About the Speakers:

 

Barbara Rozgonyi leads CoryWest Media, a strategic marketing consulting firm who positions its clients as highly visible, attractive, and influential leaders online. The company’s client list covers a wide range of industries in all sizes, from Fortune 150 to startups. A digital marketing transformation pioneer, Barbara co-founded Social Media Club’s Chicago chapter in 2008 and was selected by Nokia as one of two social media experts to represent the U.S. at Social Media Week Berlin. A Meeting Professionals International [MPI] Chicago "Tomorrow’s Leader Award" nominee and a most engaged member of the month, Barbara developed the strategic marketing and PR plans for Industry Xchange Chicago 2015, an event presented by 12 of the Midwest’s leading hospitality organizations. In 2016, she was one of four industry experts invited to participate on a panel about trends for Industry Xchange Chicago’s audience of 500 meeting and event professionals. A member of the prestigious National Speakers Association, Barbara's been honored to speak at conferences hosted by leading industry groups and associations including the Federal Reserve, MDRT, Influencer Marketing Days, IACC, MPI Chicago, PCMA Convening Leaders, Association Forum, IMEX America [where she was asked to be the conference’s marketing and communications expert], and IMEX Frankfurt. 

 

Brian D. Stevens is the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of ConferenceDirect. Joining Hilton in 1978, over quickly ascended the ranks and in 1987 became the Vice President of Sales at 32, making the youngest officer at Hilton Hotels Corporation at the time. In 1998 he co-founded ConferenceDirect, and since then it has grown into a full-service meetings solution company with hundreds of associates and thousands of events worldwide. Stevens also helped establish Searchwide, an executive search company, as well as the Catholic Disability Foundation and the NBTA Foundation, now the GBTA Foundation. An active volunteer and fundraiser, Stevens has been a member of many industry boards: the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), and the PCMA Southwestern Chapter. Stevens is currently the chair of MPI’s board of directors. He also served as the chairman of the ASAE Foundation and the PCMA Foundation. 

 

Wilson is a storyteller who brings brand’s narratives to life through integrated media. A creative, digital, and media master, he loves to discover news ways to engage audiences through video and film, apps, blogs, articles, and, of course, real world experiences. With an extensive history in designing, producing content, and creating experiential marketing solutions for clients that range from major media and technology organizations to Fortune 100 brands, Wilson brings a multi-dimensional creative engagement strategy to all of the client programs he touches. He’s created websites for Google; shows for CBS; live restaurants for Chipotle; apps for BP; videos for ExxonMobil, projection maps for USA Today; events for the Boys and Girls Club; presentations for Yahoo!; and much more.