Our Organization:
Our Passion
CEMA is a thriving community of corporate event marketers. We serve all senior-level event marketers in a corporate environment. The diversity of our corporate membership continues to expand, and our recent acceptance as members of the Events Industry Council (EIC) have enabled us to expand our reach even further. Our differentiator is our non-selling, peer-to-peer environment. Conversations among participants at our events focus on best practice sharing and knowledge sharing. Relationships are first and foremost. Professionals do business with other professionals they trust. CEMA facilitates those connections and lifelong industry friendships. CEMA members engage in person through educational and networking opportunities offered each month around the country. CEMA Study Tours are our most popular professional development opportunity, providing behind-the-scene knowledge sharing about industry events. Members also engage online via Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Advisory Board of Directors
Amy Walter
Chair
Head of Global Event Strategy, Atlassian
As the Head of Field Marketing & Event Strategy at Atlassian, Amy Walter drives the global Field Marketing team, as well as the strategy, technology, and audience acquisition efforts across the entire global event portfolio including proprietary events, digital events and third party programs. She helped build the first-ever Atlassian European user conference in 2017 as the program lead, and now focuses her time partnering with the global team defining the long-term strategies and goals for their programs. She loves event data and using it to help tell the Atlassian event team’s success stories and to make data-driven decisions shaping the future of their events.
Prior to joining Atlassian, Amy held roles at other tech firms as an event marketer, managed event operations on the agency side, and also worked in catering and sales at a hotel / casino. Her focus on operational excellence paired with her data-centric approach has brought a unique perspective to the programs she’s managed. Amy earned a BS in Marketing and Journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno and currently resides in Reno, Nevada with her husband Anthony, and french bulldog, Winston.
Gary Murakami
Vice Chair
Vice President of Sales & Industry Relations, Teneo Hospitality
Gary Murakami
Vice Chair
Vice President of Sales & Industry Relations, Teneo Hospitality
Gary Murakami, GTP, GLP, CMP, CMM, DES is the Vice President of Sales and Industry Relations for Teneo Hospitality Group representing a distinct collection of independent and small chain luxury hotels and resorts and DMCs worldwide. A seasoned hospitality sales executive and innovative strategic leader with expertise in the hospitality and hotel and convention management industries, Gary is responsible for raising awareness for Teneo Hospitality Group, as well as developing and maintaining key client partnerships in his strategic territories with the corporate, association, and intermediary/third party segments. Gary’s sales background includes previous sales and leadership positions with MGM Resorts International, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in the group, leisure, and business travel segments.
Gary maintains several industry-recognized certifications and designations, including his Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) certification from the Events Industry Council (EIC), in addition to the Global Travel Professional (GTP) certification and Global Leadership Professional (GLP) designation and certification from Global Business Travel Association (GBTA). He also received his Certificate in Meeting Management (CMM) offered through Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and his Digital Event Strategist (DES) certification from PCMA.
An active member in the global meetings, events and travel industry community, Gary has held a variety of leadership board of directors, committee, and volunteer roles with several industry associations both locally and nationally in addition to CEMA, including PCMA, MPI, GBTA, LGBT MPA, and EIC. He recently served as a Board of Trustee for the PCMA Foundation for 3 years after being on the PCMA Board of Directors. In 2019, MPI awarded Gary the RISE Meeting Industry Leadership Award for his continued commitment and contributions to the meetings & events industry, and GBTA presented him in 2021 the Allied Member of the Year Award, which recognizes a member’s dedication, enthusiasm and hard work that generates significant benefits to the association and the industry.
Richard Steinau
Secretary
Senior Vice President, Bellwether
A father of five, Richard Steinau is most comfortable in an environment of chaos and improbable schedules, making him a natural fit for the live Events industry where he has held executive leadership roles for over 15 years. His passion for mentoring has produced an impressive legacy of high performing organizations that have consistently delivered growth in both employee satisfaction and revenue. Richard’s teams share an unyielding drive for achieving exceptional customer satisfaction that transforms clients into active brand advocates. A native of San Diego, he relocated near Salt Lake City in 2020 and traded in his surfboard and sunscreen for hiking, mountain biking and raking leaves. In 2022 Richard was recruited to join Bellwether, a company and ownership team he has highly admired for their culture of excellence that has continued to lead the industry in production quality and creativity for more than a decade.
Colleen Bisconti
Immediate Past Chair
VP Global Conferences & Events, IBM
Colleen Bisconti is IBM Vice President Marketing, Global Conferences and Events. She leads IBM’s worldwide events strategy and the professional career discipline for an extended team of 400+ event marketers across the globe. The team executes 6,000+ in person and digital events including both proprietary and 3rd party activities. She led the ongoing evolution of the overall event strategy that included the creation of IBM’s single flagship global conference, IBM Think, with over 30,000 attendees annually. Colleen has over 25 years experience in the IT industry and is known as an innovative and passionate marketing leader with extensive management experience. She has a proven track record for the successful development and execution of marketing strategy, demand generation programs, event strategy and execution, and channel development to drive revenue results with a long history of leading high-performance teams. She is results oriented and succeeds by working across matrixed environments and external organizations. Colleen is passionate about team culture and creating exceptional attendee experiences.
Courtney Bales
Board Member at Large
Chief of Staff, Global Events & Oracle Studio, Oracle
Courtney Bales
Board Member at Large
Chief of Staff, Global Events & Oracle Studio, Oracle
Bridgette Birdie
Board Member at Large
Sr. Director of Events, RMS Moody's
Bridgette is a seasoned event professional who is currently leading the industry events and experiences team for Cisco’s Global Events operations organization. During her time at Cisco, Bridgette has worked on events ranging from the Olympics to product launches to advisory boards and Cisco proprietary events.
Prior to joining Cisco, Bridgette worked in the medical device industry and the GPS telenav industry where she made many great contacts that are also CEMA members. Her love of events started early at a startup and has never stopped. No matter the size of the company or the size of the event, the amount of passion and drive is the same!
Bridgette currently lives in San Mateo, California with her husband and 3 kids.
Kathleen Castaillac
Board Member at Large
Sr. Director, Global Event Marketing, Splunk
Kathleen Castaillac
Board Member at Large
Sr. Director, Global Event Marketing, Splunk
Stefanie Maragna
Board Member at Large
Global Technology Marketing Executive
Stefanie Maragna brings more than 25 years of event, sales and marketing experience to the CEMA board. As the VP Corporate Marketing & Events at Sage, Stefanie is responsible for the Customer Advocacy, Partner Marketing, Analyst Relations and Field Marketing Events for Sage Intacct. With more than 25+ years in sales, marketing and event experience, the backbone of her career has always been within the technology event space working with Mincom (in Australia), before moving to the USA with Mark Logic, Host Analytics, Sage Intacct and Sage.
Stefanie or Stef as she prefers, has an infectious personality, and strategic focus and passion for CEMA and the events industry, and her diverse background has allowed her to better understand the needs and motivations of all the stakeholders who are involved with events, from marketing to sales to partners and executives. Her love for events has given her many opportunities to bring new and unique experiences to customers and colleagues across all event marketing programs. She enjoys mentoring and supporting the next generation of event “marketeers” and was named as one of SmartMeetings’ “100 Women Who Inspire Us” and “Hall of Fame”.
When Stef takes time away from the corporate scene, she lives on her Sonoma County ranch with her husband, 5-year-old little boy and Australian cattle dog Cody. You will find her cooking, gardening, beekeeping, raising chickens, supporting many local charities, and drinking wine of course! Stefanie loves travel and when she is not spending time in her home country Australia, she takes the opportunity to travel the world learning and experiencing new cultures.
Ben Nazario
Board Member at Large
President, MC-2
ith over 20 years of experience in the event space, Ben Nazario is no stranger to building unique and strategic programs around any brand and its industry tailored to the identified customer segment. Currently with MC² as its Chief Growth Officer, Ben’s primary focus resides in overseeing the company’s domestic and international growth through multiple facets of the business including Sales, Business Development, Marketing, Creative and Strategy. With Ben’s addition to the board, CEMA will see a leadership figure challenge the means of normality through his charisma, energy, and passion for reaching new heights.
Dan Shuman
Board Member at Large
Global Account Executive, Global Sales Organization, Marriott
Dan Shuman
Board Member at Large
Global Account Executive, Global Sales Organization, Marriott
Global Account Executive, Global Sales Organization, Marriott International
Based in Denver, CO, Dan is responsible for the leading the global relationship with Marriott’s top strategic partners. Originally from Phoenix, AZ, Dan spent 12 years in San Diego before relocating to Denver in 2015. Along with his wife, Courtney, and 3 young kids, Dan enjoys taking advantage of the Colorado outdoors, attending concerts, or cheering on his favorite hometown sports teams.
Jodi Morrison
Board Member at Large
Vice President of Operations, Lenos Software
Jodi Morrison is Vice President of Operations at Lenos Software, heading up global customer support and professional services. She joins Lenos with 20+ years corporate event leadership experience overseeing technology and operations for Oracle Open World, NetSuite SuiteWorld, Modern Business Experience, and Modern Customer Experience, to cite a few. Jodi's work has taken her around the world managing the production of Oracle’s global live events. She is now applying her experience and expertise to assist enterprise customers with their adoption of a holistic enterprise-wide marketing, meetings, and event software solution platform.
Leslie Hasvold
Board Member at Large
Senior Director, Global Event Management & Strategy, Illumio
Leslie Hasvold
Board Member at Large
Senior Director, Global Event Management & Strategy, Illumio
Professionally, Leslie Hasvold has been in the Bay Area event industry for 25 years and her career has spanned from small surgeon trainings to large scale technical user conferences. She has had the pleasure of working across the globe and in all elements of the event programming cycle. She has established herself as a leader in her organizations both literally and by the virtue of her breadth of expertise. Finally, she is a virtual event hipster, having supported those since before COVID-19 made them cool.
Personally, she divides her time between CA, NV, and OR. She has four dogs to love, has been an avid traveler since long before she found this amazing career, and has a LEGO obsession that is inappropriate as a childless middle-aged woman.
Sara Straw
Board Member at Large
Director, Strategic Events, Ring Central
Sara Straw, CMP is no stranger to the event marketing industry having spent the last 14 years immersed in all the fun and chaos of all we love and do. As the Director of Strategic Events at RingCentral, Sara is responsible for developing the company’s global event strategy as-well-as overseeing a team of rockstar event marketers who manage all internal, hosted, and 3rd party events. Prior to joining RingCentral, Sara was responsible for a portfolio of global events at leading SaaS companies, F5 Networks and Sage Software, plus leading background screening provider, Sterling Talent Solutions.
When she is not busy producing lead generating events, Sara enjoys spending time with her 21 nieces and nephews and running her solo travel coaching and design company, STW Planning LLC. Sara is the founder of the Solo Travel Woman Society, a global community of women focused on sharing knowledge and empowerment as it relates to travel. In 2020, Sara published The Ultimate Solo Travel Woman Guide, and became the host of The Solo Travel Woman Podcast.
Jessica Colmenares
Board Member at Large
Director of Sales, Worldwide Accounts, Hilton
Jessica Colmenares
Board Member at Large
Director of Sales, Worldwide Accounts, Hilton
Jessica Colmenares is Director of Sales, Worldwide Accounts at Hilton. She is responsible for managing a portfolio of customers, mostly in the technology segment, to help them align their priorities and find the perfect solution for their meeting & event needs. Jessica is passionate about delivering meaningful and memorable experiences for her customers and finding innovative solutions that support their objectives. Her proven ability to build relationships beyond the point of sale has allowed her to engage differently at higher levels of her customers' organizations. She is a team player who shares ideas and approaches that have worked, willing to take advice to think differently, and always has an appetite to learn. She is a team player who values the gift of collaboration and is committed to achieving common goals.
For the past 27 years, Jessica has worked for Hilton. She’s been a member of the CEMA community for 11 years. The connections and community of CEMA have afforded her the opportunity to stretch herself and understand how the initial thoughts, planning, and execution of in person engagements have lasting impact well beyond the event. Jessica resides in the Bay Area with her husband Paul and has two active boys. She has a passion for running, the beach, and travel.
Paula Grayson
Board Member at Large
EVP, Client Services Delivery and Operations, Opus Agency
Paula Grayson
Board Member at Large
EVP, Client Services Delivery and Operations, Opus Agency
Across a portfolio of world-shaping brands, including Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and many more— Paula Grayson and her Opus Agency teams are accelerating the power of shared experiences. As a member of the Opus Agency executive team, and Executive Vice President, Client Delivery & Operations, Paula leads our Event Management, Event Technology & Registration, and Client Services Delivery Operations teams. Together with her teams, she strives for operational excellence in pursuit of innovative solutions so that Opus Agency’s processes and way of working are collaborative, easy, successful, enjoyable, and future-focused for our clients and our employees.
Paula joined Opus Agency in 2000 as a project manager and discovered a passion for events that has fueled growth for her, her teams, Opus Agency, and our clients.
Heather Schneider
Board Member at Large
Manager, Event Operations, Tyler Technologies, Inc.
Heather Schneider
Board Member at Large
Manager, Event Operations, Tyler Technologies, Inc.
Using almost a decade of event industry experience, Heather has contributed to the development of a robust trade show portfolio involving 700+ tradeshows, the creation and implementation of a Strategic Meetings Management Program (SMMP), and operational oversight of meetings and events for Tyler Technologies. While her current focus is on event strategy and function growth, her core passion remains at the heart of the industry - creating unique and memorable experiences at every scale.
Jeremy Youett
Board Member at Large
Senior Director, Corporate Events and Sponsorships, Smartsheet
Jeremy Youett
Board Member at Large
Senior Director, Corporate Events and Sponsorships, Smartsheet
Jeremy is an Australian native with a diverse professional background as a marketing leader, strategist, and storyteller. He is currently Senior Director of Corporate Events and Sponsorships at Smartsheet, where he leads the team that creates and delivers their growing portfolio of experiential marketing activations.
He previously worked on the Global Events Team at Microsoft for eight years, where he was responsible for delivering business audience programs from small high-touch executive events through to scaled programs for tens of thousands of people globally. Prior to his time in the Tech Industry, Jeremy founded a company in New York City that produced and managed shows in the Entertainment Industry. Highlights include a Tony Award nomination for co-producing a Broadway musical, General Managing the New York Musical Theatre Festival for 4 years, and dozens of Off-Broadway Productions, Galas, and Launches.
Before migrating to the U.S he was a Producer and General Manager in Australia (an extension of his first career as a professional entertainer on both stage and screen), where he imported and toured award-winning artists across Australia and New Zealand, and General Managed touring musicals throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Kara Wooten
Board Member at Large
Director Global Partner Events & Vendor Funding, Dell Technologies
Kara Wooten
Board Member at Large
Director Global Partner Events & Vendor Funding, Dell Technologies
Kara Wooten is a passionate and pragmatic marketing professional with more than 20 years of marketing experience, specializing in strategic planning for Dell Technologies’. Driven to create content and experiences that make an impact, Kara has an avid customer-first approach to everything she does, from vendor management, production and design, communications, event planning, and execution. She thrives in fast-paced, changing environments and is not afraid of ambiguity. A problem solver by nature, Kara runs to chaos. She is currently responsible for developing Dell Technologies’ global partner event strategy and how Dell tells its transformative story to the marketplace through world-class events and engagements. In addition to setting the global strategy, Kara and her team also drive efficiencies and consistency in experience to Dell Technologies top-tier partners at all advisory boards, and worldwide programs and industry events in their regional field teams. Before her current role, Kara spent her first four years helping to build the Dell Technologies energy vertical globally and the next four years driving campaigns and engagements for Dell Technologies OEM North America. A University of Houston alumna with a BA in Marketing, Kara has a diverse background across the oil and gas and technology sectors. Her proficiency extends to product and partnership marketing, field marketing, strategic planning, and event management. Outside of her professional endeavors, Kara enjoys life in Tomball, TX, with her husband Bryan and their three sons. The family’s passion for sports, outdoor activities, and live music, enriches their lives beyond the boardroom.
Lisa Logan
Board Member at Large
Senior Program Lead, Cisco
Lisa Logan is a Senior Program Lead at Cisco, managing C-level events and shows that create memorable and impactful experiences. Inspired by the evolution of events over the past decade, Lisa is excited to embrace the next generation of innovations. Known for her outgoing and social nature, she enjoys connecting with new people and sharing ideas. And, she has also discovered that her introversion has helped to hone her focus, creativity, and attention to detail, making each event unique. Living in Sonoma, CA, she is dedicated to a lifestyle of hiking, gardening, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings with her dog, Remy.
Staff
Brian Mason
An accomplished Global Event Professional with 20+ years of experience and expertise in event planning and administration, broadcast production, global account management, and large-scale project oversight. I have worked with Salesforce for the past 13+ years on various global and national strategic marketing events. I have a proven track record of quickly comprehending and articulating complex information and effectively communicating with audiences from a variety of educational, economic, and cultural backgrounds. My main focuses have been on keynote production, broadcast and film production, and global events. I completed my undergraduate degree from The University of Southern California, and my MBA from Anderson University. When I am not traveling for work, I love snowboarding at various mountains in the US, hanging out with my two golden retrievers and spending time on my home lake.
Mariah Cater
Mariah D. Cater is an accomplished event professional with over 10 years experience in strategic event management and project coordination. With a passion for curating engaging and memorable experiences, Mariah has successfully orchestrated a wide range of events across industries, including but not limited to healthcare, non-profit, education, and hospitality.
Mariah's ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams has led to her seamless execution of these events from establishing strategic goals to managing logistics and creating captivating content while overseeing vendor relations.
Currently serving as the Events Manager at CEMA, she coordinates regional events for current and prospective CEMA members, both virtual and in-person.
Previously, Mariah worked as a Manager of Strategic & Industry Events at Press Ganey in Chicago, she coordinates over 45 client-facing events in addition to Press Ganey’s annual conference for over 3,000 attendees. In addition, she worked as an Event Specialist and Project Manager Contractor at Wyn Win Communications. There, she managed multiple client projects focused on stakeholder and community engagement for organizations such as the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Counting on Chicago Coalition, and the North Lawndale Employment Network. As an entrepreneur, she founded Mariah Denise, LLC. focusing on Event Management and Project Management services working with a diverse client base including brands such as Chick-Fil-A, Code.org, Medscape LIVE, and the Nike Tournament of Champions.
Mariah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing and Public Relations from Columbia College Chicago and has a certification in Integrated Marketing. With her exceptional leadership abilities, effective interpersonal communication, and natural talent for building collaborative relationships, Mariah consistently exceeds expectations in delivering extraordinary event experiences. Her passion for creating impactful events, combined with her strategic planning and project management expertise make her a valuable asset in any event management role.
Mykayla Smith
Mykayla Smith is the Manager of Community Development at CEMA, bringing a wealth of experience in cultivating and maintaining strong relationships within dynamic communities. With a background in managing large-scale events and driving member engagement, Mykayla plays a crucial role in fostering CEMA’s unique peer-to-peer environment, where senior-level event marketers can exchange insights, collaborate on best practices, and forge enduring professional connections.
Before joining CEMA, she served as the Manager of Events and Community at TeamWorking by TechNexus, where she managed and executed over 100 client-facing events in addition to managing a community of 500+ early-stage tech start-ups.
With a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Michigan State University Mykayla is passionate about creating inclusive and engaging spaces, she thrives on building connections that last beyond the event itself.
Mykayla currently lives in Chicago where she loves seeing live music, doing yoga, and spending time outside with her dog.