People 12-1-1998

> Meetings & Conventions: People December 1998
December 1998
People

EDITED BY AMY DREW TEITLER

Brian Knapp is vice president of the International Meeting Network, an Arlington, Va., meetings management firm specializing in site selection and contract negotiations. He started 10 years ago when the president, a relative, asked him to join. Before that, Knapp had been a bartender, realtor, and salesman of computer systems and rock ’n’ roll memorabilia but not all at the same time.

What song is like meeting planning?
“Helter Skelter” by The Beatles.

Who was your favorite of the Fab Four, and what kind of banquet would you plan for him?
Paul McCartney. I would set an event to celebrate his career, like a roast, have some fun with him. I’d invite 200 of his closest friends as well as music industry professionals.

How do you like to spend your weekends?
Low-key. I like to go antiquing and maybe stay at bed and breakfasts.

Do you look for any particular finds?
Primitive Americana furniture and rock ’n’ roll memorabilia. I’ve got one of the largest Led Zeppelin collections, including stage outfits, gold records, contracts and tickets.

Your coup d’état of the collection?
Jimmy Page’s Knebworth Festival T-shirt that he wore in front of a quarter million people for two concerts in August 1979.

If you could eschew one meeting planning responsibility&
I would pass off contract negotiating, even though it’s about 99 percent of the business. It’s getting tougher and tougher to do the job because it’s getting harder to satisfy clients.

CARLA BENINI

BURCH NAMED VP AT IMPACT
Marilyn Burch, exhibition veteran of more than 10 years, has been named vice president of international business development at Dayton, N.J.-based Impact Unlimited, an events and exhibits marketing company. She was previously a senior account manager for PICO U.S.A. and its museum design firm, Toshihiko Sakow Associates in Norwood, N.J.

HUDSON NEW MANAGER AT EXHIBITOR
The Exhibitor Magazine Group of Rochester, Minn., has named Carol Hudson its new conference marketing manager. Most recently, Hudson served as director of marketing for Petroleum Information/Dwights, based in Richardson, Texas.

SUPPLIERS

If you would like notice of a career move considered for inclusion in this column, contact Amy Drew Teitler, Senior Editor, M&C, 500 Plaza Dr., Secaucus, N.J. 07096; fax: (201) 319-1796; e-mail: [email protected].