Simply the Best in the Business . . .
At Global Events Partners, we are fortunate to have among our leadership some of the most talented and experienced event and meeting professionals in the industry. Learn more about these individuals below.
Chris White
Scott White
Rachel Elliott
Karen Lovell
Pat McCain
Anita Heathcote
Wolfgang Hartmann
Chris White
Chairman & CEO
chris_w@globaleventspartners.com
Chris White is the Chairman and CEO of Global Events Partners (GEP). Launched in 1999, GEP is a unique partnership of destination management companies worldwide. Headquartered in Washington, DC, GEP's portfolio includes 72 top DMCs in primary destinations spanning the globe.
Chris is also the founder and chairman of Krisam Group, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Portland, Southern California, Atlanta, Midwest, United Kingdom, and Brussels. For 30 years, Krisam has been the recognized leader in bringing association and corporate meeting business to independent hotels and resorts. Prior to founding Krisam Group in 1975, Chris served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at The Fairmont Hotel Company for eight years.
In 1993, Chris launched The Masters Program, the annual forum for CEOs and senior executives in the travel industry.
Chris has been recognized by Business Travel News as one of the industry's “25 Most Influential Executives” in 1999 and by Meetings and Conventions Magazine as one of “20 Who Made A Difference”. In 2002, he was inducted into the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International Hall of Fame.
Chris sits on the following boards:
- Friendship-Edison Public Charter Schools – Washington, D.C.
- I Have a Dream Foundation – Washington, D.C.
- Junior Achievement Foundation
- Teach for America – Washington, D.C.
Chris is a graduate of Tufts University, with a B.A. in Economics.
Scott White
Executive Vice President, Global Sales
Global Events Partners
scott_w@globaleventspartners.com
Scott White is the Executive Vice President of Global Sales at GEP. Scott has more than 16 years of sales and marketing experience in hotel and event planning. Before joining Global Events Partners (GEP) Worldwide, Mr. White spent the last 7 years growing the sales and marketing departments at GEP Washington & GEP Baltimore. Both of these offices are now recognized and branded worldwide and the leading DMC's in their city. Prior to this experience, Mr. White worked for 9 years at The Krisam Group as well as specializing in the corporate and incentive sales markets at Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Florida. Past clients include; BBDO, BASF, Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Chase, Carlson Marketing, Maritz, and American Express.
Mr. White received his Bachelor of Science in Business from The University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration from Clemson University.
Rachel Elliott
Senior Vice President
Global Events Partners
rachel_e@globaleventspartners.com
Rachel Elliott is the Senior Vice President at GEP, where she is responsible for directing sales, marketing, quality standards, and client relations activities for GEP worldwide. She is an accomplished sales, marketing, and events professional with extensive experience in business development, strategic planning, contract negotiations, business operations, customer service, and communications.
Prior to joining GEP, Ms. Elliott built her expertise in the team-building and incentive industries, subsequently moving into direct sales and marketing. She returned to the events industry in 1996 and has been with GEP since its founding in 1999, helping the company grow from 10 DMCs to more than 70 worldwide.
Her leadership role continues to expand with the company as she spearheads the best practices and development of new standards for the partnership.
Ms. Elliott has a B.A. in Communications with honors from San Diego State University and is actively involved in several projects for vulnerable children in South Africa. Along with other projects, she is expecting to adopt her own elementary school in South Africa in 2008 with the support of many friends. She is also a long-time active member of the Society of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE).
Karen Lovell
Vice President of Sales
Global Events Partners - New York
karen_l@globaleventspartners.com
Karen Lovell is the Vice President of Sales at GEP's New York office, responsible for working with and supporting meeting and incentive planners of Fortune 500 companies to secure business for GEP's domestic and international DMC partners worldwide. Recently, Ms. Lovell relocated to the Philadelphia area and expanded GEP's coverage into Pennsylvania and South New Jersey while maintaining her coverage in the New York area.
Ms. Lovell joined the GEP executive sales team after rising through the ranks in the harbor-cruise entertainment and events industry. Born in Barbados, Ms. Lovell earned a Hotel and Tourism Management B.S. with honors from New York University and volunteers on behalf of adult literacy, youth mentoring programs, and AIDS charities.
Sally Wiggins
Vice President of Sales
Global Events Partners - New York
sally_w@globaleventspartners.com
Sally Wiggins is the Vice President of Sales at GEP's New York office, responsible for working with and supporting meeting and incentive planners of Fortune 500 companies to secure business for GEP's domestic and international DMC partners worldwide.
Joining GEP in 2007, Ms. Wiggins brings more than twenty years of corporate and international hospitality and sales experience to her new role at GEP. She served most recently in sales for LXR (Luxury Hotels and Resorts) in Florida, and before that, as Director of Group Sales for the St. Regis Hotel, New York. She also has property-level with the Millenium Broadway Hotel and New York’s Marriott Marquis, and corporate sales experience with Renaissance Hotels North America and Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts, among others. Ms. Wiggins is known as a goal-oriented customer-relationship specialist, who thrives on developing new business opportunities and deepening existing business relationships.
Sally started her career at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London, where she hails from. She and her husband Chris, have three children and live in a suburb of Manhattan.
Dawn Barbeau
Vice President of Sales
Global Events Partners - Chicago
dawn_b@globaleventspartners.com
Dawn Barbeau is the Vice President of Sales in GEP's Chicago Office, where she oversees sales and service activities, supports GEP clients in the Midwest, and GEP partner DMCs domestically and worldwide.
Ms. Barbeau joined GEP in 2005, bringing more than a dozen years of management experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to coming to GEP, she held management positions with companies including Hilton Hotels, Starwood, Wyndham, and Loews Hotels and worked in sales for a DMC. She is active in numerous industry organizations, including PCMA, CCTB, and MPI.
Ms. Barbeau is a graduate of the Hospitality and Tourism program at Purdue University.
Pat McCain
Vice President of Sales
Global Events Partners - Dallas
pat_mccain@krisam.com
Pat McCain is the head of Krisam Group and Global Events Partners' Dallas office. She also oversees the newly opened Portland and Southern California offices. Previously, Pat served as Director of Sales for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau. From 1978 to 1984, she was Director of Sales for Omni International Hotels in Boston, New York and Virginia. Active in her profession on a state and national level, Pat is a member of the National Association of Exposition Managers and the Professional Convention Management Association. A native of Dallas, Pat graduated from Old Dominion University.
Anita Heathcote
Vice President
Global Events Partners-UK
anita_h@globaleventspartners.com
Anita Heathcote is the European sales representative for both GEP and Krisam Group, GEP's sister company. She brings more than twenty years of corporate hospitality and sales experience, most recently as Regional Director of Sales for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in Europe. In this capacity she ran sales and marketing efforts in the UK, France, Benelux, Spain and Italy, focusing on Corporate, Group and Wholesale for all hotels. Anita also has more than eight years of experience years with Four Seasons, where she set up their regional sales office in London. Anita has also worked with Mandarin Oriental, Hilton and for the Monaco Government Tourist and Convention Office. She speaks fluent French, enjoys equestrian sports, and specializes in building customer relations and developing new business.
Wolfgang Hartmann
Vice President
Global Events Partners - Central Europe
Wolfgang Hartmann brings more than thirty years of executive experience in the hospitality industry to his role leading to running GEP's Central Europe office. After building up and heading the Incentive & Evcent division of kogag for fifteen years, as the Managing Director he established another full-service incentives & events agency, marbet, in Germany, before serving as the Vice-President in a leading DMC for Dubai and Oman just recently. Wolfgang knows most destinations and DMC Partners in GEP’s portofolio by his own experiences in all those many years while operating far more than a thousand and among them some of the finest meetings, incentives, conferences and events all over the world. His philosophy and aim are focused on adding values through consultancy and services beyond client’s expectations. Wolfgang’s passions are traveling for discovering other countries cultures and traditions, hiking in the Alpine Mountains and, if time allows, playing a couples of holes on a golfcourse.