Introducing the Skift Meetings Power Rankings

Stephen A. Carter has turned Informa into the heavyweight of global B2B. With $4.8 billion in 2024 revenue and more than 800 titles under its belt, the U.K.-based company has spent the past decade under Carter’s leadership expanding aggressively in the U.S. and Asia.

What sets him apart now is his unapologetic bet on artificial intelligence. Carter regularly talks about the “AI time dividend,” his shorthand for freeing employees from routine work so they can focus on what moves the business. Earlier this year, Informa rolled out its own Elysia AI Chat Assistant to 16,000 staffers, billed as a “personal intelligent thinking partner.” It’s not just window dressing: “AI will enable us to spend less time on tasks that can be accelerated and more time on work that can be more impactful and improve the differentiation of our products,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

That AI push complements a growth strategy centered on building new products and service lines off Informa’s stable of B2B and research brands.

Carter is no stranger to transformation. Before taking over Informa in 2010, he was the founding CEO of Ofcom, chief strategist to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the U.K.’s first minister for media and telecom. That mix of political savvy and regulatory chops shows in how he’s positioning Informa today: a traditional events and information company recast as a tech-forward player betting big on where business intelligence goes next.

– Barbara Scofidio

Hugh Jones brought a data-and-software mindset into the exhibitions world, and it shows. Now at the helm of RX Global, Jones oversees 350 events across 25 countries and 41 industries. The company posted $1.58 billion in revenue in 2024, up 11% year over year, proof that his algorithm-driven instincts scale well in the real world.

Jones’ path into RX started with RELX’s 2011 acquisition of Accuity, the financial software company where he was CEO. He later rose to Global Managing Director in RELX’s Risk and Business Analytics Division before taking over RX. That data-centric grounding still drives his leadership style, as RX expands into future-facing industries from AI to clean energy.

The strategy is deliberate. “Every executive has to place bets for the value proposition to remain relevant,” Jones has said. “But not every bet has to work, successes and failures are celebrated equally.” Under his watch, RX’s acquisitions are anything but random, they target high-growth, globally relevant markets meant to harden the company’s long-term position.

Jones is also shaping the industry from the top seat at UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, where he’s serving as President for 2024–2025. There, he’s pushed advocacy, sustainability, and talent development onto the global stage, giving RX influence well beyond its own event halls.

-Andrea Doyle

Since stepping into the top role at Maritz in 2022, David Peckinpaugh has steered one of the industry’s oldest family-owned firms into its modern era, balancing billion-dollar revenue with a louder voice on social issues.

Maritz plays big: 2,600 employees, $1.25 billion projected revenue for 2025, and dealmaking that keeps it competitive, from the Experient merger to the July 2024 acquisition of Convention Data Services from Freeman. But Peckinpaugh’s leadership has been defined less by M&A headlines and more by what he chooses to spotlight.

Take human trafficking. For years, the meetings industry largely ignored the issue. Peckinpaugh didn’t. After learning that Maritz’s hometown St. Louis was a hub because of its geography and connectivity, he launched Maritz’s Human Trafficking Awareness Committee and began pressing peers to confront the problem. In June, PACT honored him with its 2025 Freedom Award. As he put it, “Before getting involved with PACT I thought human trafficking was an issue that only occurred outside of the United States.”

Inside Maritz, he’s applied the same philosophy to talent. Employee resource groups like the Amplify Women’s Network, LGBTQIA+ initiatives, and disability support programs all reflect his push to make the company a more inclusive place.

On sustainability, he’s aligned Maritz with the Net Zero Carbon Events initiative and the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero campaign, giving the company credibility with clients who expect more than lip service.

– Barbara Scofidio

When Sebastien Tondeur took over his father’s agency in 2010, MCI was a regional European player. Fifteen years later, it’s a global operation: 62 offices across 34 countries, 5,100 projects a year, and $672 million in revenue in 2024. The growth has been anything but cautious.

Tondeur’s boldest bet came early, with the 2015 creation of MCI USA through the acquisition of Coulter Companies, a high-stakes entry into a fiercely competitive American market. He hasn’t stopped since. In 2022, it acquired Brussels-based Business Bridge Europe. In 2023, MCI reshaped its ownership structure, with L-GAM buying out EMZ Partners and Indigo Capital. That new backing set off a buying spree: Paris-based social content shop Matter, Belgian agency ESN, Canadian logistics firm aNd Logistix, and in 2025, U.K. outfits Meet & Potato and Pure Communications.

But the expansion story isn’t only geographic. During the pandemic, MCI leaned on Dorier, the group’s audiovisual arm, to pivot clients into virtual and hybrid events. Last year, the company launched SwitchAI, an in-house generative AI platform aimed at boosting employee engagement. For an industry still grappling with digital integration, Tondeur is betting big on in-house tech.

His social responsibility record runs just as deep. MCI was one of the first events companies to sign the UN Global Compact in 2007, and it remains committed to the Net Zero Carbon Events pledge, earning an EcoVadis Silver Medal for sustainability efforts. Recognition has followed: in 2011, he won EY Switzerland’s Entrepreneur of the Year and served as chairperson of Meeting Professionals International.

Tondeur’s appetite for endurance is literal as well as strategic. He has climbed Kilimanjaro and is an avid trail runner, often citing lessons from the discipline of distance running. That mix of stamina, ambition, and deal-making has transformed MCI from a family business into a global contender.

– Miguel Neves

Lisa Hannant’s rise to the top of Clarion Events in 2022 is a rarity in an industry that continues to be dominated by men. She now runs one of the world’s largest exhibition organizers, overseeing 125 events across 25 countries, and her ascent — from Britain’s fashion show circuit in the 1990s to building startups acquired by rivals, then joining Clarion in 2008 — has been a career defined by persistence and calculated risk.

Clarion itself has been on the move under her leadership. Backed by Blackstone, which paid $800 million for the company in 2017, today Clarion generates more than $550 million in revenue with profit margins of 30%. Reuters has reported that Blackstone is eyeing a $2.68 billion sale.

She hasn’t shied away from bold moves. Relocating Clarion’s flagship ICE gaming expo from London to Barcelona was a logistical gamble that underscored her comfort with risk. Acquisitions in gaming, defense, and retail — including Infocast and Eaton Hall Events — and a partnership with the Saudi Aviation Club show her appetite for expansion into new verticals and markets.

Hannant also scores high on industry leadership. She sits on the UK’s Association of Event Organisers board, where she won the 2024 Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award, and has served as chair of SISO and as a board member at UFI. Her fingerprints are also on the design of Clarion’s exhibitions, championing “villages,” themed zones that make massive trade shows feel more intimate and relevant.

Sustainability and diversity are part of the portfolio too. Clarion has committed to the Better Stands initiative for reusable infrastructure and publishes annual ESG reports. Since 2020, Clarion has published a Gender Pay Gap report annually, openly tracking and addressing the disparities. In an industry often slow to change, she’s turned transparency into strategy.

– Miguel Neves

Gerardo Tejado runs one of the biggest meetings operations on the planet. As general manager of American Express GBT’s meetings and events business since 2019, he oversees more than 1,800 employees worldwide who deliver nearly $500 million in revenue. With the September merger of Amex GBT and CWT — creating a $45.5 billion giant in 2024 — his remit has only gotten more consequential.

Tejado climbed through the company’s ranks by delivering growth. As VP and GM for Latin America and the Caribbean, he doubled the firm’s footprint in the region. Colleagues now point to his ability to blend scale with spirit, building global teams that don’t just execute logistics but feel connected to the mission. “That’s what this industry is all about – working together to create influential experiences and moments that matter for customers and event attendees,” he’s said.

He’s also the architect behind some of Amex GBT’s most enduring cultural touchpoints. The Pacesetters program, which turned 50 in 2024, rewards top performers with all-expenses-paid trips to destinations like Hawaii. For a company with 20,000 employees, he has kept the focus on connection, backing 70 employee community groups that reinforce culture across geographies.

Externally, Tejado has become one of the most consistent voices championing the value of meetings. The company’s annual Meetings & Events Forecast carries his imprint, and he uses industry stages to make the case. As he said this year on Global Meetings Industry Day: “I’ve seen time and again how bringing people together creates real impact, whether it’s a conversation that sparks a new idea or an experience that strengthens relationships. The work we do together makes a real difference.”

– Barbara Scofidio

Appointed global CEO in May, Fiona Bruder runs a company of 1,400 staff delivering nearly 8,000 events a year. Scale isn’t the story, though. Her impact comes from how she’s pushing George P. Johnson (GPJ) to balance creativity, technology, and culture in ways the industry has been slow to embrace.

Bruder is clear-eyed about technology. For her, it’s an enabler, not a gimmick, useful only when it solves client problems. That philosophy guided GPJ through Covid, when she led client pivots to hybrid and digital formats and even mobilized teams to produce PPE and field hospitals under the LiveForLife coalition. It’s a pragmatic, sleeves-rolled-up style of leadership in an industry often more comfortable with showmanship than grit.

She’s also been among the first in her field to put DEI on the executive agenda. Bruder hired GPJ’s first DEI officer, championed employee resource groups, and launched GPJ Ignite — the first apprenticeship program of its kind — along with a talent pipeline partnership with Cal Poly’s Experience Innovation Lab. These aren’t side projects; they’re structural changes that make GPJ look different from its peers.

Her influence extends outside the agency as well: she joined the international board of Meeting Professionals International this year, earned recognition on Ragan’s Top Women in Marketing, and chairs the board of Girls Inc. Westchester, where she pushes the next generation of women to lead.

– Miguel Neves

Tina Madden has turned a family travel agency founded in the 1970s into a $160 million meetings and incentives firm with 350 employees, and she did it without playing safe.

Alongside her sister and Chief People Officer Jean Johnson, Madden has grown Meetings & Incentives Worldwide (M&IW) by betting on new services, early adoption of tech, and reimagining the business model before disruptions forced her hand. “Calculated risks,” as she calls them, are the through-line of the company’s rise.

Her leadership stands out for how deliberately she builds culture. Madden has been vocal on topics the industry often ignores — from ageism to DEI — and she treats senior employees not as a liability but a competitive edge. “They bring a wealth of experience and expertise that significantly enhance our team’s performance and decision-making,” she said. “They have been integral to our journey and navigated challenges and disruptions, as well as successes.” Flexible hours and work arrangements aren’t perks here; they’re strategy.

That emphasis on inclusion has become part of the company’s brand. M&IW secured WBENC certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise in 2013, and its Hospitality Heroes program, launched in 2017 and recognizable by its lapel pins at industry events, has become a cultural marker inside the sector.

Madden’s own background is in accounting — she was named CFO of the Year by the Milwaukee Business Journal in 2014 — but her influence today is measured less in balance sheets and more in how she redefines legacy. Growth, for her, is inseparable from creating a workplace where experience, recognition, and representation drive results.

– Barbara Scofidio

A 17-year veteran of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the organizers of CES, Kinsey Fabrizio was named president of the organization in February 2024. Despite lower international participation, this year’s show welcomed 142,000 attendees, and continues to be a highlight of Las Vegas’ convention calendar.

Fabrizio has been in motion internationally, driving CES’ initiatives abroad with CES Unveiled Europe in Amsterdam and “Road to CES” events is Paris, Seoul and Hong Kong.

She’s also stepped into Washington with unusual visibility for a trade show executive, joining the White House Task Force on AI Education and testifying before Congress about the future of AI. Few on this list play both the convention floor and Capitol Hill.

– Andrea Doyle

Charlotte Pedersen orchestrates one of San Francisco’s largest and most culturally significant annual gatherings. She works hand-in-hand with the mayor’s office and hundreds of agencies to keep Dreamforce humming. Street closures, traffic management, citywide coordination, it all runs through her.

Pedersen isn’t just keeping trains on time. Long before “hybrid” was an industry cliché, she was shaping Dreamforce as a blueprint for blending live and virtual experiences at scale. Her event philosophy is rooted in technology and data, but always in service of the audience. Last year, that meant plugging Salesforce’s Agentforce AI platform directly into the event app, with 10,000 autonomous AI agents fielding questions in real time. It also meant layering in inclusive touchpoints: a welcome center, curated meetups, ambassadors, and channels to make first-timers feel like insiders.

Dreamforce is often described as part tech rally, part cultural spectacle, part citywide takeover. Pedersen’s job is to make that mix look effortless, and to prove that one of the industry’s largest stages can still innovate. In a sector that loves to talk about transformation, she’s one of the few delivering it at scale, year after year.

– Barbara Scofidio

Karen Chupka hasn’t wasted time making her mark at NAB. She joined in late 2023 and by April 2024 was running the association’s 60,000-person flagship show. A year later, she doubled down with a live broadcast from the International Space Station, a flex that set an audacious tone and signaled NAB isn’t content to be just another trade show.

Her vision is bigger than the convention floor. By launching the Creator Lab and a new Business of Entertainment track, she’s pulling Hollywood into the NAB orbit. And by spotlighting issues like election coverage, disinformation, and journalist safety, she’s positioning the association as more than a convening platform, as a thought leader shaping the future of media itself.

Chupka isn’t new to bold stages. She spent two decades at the Consumer Technology Association, where she expanded CES into international markets, led a $120 million business, and oversaw the launch of CES Asia in Shanghai in 2015. That experience shows in how she’s reframing NAB: less predictable trade show, more cultural statement.

-Andrea Doyle

Jonathan Weiner has turned spotting industry waves into a repeatable business model: build the conference everyone wants to attend, sell it for a premium, and then start all over again. Few in the events industry have a track record as consistent, or as lucrative.

His first big swing came in 2012 with Money20/20, the fintech gathering that became the sector’s defining stage and was sold just two years later to Ascential. He followed in 2015 with Shoptalk, this time targeting retail and e-commerce; Hyve Group acquired it in 2019. Then came healthcare conference HLTH in 2018, which Hyve also bought in 2024. It is the acquiring company’s largest event by revenue, and Weiner stayed on as chairman and CEO.

The formula blends celebrity keynotes, dense content, and splashy brand activations into something closer to a festival than a trade show. High-risk, yes, but for Weiner, consistently high-reward. His latest venture, HumanX, raised more than $6 million in seed funding, an unusual funding model for a new event. Its Las Vegas debut drew 3,300 attendees; the next edition is moving closer to the Silicon Valley AI-ecosystem, aiming of doubling attendance.

Weiner has a tech background, cutting his teeth in payments startups before a stint at Google Wallet. That lens still shapes how he spots disruption-ready sectors. It also fuels his parallel life in venture capital: as a partner at Oak HC/FT, co-founder of SilverCircle’s $45 million AI-focused fund, and an angel investor in more than 150 companies.

For Weiner, events are only one stage. He’s also stepped into film production with Merino Films. But the through line is clear: he builds platforms where ideas, money, and influence collide, and he’s made a career out of turning those platforms into the industry’s hottest tickets.

-Andrea Doyle

William Reed is the strategist behind meetings held by the American Society of Hematology, including its 30,000-strong annual meeting. While many treat hybrid meetings as a Covid-pandemic relic, Reed has doubled down on them as both a growth engine and a data goldmine.

“I’m a firm advocate that hybrid events are here to stay,” he told PCMA. “We’re leaning into them. Our audience has grown to expect choices.” For Reed, hybrid generates richer insights, giving attendees flexibility, and justifying the investment with longer-lasting impact.

That willingness to defy the industry’s default sets him apart. Rather than copying other medical associations, he looks to sports, entertainment, and corporate events for ideas that push boundaries. It’s a mindset that reflects a career that spans Experient, Disney, Fairmont, and Westin, and one that’s helped ASH keep its flagship meeting at the forefront of innovation.

Reed’s influence also extends into association leadership, with a decade on PCMA’s board of directors, a seat on ASAE’s board, and recognition as an ASAE Fellow. But titles aside, his power comes from insisting that large-scale association meetings don’t have to follow the same old playbook, and from making hybrid a hill worth fighting for.

– Barbara Scofidio

Few executives manage scale and precision at the level Shannon Watson does. Since 2015, she has overseen Rotary International’s global conventions, with five-year planning cycles, 1,500+ tasks, 150,000 staff hours, and events spanning eight languages and more than 10,000 attendees. After wrapping Calgary in 2025, she’s already deep into Taipei, Dubai, and Minneapolis.

Her career has always blended logistics with vision. In the renewable energy sector, she transformed Solar Power International into a financial powerhouse, generating 82% of its parent organization’s funding and attracting 27,000 attendees. And she cemented her reputation in 2009 with the Green Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama’s first inauguration — pulled off in 76 days, with Al Gore as honorary chair and performances from Maroon 5 and will.i.am. Demand was so intense that resale prices soared to 14 times face value, earning national media coverage.

At Rotary, Watson now applies that same intensity to building conventions that are consistent yet tailored to local character. Beyond Rotary, she serves on PCMA’s North American Advisory Board and advises companies like Marriott International on strategic event design.

Her reputation is built on precision planning, but also on creating moments that break through the noise, the kind of influence that makes her one of the industry’s most quietly powerful figures.

– Miguel Neves

Severin Podolak’s remit as head of event management and operations at the World Economic Forum requires transforming a mountaintop ski town of 11,000 into a fortress and stage for global power.

The numbers are staggering: 500+ sessions (half live-streamed), three venues transformed — including a 65,000-square-foot chalet and the Davos Ice Stadium — 45 hotels under lockstep coordination, and a 5,000-strong security force of police, military, and private contractors. All of it unfolds during peak ski season, while heads of state, CEOs, and activists jockey for airtime and access.

Podolak’s path to this job reads like a boot camp for high-stakes logistics: NATO peacekeeping in Kosovo, seven years staging FIFA World Cups and tournaments, and leading global events for Swiss Re. At WEF, he’s used that experience to push sustainability into the operational core: AI tools to curb food waste, LED-only lighting, and local wood pellets for heating.

The responsibility doesn’t end in Switzerland. Podolak also oversees “Summer Davos,” the Annual Meeting of the New Champions across rotating Chinese cities, essentially running two of the world’s most complex gatherings on parallel year-round planning cycles.

Even as he orchestrates these logistical marathons, Podolak is mindful of the toll they take on his team. “Keeping them healthy and their work balanced during the event is of the utmost importance,” he told The New York Times.

– Miguel Neves