Our Leadership

Tom Baugh, CEO

A consummate event pro, Tom’s 30-plus years of experience in consumer and trade shows really runs the gamut… including exhibitor relations, facility management, general contracting, sales and sales management, show management, launches and more. Plus, with a decade of event ownership under his belt, including consumer home & garden shows and trade events/conferences, there’s not a hat Tom hasn’t worn. Speaking of hats, ask him about his golf cap collection!

Prior to joining the company in 2003, Tom was a vice president at the venerable International Management Group (IMG), where he headed the firm’s national sponsorship initiatives, as well as managing the team created to launch North American consumer shows. He also managed consumer and trade show groups for esteemed Advanstar Expositions.

Tom is the past president of the Home & Garden Show Executives International (HGSEI) and has served in leadership positions for the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) and the National Association of Consumer Shows (NACS). He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, a fantasy football fanatic and a scratch-handicap golfer!

tom@marketplaceevents.com

Mark White, CFO

Math-whiz Mark completed his accounting designation with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in London, UK in 1992 and joined the company in March 1993 as group controller. He quickly rose to controller for North America (out of the company’s Toronto office), then vice president of finance cum show manager, and finally CFO.

Now based in California, Mark plays a key role in corporate research and development, mergers and acquisitions, divestures and strategic planning. Mark’s a graduate of Exeter University.

Despite his high-ranking role, important fiduciary responsibilities and very royal-sounding British accent, he’s a really nice guy!

mark@marketplaceevents.com

Lisa Kropf, CRO

Comprised of equal parts drive and smarts, sales and marketing maven Lisa is the fearless leader of a team of 10 (at last count) and oversees the company’s consumer and exhibitor marketing, corporate communications, research, sponsorship and sales efforts.

An entrepreneur at heart, Lisa came to the company in 2004 when her PR firm was retained to manage consumer food shows launched in partnership with television’s popular Food Network.

During her 13 years as principal at Kropf Public Relations (when you’re really good, you put your name on the door), her firm provided marketing services for several consumer shows; Pepsi; IMG; Advanstar Communications; Countrywide Bank; PBS; an HGTV show and others. Lisa’s worked more than 100 different events in her 20-year career!

A Clevelander since birth and a loyal Browns fan, Lisa was named one of the city’s "50 Most Interesting People" by Cleveland magazine. She is a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, is a regular speaker at industry events, and is a member of NACS, SISO, IEG, and IAEE.

lisa@marketplaceevents.com

Mike Webster
Vice President, Marketplace Events;
President, Trade Show Division

Since his arrival at the company in 2008, Mike’s infectious smile and warm nature has been a real crowd pleaser! Prior to joining Marketplace Events, he was a senior-level executive (read: big cheese) with Advanstar Communications—for 26 years—where he was involved with many aspects of trade and consumer media management including the acquisition and/or management of expositions, magazines, directories, websites and more.

Quite the well-rounded professional, Mike’s experience includes market sectors such as art, beauty (hence his good looks) and power sports. Regarding the latter, he was a founder of the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows, which were held annually in more than a dozen major U.S. markets. Mike was also instrumental in the development and growth of the largest trade-only exposition in the world for motorcycle and power sports aftermarket products.

Mike works from beautiful Southern California (he’s a native) and refuses to relocate to our Cleveland corporate headquarters for some reason. He attended Saddleback College and Orange Coast College and has a certificate from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Mike is a regular contributor to industry events and is a card-carrying member of NACS, PCMA, SISO, IAEE and AMA.

mikew@marketplaceevents.com

Liz Benkovich, Vice President

To know her is to love her! With wit and wisdom, Liz currently serves as regional vice president for the Eastern U.S. and, in her nearly 30 years in the business (20 with us!), she’s worked on launching home shows, struggling home shows, recently acquired home shows and healthy home shows.

A modern day Renaissance woman, she’s held various positions over the years, including exhibit sales (for heavy duty truck shows nonetheless!), exhibits manager, show manager, group manager, regional director, and chief cook and bottle washer.

Veteran Liz is the go-to person for any and all show-related info. She’s been there, done that!

And, if she’s traveling when you email her, you will surely get an incredibly funny out-of-office message. She’s famous for those.

lizb@marketplaceevents.com

Sylvie Munroe, President of Expo Media Inc.

Back in 2006, after more than fifteen years of experience in consumer shows (including roles as general manager of a major exhibition hall and regional director of 13 shows across Canada), Sylvie founded Expo Media Inc. Her company currently manages four Marketplace Events-owned shows across Canada. Sylvie’s official title as president of Expo Media is only overshadowed by her unofficial title of Best Dressed at Marketplace Events.

Sylvie's a real travel aficionado, so it makes perfect sense that, in addition to her Marketplace Events duties, Sylvie produces the Montreal International Tourism and Travel Show and is president of Salon International Tourisme Voyage. Additionally, she's at the helm of the Quebec City Summer Holiday Show. Think she's a time management expert? We can attest to that!

Born in Montreal, Sylvie holds a degree in business administration from Concordia University.

SylvieMunroe-Cox@marketplaceevents.com

Paul Schweitzer, VP Business Development

Paul began his illustrious career in the consumer show industry in 1979 as an exhibit sales representative. Over the next, er, 30-plus years, he has been involved in the sales and management of many consumer shows across North America. As a matter of fact, Paul oversaw the acquisition and/or launching of home shows in major markets such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C.… just to name a few! Undoubtedly, he’s seen more home shows than any living being!

In his current role as VP of business development, he has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening in show business and spearheads the company’s mergers and acquisitions strategy.

Paul has served as a board member of industry associations HGSEI and NACS and is president of the Consumer Events Council of IAEE. A graduate of the State University of New York, he holds a Bachelors of Science degree and has completed more trade show associations’ continuing education courses than we have room to mention. Although he’s based out of our Buffalo office, Paul has a penchant for the Florida sunshine. Oh, and did we mention his favorite television show is Family Guy?

pauls@marketplaceevents.com

Sue Huff, Vice President Sales

Prior to joining Marketplace Events in April 2009, Sue the Superstar (as she's come to be known), served as a regional vice president at Adecco for 20 years. There, she managed 10 offices and a team of 38 sales people and recruiters—who hated to see her go, trust us—that generated $40 million in annual revenue for the company.

Sue also served as a sales trainer with Adecco for five years, leading Adecco University's field training program that educated more than 2,000 student-employees at week-long, high-intensity training programs.

Sue's accomplishments and recognition as a career sales leader are numerous and include the 2007 and 2008 Outstanding Performance Award, as well as membership in the elite President's Club in 2000, 2002 and 2004.

Once on board with Marketplace Events, she managed the 2010 launch of our Cleveland show, which generated $1.4 million in exhibit sales revenue in its very first year. It didn't hurt that she's a local and a real Who's Who around town, having grown up in nearby Bedford, and still residing in the area. Sue's since been promoted to her current role and leads all show managers and sales teams in their efforts to close more than 2.7M square feet of space annually.

Very approachable, relentlessly positive and one of the best darn presenters you've ever heard (truly), Sue is a major asset to Marketplace Events!

sueh@marketplaceevents.com

Stacey Charkow, Controller

Stacey joined the company in 2006 as a financial analyst but rose to controller within two short years. In this role, she manages the company’s finance/accounting team and processes. You’ve heard the old adage “s/he who holds the purse strings wins”, right?

Stacey has a Bachelor’s of Commerce degree with honors from McMaster University and is a Certified Management Accountant. She’s also Certified Smart-But-Not-Stuffy, just for the record.

staceyc@marketplaceevents.com

Ryan Roth, Marketing & Show Director

Ryan joined the company in 2006 and brought a keen sense of the marketing mix and sales process, a finesse for developing compelling creative, and plain ol’ unbridled enthusiasm.

Before becoming the resident cheerleader at Marketplace Events, Ryan was the corporate communications manager at a publicly traded building products distributor. She also owned a boutique marketing and public relations firm for six years with 13 employees and annual billings of $4.5M; served as director of advertising for a B2B publishing company with print and online news magazines that was ultimately funded by Time Inc. and launched in 25 U.S. markets; and was sales manager for a group of luxury city magazines (a role she loved for working with the likes of Gucci, Tiffany & Co., Hermes and other drool-worthy retailers).

Nowadays, Ryan, who also answers to Ry or R3 and is a firm believer in team hugs, is responsible for all exhibitor marketing for the company’s 21 U.S. shows, supporting the sales teams’ efforts to book more than 14,000 exhibitors annually. She also directs the marketing of special projects for the company including serving as Show Director for WIRED Live, the company’s consumer technology show in partnership with WIRED magazine, to launch in Washington, D.C. in November 2012..

Ryan’s a 1993 graduate of Rollins College where she earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree despite being president of her sorority, and developed an affinity for Florida where she still lives and works.

ryanr@marketplaceevents.com