Profile:
Howard Givner
Founder & Executive Director
Event Leadership Institute
eventleadershipinstitute.com
After running meetings and events company Paint the Town Red for 20 years, Howard Givner developed keen eye for the trials planners at all levels face.
“The challenge that we had as an event and meeting agency, and a lot of my colleagues had, was there were so many different facets to organizing meetings,” Givner says. “You might have someone from your organization that’s, say, good at logistics but doesn’t know audiovisual, and vice versa.”
Of course, there’s no substitute for experience, but you can always speed up the learning process by utilizing online resources.
“The training and education, both in terms of quality and availability, was nowhere near keeping up with the demand in the industry,” he says.
So in 2011, Givner launched the Event Leadership Institute (ELI), a meetings and events educational company that has grown to offer live events, whitepapers, e-books, instructional videos and interviews with industry leaders, among other offerings.
In March, ELI announced a new series of hybrid courses held in eight U.S. cities. Using what he calls a “flipped” formula that is picking up steam across the educational spectrum, the hybrid class will find students viewing videos at home, at their own pace, and then attend a face-to-face class with an instructor and classmates.
Suppliers
Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek appointed Jonathan M. Raz as director of food and beverage. He has dedicated the majority of his career to the development of culinary programs at a variety of properties under the Hilton portfolio. Raz will manage the culinary program for the entire dual-hotel property, including 12 restaurant and bar outlets, in-room dining for 1,498 guest rooms and the extensive 175,000-square-foot banquet facility.
Hedy M. Varga has been promoted to senior sales manager for the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference Center. Currently under construction on UCLA’s main campus, the center is scheduled to open in August with 254 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting space. Varga brings to her new role previous success as sales manager in the pre-opening phase as well as sales leadership experience at multiple signature hotels in California.
Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa announced Karin Cohen as the new regional group sales director. Cohen brings more than 27 years of experience in luxury hospitality to the resort. As regional group sales director, she will help oversee and manage the principal markets of the Eastern Seaboard as well as focus on achieving the regional sales objectives of the AAA Five Diamond resort.
Planners
Stuart Ruff, CMP, DES, was promoted to vice president, events and education at RIMS, the Risk & Insurance Management Society. Ruff was previously the director of meetings and events, and has planned meetings in more than 30 countries. He is also a director on PCMA’s board.
The Empire State Society of Association Executives (ESSAE) announced the appointment of Vanessa LaClair, CMP, as executive director. LaClair has 15 years of experience in managing the internal operations of a trade association, including financial planning and budgeting, design, implementation and execution of events, marketing and communications with an emphasis on social media and technology.
The Philadelphia Alliance for Capital & Technologies (PACT) named Danielle Pinto its director, events. PACT drives entrepreneurship and innovation by connecting the technology, healthcare and capital communities, and each year offers 30 to 40 programs and events. Pinto manages PACT’s core event programming as well as sponsor engagement and entrepreneur outreach for signature events.
