appointed William Stout as its director of food and beverage. He returns to the hotel after beginning his career there more than two decades ago, when he held several roles ranging from assistant outlets manager to assistant banquet manager. Since his previous tenure at the property, Stout has gone on to hold leadership positions at several hotels around the U.S., including Hyatt Regency San Francisco, W New Orleans, and Hyatt Carmel Highlands, and was a part of the pre- and post-opening team at the award-winning JW Marriott Nashville. 

Did you or a colleague recently change jobs at a corporate event organizer or related organization? Tell us! Get wind of layoffs somewhere? Tell us! Email Lisa Savas. 

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