ISES UK Board Members
Board Positions
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President Richard Foulkes, Imagination The President shall perform the duties usually assigned to this office. He shall preside at all meetings, or in his absence the President-Elect, or in his absence a designated VP. He shall appoint all committees and task forces with the approval of the Board of Directors and shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. The Chapter President must attend the Leadership Conference held in Chicago in Late June before officially taking office. The Chapter President is encouraged to attend the Chapter Presidents’ meetings normally held in August in conjunction with the Eventworld Conference, and in January at The Special Event. He shall also serve as the liaison between the chapter and ISES Headquarters via the Affiliate Chair. The President shall abide by the ISES Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics and abide by the ISES Bylaws. Other duties may include: Follows up with committee chairpersons to ensure that goals are being accomplished; creates agendas for Board meetings; serves as the official spokesperson for the Chapter; works in conjunction with the Chapter Board of Directors to produce goals/plan of work for the year; writes President’s Message for chapter newsletter; attends as many ISES functions as possible; completes and returns Monthly Chapter Reports to ISES Headquarters by the 15th of the following month. Reports directly to: Chapter Board of Directors and Affiliate Chair. |
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Immediate Past President Zanine Adams, Visit London The IPP supports the President and President Elect in all board and policy issues. The holder of this position is also the ambassador representing the Chapter whenever possible at ISES and industry events, when the President is unavailable. The IPP is also responsible for overseeing the nomination and voting procedure. |
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President Elect Key area of Focus: Sponsorship / Finance / Membership |
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VP Finance Nigel Harris, Harris and Co. Oversees all day to day financial matters in conjunction with ISES Manager including budget preparations and monitoring of Chapter financial performance. Oversees all data entry activity & compiles management reports for Board meetings. Prepares all quarterly and annual reports as required by law are submitted to the appropriate authorities. VP Finance liases with the Chapters accountants in compiling the End of Year accounts at the appropriate point. Reports to Chapter President |
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VP Student Programmes And Activities Shall work in conjunction with all VP’s in particular VP Programms and report directly to the President / President - Elect.. |
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Director Education ISES Talks The Vice President of Education shall work in association with the VP Programs and abide by the ISES Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics and abide by the ISES Bylaws Reports directly to: Chapter President and President - Elect |
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Director of Marketing Jo Mayer, UBM Group Shall oversee all communication activity for the Chapter. Principally this will involve significant media and press liaison in order to increase event industry profile. Use of their existing network of media and press contacts will be vital to this role. The Director of Communication shall abide by the ISES Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics and abide by the ISES Bylaws Works in association with Director of PR and Communcations. Distributes Board and Chapter meeting notices, newsletters, coordinates web site materials and updates; submits information regarding meetings for press releases; works with media partners to generate chapter communications; communicates with other ISES Chapters for ideas regarding chapter communication. Reports directly to: Chapter President and President - Elect |
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Director of PR and Communications Jane Hague, Davies Tanner Oversee all communication activity for the Chapter. Principally, this will involve significant media and press liaison in order to increase event industry profile. Use of their exisiting network of media and press contacts will be vital to this role. Be responsible for writing of the presidential content of the newsletters (in conjunction witht the President, President-Elect and the Operations Manager). The Director of Communications shall abide by the ISES Principles of Professional Conduct and Ethics ad abide by the ISES Bylaws. Other duties ay include woking closely with Director Marketing in developing new revenue streams for the greater good of the association. Distributes Board and Chapter meeting notices, newsletters. Coordinates website material and updates. Submits information regarding meetings for press releases working with media partners to generate chapter communications. Communicate with other ISES Chapters for ideas regarding chapter communication. |
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Director of Fundraising and Partnerships |
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VP Membership Reports directly to: Chapter President and President - Elect |
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VP Programmes Reports to Chapter President and President - Elect. |
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VP Exhibitions Shall work in conjunction with VP Membership and Director Marketing and report to VP Programmes and President / President - Elect. |
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ISES Operations Manager Toni Griggs A full time member of staff responsible for the day to day management of membership experience and activity as well as all events and communications for the UK Chapter and European Affiliate of the International Special Events Society (ISES). Working directly with each member of the board, the ISES (UK) Ltd Manager is a key operational point of contact for sponsors and ISES members alike ensuring that the programme of every sector of the Society is facilitated. |
Advisors
Robert Wright Their talented line-up of 32 PR, Marketing and Brand professionals include specialist teams that cover Events, Brand & Corporate, Business Tourism and London 2012 working with a wide range of clients to develop strong brands which generate value whilst raising awareness of specific properties, venues, events and destinations. Robert is a former UK President of the International Special Events Society (ISES), a member of the International Nominating Committee of ISES and an advisor to both the Meetings Industry Association and the International Congress & Convention Association and a member of the Events 2012 Development Group. Robert plays an active role in the industry and is an Ambassador for Meeting Needs, the events industry charity. David Hornby David left Visit London in May 2009 after six exciting years with the company as Commercial Director. He was responsible for the organisations Private Sector incomes across its membership and digital platforms. David also had overall responsibility for the business tourism element of Visit London’s marketing and sales activity. Business tourism income accounts for roughly 30% of the capital’s £15 billion visitor income and a quarter of all visits (currently approximately 26 million overnight visits a year). Kim Mhyre Before joining GPJ, Kim was President of International at MediaLive, Inc. – a leading global event agency - with responsibility for the development and management of MediaLive’s event marketing business in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and Latin America. Prior to Medialive, Inc. Kim was President of COMDEX with responsibility for COMDEX events and publications worldwide. And prior to this he was Executive Vice President of ZD Studios, the consulting and custom marketing division of Ziff Davis Publishing. Before joining Ziff Davis, he served as Senior Vice President of International Data Group (IDG) Marketing Services EMEA, where he was responsible for developing consulting and marketing relationships with IDG's largest advertising customers in Europe. Overall, Kim spent 14 years in the IDG organization in a number of research, consulting and marketing management positions, including Senior Vice President of IDG's research and consulting subsidiary, International Data Corporation (IDC). Kim has extensive experience in marketing and brand strategy. He has specialised in developing and managing global brands and has consulted with many leading companies around the world. He is a well-known marketing strategist and commentator and is widely recognised as an expert on brand experience marketing issues. His work has been published frequently in trade and business publications.
Council of Honorary Advisors

Managing Director of Davies Tanner PR
A former journalist, Robert is Managing Director of specialist Public Relations Agency Davies Tanner. With offices in London, Edinburgh and Barcelona Davies Tanner is a PR Week top 100 agency specialising in the area of Travel, Events and Business Tourism, working with some of the most successful brands in the sector including hotels, destinations, venues, conference centres and convention bureau.

Event Consultant for Why Not
David Hornby is currently working for England’s Bid for the World Cup in 2018 & 2022. He is leading the areas of accommodation, hospitality and events for the bid. He is also working on a number of other projects including the next phase of development at The O2 with AEG Europe.
During his time at Visit London, he has led the redevelopment of the London Convention Bureau into a dynamic sales, marketing and venue enquiry service, which is now winning significantly more business for London.
David also led the establishment for the first time of a Major Events bidding team for London. “Events for London” is the UK capital’s official major events team. Created in 2007, Events for London is a partnership between the Mayor of London, the London Development Agency and Visit London and is tasked with attracting, developing and staging major sporting and cultural events. Visit London’s team leads on strategic planning, bid development and leveraging events for the capital. Events for London; is one of the first legacies of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
David spent the previous 15 years of his career working in the hotel sector. Immediately before Visit London, he worked for Thistle Hotels for six years, most recently as Director of Meetings and Events, where he was responsible for overall strategic management and direction of the function. He has also worked for the Marriott, De Vere and Intercontinental groups.
David was also involved with the London 2012 Olympics bid. He led the Visit London support for the bid, and was part of the team that presented to IOC members during the evaluation committee visit to London and was also part of the winning team in Singapore.
David is current Vice President of Site and has served on the international board for 4 years. He was until recently the European Chair and Board Member of DMAI and has been a Chapter board member of MPI and ICCA.

Dr Joe Goldblatt
Professor and Executive Director at Queen Margaret University
Dr. Joe Goldblatt, CSEP is the executive director of the International Centre for the Study of Planned Events and a lecturer at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland in the Tourism, Hospitality and Events Group (THE Group). Dr. Goldblatt was the founding president of the International Special Events Society and the developer of the original Certified Special Events Professional program. Prior to joining Queen Margaret University he was Senior Lecturer and Executive Director for the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where his programme was named “best in the world” by the International Festivals and Events Association (ISES). Dr. Goldblatt also served as Dean of the graduate school at Johnson & Wales University where he created the first master of business administration degree program in Event Leadership. In addition, he created the first masters degree and professional certificate programs in the field of event management at The George Washington University. He is the author, co-author or editor of 19 books and many scholarly and trade publication articles. He has produced hundreds of events for luminaries including two U.S. presidents and the opening of the Donald Trump Taj Mahal Resort. Goldblatt received the first ever Lifetime Achievement award for service to the industry from ISES. Event Solutions Magazine awarded him the Industry Visionary Award for his contributions to event management education and research. He was among the first individuals inducted into the Event Solutions Magazine Events Industry Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was awarded the Silver Medal from the Creative Marketing Laboratory of Russia for lifetime career achievements. In 2007 Dr. Goldblatt was named Event Educator of the Year by the Professional Convention Management Association and in 2008 he was honored as the Distinguished Alumnus from his alma mater, St. Edward’s University. In September 2008 Dr. Goldblatt was inducted into the International Festivals and Events Association Hall of Fame. Dr. Goldblatt has been married to Nancy Lynner for over 30 years and they are the proud parents of Max (29) a professional actor in New York City and Sam (25) a post graduate student in festival management. When asked to describe his favorite special event, he always names not one, but two. His sons Max and Sam!

Vice President and Managing Director EMEA of George P. Johnson
Kim is SVP and Managing Director of George P. Johnson in London. In this role he is responsible for GPJ experience marketing services in EMEA, and works with some of the leading companies in Europe to develop integrated brand experience marketing programs.
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Duncan Reid Duncan has 14 years experience in publishing and large events. In his time as Portfolio Director of the Confex Group he has continually grown International Confex and built on visitor numbers. He has also contemporised the show, introducing a new brand and identity to the UK’s flagship industry event. He has overseen a similar expansion and rebrand across the Event UK show and venuefinder.com / blue&green growing monthly unique users to over 28,000 ABCe and the circulation of the book to 15,000. |
Directors At Large
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Jeremy Hopkins, Wyndham Grand London |
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Andy Callin, Sound By Design |
International EMEA Affiliate
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International Affiliate Chair Liz Madden, ES For more than 20 years, Liz Madden has been a familiar face in the hospitality and events industry. Having worked for a number of international companies, she is now Head of Sales and Marketing for global event delivery company ES Group. |
Committee Members
| Events | |
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| Alex Dingwall, Global Infusion Group | David Stringer, Global Infusion Group |
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| Ann Mills, Mar-Key Group | Neil Armishaw, Globestar Management |
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| Lou Fox, Upbeat Events | Claire Webster, Upbeat Events |
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| John Ford, e2B Logistics | Ben Lee, Upbeat Events |
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| Charlotte Pudney, Papillon Events | Alex, Morrisroe, Concerto Group |
| Membership | |
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| Nathalie McDowall, Richmond Caterers | Claire Llewellyn, Sound and Vision |
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| Alex Morrisroe, Concerto Group | |
| Exhibitions | |
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| Jacqui Partridge, Partridge Events | Warren Rosati, Handsie Display |
| Finance | |
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| Claire Llewellyn, Sound and Vision | Dan Hands, Handsie Display |
































