The Northwest Event Show (NWES), a premier West Coast events industry convention, announced its 2024 Board of Advisors in mid-November. The NWES Advisory Board is made up of Pacific Northwest-based event experts and legacy companies, all of which will help to prepare for the show’s 2024 convention taking place at the Seattle Convention Center in April.
The new advisory board members include:
- Bob Bejan, corporate vice president of global events, production studios, and marketing community at Microsoft
- Nick Borelli, marketing director at Zenus Inc.
- Stuart Butler, president of the NWES and Butler Seattle
- Matthew Donegan-Ryan, advisor at Event Industry Managers and Acquisitions
- Angela Dunleavy, CEO of Gourmondo Catering
- Josh Dunn, president of Premier Media Group
- Lynn Edwards, founder of Proper Planning
- Brit Kramer, executive director of Washington Society of Association Executives
- Hilary Laney, chief revenue officer of The Production Network
- Debby Roth, senior strategic relationship manager at Greater Giving
- Lisa Schulteis, executive director for NWES and founder of ElectraLime Marketing
- Shelly Tolo, president of Tolo Events LLC
- Michael Woody, senior vice president of community engagement and public affairs at Visit Seattle
For next year’s show, the NWES executive team is creating a lineup of workshop ideas, innovative presentations, memorable keynote speakers, and noteworthy panel discussions. Hot topics for possible inclusion within the show include new advances in event technology, sustainability in events, diversity and inclusion in events, innovations in event space design, leveraging local cultures, celebrating Indigenous communities at events, hospitality trends and their implications for events, managing food waste at events, and more. The NWES is currently taking submissions for program ideas.
“The 2024 Northwest Event Show isn’t just about networking—it’s about redefining industries, challenging norms, and inspiring change,” says Stuart Butler, president of the NWES, in a prepared statement. “Now in its 30th year, this event serves as an ecosystem where corporate businesses, planners, and suppliers come together, marking the intersection of connection and innovation—which is what Seattle is all about.”
The addition of the Seattle Convention Center’s new Summit building earlier this year adds more than 500,000 square feet of function and exhibit space to the venue, expanding its capacity for large-scale events. Combined with the center’s original Arch building, a total of 1.5 million square feet of space are available for events.
