1. Tell us something about yourself that may be surprising?
I’m not that fond of crowds! So, I became an event organizer—to get away from the heaving masses. Not being in the frame allows me to see the whole picture.
2. How did you get your start in the meetings industry?
Right place, right time. Back in early ’90s when I was a nonprofit lawyer, a friend asked me to explain to his “committee” why they should incorporate. I became the secretary of the corporation and before long I was rattling cans, selling ads in the program and moonlighting as an assistant stage manager—I was hooked.
3. What’s your favorite part of the meeting process?
The morning after. Sorting through the remains on-site, rallying the troops and tapping in to that wonderful creativity that everyone has for “next time.”
4. What’s the most memorable event you’ve planned?
Apart from the 2012 Out & Equal Summit in the middle of Hurricane Sandy? It would have to be my last London LGBT Pride Festival. We closed with the Pet Shop Boys performing Go West to 280,000 people, and that was what I was literally doing—heading to San Francisco to take up the reins here.
