Pictured: Howard Givner
Grass Roots Meetings
and Events US has appointed a new managing director, Howard Givner.
Givner was founder and executive director of the Event
Leadership Institute and also founded events agency Paint the Town Red. He also
created mobile app Super Planner and was co-creator of the Event Innovation
Forum, a TED-style conference for industry leaders.
Givner said: "I
had the pleasure of facilitating a two-day management offsite for the Grass
Roots team and instantly clicked. I felt there was tremendous potential for
this business here, to build on the great work they’ve already done with their
amazing clients. When the opportunity to lead the team came up, it was a
natural fit. One of the things I’m most excited about is to bring a Big Data
approach to the trove of analytics generated by the company, and leverage that
on behalf of our clients. This will allow us to uncover trends to provide
detailed, but easy to digest, analysis that can be used to drive efficiencies,
cost savings, and improvements in ROI. We’re at a very interesting point in the
industry. The pace of change is only getting faster, and this offers an
opportunity for industry professionals to truly prove value in properly
identifying these developments, and advising their clients and stakeholders
accordingly."
David Taylor,
managing director of Grass Roots Meetings & Events, said: "Howard
brings a deep knowledge of the industry and I look forward to seeing the impact
his ideas and experience will have in both the short and long term. This is an
exciting time for Grass Roots’ M&E team. There will be changes ahead
that will allow us to use our market leading position to invigorate the M&E
category as a whole."