Chapter Speaker Series
Welcome to the Chapter Speaker Series Topics and Bios page. Topics are listed first and underneath you will find links to all speaker bios.
When requesting an IAEE staff or board member for speaking engagements, the following information will be sent to Lisa Buchanan.
IAEE’s Chapter Speaker Series List of Topics for 2025
AI
- From Scenarios to Strategies: Crafting Event Success with AI (Rich Vallster, CEM, DES)
Advocacy
- Advocacy in Action – The Path to Effective Advocacy (Julie Pazina, CEM-AP)
Building Business Relationships / Customer Service
- Build Relationships with Your Ideal Buyers (Ed Wallace)
- Create Competitor-Proof Relationships (Ed Wallace)
- The Trust Formula Presentation (Bill McCormick)
- Twist the Familiar’ to stand out from the crowd with your business relationships and customer care (Gary Hernbroth)
Communications/Marketing
- Clarity-Driven Communication: How to Communicate with Anyone (Debbie Peterson, CSP)
- Unleashing Potential: Strategies to Authentically Communicate Value as a Leader (Shakira Brown)
- Powerful Communications Strategies Every Woman Needs to Lead Projects with Precision (Shakira Brown)
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Lead More Artfully: Communicate Like You Give a $*#T (Shakira Brown)
- Lead Yourself First: Authentic Leadership for Women in Business (Debbie Peterson, CSP)
- Leading with Empathy (Cathy Breden, CMP-F, CAE, CEM)
- Play Like a Woman (Meg Fasy)
- Women in the Workplace: How to Achieve Balance and Remove Barriers to Success (Dr. Jennifer Hesterman)
Events
- Attendee Acquisition: What’s Working to Drive Attendance in Today’s New Marketing Reality (Kimberly Hardcastle-Geddes, CEM)
- Cash In, Cut Costs: Winning Revenue Tactics for Your EXPO and Sponsorship Programs (Michelle Mobley or Rich Vallster, CEM, DES)
- Customize Your Show: Bye-Bye 1990s (Facilitated in roundtable by Kara Dao, CEM)
- Easy Ways to Empower Your New (and “New-ish”) Exhibitors (Robyn Davis, CPTD, CEM)
- Elevating Tradeshow Engagement: Innovative Trends to Transform Your Events (Kara Dao, CEM)
- Event Design for Engagement (Facilitated in roundtable discussions by Kara Dao, CEM)
- The Importance of Data to Demonstrate the Value of Meetings (Kyle Jordan, Ed.M, MS, CAE, CEM-AP, CMP, DES, CMM)
Leadership
- Advocacy in Action – The Path to Effective Advocacy (Julie Pazina, CEM-AP)
- Coaching Circle: Structured Peer-to-Peer Problem Solving (Robyn Davis, CPTD, CEM)
- Eight Traits of a Selfless Leader: How Many People Have a Degree in Leadership? (Bob Pacanovsky)
- Empathy and Leadership: Key Aspects of Workplace Mental Health© (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
- Fostering Relationships with Difficult People (Facilitated in roundtables by Kara Dao, CEM)
- Lead Yourself First: Master Your Leadership Presence & Impact (Debbie Peterson, CSP)
- Leading with Empathy (Cathy Breden, CMP-F, CAE, CEM)
- Leadership is not a title; it’s a way of operating and behaving (Gary Hernbroth)
- Living Your Core Values: Leading with Integrity to Inspire Loyalty and Build Trust (Shakira Brown)
- Neuroscience-Driven Leadership: Building a Stronger Team Culture with Psychological Safety (Matthew Kalb, CEM-AP)
Management
- Burnout is not a Dirty Word (Rachelle Stone, PCC, CQPC
- Developing dynamic and collaborative teams = get the right butts in the right seats (Facilitated in roundtables by Kara Dao, CEM
- Exponential Impact: How to Unlock the BEST in YOU and Your Organization (Debbie Peterson, CTSP)
- Leading with Empathy (Cathy Breden, CMP-F, CAE, CEM)
- Managing committees and volunteers on Highway 2-6-2 (Gary Hernbroth)
- Should I Stay or Should I Go? How loneliness, mental health, and management impact burnout and employee retention (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
Mental Health & Mindfulness
- Mental Health and Burnout: Strategies for Increasing Resilience© (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
- Should I Stay or Should I Go? How loneliness, mental health, and management impact burnout and employee retention (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
- You Don’t Have to Do It All: The Quest for Work-Life Balance© (Megan Bearce, LMFT
Personal Development
- Avoiding Burnout and Managing Stress (Rachelle Stone, PCC, CQPC)
- Clarity-Driven Communication: How to Communicate with Anyone (Debbie Peterson)
- Hardwire Healthy Habits: Break the Brain Pain Cycle, How Your Brain Works and How to Make it Work Better (Dee O’Neill)
- Harnessing the Brain Science of Awe and Wonder to Optimize Your Resilience to Stress and Maximize Performance (Dee O’Neill)
- Leading with Empathy (Cathy Breden, CMP-F, CAE, CEM)
- Positive Intelligence & Introduction to Mental Fitness (Rachelle Stone, PCC, CQPC)
- Reframing Failure: Harnessing Neuroscience to Shift Team Perspectives (Matthew Kalb, CEM-AP)
- Translating the Brain Science of Wellness and Awe to Harness a Brain Healthy Workplace: Your Brain is Your Competitive Advantage (Dee O’Neill)
- What Do I Want? Creating a Path to Transition Toward New Professional or Personal Goals© (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
- Yes, you are a brand. Is your personal brand working to its fullest degree to help you in your role and your career? (Gary Hernbroth)
- You Don’t Have to Do It All: The Quest for Work-Life Balance© (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
Safety and Security
- Emergent Security Threats: What Leaders Need to Know (Dr. Jennifer Hesterman)
- Insider Threat: Cross-applying Government Strategies to the Private Sector (Dr. Jennifer Hesterman)
- Securing Public Spaces: A Practical Exercise (Dr. Jennifer Hesterman)
- Why People Radicalize: An Inside Look at Domestic Violent Extremism (Dr. Jennifer Hesterman Colonel)
Sales
- Cash In, Cut Costs: Winning Revenue Tactics for Your EXPO and Sponsorship Programs (Michelle Mobley or Rich Vallster)
- Sales is a competitive game. Let’s ‘twist the familiar’ and kick up our sales game in ways that will have your competitors shaking their heads (Gary Hernbroth)
- What Business Are You In? How to Show and Deliver Hospitality Today (Bob Pacanovsky)
- Would YOU Do Business with YOU? (Bob Pacanovsky)
Sponsorship
- Cash In, Cut Costs: Winning Revenue Tactics for Your EXPO and Sponsorship Programs (Michelle Mobley)
- Digital Sponsorship Possibilities (Meg Fasy)
- Sponsorship program development (Facilitated in roundtables by Kara Dao, CEM)
- Sponsorship Trends (Meg Fasy)
- Suppliers as partners, the benefit of collaboration (Facilitated in roundtables by Kara Dao, CEM)
- The Dollars and Sense of Sponsorships (Meg Fasy)
Strategy
- Building Your Sponsorship Strategy (Meg Fasy)
- Deliver Impactful Value Propositions (Ed Wallace)
- From Scenarios to Strategies: Crafting Event Success with AI (Rich Vallster, CEM, DES)
- Mental Health and Burnout: Strategies for Increasing Resilience© (Megan Bearce, LMFT)
Roundtable Topics
- Mini-Unconference: Peer-to-Peer Discussions on the Topics YOU Choose
- Developing dynamic and collaborative teams = get the right butts in the right seats (Kara Dao, CEM)
- Customize Your Show: Bye-Bye 1990s (Kara Dao, CEM)
- Event Design for Engagement (Kara Dao, CEM)
