Jeff Guberman, Rafat Ali and Julius Solaris share their views on how the global changes affecting transportation and public gatherings, coupled with technology and experience innovation, will change the landscape of our industry for years to come. We're on the forefront of change and looking forward to exploring the future with you.
Panelists
Jeff Guberman
CEO of MGME
Jeff Guberman is the CEO of McVeigh Global Meetings and Events and was instrumental in the formation of the new company. He brought together a unique combination of skill sets and services in Fourth Wall, WorldTek Events, and McVeigh Associates. He has a deliberate vision to lead the company through the implementation of efficiency initiatives and growth strategies.
Jeff’s industry success is evident throughout his prosperous history of founding and leading McVeigh Global Meetings and Events (a meeting and events company catering to Fortune 1000 clientele), Dynamic Drape and Décor (a drapery rental company to the events industry sold in 2014) and Formset (a scenery rental business to the events industry sold in 2016).
Jeff is a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and applies his learnings to help his team of professionals achieve new levels of success.
Rafat Ali
CEO & Founder of Skift
Rafat is the CEO/founder of Skift, the largest industry intelligence and marketing platform in travel, providing news, information, data and services.
Previously, he was the founder/CEO of paidContent and ContentNext, which he sold to UK's Guardian News and Media in 2008, and left in 2010. Prior to that, he was managing editor of Silicon Alley Reporter.
Rafat was the Knight Fellow at Indiana University, where he completed his Masters in Journalism, 1999-2000. Prior to that he completed his BSc in Computer Engineering, from AMU in Aligarh, India.
Julius Solaris
Editor in Chief of EventMB
Started in 2007, EventMB is the number one online platform for event professionals. EventMB was acquired in 2019 by Skift, the largest and most influential travel media company worldwide.
He has been named one of the most influential individuals in the meetings industry by many magazines and media for the past 10 years.
Julius has conducted some of the most groundbreaking research for the event industry. Over 3,000 events reviewed and 15,000 event professionals interviewed.
Julius' analysis and reports have been downloaded by over 300,000 event professionals. 300,000 more read EventMB every month.
Julius has been keynote for events in 12 countries and for over 200,000 attendees.
Moderator
Carvie Gillikin, COO of MGME
Carvie brings 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry to McVeigh Global Meetings and Events. He began his career as a sales manager in southeastern North Carolina for an oceanfront resort. He then worked for properties such as Sheraton, Westin and W Hotels. In 2005 Carvie left the hotel world to join the event industry. It was during that time that he worked in Washington, DC for an audiovisual and production company where he gained invaluable experience in the industry. In 2007, Carvie joined McVeigh Global Meetings and Events as the Director of Sales and Marketing and later became a Vice President/ Partner overseeing the company’s sales, marketing and operations.
Carvie remains active in the industry with MPI and enjoys speaking on a variety of panels at industry wide conferences.