Biography

STEPHEN A. SIND

Steve Sind is CEO and Founder of Global Event Strategies, LLC, an international consulting firm established in January 2002 to serve the exhibition industry. The firm has offices in the US, Hong Kong and Beijing, plus associates in more than 25 countries. It assists association and independent organizers in expanding their businesses globally and consults on/develops/implements global business strategies, including mergers, acquisitions, licenses and joint ventures. It is involved in managing events overseas, establishing global sales networks to bring foreign exhibitors into US events, and strategies to increase global attendance. Steve is also General Manager of FM Latin America, LLC, a hosted buyer event organizer in the US and Latin America.

With many years in the industry developing and organizing events on all continents, most recently Steve was Vice President and Director, International for Penton Media (now Informa), a leading global B2B media company. He was responsible for the expansion of Penton’s trade show business globally, including several acquisitions, joint ventures, licenses, divestitures and new launches in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.  He was Chairman of Penton subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Australia.

Prior to joining Penton, Mr. Sind was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), a global organization serving the needs of the exhibition industry.  He was responsible for the dramatic growth and renewed strong image of CEIR (formally the Trade Show Bureau) as well as the launching of the landmark study Power of Exhibitions, the Exhibition Industry Promotion Campaign (EIPC), and a seminar entitled “Integrating and Leveraging the Power of Exhibitions: Strategies to Gain a Competitive Edge”.

During 15 years with Reed Exhibitions, the world’s largest trade show organizer, he held a variety of senior level positions including Senior Vice President, Worldwide Corporate Planning and Communications; Senior Vice President, International Sales; Senior Vice President, Asia/Pacific based in Hong Kong; and was a director and CEO for several subsidiary companies throughout the Asia/Pacific region.

Before joining Reed, Steve was appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce as Director of the historic US National Economic and Trade Exhibition held in Beijing, the first official US commercial exhibition ever to be held in China and the largest trade exhibition ever held anywhere by the US Government.  He was also Director of the US Trade Center in the former Soviet Union, and organized events throughout the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. He began his professional career at ALCOA in their International Department.  Steve has lived in Moscow, Beijing and Hong Kong as well as having extended tours in Western and Central Europe and working on all continents.

Mr. Sind was named by the US Meeting News magazine as one of the “Top 25 Most Influential” individuals in the exhibition industry.  He was a Presidential Appointee for the White House Conference on Travel and Tourism and past Chairman of IAEE’s (Int’l Association of Exhibitions and Events) International Committee.  A frequent contributor to leading industry magazines, he has spoken regularly to audiences around the world.  He is a member in good standing of SISO (Society of Independent Show Organizers), ASAE (the American Society of Association Executives), PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association) and recently served for 3 years as Board Director of IAEE.

Steve received his BA in International Affairs from the University of Vermont and his MBA in International Business/Marketing/Finance from George Washington University.  He and his wife Jean make their home in Tucson, Arizona.