Ms. Hills is a 20 year veteran with Hilton Hotels Corporation.  She’s worked in property convention services & sales roles, and then spent over 10 years in national sales covering multiple market segments.  Ms. Hills’ current role is the strategic team lead for Hilton’s dedicated pharmaceutical vertical market team.   She and her team specialize exclusively in the pharma / biotech market and are the “voice” of this market to Hilton’s hotels and senior management. 

Judy Johnson has been in the meeting and event industry for over 25 years.  Her global company, Rx Worldwide Meetings focuses solely on pharmaceutical and medical meetings and has been in business for nearly twenty years in Dallas, TX.  After graduating from college with a degree in special education, she returned to school to pursue a career in the hospitality industry.  Active in industry associations and a certified meeting professional (CMP), Ms. Johnson has taught a variety of meeting planning classes and has spoken at many industry related events including the Pharmaceutical Meeting Planner’s Forum and the DIA (Drug Industry Association.   She sits on the advisory boards for the San Diego CVB,  Richland Community College and ALHI (Associated Luxury Hotels).  She is currently featured in Harvey MacKay’s bestseller, “We got fired and it’s the Best Thing That Happened to Us” and has authored several articles on pharmaceutical meetings.



Joann Kerns, Associate Director, Global Meeting Management, Bristol Myers Squibb

Carol Krugman has been organizing healthcare/pharmaceutical meetings for over 25 years, beginning in the early 1980’s as a public relations and marketing manager in the international division of Merck Sharp & Dohme. Leaving Merck in 1984, she spent the next 15 years in senior management positions at medical education companies and the next 16 years as a successful consultant and entrepreneur.  Most recently Director of Client Services for George P. Johnson,  Carol is back to doing what she loves and does best – teaching and consulting.

Although best known as an expert in Latin American operations, Carol has successfully implemented programs in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East, as well as in the US and Canada.  She is fluent in French, Spanish and Portuguese, with a working knowledge of Italian.

Named one of “The 25 Most Influential People In the Meeting Industry” by Meeting News, specifically for her leadership role in global meeting and event planning, Carol is a frequent speaker at industry meetings in the US, Europe and Latin America and regarded as one of the industry’s top experts in international event planning, risk management and cross-cultural operations. She is the author of numerous articles, a book on planning meetings in Mexico and the Wiley Event Series textbook, Global Meetings and Exhibitions, published in October 2006.

Carol received her BA from Goucher College in 1970 and MEd from The Johns Hopkins University in 1972. She obtained her Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation in 1996 and was awarded the advanced Certification in Meetings Management (CMM) in 1998.  She is a member of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI), where she served on both the International Board of Directors and the MPI Foundation Board of Trustees.

Based in Philadelphia, Ms. Lieberman has staff in both Philadelphia and Research Triangle Park, NC, and supports all internal meetings at both U.S. headquarter facilities and for the sales and marketing organizations managed out of each campus.  Ms. Lieberman has just marked her 26th anniversary with GSK.  She started with Smith Kline & French in 1981 as a Senior Communications Specialist and moved into the meetings arena shortly thereafter.  Over the years, she has managed the creative as well as logistical side of meetings and produced and directed many of the product launches, sales meetings and incentive programs as SK&F grew into SmithKline Corporation, SmithKline Beckman and SmithKline Beecham, prior to the merger with Glaxo Wellcome in 2000.   In the mid-90’s, she held a developmental position in worldwide strategic product development, supporting their international congresses and meetings, publication efforts and convention exhibit development.  From 2001-03, she also was responsible for the national and regional convention programs for GSK.  A journalism graduate of Ohio University, Ms. Lieberman was the Director of Information for the Society of Professional Journalists in Chicago, prior to moving to Philadelphia.  She also worked for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the American Motorcycle Association, both in PR capacities.



Phyllis Marks Executive Director, Strategic Sourcing, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Ms. Nikitiades is a Global Account Executive for Marriott International specializing in the pharmaceutical segment.  She is responsible for managing the overall global relationship for Marriott’s largest and highly valued accounts on behalf of Marriott’s 3,000 properties worldwide for all revenue streams.  Ms. Nikitiades joined Marriott in 1989 and has held key management positions in Food and Beverage, Reservations and Sales and Marketing.  In 2005, Ms. Nikitiades was the recipient of Marriott’s Global Sales Organization’s prestigious Special Achievement Award for Strategic Account Management.  In addition to her experience in the hospitality business, she briefly left Marriott in 1996 to become a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative for Bristol-Myers Squibb.  Aileen continues to draw on this experience in her current position.  Ms. Nikitiades is an active member of NBTA, SAMA and ACTE.  

Mr. Odom  is a native of Indiana and obtained his undergraduate degree at Purdue University and MBA from Miami University in Ohio.  He joined Advito, an independent consulting division of BCD Travel, from Eli Lilly and Company after 29 years of service.  Starting his career in pharmaceutical sales, Mr. Odom held positions in sales training, new product planning, symposia coordination  and since 1990 in global travel and meetings management.  Mr. Odom was one of the industry pioneers in meeting consolidation and was instrumental in developing and implementing strategic sourcing strategy to the Lilly travel and meeting program.  He has facilitated the sharing of global best practices within the Industry and has served on several committees and boards of industry publications, associations, hotels, and airlines.  Mr. Odom has been recognized by numerous industry journals as a global travel and meeting consolidation expert. As Advito’s senior director of business development, he utilizes his depth of industry expertise in guiding organizations through today’s complex travel and meetings environment.

A 25-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Ms. Rehaut is the Global Director of Group Sales for the Northeast Region, based in Baltimore.  She previously held the position of Regional Manager, Meeting, Incentive and Group Sales for Continental Airlines with responsibility for group sales in the Northeast region and Canada.   A fourteen year active member of Meeting Professionals International and specifically the Greater NY Chapter, she has served on several committees, as well as the chapter’s board and assumed the role of Presidency twice (2002-2004). Recently she served as the Chair for the First Annual Greater New York Chapter's Annual Education Day (NYMix) in 2006.  Ms. Rehaut just completed her role as the International Board of Directors Representative for the International Chapter Leadership Committee (ICLC) for Meeting Professionals International. Her accomplishments include winning Supplier of the Year in 2001-2002.  Under her first Presidency, Ms. Rehaut introduced the Master Class series, which is geared towards the advanced member with ten or more years experience in the industry and /or manages a staff.   Ms. Rehaut is also an active member of the NY Society of Association Executives and a hospitality partner with the Financial Insurance Conference Planners.   She also teaches a course on “Working with Travel Partners,” which is part of the Hospitality Certificate program at several colleges in the Northeast.  The revision of the Transportation Chapter of the Convention Industry Council Manual, 3rd Edition contains contributions by Ms. Rehaut.     

In May 2007, after a successful career with Bristol Myers Squibb, Ms. Ridzon accepted a position as Director of Global Strategic Sourcing, Meetings & Events at Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, CA where she is responsible for leading a cross-functional team whose mission is to develop and implement a Global Strategic Meetings Management Program for the company. 

Ms. Ridzon  is considered an innovator in the area of strategic meetings management and has over 35 years of experience in the travel and hospitality fields.  She has participated in many industry-related advisory boards and has consulted with numerous Fortune 500 companies on the benefits of strategic meeting management. She has been a guest speaker and panelist at various industry seminars and conferences including the 2003 NBTA National Conference; 2004 ACTE Global Conference, MPI’s Professional Education Conference, in January 2005; Meeting World 2006; The Krisam Hotel and Partner Summit in 2006 and the 2005 through 2008 CBI and Medical Meetings magazine sponsored Pharmaceutical Meeting Planners Forums. Ms. Ridzon was named by Meeting News as one of the “25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry” in 2001 and as a “Best Practitioner” recognizing achievements of the meeting industry’s top corporate buyers by Business Travel News in 2001 and  2005.  She is frequently quoted in industry publications including featured articles in Pharmaceutical Executive magazine; Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Successful Meetings and Medical Meetings magazine.

Mr.Tolvé began his career in this industry on the hotel side working various sales, marketing and operational functions.  In 1997, a former client recruited him from the hotel world where he joined Boron LePore, leveraging his hotel background and quickly established himself as a forward thinker within the industry and a planner of utmost skill.  Mr.Tolvé rode the roller coaster of corporate downsizing and held meeting planning positions with Warner Lambert and Bristol-Myers Squibb.  He then moved on to Novo Nordisk where he currently holds the position of Senior Manager, Meetings Management.   While at Novo Nordisk he has developed and implemented numerous polices and standard operational procedures as well as led the strategic planning of all national sales meetings, incentive trips and high-level events.  His most successful project to date is the implementation and management of Novo Nordisk’s Meeting Consolidation Program.  In the first year of existence, more the $50M in meeting spend has been tracked with a savings rate greater then 15%.    Mr.Tolvé, a life-long resident of New Jersey, earned his CMP in 2004 and was a panelist at the CBI/Medical Meetings Inaugural West Coast Medical Device and Bio/Pharmaceutical Meeting Planners Forum speaking on Reducing Risk through Effective Hotel Contracts.  His panelist participation at the 4th Annual Pharmaceutical Meeting Planners Forum speaking on Green Meetings led him to become a member of the CBI Elite Speakers Circle.  Additionally, he has presented on various topics for Hilton Hotels, Global Events Partners and the Krisam Group and serves on the Omni Hotels Customer Advisory Board.



James E. Vachon, Associate Director, Corporate Meetings and Conventions, Millennium: The TAKEDA Oncology Company

As the Director of Pharmaceutical Industry Sales, Ms.Weiss is responsible for Hyatt’s sales and marketing efforts within the Pharmaceutical Industry and is based in White Plains, New York.  Ms. Weiss has been with Hyatt Hotels for 28 years.  Previous positions include Director of Sales of Hyatt’s New York National Sales Office, Associate Director of Sales and Travel Industry Sales Manager.   In 1996, she was named Hyatt National Sales Manager of the Year and in 1999 won the prestigious Donald N. Pritzker Sales Award.  She has worked with the Pharmaceutical Industry for 17 years and created and developed Hyatt’s Healthcare Business Exchange, which is in it’s 15th year of operation.  Ms. Weiss received a Bachelor of Science-Communications degree from Southern Illinois University, and is a member of MPI.