New appointments, promotions and awards have kept leading industry names in the news this summer, despite the ongoing pandemic continuing to make deep impacts on events. Take a look at some positive news:

For the second year in a row, the UFI Board of Directors has elected a woman president. In an announcement made July 29, UFI declared Monica Lee-Müller as president of UFI for the 2021-22 period.

Derrick Johnson, director of event strategy at Talley Management Group, has been appointed to a newly created role of chief diversity officer at the New Jersey-based company. In this new dual position, he’s at the forefront of two of today’s top issues in the event industry: the increasing digital events due to COVID-19 and the push for more diversity and inclusion coming out of the Black Lives Matter protests.

While this summer’s hiring news isn’t as busy as in other years, companies in the events industry are expanding where they can to help gain a cutting edge for events as they begin to return. Here’s the latest news.

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As a meeting planner for more than 15 years and co-founder of the Association for Women in Events (AWE), Carrie Abernathy understands the importance of diversity and inclusion in the events industry. She is currently the lead meeting planner for Altria Group Distribution Company and has served in a variety of leadership roles in the industry. 

GES Executive Vice President of Industry Development John “Jack” Patronski will retire from the Las Vegas-based global experiential marketing company, effective June 30.

Recent job reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are dismal, yet the good news is that some companies within the events industry are still making hires and promotions. Check out the latest news from this month.

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Depending on what U.S. state we live in, many of us are still sitting out the pandemic in the safety of our homes. While this is an unnatural predicament for our social species, it’s nice to know that we’re not alone in all this uncertainty. 

Announcements of new hires and promotions are coming back slowly but surely in the events industry. Here’s a roundup of the latest People moves since mid-April.

Talk about baptism by fire. Mark Tester had only been at the helm of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando for three weeks when disaster struck in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. Luckily, the new executive director of the country’s second-largest convention center was undaunted.