With nearly 30 years of experience working directly with clients, Mary Elizabeth is a reliable, results-driven expert in team dynamics, development, and cohesion. As CEO and owner of S.T.A.R. Resources and author of RESET Your Buttons, she has been teaching the skills to earn more, achieve more, and produce more since 1993. Enhancing interpersonal relationships and increasing effectiveness and productivity in the workplace is her passion. Encouraging women in leadership in the workplace is another of her passions. The Small Business Administration awarded Mary Elizabeth the NC Women in Business Champion of the Year for her commitment to the advancement of women’s business ownership. She was named one of Mecklenburg Times and North Carolina Lawyers Weekly 50 Most Influential Women and T+D Magazine named her one of six recipients of the prestigious Training’s New Guard for her ability to inspire others with her passion, determination, and success.

During her time working at the Canadian Consulate Alyce attended an absurd amount of networking events and typically left them feeling disappointed and drained.  She started pondering, “if networking is so important, how come no one has ever taught me how”? That ponderance became her business, where for the last 8 years, she has been teaching people how to make networking less sucky and sharing scientifically proven tools to help people achieve a return on networking (RON). She believes, if you’re going to invest time in networking, you owe it to yourself to see a return.

Orlando is the co-founder of Emineo Media, an award-winning company that designs, develops and implements business and outreach curriculum for Government agencies, Municipalities and non-profits to help market their brand. As an instructor and business advisor to Miami Bayside Foundation, Jim Moran Institute and Goldman Sach’s 10KSB, he has presented programs on numerous topics focused on business growth.  He graduated from Lee University with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, and from Nova Southeastern University with a Master in Education. Espinosa is the recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration South Florida District and State of Florida Small Business Advocate of the Year for 2023.

Richie Vavrina is Owner and Creative Director for his company, QZLX. He currently helps planners and production companies create engaging attendee experiences. Richie has filled a variety of roles in the live event industry since 2006. He brings his experience to production teams in the form of bold ideas, quick output, and thoughtful implementation.

Melissa Woodruff is a seasoned meeting professional with over 20+ years of experience in the hospitality and meetings industry.  Melissa started her hospitality career with Marriott International at the Boston Marriott Copley.  In the ten years that she worked for Marriott, Melissa worked her way from a hotel reservations agent to a Senior Event Manager.  While at Marriott, Melissa planned anything from small meetings to city-wide conventions, large galas, Inaugural Balls and weddings. 

After Marriott, Melissa went on to work for Destination DC, the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Washington, DC.  As a Convention Services Manager, Melissa assisted meeting planners in all aspects of their meeting in our Nations Capital.

Melissa eventually made her way to meeting planning by working for Maritz; the Association of the U.S. Army; a government contract planner for the US Army Chaplains Corp; and today as Director of National Security and Defense Events for AFCEA International.  As a meeting planner, Melissa loves working with different people and organizations to see plans and dreams come to life.  She thrives under pressure and does not accept the word “no.”

When Melissa is not working, she enjoys traveling; attending live concerts or comedy shows; wineries and breweries; long walks/hikes and boosting the career of her Instafamous cats Luna, Michael and Betty (@luna_mikey_betty).  

Katie Franklin is the Hard of Hearing (HOH) Services Coordinator with the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She has worked for the state of NC in different capacities for almost 15 years and has been with this Division for eight years. She is the subject matter expert for all things hearing loss and communication access as it relates to Hard of Hearing consumers. Katie is an advocate who devotes her time to improving the lives of those with hearing loss. Some accomplishments include starting a hearing loss support group, leading the Hard of Hearing workgroup which lead to the development of telehealth resources that are the first of its kind in the country, increasing free hearing screenings throughout the state, presentations to statewide audiences, Signed Governors Proclamations for Hearing Loss Awareness Month annually, provision of a professionally developed resource for Over-the-Counter Hearing aids and much more.

David Schultz is the Regional Manager at the Wilmington Regional Center, one of seven regional centers across the state, within the Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (DSDHH). With a robust career spanning various roles, David previously served as a Recreational Therapist for the Independent Living Program, a collaborative initiative with the Division of Vocational Services. Prior to that, he led as the Director of Student Life at the North Carolina School for the Deaf - Morganton. His expertise includes life enrichment, leisure education, and comprehensive staff development.

Megan Johnson is a Certified Government Meeting Professional (CGMP), serving as 2nd Vice President for the Northern Lights Chapter of SGMP.  Megan began her career as a marketing and event planner for an accounting software company based in Minneapolis in the late 1990s.  A dedicated communications, marketing, and sales professional, Megan has a robust background in hospitality and cyber security engagement that spans diverse industries and roles.  Megan has been a Group Sales Manager with The Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown for over 2 years – focusing on small to midsize markets, and the government sector.

Ilissa Moregon is an expert production manager and strategist with recognized expertise in developing and executing live/hybrid and virtual national events for Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and cutting-edge market-driven programs. Her career background includes extensive experience in audio and video engineering. She is a leader in sales revenue, client retention and has been an event manager for 20 years in 100's of venues. Ilissa has the ability to take mood board ideas from concept to implementation. 

Tom began his career by buying a franchise of an improvisational comedy show and bringing it to Minneapolis.  He isn't funny, he just saw a business opportunity.  Needing an actual paycheck, he started working for a Fortune 500 company and got hooked on data and analytics.  He took a job with a large Minnesota Travel Management Company when they were forming their client consulting group and headed up their analytic modeling group.  He has spent the last 20 plus years helping companies and the government negotiate and travel in more efficient ways.  For a long time, Tom was a frequent speaker in travel forums and events and in 2011 was named 1 of the top 20 most influential people in the travel industry, largely for his work with Coca-Cola developing a travel scoring system that helped drive compliant behavior.  Tom consulted with the government since 2012 and became a federal employee in October 2021 working with the City Pair Program, FedRooms, and leading the market research component of ETSNext, the booking and expense platform currently out for bid.  He's excited to be here as one of his initiatives is exploring how we can utilize technologies such as small meetings registration tools to ensure that proper procurement processes are followed.