Strategic Meetings & Incentives Summit 2019 – Event Speakers

Ed Brodow
Negotiation Expert

Ed Brodow is the world’s top speaker on the art of negotiations and travels internationally as a keynote speaker. SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt dubbed Ed “The King of Negotiators.” Forbes magazine agreed, ranking Ed as one of the nation’s leading dealmakers.

Ed is the best-selling author of seven books, including Negotiation Boot Camp: How to Resolve Conflict, Satisfy Customers, and Make Better Deals. His client list includes Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, AT&T, Starbucks and dozens of other companies, and for more than two decades, his Negotiation Boot Camp seminars have set the standard for “how to make a deal” in Corporate America. He has appeared as a negotiation guru on PBS, ABC News and others, and had his strategies showcased in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and other publications.

A true Renaissance man, Ed has been a US Marine Corps Officer, Fortune 500 sales executive, novelist and Hollywood movie actor opposite Jessica Lange, Ron Howard and Christopher Reeve.

Pádraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer
SITE, and Managing partner, SoolNua

Pádraic Gilligan is managing partner at Soolnua, a marketing agency working with destinations, venues and hosts. Prior to founding SoolNua, Gilligan was vice president of Ovation, MCI’s global DMC network, and vice president of industry relations at MCI. Pádraic holds BA and MA degrees in Italian and English literature from University of Dublin and a post-graduate diploma in marketing from Bostn College. Following a 13-year career in education, he started Delaney Marketing Consultants in 1994 with Patrick Delaney. In 2002, Delaney Marketing acquired Ovation and re-branded as Ovation Group. In June 2007, Ovation was acquired by MCI Group and commenced a robust global expansion program establishing offices at 100 global destinations unfder the Ovations DMC brand. In 2004, he was elected to the International Board of SITE and served as international president in 2008. He became its ? Marketing in ? He also currently serves on the Hospitality Partners Advisory Council at FICP, on the advisory board of The Special Event and on the board of the SITE Foundation.

Christy Lamagna, CMP, CMM, CTSM
Visionary | Entrepreneur | Master Strategist

Christy is the founder of and Master Strategist at Strategic Meetings & Events, an international, award-winning strategic planning firm.  A lifelong learner, intellectual philanthropist and author, Christy taught college-level strategic planning for 10 years, which helped inspire her book, “The Strategic Planning Guide for Event Professionals.”

Forbes, Fast Company and Entrepreneur online have interviewed Christy, who has also been featured in AMEX OPEN and UPS Store videos.

For the last decade her focus has centered around disrupting the meetings industry. She is teaching planners to evolve into meeting strategists, who think with curious minds and learn to create meeting environments that shorten sales cycles and influence attendee’s behavior.

Christy is deeply committed to giving back to everyone she meets and strives to contribute as much positive energy and effort as she can to the world. Find her at: [email protected]. She’d love to hear your story and find a way to help you achieve your goals.

Alex Plaxen, President & Founder,
Little Bird Told Media

Alex Plaxen is president and founder of Little Bird Told Media, a consulting firm for strategic digital communication and engagement for events. He graduated with a Master’s in Tourism Administration with a focus on event and meeting management from George Washington University. Alex is actively involved in leadership roles in the meetings and events industry, most recently sitting on the MPI Potomac Chapter Board of Directors.