Leadership

APEX Event Network is led by a Board of Directors consisting of highly seasoned event professionals that are passionate about helping accomplished event and hospitality professionals find new career paths and opportunities, launch their own business, expand their network, mentor others, and learn new technology, leadership, and event skills.

Tim McGuinness

Chair

Tim McGuinness has spent the last 30 years as a senior level executive serving both the profit and non-profit business sectors. In 2021 he launched Sterling Advisory Group and serves as Managing Director. Sterling is a full-service management company providing strategic counsel and project management services to associations and organizers of events conferences and tradeshows.

Prior to starting Sterling, Tim was Vice President of Global Events, Programs and Services at the International Council of Shopping Centers. His role included the management of ICSC’s global portfolio of events, including RECon the largest and most prestigious retail real estate event in the world.
In addition to ICSC, Tim served in leadership positions as the Executive Director of NYC & Company, New York cities’ official tourism and marketing organization and Vice President, Event Operations at Reed Exhibition Companies, the largest and most prestigious tradeshow management company in the world.
Over the years Tim has volunteered his time by actively participating and sitting on various boards, enabling him to give back to his profession and local community. He has served on several boards, including the International Association of Exhibits and Events (IAEE), NYC & Company, the Travel Industry of America, September 11th Tribute Center, and the Lower Fairfield County Food Bank to name a few.

Mr. McGuinness is also frequently asked to be interviewed by the media and participates as a speaker at conferences and events.

Karen Vogel

Vice Chair

Karen brings three decades of experience leading events, marketing, and sales for trade show organizers, corporations, tech start-ups, government contractors, and marketing agencies. She is the founder and CEO of Event Performance Group (EPG), guiding the overall corporate vision and leading the team to achieve incredible results for association, government, and corporate client events. Prior to launching EPG, Karen was a founding and managing partner of Event Advisory Group, where she was instrumental in the rapid growth of the company’s consulting practice and developing strategies that improved the performance of clients’ events. Karen started her event career at Reed Exhibitions, managing technology, travel, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and entertainment trade shows and conferences. She was tapped by leadership to turn around events and launch the Americas Division for Reed Travel Exhibitions and International Golf Travel Market, establishing it as the leading global golf travel event. She was recruited to join b-there, an event technology start-up, where she led the marketing, partner channel, and trade show sales efforts. b-there was acquired by a company that became Maritz. Karen founded her first event management and consulting firm, New Generation Event Solutions, working with Gartner, Covidien, JP Morgan Chase, Family Office Association, and other clients. She raised $1M in seed funding to launch her own event concept, The Women’s Congress for women entrepreneurs and corporate executives, which generated $2M in exhibit, sponsor and conference revenues, 7,000+ attendees, and 40,000+ active online members in the first two years. Karen earned a B.S. degree in Marketing from Arizona State University and a Certification in Exhibition Management (CEM) from International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), where she currently serves on the Event Technology Committee and previously was a Board of Director – Marketing for the DC Chapter for three years. When Karen is not working, she is on her next travel adventure around the globe, playing golf or tennis, or hiking with her Australian Shepard.

David DuBois

Treasurer

David’s event, nonprofit, and hospitality career has spanned five decades. He is currently is the founder and president of the DuBois Group LLC, providing business consulting services with an emphasis on organizational management, sales, marketing and overall strategic planning. Prior to launching the DuBois Group, David enjoyed a successful career in hospitality, meetings, exhibitions and association management organizations. His career included sales and marketing leadership roles with both Sheraton Hotels for 11 years and Ritz Carlton Hotels for two years. He then pivoted to senior management positions with the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE), and The Exhibitor Group. From his experience leading international organizations, David has honed his international business, board of directors management, leadership, and other skills. David is a proud graduate of Michigan State University School of Hospitality Business (1978). When David is not working with clients, he is spending time with his wife Nancy, three grown children, seven grandchildren, volunteering at a Dallas-Area Food Bank, participating as a member of the Michigan State University School of Hospitality Business Alumni Association Board of Directors, working on his golf game and doing his best to stay in shape.

Shelley Cohen Renn

Secretary

Shelley’s career spans more than thirty years, leading strategic operations at several medical and scientific associations for their conventions, conferences, meetings and events. Her experience includes leading operations teams, vendor management, contract review and negotiations, managing hotels, convention centers, and service providers, and translating the strategic goals of meetings into operational reality. Shelley has expertise in member-driven organization governance, structure and operations, and working with all stakeholders including boards, committees, volunteers, association staff, and members. Her leadership and meeting management expertise led to enhanced member value and satisfaction, increased sponsor and association revenue, meeting attendance growth, and technology innovations. Shelley spent her early career working in law firms where she learned contract negotiations and other legal skills. She also worked for a start-up publishing company that grew to become Phillips Publishing, one of the largest publishers nationwide. She has been in senior meetings roles for American College of Cardiology, the Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (formerly the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), American Society of Human Genetics, and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). She was among one of the first groups to earn the Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) designation. Shelley was active in many associations and spoke at industry events, including PCMA, IAEE, ASAE, ACCME and AMPS. Recognized and sought for her expertise, Shelley sat on the Advisory Boards of Visit Anaheim, Visit Houston, Visit Baltimore, and Experient (now Maritz). Shelley enjoys the company of good friends, good wine, and good food. She loves music, concerts, nature, and travel, but most of all she loves to laugh and is happiest when she is doing so!

Joe Felperin

Membership

A 25+ year veteran in the events and meetings industry with diverse experience working for many different types of companies in the industry. Joe has held sales leadership roles at exhibit houses (Access TCA & Explus), a trade show organizer (E.J. Krause), an Audio Visual leader (PSAV), and event technology firms (Cadmium and BDMetrics). He is currently the Director of Channel Partnerships for Popshap, where he has been instrumental in increasing revenues through strategic partnerships for their award-winning LED displays & interactive touchscreen kiosks. Joe launched his own consulting firm, Joseph Event & Association Solutions, representing best of breed innovative technologies and connecting buyers with the right solutions to address their needs and accelerate revenue for our partners. Joe earned a Bachelor of Science from University of Maryland and is a loyal Terrapin booster. He is a proud father of two children, and he is passionate about sports, spending his spare time as a basketball referee and softball umpire as well as playing golf and softball.

Dan Cole

Corporate Partners

With more than 35 years of professional sales and leadership experience, Dan Cole is a respected executive, writer, and speaker widely recognized for his expertise in sales fundamentals, revenue growth, and building high performing teams. Dan recently served as Head of Sales for AVIXA’s InfoComm show, following his role as Senior Vice President of Strategic Relationships at the International Spy Museum. His career also includes executive leadership positions at Hargrove, Inc., along with more than 16 years of leading business development for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and its parent organization. He began his career in sales at Lanier Worldwide, followed by key roles at National Trade Productions, Advanstar, and Yellowbrix, building a broad foundation across exhibitions, media, and association driven business models. Dan is an active industry contributor, serving on several advisory and research boards, including the Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR) Leadership Advisory Board, the Exhibitor Advocate Show Advisory Board, and the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) Council, where he helps shape best practices and advance the exhibitions and events industry. Throughout his career, Dan has earned multiple industry honors, including IAEE’s Most Outstanding Sales and Marketing Executive, the International Business Awards’ Most Outstanding Sales Executive, and recognition from Professionals for Association Revenue (PAR) with its G.O.A.T. Award. A trusted authority in sales strategy and leadership, Dan remains a sought after voice across the industry for organizations focused on sustainable growth and revenue excellence.

Jill Birkett

Membership

Jill Birkett is a 40-year veteran in the hospitality and event industries, holding leadership positions with Marriott Hotels and Resorts, and global trade show companies, including Advanstar, Informa, and Questex. She started her career at a large incentive company, planning and managing incentive programs for Fortune 500 companies and working across Europe, the Caribbean, North America, and Asia. Jill joined Marriott Hotels and Resorts, starting with the Lincolnshire Resort in Sales and Operations, and then large account management in Chicago and Boston. She joined Expocon Management Associates, acquired later by Advanstar, where she managed all U.S. events including trade shows with 50,000+ in attendance and well over half a million square feet of exhibit space. She also developed and launched events, including ON DEMAND, which became one of the most successful new events for the company. With the advent of new solutions for events, Jill joined the founding team of b-there.com, the first integrated registration, housing and travel solution for events. B-there.com was successfully acquired by what is now Maritz. Following b-there, she joined UBM, which eventually became Informa, running the company’s largest event on the East Coast. Jill was also on the leadership team that launched “ADVENTURES IN TRAVEL”, a series of events across the USA bringing together consumers, travel advisors and the global suppliers seeking to market their destinations, hotels and services. The launch event at Jacob Javits Center in New York attracted over 20,000 attendees, including those trying out the television series “Survivor.” Jill was recruited to join Questex when they created their travel division, as Director of the Travel Group, and eventually became the VP/ Market Leader for a $20 million business unit. Jill built ULTRA from the ground up, an event focused for luxury travel advisors. She also managed several events for incentive travel management firms. Jill left Questex in 2025 to form her own business, Escapades Together, LLC, and work with individual clients in arranging extraordinary events and travel worldwide. Her own global and domestic travel experiences help her guide clients to new adventures. Although Jill has lived in many states across the US, she now calls Stamford, CT her home, where she enjoys swimming, gardening, and family life.

Chris Brown

Events and Programming

Chris is a 40-year veteran of the events industry. For 25 years he led event strategy and the events team at the National Association of Broadcasters, producer of the NAB Show, consistently one of the 10 largest trade shows in North America. Before joining NAB, he led show operations and key functional teams at the Personal Communications Industry Association and the Food Marketing Institute. Chris also launched a show management services division for the for-profit organizer CMC.

Chris has developed and produced events across a wide range of industries, from wireless telecommunications to food, both in the United States and internationally. His experience spans events of every scale, from 50-person executive forums and 200-person conferences to major trade shows attended by tens of thousands. Today, Chris provides consulting and advisory services through his company, Level Up Event Strategies.

Chris earned a business degree from the University of Virginia and an executive master’s degree in general administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus. He is a former chairman of both the International Association of Exhibitions and Events and the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. His overriding passion is his family, wife Sherry, four children, and four grandchildren. He also enjoys travel, biking, hiking, tennis and golf, and is an avid sports fan (and huge lacrosse fan).

BJ (Aaron) Enright

Programs and Services Development

BJ is a seasoned sales executive with 40 years of experience leading sales for event management companies and general service contractors. She is currently the President and CEO of Tradeshow Logic, which was recently acquired by Messe Muenchen Company.

She led sales GES, one of the largest exhibition service companies in the US, and the Aaron Group, which became part of Champion Exposition Services and ultimately a Freeman company.