Tom Pasha has been recognized as one of the top event planners in the planning industry. Starting in hotel operations positions as a caddy, bellman, bartender and cook, Tom began his management career as a Hyatt management trainee in Chicago. He held sales management positions throughout the Hyatt organization, working in 12 Hyatt hotels over 20 years. Tom was director of sales at Hyatt hotels in Greenville, San Antonio and Chicago O’Hare, and as director of sales, he started the National Sales Office for Hyatt hotels in Omaha. He won sales manager of the year, sales director of the year and the Donald M. Pritzker Award for Excellence.

Tom went into meeting planning and founded CONTACT Planning, a national meeting planning company with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. Tom’s company books over 100,000 roomnights annually, working with corporate and association clients.

In addition to his planning responsibilities, Tom teaches the Meeting Planning Mastermind, a series of classes ranging from one hour to two full days, training planners about the inner workings of hotels to make them more effective negotiators. The sessions are full accredited for Continuing Education Hours for both CMP and CAE.

Debi Tengler is an honors graduate of the College of Biblical Studies, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Biblical studies with an emphasis on Biblical counseling. She is also a licensed and ordained minister with World Ministry Fellowship.

Her career also exemplifies her belief that “With God, ALL things are possible.” Tengler has gone from event planning, where she coordinated picnics of fifty people to multiday motivational seminars in the Astrodome with 15,000, and then on to helping birth and lead the Alpha Houston office, an evangelism outreach ministry and the first regional office in the United States. Tengler now serves as the Chief Relations Officer, overseeing development, marketing, and church and community relations, of the premier child placement agency Arrow Child & Family Ministries.

When the opportunity arose to assist Arrow with its development needs, she knew it was the right fit, as the basis and core of Arrow aligns with Tengler’s heart. Her Christian counseling background and great desire to inspire hope perfectly converge with Arrow’s heart of helping children and families in crisis, further confirming that Arrow is the place for her to serve.

Arrow Child & Family Ministries is a Christian provider of child welfare and education services for abused and neglected children and at-risk families. Through the engagement of both government and the local church, Arrow provides an array of services, including foster care, adoption, child sex trafficking rehabilitation and specialized education. All programs and services advance the well-being of children, families and communities while promoting Christian responsibility and a commitment to strengthen family life.

Carolyn Browning, CMP, CMM, is chief solution strategist at MEETing Needs, LLC. She began her career in the meetings industry on the corporate side, handling customer events and sales meetings at both Sprint and GE Capital. She then ventured out on her own and never looked back.

Passionate about meetings and education, Browning seeks to share her knowledge and experience with others by leading prep classes for CMP certification, speaking to planners about how to improve their meetings to engage and inspire audiences, and helping clients design and execute impactful events.

Tom Pasha has been recognized as one of the top event planners in the planning industry. Starting in hotel operations positions as a caddy, bellman, bartender and cook, Tom began his management career as a Hyatt management trainee in Chicago. He held sales management positions throughout the Hyatt organization, working in 12 Hyatt hotels over 20 years. Tom was director of sales at Hyatt hotels in Greenville, San Antonio and Chicago O’Hare, and as director of sales, he started the National Sales Office for Hyatt hotels in Omaha. He won sales manager of the year, sales director of the year and the Donald M. Pritzker Award for Excellence.

Tom went into meeting planning and founded CONTACT Planning, a national meeting planning company with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. Tom’s company books over 100,000 roomnights annually, working with corporate and association clients.

In addition to his planning responsibilities, Tom teaches the Meeting Planning Mastermind, a series of classes ranging from one hour to two full days, training planners about the inner workings of hotels to make them more effective negotiators. The sessions are full accredited for Continuing Education Hours for both CMP and CAE.

Naomi R. Angel is a partner with Howe & Hutton, Ltd., a law firm that specializes in the representation of individuals, firms and organizations in the travel, tourism, hospitality, incentive and meetings industries, as well as nonprofit organizations, including trade associations, professional societies and other related organizations.

Angel works with individuals and organizations in the meetings, travel and hospitality industries, including corporate and independent planners. Additionally, she serves as general counsel to national and international trade associations of manufacturers, suppliers and professionals, providing guidance in the areas of antitrust, intellectual property, standards development, certification and accreditation, governance, contracts, international business and organizational issues, product liability, and risk management.

Angel has appeared before federal and state agencies and worked with national research laboratories, advocating positions on behalf of client associations. She is a trained mediator with extensive commercial litigation experience at state and federal levels and is admitted to practice before Illinois Supreme Court; the Trial Bar of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois; and the U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th and Federal Circuits.

Angel is a member of the American Society of Association Executives and serves on ASAE’s Associations Now Law and Policy Committee; the Association Forum of Chicagoland; and The Chicago Bar Association, where she was chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Trade and Professional Association Committee. Angel is a graduate of UCLA and DePaul University College of Law.

Alex Plaxen, president and founder of Little Bird Told Media, began his career in events while studying at The George Washington University. While studying, he worked with the Capitol Concerts events team producing mega events in Washington, D.C. He also worked with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology and RedPeg Marketing.

Meet Your New Nerdy Best Friend, Beth Ziesenis—author, speaker and nerd. Although the only real trophy she ever won was for making perfect french fries at McDonald’s in high school, Ziesenis has been featured on best speaker lists by several industry publications. Since her first Commodore 64 computer, Ziesenis has made a verb out of the word “nerd.” She helps computer users all over the country filter through thousands of apps, gadgets, widgets and doodads to find the perfect free and low-cost technology tools for business and personal use. She does this through presentations and penning books like her latest, “Nerd Know-How: The 27+ Best Apps for Work and How to Use ‘Em,” available on Amazon.

During his 20-plus-year career building high-performing marketing and biz development teams at variety of nonprofit and for-profit companies, Keith Chamberlain has found best successes come from aggregating teams and resources, while simultaneously building collaborative relationships. Chamberlain is also president of KEROSENE Marketing, a consultancy providing strategic marketing services to organizations.