GW Instructors

Program Contact
empinfo@gwu.edu

Karen R. Baker, MTA. Karen has thirteen years of experience in creative concepts for event management and marketing. A sampling of past and present of her client/event list includes: Arabesque BET Books, BET Publishing Group; Damani Dada Clothing; State Education Office of DC Government; Frontline Marketing and Promotions; Pantene/Tampax Total You Tour, and Azzure Denim.

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, Ph.D. Lisa is an Assistant Professor in the Masters of Tourism Administration Program at the George Washington University. She specializes in sport event management and marketing and is an expert on the modern Olympic Games movement.

Mary Derderian. President/Owner, Wrap It Up. Mary represents over 20 invitation thermographers, engravers, letterpress and offset printers.

Kenny Fried, Vice President. Brotman Winter Fried. As a communications manager Ken handles marketing projects for Footlocker, Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, Kemper Open and numerous other clients.

VeTalle Fusilier, MFA. VeTalle is a Special Events Producer/Writer with over 17 years of senior level experience in music, conference and production management. In 1990 he designed Taste of DC, Washington's premiere tourism food and music festival, , attracting over one million attendees each year. For ten years VeTalle was the Director of Production/Festival Director for Taste of DC. He was also a local production manager for "ESPN Goes to Washington," which featured live broadcast of Sports Center and an honored Fellow to the Harvard University's prestigious Publishing Procedures Workshop.

Buck Hoyle Jr., CAE, CMP. Buck is President of Accolade Communications, an events production and business communication company. He has served as Director of Conventions and Executive Vice President of the American Society of Association Executives. He was also Vice President of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association for 14 years. Now a frequent speaker and writer for industry groups Buck was appointed a Dean of ASAE's School of Association Management and Chairman of the Professional Management Association.

Sandra Khoury, MGA. As a meeting planner at, Laborers International Union of North of America Sandra manages special events, conferences and meetings worldwide. She was also a Director of Food and Beverages at the Watergate Hotel where she supervised catering functions and food and beverage needs for heads of states and dignitaries .

Bill Knight, CSEP, MTA.

Bill is President/Owner of Events By Knight. He was twenty years of event experience in catering, entertainment, party rental and event design. He was also a president of the Greater Washington, D.C. Chapter of the International Special Events Society.

Amy Ledoux, CMP. Amy has been in the hotel and meeting management industry for twenty-one years. She started out her career in the resort and hotel industry and then moved to association and corporate meeting management. Both her association and corporate meeting experience have given her hands on knowledge in the areas of meeting and exposition marketing, registration and housing, contract negotiations, budget management, site selection, program development, supplier selection, exposition management, special event and sponsorship development and overall logistical management. Her planning experience has been global, having managed events throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Amy has been an adjunct faculty member with the Event Management Program at The George Washington University since 1997. She has also taught a class in Meeting and Conference management at the University of San Diego, The University of Puerto Rico and has spoken on meeting topics for industry Associations such as PCMA, HSMAI and Affordable Meetings. Amy has also written articles on conducting Virtual Meetings, was a contributing writer to The Convention Industry Council Manuel, and helped to edit the 4th Edition of Professional Meeting Management. Amy is on the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) Board of Directors as the Chair. Amy earned her certified meeting professional designation in 1996 and earned her CAE designation in December of 2002. She is currently the Vice President of Meetings & Expositions for ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership overseeing a staff team to plan and implement over sixty-five educational programs, four major conferences, and three large tradeshows annually.

Robert Leitzel. Robert is the Director of Meetings & Events at the Department of Defense. As a defense foreign liaison Robert has accumulated extensive nationwide experience in planning, coordinating and directing high-visibility protocol-sensitive meetings, conferences and events for visiting international delegates of the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, and other senior Department of Defense leaders. Robert has high profile project and program management experience and is an expert in logistics, budget and contract negotiations, dignitary and protocol matters, international cultures, customs, and military and business ethics.

Sam Lippman. Sam Lippman is President of ism2 (integrated show management and marketing). He provides executive level consulting to the convention and exhibition industry in strategic planning, marketing and management. Sam is also the producer of the Exhibition and Convention Executives Forum (ECEF).

Before launching his company, Sam was Vice President of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), producing PRINT and regional shows.

Before GASC, he was Vice President of the Consumer Electronics Shows, managing CES, and creating new shows such as High End Audio and CES Mexico. His first show management job was with the National Computer Conference. He cut his teeth with GES, staging shows in Chicago, Detroit and New York City.

Sam is a proponent of better education for the exhibition industry, and was presented an IAEM merit award for his contributions. He is an international speaker, author and teacher, and is often quoted by the media.

Phyllis Mikolatis. Phyllis is President, of Events Plus and has with over twenty years decades of experience at the Xerox Corporation.

Nancy Mitchell. Nancy served for 23 years as Special Events Officer/Protocol, at the Office of Special Events and Public Programs, Library of Congress. She has planned and coordinated visits of heads of state, White House representatives, Members of Congress, and the diplomatic community. Nancy owns and manages The Etiquette Advocate, a firm offering etiquette and protocol training to individuals and organizations.

Steve Schwartz. Steve is Director of Exhibition and Production Services at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center; He has coordinated, many Washington, D.C. events including the 2003 opening of the New Washington, D.C. Convention Center.

Marc Sonder, CSEP. Marc is President of Marc Sonder Music, an international entertainment management & production company and View Point International event management. He is a frequent speaker and author for these industries.

Robert Truelove. Robert is a consultant at The University Club and has over 25 years of industry experience, including positions with Marriott International and Pepsico, He has consulted Harvard University, N.Y.U and Boeing International.

Jennifer Ziehl, MTA. Jennifer produces, designs and coordinates all facets of technical production and staging for live, one-off events and tours. Some of her recent technical production accomplishments and clients include the GSA September 11th Ceremony, Hispanic Inaugural Ball, Bush Campaign, America's Promise, Leukemia Ball and Maugistics. Among her clients are PriceWaterhouse & Coopers, Xerox, Forbes, Cadillac, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the White House.

Gary R. Biggs. Gary is the Director, Office of Protocol, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD. He is responsible for developing, managing and executing protocol policy for the agency,overseeing all NGA-hosted visits by U.S. and foreign dignitaries and managing the executive motor pool. In the past, Gary was a Protocol Officer in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. While there, he planned and executed over 50 visits by high-level foreign dignitaries, visits by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton, and numerous VIP ceremonies and special events. He graduated from the George Washington University Event Management Certificate Program and the Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Program in 2000.

JAMES M. GOLDBERG

James M. Goldberg is a principal in the Washington, DC law firm of Goldberg & Associates, PLLC. His practice focuses on the representation of trade associations and professional societies, as well as independent meeting and event planners and other providers of services to the association and event communities. Mr. Goldberg is the author of “The Meeting Planner's Legal Handbook,” and is a contributing author to "Meetings, Expositions, Events and Conventions: An Introduction to the Industry," published in 2004 by Prentice Hall. He is a charter member and serves on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys, and is a member of the Legal Advisory Council and Contracts Panel of the Convention Industry Council's Accepted Practices Exchange (APEX) initiative.