The Team
Liz King – Hostess
Liz King makes 80% of her business through social media. She is a social media/technology-integrated event planner and award winning blogger. As the owner of Liz King Events, she runs an innovative firm that creates dynamic branding events integrating the use of social media. Planning events from soup to nuts, she works with her team to create and sustain your event brand and enhance attendee engagement. She has been featured as a speaker at the International Association of Exhibitions and Events, National Association of Colleges and Employers, ExpoWest/Supply Expo and several other events as an expert on the topic of social media and events. She has also been featured in Connect Meetings Intelligence and Convene Magazine, among others.
Dan Berger
Dan Berger is the Founder and CEO of Social Tables, a web-based seating chart app. He has planned and staffed over 100 events throughout his life. He used to work for a Member of Congress and a management consulting firm. During the dot com era, he was a developer at two startups, and he ran his own web design shop. He loves languages, adventure travel, and his dog.
Elizabeth Beskin – Social Media Photo Booth
In response to technology’s influence on the world of photography, 5th Avenue Digital was created with the specific mission of better serving the photographic and video needs of the business community.
Yes, we are great photographers. What makes 5th Avenue Digital different is what we do before we shoot a single picture for you – and what we do afterwards. We’re not just visual artists; we’re also businesspeople. With business savvy, organization and attention to details, we plan what, where, when and how we are going to shoot – and, after we shoot, we package the images in ways that work for you. Our images help your business or organization advance your image. Whether you want to build sales, raise funds or boost employee morale, great pictures are great only if they help you achieve your goals. Ours do.
With on-site printing, a full album design team, and experienced broadcast crews, 5th Avenue Digital is a full service media provider for any size businesses.
Matthew Bologna – Social Media Coach
Matthew Bologna is the Community Manager at BizBash, the leading trade publication for the events industry. His mission is to connect planners, suppliers, and other industry pros with each other and with the array of resources BizBash offers. In addition, he manages the popular BizBash Readers’ Choice Awards, highlighting the hard work of industry pros in cities across the country. Prior to his time at BizBash, Matthew has provided social media consulting services to small businesses. He is also an avid photographer and a coffee nut
Jessica Levin – Social Media Coach
With a background in marketing and event planning, Jessica’s dual forte is networking and netweaving. She has a reputation as the “Go To” person re: marketing, event design and anything involving trends in
technology. Jessica uses social networking tools to build and strengthen both personal and business relationships and teaches others how to embrace social media as a way to create both corporate and personal brands.
Jessica’s professional background includes experience in the professional services arena, association management and industrial marketing. Her strategic approach to marketing includes a mix of both traditional marketing channels and web 2.0 tactics. She focuses on creating, strengthening and maintaining relationships for business and for the people that drive them.
Jessica is the President of the New Jersey Professional Marketers Association (NJPSMG) and is the Digital Communications Chair for the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM). She currently serves on the social media advisory group for the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA). She was named Planner of the Year by the New Jersey chapter of MPI and is a JASPER Award winner in the special event planning category. Jessica holds the designation Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). She was named New Jersey’s 2009 Top Forty Under 40, a 2010 Planner to Watch by Convention South magazine and was inducted into the New Jersey Social Media Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2011 Connect Meetings named her to their Forty Under 40 list.
Jessica is a frequent presenter on the topic of strategic social media, marketing, networking and technology. She has authored numerous articles on marketing, event design and social networking and blogs at Sevendegreescommunications.com.
Jessica earned a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in New Brunswick, New Jersey and a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida with majors in Marketing, Management and Entrepreneurship.
KiKi L’Italien – Social Media Sweet Spot and Social Media Coach
Ms. L’Italien is senior consultant, technology management for DelCor, an IT consultancy firm. Her focus is helping associations connect with member communities through effective communications and social media strategies.
Ms. L’Italien is a member and chair for the Component Relations Section Council of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and has conducted educational sessions at ASAE and other organizations, including recent sessions on Social Media Engagement, Using Interactive and Social Media to Enhance the Meeting Experience and The Hidden Risks of Social Media. She also contributed to the Decision to Volunteer study published by ASAE in 2008 and co-authored the book, Social Networking for Nonprofits: Increasing Engagement in a Mobile and Web 2.0 World on social media published by ASAE in 2010. She spoke on the subject of “Creating Compelling Meeting Experiences” as part of the International Association of Conference Centers Thought Leaders Summit. The event focused on brain-compatible learning, creating productive and memorable experiences, and measuring their impact.
Additionally, KiKi is a regular speaker, serves as moderator for the weekly Association Chat (#assnchat) held every Tuesday on Twitter, author of the Acronym Soup blog and hosts the weekly webcast for associations in social media, the Social Media Sweet Spot.
Debra Roth – Social Media Coach
Debra Roth is telling the truth when she says she learned about stretch-fabric from the inside-out. Beginning in the 80’s, Debra combined postmodern dance production with abstract-shaped costumes that she, literally, performed within. And to enhance the theatrical experience, she designed and sewed brightly-colored, highly imaginative stretch-fabric stage elements – complete environments, all of which became the basis of her business, Pink Inc.
Seeing a viable outlet for her work, Debra entered the special event marketplace where her innovative stretch-fabric structures and unique costumes have become the most sought-after and long-standing decorative design products the industry has known.
Attesting to her prominence in special events, Debra and her Pink Inc. brand were
acquired by Moss, Inc., and together this synergy catapults her and the new Pink, now Powered by Moss’ to the top of the event design community.
Greg Ruby – Social Media Coach
Greg was born a small child. At the tender age of 12, he had the opportunity to work behind the scenes on a small trade show and was instantly hooked. When asked about career choices by a high school guidance counselor, Greg replied that he wanted to work in the meetings and events industry. In 2005, the Association of Convention Operations Management (ACOM) and Successful Meetings magazine honored Greg with their Convention Services Manager of the Year award. The International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) honored Greg as one of the Future Leaders of the Industry in 2007.
Greg holds five professional industry certifications: Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), Certified in Exhibitions Managment (CEM), Certified Association Sales Executive (CASE), Certified in Meetings Management (CMM),and Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA). In addition to belonging to IAEE, Greg is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Green Meetings Industry Council (GMIC) and the Trade Show Exhibitors Association (TSEA).
Greg currently serves as a member of IAEE’s Expo! Expo! Advisory Committee, as well as serving on PCMA’s Social Media Task Force. Greg also volunteers his time for the Convention Industry Council (CIC), helping to review CMP applicants and helping draft “green” standards for meeting venues as part of their APEX Green Meetings & Events Practices Panel.
Greg has given presentations throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and South Korea. Some of the groups Greg has presented to includes: IAEE, PCMA, Association of Korean Exhibition Industries, Convention Industry Council, Destinations Showcase, Visit Baltimore, ASAE, TS2, Event Camp and Baltimore International College. Greg is a certified instructor for both the Tourism Ambassador Institute hospitality training as well as the TIPS Alcohol Awareness training.
David Teng – Photography
Cameron Toth – Workshop Presenter and Social Media Coach
Cameron Toth’s name is synonymous with “Social Media at Events”. MPI WestField Chapter knows this. MPI WEC International Attendees know this. And the #eventprofs and Event Camp communities are very aware. Cameron leverages years of experience in corporate settings, both in hospitality and medical communications, to educate buyers and market influencers about brands and products.
Event Influence by Toth Communications is a venture that capitalizes on Cameron Toth’s large social media influence and steadily growing experience with technology and communication for events. Toth Communications specializes in marketing and brand education at large meetings and events for the event industry. If you want to educate event professionals effectively at large industry conferences such as BizBash NYC 2011, IMEX America 2011, WEC12, and/or EMEC 2012 than Toth Communications is your solution!
Ed Wagaba – TwitVids
If you’re looking for someone engaging and fun, Ed is the man! Ed has worked with several organizations on the administrative, operational and social networking components of their company and is trying out his new interest – video – at the BizBash Expo! Ed will be roaming around the event to capture all the fun times and all your takeaways on video! We’ll post videos to our YouTube channel so you can relive the event until next year!
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