Speaker Biographies

Speaker
Biographies
Mike Cooke
CEO, dmg world media
Chairman, GLM
“Creating vibrant marketplaces and satisfied
customers—it’s what we do best.”
Mike became involved in the publishing and
exhibition industry more than 25 years ago
when he helped launch Trinity Publishing,
which together with Angex (Associated
Newspaper Group Exhibitions), formed the
nucleus of what is known today as dmg world
media, one of the largest producers of trade
and consumer exhibitions in the world.
Mike brings a customer-centric focus and
clear strategic thinking to dmg world media,
with more than 25 years of experience in
exhibition management and publishing. He
started his career in advertising and exhibition
space sales and went on to be involved in the
launch of many magazines and exhibitions.
In 1997, Mike was appointed Chief Executive
Officer of dmg world media and has since been
responsible for leading the growth of the
company from a UK-based publishing and
exhibition company to the worldwide business
it is today. In that time, dmg world media has
acquired more than 60 companies, extended its
reach to more than 40 countries, and grown its
revenue from US$ 70 million to more than US$
400 million.
Mike is the current Chair of the Exhibition
Industry Foundation (EIF). He also sits on the
Board of the Society of Independent Show
Organizers (SISO) and the International
Association of Exhibition Events (IAEE) in the
US. He was equally active in the UK as a
Council Member of the Association of
Exhibition Organizers (AEO).
In order to continue the company’s growth
and development, in 2002, Mike relocated from
the UK to the United States. Mike now resides
just north of San Francisco in Marin County
with his wife, Kay and their three children;
where he is actively involved with his children’s
school and sports teams. In his free time, Mike
pursues personal interests and challenges
including mountain biking, sailing, kayaking
and skiing. His latest passion is backcountry
ski touring so on the off chance he can find
time away, one would most likely find him on
the remote slopes of Europe and Alaska.
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Jerome Greer
Chandler
Contributing Editor,
Business Travel
Executive
Jerome Greer Chandler, a long-time
aviation journalist, is a contributing editor for
Business Travel Executive magazine. The
author of over 2,000 articles dealing with
commercial aviation, Chandler is a two-time
recipient of the Aviation Journalist of the Year
awards Best Maintenance Submission.
Chandler's best-selling book Fire & Rain,
later made into a movie, chronicles the wind
shear crash Delta Flight 191. He's appeared
on the National Geographic Channel, CNN,
MSNBC, Good Morning America, PBS' Nova
and NPR.
Joel A. Davis
Founder & CEO,
JD Events LLC
Joel began his event management career as
an exhibit sales executive in 1986 with Reed
Exhibition Companies in Boston, MA. He
spent his first eight years with Reed primarily
in the consumer show division. He was made
Group Show Director of the Home Show
Group in 1991 and in 1994 he was relocated
to Reed’s Connecticut headquarters in the
position of Industry Vice President,
responsible for the Food service Show Group,
the Buildings Show Group, The American
Booksellers Association Show and The SHOT
Show.
After ten years at Reed, Joel spent over
three years as President of Cowles/Primedia
Intertec Exhibitions (now part of Penton
Media), where he grew profitability by 300%
in his first year following a reorganization of
the staff and the event portfolio. Responsible
for a group of events, mostly serving the
media, marketing, communications and
entertainment sectors, he was actively
involved in expanding the business via
acquisitions, most notably WASTE Expo. In
1999 he left to become President and COO of
eMarketWorld, where he implemented rapid
expansion plans and grew revenues from
$7M in 1999 to $24M in 2000. As part of an
acquisition of the ADTECH events by Imark
Communications in March 2001, he was
named Vice President and General Manager
of Imark’s Fairfield, CT office. In January
2002, he launched JD Events.

JD Events is now in its 8th year of
operation. Its business mission is to launch
and acquire events in high growth markets,
develop and build them into healthy profitable
stand alone businesses and successfully
transition them into larger organizations,
media companies, associations or other
appropriate owners. To date JDE has
launched five new show titles, acquired six
existing properties and divested two show
franchises, ADTECH to dmg world media and
TravelCom Expo to the Travel Industry
Association (TIA). JDE’s current portfolio
includes the Healthcare Facilities Symposium,
School Building Expo, KioskCom Self Service
Expo, The Digital Signage Show and Content
& Communications World (CCW), which
includes SATCON, HD World and IP Media
Expo. The company has also been managing
the Saint Louis Auto Show for the Saint Louis
Auto Dealers Association since 2003. JDE is
based in Trumbull, CT and employs 12 fulltime
people.
Joel has a great passion for the events
business and a deeply held belief in the value
of face-to-face marketing. He has been a
member of SISO since 1996 and has served
on the SISO Executive Committee. He
received a Bachelor of Arts degree from The
University of Vermont in 1984 and he has
lived in Trumbull, CT since 1994 with his wife
of 21 years, Cynthia, his son Benjamin (18)
and daughter Stephanie (15).
Douglas L. Ducate
President & CEO, Center
for Exhibition Industry
Research (CEIR)
He joined CEIR in April 1998 after serving
for three years as President of PGI Exhibitions
and Senior Vice President of PGI, a global
business communications, meetings and
exhibitions, and multimedia production
company headquartered in Arlington,
Virginia.
Prior to his tenure at PGI, Mr. Ducate
served with distinction for 26 years as the
Associate Executive Director of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers (SPE). At SPE, an
international association with 53,000
members in 126 countries, he was
responsible for all the income-producing
activities including all meetings and
exhibitions. SPE produces some 30
conferences and 15 exhibitions a year in most
of the oil producing provinces in the world. It
was under his direction that the first U.S.-
based private exhibition was held in Beijing,
China in March of 1982.
SPE is particularly well known for their
production of the annual Offshore Technology
Conference held in Houston, Texas. Mr.
Ducate served as General Manager of the
event for its first 26 years. Under his
leadership, OTC became the largest annual
conference and exhibition in the United
States. At its zenith, OTC attracted some
120,000 registrants from 96 countries. The
exhibition included some 2500 companies
and spanned 1.5 million square feet of exhibit
space at the Astrodomain complex, now
Reliant Park.
Mr. Ducate is a partner and President of The
Augusta Group (TAG), a consulting firm that
specializes in advising on convention center
development, destination marketing, meeting
and exhibition planning, and other matters
related to the meetings and exhibition
industry. TAG has provided services to
numerous cities in the United States, Canada,
and abroad.
A recognized leader and innovator within
the meetings and exhibitions industry, Mr.
Ducate has achieved both the Certified
Meeting Professionals (CMP) and Certified
Exposition Manager (CEM) designations. His
memberships in industry associations and
organizations have put him on the forefront of
industry innovation and have been recognized
with senior positions.
Mr. Ducate served as Chairman of the
Convention Liaison Council, was President of
the Trade Show Bureau (now CEIR) and was
President of the International Association for
Exhibition Management. Mr. Ducate has been
a frequent author and presenter for the
American Society of Association Executives
and the Professional Convention Management
Association where he served on their Board of
Directors for three years. He also served as a
Trustee on the PCMA Foundation Board of
Trustees.
Mr. Ducate received the International
Association for Exhibition Management
Distinguished Service award and their highest
honor, the William Hunt Eisenman Award. He
was inducted into the Convention Liaison
Council Hall of Leaders in 1994. Most recently
he received the Distinguished Service Award
from the Trade Show Exhibitors Association in
2003 and the Exhibit Designers and
Producers Associations highest honor, the
Hazel Hayes award in 2007.
Mr. Ducate is a member of the Union Des
Fiores Internationales (UFI), a Paris-based
non-political association that studies
problems concerning the organization and
efficient methods for developing international
trade fairs and exhibitions. He served on the
Committee de Direction from 1989 to 1991.
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Chris Elwell
President,
Third Door Media, Inc.
Chris Elwell is President of Third Door
Media, which provides marketing solutions to
search industry participants. Third Door
Media is the producer of Search Marketing
Expo – SMX conference series, and publisher
of Search Engine Land, Sphinn.com and
Search Marketing Now.
From 1997 to 2006, Chris was Vice
President & General Manager of JupiterWeb,
the online publishing division of what is now
Jupitermedia Corporation (NASDAQ: JUPM).
In that role, he was responsible for sales,
marketing, editorial and production of
JupiterWeb's more than 100 web sites. He
also directed the launch of Jupitermedia's
Events division in 1999, the year
Jupitermedia teamed with Danny Sullivan to
produce the original search marketing
conference.
Prior to Jupitermedia, Chris served in
management, marketing and product
development capacities at business research
and publishing firm Simba Information. He
began his career in business journalism at
Knowledge Industry Publications and Digital
Information Group, and was in new business
development department at Covidea, a
pioneering online banking joint venture of
AT&T, Time Inc. and Chemical Bank.
Jimé Essink
CEO, CMP Asia
Jimé Essink studied private and
commercial law in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
He started his career with NV Databank,
where he was responsible for different
projects in the fields of international trade
promotion, business information and
advertising.
Subsequently, Jimé joined Miller Freeman
(at that time called Expoconsult) as Managing
Director of the Dutch office in Maarssen, a
position he held for seven years. This office
was responsible for the very successful
international food ingredients and
pharmaceutical ingredients shows in Europe,
Asia, and South and North America, as well as
other international shows in Eastern Europe,
Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Jimé’s next job was as Managing Director
of OgilvyOne connections, part of Ogilvy &
Mather, a company with 300 employees
involved in telemarketing, call centres,
database management and e-commerce.
Jimé joined Royal Dutch Jaarbeurs/VNU
Exhibitions in 1998 and was appointed as
CEO of VNU Exhibitions Europe and President
of VNU Exhibitions Asia in 2006. The
company organized more than 50 businessto-business
and business-to-consumer
events in the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia,
Turkey and Thailand, while its joint venture in
China organized around 20 projects in
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong
Kong.
CMP Asia appointed Jimé as CEO on
November 1, 2007. CMP Asia is the market
leader in Asia among the commercial
exhibition organizers and is headquartered in
Hong Kong, with branch offices in Shanghai,
Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Tokyo, Seoul,
Taipei, Bangkok, Singapore, Mumbai, New
Delhi, Bangalore and New York. CMP Asia
organizes 110 business-to-business
exhibitions, publishes 22 magazines and
owns five business-to-business vertical
portals. The company employs a total of 600
staff.
Martin C. “Skip” Farber
Principal, Carlin Capital
Partners
Carlin Capital Partners is an equity
investment firm focusing on opportunities in
the micro- lower middle markets of several
industries including trade shows. Skip Farber
has nearly thirty years of operating and
business development experience in the
business-to-business media markets with
emphasis on trade shows, publishing and
data base marketing. During his career as
Chief Executive Officer of WSA Global
Holdings, owner of The WSA Show (World
Shoe Association), Executive VP of Advanstar
Holdings and VP for Business Development
for Reed Publishing USA (Reed Exhibition
Companies and Cahners Publishing) he has
consummated more than fifty material
transactions on four continents (with a total
value over two billion dollars), plus countless
other strategic alliances and joint ventures.
After the sales of WSA, to ENK International
and previously of Advanstar to DLJ Merchant
Banking Partners, Mr. Farber established MCF
& Associates, a media investment and
consulting firm specializing in business
development, strategy, mergers, acquisitions
and valuations for the trade show, publishing
and related businesses. Earlier Mr. Farber was
SVP/Division Manager at Reed Exhibition
Companies, the owner/president of a major
supplier to the trade show industry and
served as a board member of Gainshare
Media, a private equity fund with operating
assets in the tradeshow industry. Mr. Farber
has been an active member of American
Business Media (ABM), the Society of
Independent Show Organizers (SISO) and the
International Association of Exposition &
Events (IAEE), organizations where he has
been a frequent speaker.
Joseph J. Flynn
Vice President of Sport
Group, Nielsen Business
Media
Joseph J. Flynn has over 18 years of
experience in selling, managing and operating
trade shows both in the US and abroad as well
as managing technology start-up companies.
Joe is currently the Vice President of the
Sports Group at Nielsen Business Media
where he is responsible for a $35 million
portfolio of events including Outdoor Retailer,
Interbike and ASR all of which have
consistently been Trade Show 200 events.
From 1992-1998, Joe worked at EJ Krause &
Associates in Washington DC, where he led
the expansion of the world famous Expo
Comm and Comdex brands into Latin America
and Spain as a Vice President. Joe joined
Advanstar Communications from 1998-2003
as Group Show Director for the
Telecommunications & e-Learning group
where he led the growth of Telexpo, Latin
America’s largest technology event and was
involved in several acquisitions to expand the
group business including Tech Learn, the
largest learning and training event at that time.
Most recently, Joe was CEO and founder of
Auxilio Inc. an Orange County, CA based,
publicly traded healthcare technology services
firm, which he started in 2003 and is still an
active member of the Board of Directors of
Auxilio, Inc. and a major shareholder. He
earned his BA in Political Science from the
Catholic University of America in Washington
DC in 1987 and his MAT in Foreign Language
Education from the University of Rhode
Island. He is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese
and French. Joe lives in San Clemente, CA
with his wife of 14 years, Valerie, and his
daughters Julia, 14, and Ruth, 11.
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Marco Giberti
CEO, Reed Exhibitions,
Latin America
Marco Giberti is a successful entrepreneur
with more than 15 years of intensive
experience in marketing and communications
with focus on the media and events industry.
After receiving a degree in marketing and
advertising, when he was 23 years old he
joined Apple Computers, becoming the Latin-
American Marketing Manager for the
company and the youngest Marketing
Manager for Apple worldwide.
After several years in a successful career as
a corporate executive, Mr. Giberti decided to
give free rein to his entrepreneurial spirit and
became:
• Co-founder and Board Member of Mind
Opener, a leading publishing group in Latin
America that was later sold to British Pearson
Media Group, and
• Co-founder and Board Member of e-mind,
an internet and media communications
company that was sold to Liberty Media.
• President, CEO and co-founder of Mind
Trainer, a firm specializing in the organization
of major regional trade shows and events.
After a very successful growth, regional
expansion and partnerships, including a longterm
relationship with E.J.Krause, Reed
Elsevier bought a controlling position in the
business in the year 2005, and Mr. Giberti
became its president and regional partner for
the events and trade show division in Latin
America, a role he has been performing since
then.
Under Mr. Giberti’s leadership, Reed
Exhibitions Latin America became the leading
company in the region, organizing more than
50 events annually in different markets in
Latin America including Brazil, Mexico and
Argentina.
Over the course of his business career, Mr.
Giberti has been awarded a number of
distinctions in his field, including, among
others, the 1999 Entrepreneur of the year
Award and was named one of the top 100
most influential people in the global
convention and exhibition business by the
Trade Show Week magazine.
He is a regular guest speaker at
conferences and business schools in Latin
America, USA and Europe, and is considered
a referential figure in the media, marketing
and events industry for Latin America.
He is a Harvard Business School Graduate
on the OPM program among other several

executive education courses in Europe with
special emphasis on strategic management
and entrepreneurial skills.
Marco has both Argentinean and Italian
nationalities and lives in Key Biscayne,
Florida, with his wife Paula and three kids,
Luca, Micaela and Francesca.
Jeff Giesea
Founder,
FierceMarkets Inc.
Jeff Giesea is a digital media entrepreneur
and the founder of FierceMarkets Inc., a
leading digital B2B media company based in
Washington, DC. He successfully sold the
company to Questex Media in January 2008
and left the company in January 2009 to
travel and pursue other ventures. Previously,
Jeff worked in strategic planning for Enews
(later acquired by Barnes & Noble) and
helped manage a hedge fund in Menlo Park,
California. Jeff was recently named a “Top
Innovator in Business Publishing” by Media
Business Magazine and a member of the
“Digital Hot List” by Min’s Magazine. He is a
graduate of Stanford.
Hal R. Greenberg
Partner, VSS Structured
Capital Funds
Mr. Greenberg is a Partner of the VSS
Structured Capital Funds. He is responsible
for the origination, underwriting, structuring
and management of portfolio investments for
the VSS Structured Capital Funds and for the
private equity funds. As a member of the
Board, Mr. Greenberg has been particularly
active with Red 7 Media, Contexo Media,
Access Intelligence, Loewy, Sandow and
Avatar International. He was formerly on the
Board of Canon Communications, a VSS II
portfolio company. Mr. Greenberg joined
Veronis Suhler Stevenson in 1988 from his
position as Director of Planning and
Acquisitions at McGraw-Hill Book Company.
He has also held various positions at CBS,
successively as Manager of Strategic
Planning for the CBS Broadcast Group,
Director of Market Analysis for the CBS
Television Network and Director of
Acquisitions for CBS, Inc.
Mr. Greenberg earned a BA in economics
from Lake Forest College and holds a JD from
the New England School of Law and an MBA
from New York University.
Sean Guerre
President, TradeFair Group
Sean Guerre, President of the TradeFair
Group, an Access Intelligence Company, has
18 years experience in the tradeshow and
conference management field. At PennWell
Corporation he served in roles as diverse as
exhibit sales, conference and project
management, marketing and conference
programming, including overall management
of events. His responsibilities have included
overall profit and loss responsibility, as well as
marketing and forecasting. He currently
directs strategic activities and business
development for the TradeFair Group.
The TradeFair Group produces 12 events
and performs show management contracts
for 3 associations and user groups in the
energy industry. The TradeFair Group also is
home to publications, newsletters and e-
media divisions to provide clients with turnkey
information products.
In the first 5 years of operation, the team at
TFG grew the business an impressive 177%,
achieving the rank of #57 on the Houston 100
Fastest Growing Private Firms List. TradeFair
Group is also the proud past recipient of the
TradeShow Week Fastest 50 Award,"Best
Places to Work" by EXPO magazine, Best New
Show Launch by Expo magazine and Show
Manager of the Year by The Expo Group.
Sean is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin
State University, where he received a BBA in
Marketing. He is a member of BMA, SISO,
IAEE, Greater Houston Partnership, Greater
Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, and
serves on the SISO Board of Directors and
Executive Committee, and Board of Southeast
Media Inc.; he serves as the 2008-2009 SISO
Treasurer and serves on the Strategic
Planning Committee for St. Cecilia Catholic
Church. Sean enjoys spending time with his
wife Katy and two daughters, Erin and Mary
Kate, and lives in Houston, Texas.
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Kerry C. Gumas
President & CEO, Questex
Media Group, Inc.
Kerry C. Gumas is President & Chief
Executive Officer of Questex Media Group,
Inc., a leading integrated business-tobusiness
media company that produces trade
magazines, websites and interactive media
products and exhibitions, conferences and
events in North America, Europe, South
America and Asia/Pacific. Mr. Gumas led the
formation of Questex Media Group in May
2005 via a management buyout of several
operating divisions of Advanstar
Communications. The transaction was ranked
one of the top B2B media deals of 2005. A
leader for over 28 years in the B2B media and
tradeshow industry, Mr. Gumas held senior
executive positions at Advanstar
Communications, IDG World Expo and Reed
Exhibition Companies and has been
responsible for managing, launching and
acquiring standalone and integrated B2B
tradeshow and publishing businesses in the
U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia, serving
over 35 distinct industries. He led the
formation and management of the
Asia/Pacific region’s largest air show, Asian
Aerospace and the effort to fund, develop,
construct and manage the 250,000 sq. ft.
Changi International Exhibition Center in
Singapore as part of an innovative industrygovernment
joint venture.
Mr. Gumas began his career as an
International Trade Specialist at the United
States Department of Commerce where he
was a key member of the team that produced
the first U.S. National Trade Exhibitions in
China and lead over 20 U.S. trade missions
throughout China. He is a board member of
the Society of Independent Show Organizers
(SISO); member of the American Business
Media Association; served as president and
vice president of the Singapore Association of
Convention and Exhibition Organisers and
Suppliers and is a member of numerous
industry and trade groups and associations.
Mr. Gumas received his degree in Political
Science and Business Administration from
Widener University.

David Korse
President & CEO,
5Net4 Productions
David is an experienced event industry
executive with nearly 25 years of international
conference and exhibition experience.
David first joined the industry with Reed
Exhibitions (then Cahners Exposition Group)
as a Group Vice President in 1984. During his
9 years with Reed he was the VP/GM of their
Chicago division and spent 4 years living in
Singapore with responsibility for their
business in the Asia/Pacific region (except
Japan).
Since then he has had senior positions with
the Institute for International Research (IIR),
IIR Exhibitions, with Imark Communications,
a company he co-founded with E.M. Warburg
Pincus & Co., with IDG World Expo and with
Nielsen Business Media. Today, David is the
President/CEO of 5Net4 Productions, the
owners and organizers of the Abilities Expo
series of events.
David has also been active in leading
industry associations and he has served in
various capacities on the boards of directors
for SISO, IAEE, CEIR and SACEOS
(Singapore).
Cristopher Levy
Managing Partner,
Encore Media Partners
Since starting his career in the late 80s with
COMDEX, which became the world's largest
trade show, Cris has worked with hundreds of
local, national and international events and
directed the investment of millions of dollars
in event marketing campaigns. Cris is
currently managing partner of Encore Media
Partners, an audience strategy, marketing and
media buying agency, which specializes in
trade shows, consumer exhibitions,
conferences and marketing events for a
diverse mix of clients from entrepreneurs to
leading event organizers and integrated media
companies.
David Loechner
Senior Vice President,
Neilsen Business Media
David Loechner has been a senior vice
president at Nielsen Business Media since
2006.
He has 26 years experience in the trade
show and publishing business.
He was group president at VNU Expositions
(2000 – 2006) and VP group director at Miller
Freeman Inc (1990 – 2000).
Bob Macgregor
Managing Director, Canada
Diversified Business
Communications
Bob Macgregor is responsible for the
management and growth of Diversified
Business Communications Canada, a
partnership formed between Macgregor
Communications and Diversified Business
Communications in 2002. In 1998, Mr.
Macgregor, who has been in the trade show
industry for over 20 years, formed the trade
show company Macgregor Communications.
He also established AR Systems, a technology
and registration company, in 1982, that is now
known as ShowCare Solutions. Before the
formation of Macgregor Communications, Mr.
Macgregor was the President of Reed
Exhibitions Canada, a division of Reed
Exhibitions. He also has a technology
background as a systems engineer with IBM
prior to his tradeshow career.
Charles G. McCurdy
Chairman & CEO,
Apprise Media LLC
Charles G. McCurdy is Chairman and CEO of
Apprise Media LLC, which he founded in
January 2004, and Chairman and CEO of its
Canon Communications LLC unit.
McCurdy has more than 25 years of
experience in managing and investing in niche
media, information and education companies.
Under the Apprise umbrella, he has led the
acquisition and development of three platform
companies. Canon Communications is a
leading B-to-B company active in trade shows,
- 12 -
magazines, and digital media. The Beckett
Media LP and Action Pursuit Group LLC units,
which together form Apprise Enthusiast
Media, cover various special interest
consumer niches through magazines, live
events and digital media.
As a co-founder, President and Director of
PRIMEDIA Inc. (NYSE: PRM), he oversaw the
acquisition, development and build-up of
more than 20 platform niche media
companies. He engineered the company's
entrance into a broad range of niche media
businesses, including enthusiast and
business-to-business magazines, consumer
guides, specialty video, supplemental
educational publishing and their related online
and digital media activities. McCurdy
pioneered the practice of the leveraged buildup
in the niche media and information sector
through the 1990's. He developed and helped
implement the strategy of growing niche
media businesses by surrounding their
markets with print, live events and digital
products. He successfully led the raising of
more than $9 billion in debt and equity
financings.
Prior to launching PRIMEDIA, McCurdy
was the top finance and development
executive at Macmillan Inc., the educational
and professional book publisher and
business-to-business information services
provider. He started his publishing career as
an editor.
McCurdy is a member of the Board of
American Business Media and the Chair of its
Marketing Committee. He is also on the Board
of Directors of the Society of Independent
Show Organizers. He received an MBA from
Columbia and his BA from Yale, Magna Cum
Laude.
Philip McKay
Senior Vice President,
World Market Center
Philip McKay has a proven track record as a
successful senior executive with many of the
leading trade show companies, including
Gartner Vision Events, Penton Media and
Key3Media. In 2004, Mr. McKay was awarded
the Lifetime Achievement Award from
Tradeshow Week magazine for his
outstanding contributions to the global events
industry. Mr. McKay served as Group Vice
President and General Manager of Gartner
Vision Events, a recognized leader in hosted
events for technology industries. He
conceived, developed and led the team that

introduced the CeBIT brand to the U.S.
marketplace. Mr. McKay also served as
Senior Vice President of International for
Key3Media Group, overseeing the company's
portfolio of 20 plus events in Latin America,
Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Previously, he also served as Group
Managing Director of Penton Media's
extensive family of global trade shows. Mr.
McKay has served on the board of SISO
(Society of Independent Show Organizers), is
actively involved in IAEE (International
Association of Exhibits and Events), sat on
the CEIR Strategic Planning Board and is on
the Editorial Advisory Council for Tradeshow
Executive Magazine. McKay previously
was the President and CEO of PPM Media, a
company he found with other industry
professionals to produce hosted executivelevel
summits and other specialized businessto-business
conferences in IT and other highgrowth
industries. Currently he is the Senior
Vice President of The World Market Center in
Las Vegas and is responsible for growing
their portfolio of events in the furniture, gift
and accessories industries.
Philip has been married for 30 years to his
wife Kate and is the proud father of two sons,
Kyle and Connor.
Richard Mead
Managing Director, The
Jordan, Edmiston
Group, Inc.
Richard Mead, a Managing Director with
JEGI, represents B2B media, exhibitions and
conferences, and information companies in
an M&A advisory capacity. He has overseen
the successful completion of many JEGI
signature transactions, including both M&A
and financing assignments, playing an
instrumental role in helping the firm become
the leading investment bank in the
marketplace. Recent notable transactions
include:
• The sale of BZ Media’s ST&P business to
Redwood Collaborative Media;
• Forrester’s acquisition of JupiterResearch
from MCG Capital;
• The sale of dmg world media’s North
American Consumer Home Shows to
Marketplace Events (Stephens Capital);
• The sale of United Health Publishing Group
to MediZine (a VSS portfolio company);
• The sale of Gartner’s Vision Events to
United Business Media;
• The sale of FierceMarkets to Questex
Media;
• The $155 million acquisition of the
remaining 51% of George Little Management
by dmg world media;
• The sale of Reed’s US and Canadian
industrial and manufacturing shows and New
Product Division;
• And many others.
Educated and trained as a Chartered
Accountant in the UK, Mr. Mead offers clients
a broad cross-section of experience as buyer,
seller and advisor to public and private
companies. He has participated in more than
300 transactions since moving to the US in
1983.
Previously, Mr. Mead served as Senior Vice
President at Dow Jones/Teleres, a
commercial real estate database business.
His publishing and financial industry
experience includes serving as President and
CEO of Black’s Guide, Vice President of
Finance of Advanstar Communications and an
international M&A partner at Ernst & Young in
New York and KPMG in New York and
London.
Bob Mikulas
President, Controlled
Marketing Conferences, Inc.
Bob has been in the show management
business since 1995 and started in a rather
unusual way. He owned a manufacturing
company in the Lawn & Garden Industry and
attended the myriad of booth style shows
within the industry. After several years of
attending these events his frustration level
with the randomness and uncertainty of
meeting the correct buyers was at its peak. He
thought there has to be a better way to get in
front of his potential audience. He attended an
event in another industry which had pre-set
scheduled appointments between buyers and
sellers based on mutual interests between the
two parties. This organization has been doing
this format since the early 1970’s, so he
thought, “why isn’t anyone doing this in our
industry?” He polled his exhibitor friends and
buyers he was doing business with to see if
there was interest. The overwhelming
response was positive and thus The first
National Lawn & Garden Controlled Marketing
Conference was held in 1995 and continues
to operate annually. The company developed
its own proprietary software in 1996 and is
available by license to show managers in the
association and for-profit sectors.
Bob received his Bachelor of Science
Degree in Biology and Chemistry from West
- 13 -
Virginia Wesleyan College and a Master’s of
Public Administration from the University of
Colorado.
Born and raised in New Jersey, he has made
Colorado his home for over 25 years. He is
married and has 4 children.
Scott Mozarsky
EVP and Chief Strategy &
Development Officer, PR
Newswire, A Division of
United Business Media
Scott Mozarsky has worked in the UBM
Group since June 2000. In his current
positions as Executive Vice President – Chief
Strategy & Development Officer, Mozarsky is
responsible for Strategy, Corporate
Development and M&A for PRNewswire. In
this role, Mozarsky works to identify,
evaluate, negotiate, structure and complete
mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures,
investments and strategic alliances
throughout the world. Mozarsky is also
responsible for managing PRN’s Vintage
Filiings, Small Business, Trade Show and
PRN China Divisions as well as PRN’s Legal
Group.
Prior to assuming this role, Mozarsky was
EVP and Chief Operating Officer of UBM LLC
(formerly CMP), responsible for working with
each of UBM's technology divisions
(Everything Channel, TechInsights, TechWeb
and Think Services) to achieve profitable
growth. Mozarsky remains on the Board of
Directors of TechWeb.
From 2002-2007, Mozarsky headed up
global corporate development & M&A for
United Business Media Limited’s US-based
subsidiaries including UBM LLC (f/k/a CMP
Media), PRNewswire, Commonwealth
Business Media and CMP Medica. Mozarsky
has completed over 60 acquisitions and a
number of divestitures for UBM Limited's
subsidiaries (including PR Newswire) in Asia,
Europe, Latin America and North America.
Prior to joining the UBM Group, Mozarsky
spent eight years at two multinational law
firms representing media, technology,
telecommunications and manufacturing
companies. Mozarsky, who speaks Japanese
and lived in Japan, has advised numerous
companies on business, financial and legal
issues arising out of cross border
transactions.
Mozarsky earned his Bachelor of Arts
degree in Political Science from Williams
College and his J.D. from Fordham Law
School.

Kristin Petrovich
President, HD Expo
Kristin Petrovich is responsible for the
management and growth of HD EXPO, a DBC
division providing leading entertainment
technology exhibitions and conferences for
content creators. Ms. Petrovich founded HD
Expo in 2001. Prior to HD EXPO, Ms.
Petrovich managed global production at
Spitfire Television in London. Upon her return
to the US, she served concurrently as the
Director of Operations & Marketing for Yeah
Studios and as Production Manager of
Network Programming for TriCrown
Productions. She subsequently joined
documentary shingle ABC Kane. In 1997, Ms.
Petrovich formed KMP & Associates, a
marketing and management team which put
her in direct contact with emerging post
production and production talent and the
major network, studio and production
companies. Her decision to launch HD EXPO
grew from the need she identified for
education and community building in a period
of revolutionary technological change in the
entertainment industry.
Galen A. Poss
President, Hanley-Wood
Exhibitions
Galen A. Poss, CEM, is President of Hanley-
Wood Exhibitions, a division of Hanley-Wood,
LLC. With the division since its inception in
January 2000, Poss is responsible for
managing and growing the company's
exhibition activities, which are concentrated
in the building and construction industry.
Prior to joining Hanley-Wood Exhibitions,
Poss spent six years with the Dallas Division
of Miller Freeman, Inc. in Dallas, Texas. As
Group President, he had overall responsibility
for the real estate, design, decorated apparel,
sewn products, building, association
management and equine markets, as well as
the company's South American division and
corporate exhibition central services.
Poss began his career in the tradeshow
industry in 1977 in sales with the Greater New
Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission.
In 1979 he joined the Automotive Service
Association heading up the organization's
convention department. In 1983 he formed
Precision Planning & Sales (PPS), Inc., an
exhibitions management company, providing
exhibition and conference services for
associations. PPS was acquired by Miller
Freeman in 1993. He earned his CEM
(Certified Exhibitions Manager) designation in
1987.
Poss is a former board member of the
International Association of Exhibition
Management (IAEM) and the Center for
Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). He is a
Past Chairman of the Society of Independent
Show Organizers (SISO), the IAEM Service
Corporation, the IAEM Foundation and CEIR.
Poss was the 1999 recipient of IAEM's highest
service award, the William Hunt Eisenman
Career Achievement Award and Tradeshow
Week’s 2006 Honoree.
Poss lives with his wife and two daughters
in Southlake, Texas.
Carl Pugh
President,
Radius Events, LLC
Carl Pugh is president of Radius Events,
LLC (www.radiusevents.com) an event
management and consulting company based
in Fairfield County, CT. Carl began his career in
1980 as founding publisher of PDN, the
leading U.S. magazine for professional
photographers. He launched his first trade
show for the same market in 1983. Though
Pugh sold his business in 1985 to a division of
what is now Nielsen, both the magazine and
the show remain market leaders today. Since
then Carl has launched and run countless
events and headed up three major trade show
companies. Among them was an eight-year
stint as president of the technology events
division for Penton Media, which at its peak
generated annual revenues of $80 million via
its 3,000+ booth events in New York and Los
Angeles.
Carl is past chairman and a longstanding
board member of the Society of Independent
Show Organizers, the leading association for
trade show producers. He frequently speaks
on the art and science of successful show
management.
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Denzil Rankine
Founder & CEO, AMR
International
Denzil Rankine is founder and chief
executive of AMR International. His
experience spans 25 years of advising
companies on strategic development and
acquisition throughout the world.
His early career was in the US assisting
British companies to enter North American
markets. This work took him to 49 States. In
1987 he joined the Seer Group and became
increasingly involved in acquisition programs
as well as strategic development. He then
founded AMR International in 1991; over the
past 18 years he has grown the company and
it now has offices in New York, London and
Frankfurt.
Denzil has been working consistently with
media groups and exhibition organizers since
1991. Through hundreds of strategic
research assignments, AMR International has
assisted both strategic clients and PE funds
to develop organically and through
acquisition. He has been involved in some of
the major deals in the media and exhibition
sector as well as dozens of smaller
transactions. AMR International’s
combination of strategic analysis and
customer research has given acquirers the
confidence to proceed by validating the
quality of the assets and their market
position. Organic development assignments
have led to the turn-around of failing major
properties as well as successful launches.
Denzil is the author of five M&A related
books: A Practical Guide To Acquisitions
(Wiley), Commercial Due Diligence - A guide
to reducing risk in acquisitions (Financial
Times), Why Acquisitions Fail (FT Prentice
Hall), Due diligence – definitive steps to
successful business combinations (FT
Prentice Hall) and Acquisition Essentials (FT
Prentice Hall).

Sharon Rowlands
CEO, Penton Media, Inc.
Sharon Rowlands is chief executive officer
for Penton Media, Inc. Previous to her new
role at Penton, Sharon was President and
CEO for Thomson Financial until May 2008.
She was President from 2000 and CEO and
President from 2004. As the head of
Thomson Financial, she transformed the
company from 45 disparate corporate entities
to a global financial information and
technology powerhouse. The company’s
content, technology and services play a vital
role in facilitating decision-making, deal flow,
benchmarking and analysis for the world’s
largest financial participants. In achieving
this, Sharon has changed the financial
technology and information industry by
creating a new business service model for
Wall Street firms.
Prior to her career in the financial industry,
Ms. Rowlands worked for three years as a
high school teacher and one year in trade
publishing.
Ms. Rowlands serves on the Board of
Directors ADP, a NYSE listed company, Junior
Achievement of New York and the Omgeo
Board of Managers (until May 2008). In 2005,
she received the Women’s Bond Club Merit
Award.
Mike Rusbridge
Chairman & CEO,
Reed Exhibitions
Mike Rusbridge is Chairman and CEO of
Reed Exhibitions, the world’s largest
exhibition organizer and a division of the
Reed Elsevier group plc, a world-leading
publisher and information provider.
Mike has over 30 years experience in the
exhibition industry, both at the sharp end,
launching and running successful events, and
in a strategic role, building the world’s most
global exhibition network. He joined the
industry in 1979 becoming Managing
Director of Cahners Exhibitions Ltd (part of
Reed Elsevier) in 1982, Chief Executive for
Reed Exhibitions Europe in 1988, President
for Reed Exhibitions Europe and Asia in 1994,
and Chairman of Reed Exhibitions worldwide
in 1996.
During his career at Reed Exhibitions he
has developed Reed’s global network into one
of unrivalled brand strength, industry
knowledge and organizational expertise. In
doing so, he has negotiated a series of
successful partnerships and acquisitions with
venues, organizers, trade associations and
government bodies.
Today, the company organizes some 470
events in 37 countries and employs over
2700 event specialists in 38 fully staffed
offices worldwide.
Kerry Smith
President & CEO,
Red 7 Media, LLC
Kerry Smith is President and CEO of Red 7
Media, LLC, a diversified media company
headquartered in Norwalk, CT, that produces
magazines, newsletters, conferences and
trade shows in the event and publishing
industries.
Kerry started the company in 2002 with a
vision to create and launch magazines and
conferences in niche business categories.
Founded with a single employee, the
company has grown to 100 employees and
was named the fastest-growing private-held
publishing company in the U.S. by Inc.
Magazine in 2007 and 2008.
Prior to founding Red 7 Media, Kerry was
Group Publisher at Primedia, Inc., where he
was responsible for editorial, business
management and brand development for a
group of 8 business magazines, including
American Demographics, Corporate
Meetings & Incentives, and PROMO
Magazine, which he founded in 1987.
Red 7 Media publishes Event Marketer,
EXPO, Event Design, and Agenda in the event
industry; and FOLIO, Circulation Management
in the publishing industry. The company also
produces annual trade shows and
conferences, including The Experiential
Marketing Summit, The Event Design Forum,
The FOLIO Show, The FOLIO Publishing
Summit, The Circulation Management Show,
and Agenda Expos in New York, Boston and
Los Angeles.
Kerry has launched 5 magazines and 5
conferences/shows over the past 18 years. He
has appeared on Good Morning America,
National Public Radio and the Money Radio
Network to discuss marketing and promotion
trends, and has been quoted in The Wall
Street Journal, Investors Business Daily and
numerous other business and news
publications.
Kerry is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse
School of Public Communications at
Syracuse University. He resides in New
Canaan, CT, with his wife and 2 children.
When not putting out fires at the office, Kerry
is a Captain in the New Canaan Fire
Department, and a Certified Fire Service
Instructor for the State of Connecticut.
- 15 -
Paul St. Amour
Director General,
E.J. Krause de Mexico
Paul St. Amour has been involved in the
trade show industry for over 15 years in
Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Currently, he is Director General of E.J.
Krause de Mexico, where he is responsible
for the 60-person subsidiary of E.J. Krause
and Associates. E.J. Krause Mexico is the
largest trade show organizer in Mexico and
organizes annually 10 trade shows and
conferences. His current portfolio includes a
mixture of EJK-owned shows as well as
several JVs with other leading trade show
organizers, including Reed Exhibitions and
Hanley Wood Exhibitions. Their properties
include: EXPO COMM MEXICO, World of
Concrete Mexico, Alimentaria Mexico, Expo
Manufactura and Enviro Pro Mexico. This
year, EJK Mexico also took over the
management of Expo Pack, owned by PMMI
and Plastimagen.
Prior to joining E.J. Krause, Paul was a
member of the Canadian Foreign Service and
served 5 years in Ottawa and the Canadian
Embassy in Mexico where he was
responsible for several areas of business. He
also organized two Canada Expos during his
term at the Embassy.
Paul is an active member of Amprofec
(Mexico’s IAEM) and served as a past Vice
President of the Organizers Section. He is
also involved in IAEM and SISO and has
participated at several of their events in the
US. He has also been on the Board of
Directors of the Canadian Chamber of
Commerce in Mexico.
Paul has lived in Mexico for over 15 years
and is fluent in Spanish and French, as well
as English.
John S. Suhler
Founding General
Partner & President,
Veronis Suhler
Stevenson
John S. Suhler is Founding General
Partner and President of Veronis Suhler
Stevenson. He has been actively involved in
raising the capital of Veronis Suhler
Stevenson’s private capital funds. Mr. Suhler,
for the majority of his operational career, was
a Senior Manager/Publisher/President in
educational (el-hi, college, supplemental
materials) and professional publishing;
consumer publishing; weekly newspapers,
consumer magazines and books,

professional (medical and healthcare)
journals, monographs, and newsletters. Mr.
Suhler was trained early on as a direct
marketing and periodical subscription
marketing manager and was instrumental
later as a circulation director and publisher in
the application of mathematical modeling to
the business of circulation and print order
planning and optimization of customer
acquisition and publishing metrics in general.
Mr. Suhler participates in the management
presentations and due diligence reviews of
nearly all portfolio company acquisitions and
significant add-ons, and he has served on the
Board of Directors of many of the Fund’s
portfolio companies and attended Board
meetings as observer for most of the balance.
Prior to co-founding VSS in 1981, Mr.
Suhler was President of CBS Publishing
Group, a $550 million (1980) revenue
multinational operation (educational basal
series and supplemental materials, hard cover
consumer trade, medical text and treatise, and
consumer magazines and paperback books)
and one of the four operating groups of CBS,
Inc., and previously was President of CBS
Publications, the consumer periodical and
mass market trade and paperback book
publishing division of CBS, publishing
Woman’s Day, Family Weekly (now USA
Weekend), Field & Stream, Road & Track and
the consumer special interest magazine titles,
and was VP-Publisher of the Psychology
Today group at Ziff Davis Publishing and
CRM, Inc.
Mr. Suhler has been a past member of the
Board of Directors of the Association of
American Publishers and the Magazine
Publishers of America, and an affiliate
member of the American Newspaper
Publishers and an active participant and
speaker/panel member in ABM, IIA and its
successor SIIA. Mr. Suhler created and has
served as Editor-in-Chief for the VSS
Communications Industry Forecast,
published since 1987, one of the leading
econometric forecasts and historical record of
spending on the broadly-defined media
industries in the United States.
Mr. Suhler received his BS from the
University of Kansas, where he attended the
William Allen White School of Journalism and
was Chairman of The University Daily Kansan
Board. He is currently a Trustee of the William
Allen White Foundation and the recipient of
the University of Kansas Journalism School
Legacy Achievement Award.
Tony Uphoff
CEO, TechWeb
Tony Uphoff is CEO of TechWeb (formerly
CMP Media). TechWeb is one of the United
Business Media companies. He is an
innovative media executive with a unique
track record of building, growing and leading
B2B media businesses in highly competitive
markets.
Uphoff has the distinction of having been a
leader of three of the top five B2B brands in
history, all at the peak of their reach, revenues
and profits: InformationWeek, The Hollywood
Reporter and PC Week. He served in several
key management positions at Ziff-Davis Media
during the build out of the company in the late
80's and early 90's. He then joined CMP
Media as publisher of InformationWeek
leading the brand to the # 1 position in its
market and ultimately into one of the largest
brands in B2B. Tony also served as divisional
VP and President during CMP's dramatic
growth in the mid 1990's from a $200 Million
privately owned company, to a $600 Million,
publicly traded, global leader in technology
media. He was the founding CEO of the
internet media company Beliefnet, which was
sold to News Corp in November of 2007, and
has been at the forefront of online and
integrated media for the last 13 years. Named
one of the top 100 business media executives
by B2B Magazine's "Who's Who in Business
Media" in 2006, 2007 and 2008 Uphoff is a
regular speaker and panelist on media and
technology at industry and association
conferences and events. He regularly blogs on
media trends at www.uphoffonmedia.com.
Nancy J. Wilson
Principal, Meeting
Strategies Worldwide
Nancy J. Wilson, CMP, is a leader, innovator,
and entrepreneur in the meeting planning and
events industry. She began her career in the
industry in 1978. Ms. Wilson is a principal with
Meeting Strategies Worldwide, a conference
management and consulting firm specializing in
green meetings. She founded the firm in 1994.
Ms. Wilson and business partner Amy
Spatrisano provide green meeting management
and consulting services for their diverse clients
representing both national and international
organizations. Meeting Strategies Worldwide
won the IMEX Award for Environmentally
Responsible Meetings.
- 16 -
Internationally recognized as a leader in the
environmentally responsible meeting and event
management field, Nancy served on the Live
Earth Global Green Team and was named one of
"The 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings
Industry" by Meeting News Magazine in 2003.
She is cofounder of the Green Meeting Industry
Council and currently serves on the Board’s
Executive Committee. Ms. Wilson is coauthor of
“Simple Steps to Green Meetings and Events.”
Her blog, “Pretentious Musings of a Meet Green
Martyr” shares resources, tips, ideas and funny
stories about the life of a green meeting planner.
Michael Von
Zitzewitz
Chairman, Messe
Frankfurt GmbH
Michael von Zitzewitz has been Chairman of
the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt
GmbH for ten years. Prior to this, he was
Deputy Director of Deutsche Bank AG
between 1983 and 1992, after which he
served as General Manager of Commerz
Grundbesitz Investmentgesellschaft mbH until
1998.
With economist and real estate expert
Michael von Zitzewitz at the helm, Messe
Frankfurt developed into a global corporate
group with 29 subsidiaries and approximately
50 international Sales Partners. Between 1999
and 2008, the Group’s sales increased by
some 60 percent from €275 million to €436
million. Sales attributable to markets outside
Germany have grown to €103 million, more
than quadrupling since 1999. In 2008, a total
of 62 trade fairs were organized outside
Germany—roughly twice the number held ten
years beforehand. Michael von Zitzewitz
systematically developed the Frankfurt
exhibition grounds, leading to the
construction of—to give just a few
examples—the new Hall 3 and the Forum.
Furthermore, the new Hall 11 will be opened
in time for the 2009 IAA International Motor
Show.
From 2002 to 2004, Michael von Zitzewitz
was President of the European Major
Exhibition Centres Association (EMECA).
Since 2005, he has been Chairman of the
Society for Voluntary Control of Fair and
Exhibition Statistics (FKM). In October 2006,
he was appointed Senator of the European
Economic Senate (EWS), an independent
body of outstanding individuals from politics,
business and academia. Since December
2007, Michael von Zitzewitz has been on the
Board of the German Chamber of Commerce
in Austria. He is also Honorary Consul of
Bangladesh for the German state of Hesse.