Going into the end of last year and starting 2015, companies have continued to add to their ranks by adding board members, promoting from within or hiring a veteran in the field.

Lew Shomer, chairman of 5NET4 and ABILITIES EXPO, said that Charlie McCurdy, CEO of Apprise Media, will join the Board of Directors of 5NET4.

McCurdy’s role will be to help Abilities Expo extend their brand through spin-offs, additional launches and acquisitions.

David Korse, president and CEO of 5NET4, said, "As 5NET4 continues to make an impact on the disability community and, through its Abilities Expo, has an outstanding record of internal growth through space sales and attendance, we feel Charlie's presence on our Board will allow us to go to the next level."

McCurdy has a strong record of success in the business services and media sectors. He has partnered with several private equity firms in acquiring, transforming, scaling and realizing value in a wide range of business service and media companies.

Most recently, McCurdy partnered with Providence Equity Partners to acquire GLM, one of the leading trade show organizers in the United States, in September 2011.

Prior to this, McCurdy partnered with Spectrum Equity Investors to acquire Canon Communications, the leading business-to-business events, publishing and online company exclusively covering the advanced manufacturing sector.

He was co-founder, president and director of Primedia, Inc., where he oversaw the acquisition, development and growth of more than 20 platform niche media companies serving a wide variety of consumer and business markets.

dmg events USA has promoted Rebecca Jennings to show director of ad:tech’s two U.S.-based events, San Francisco and New York.

She will have full P&L responsibility for the two annual events, which are the longest running marketing events in the United States focused on digital solutions. ad:tech events also are held each year in New Zealand, Sydney, New Delhi, Tokyo, Kansai and London. Prior to this move, she was sales director for ad:tech.

“Rebecca is a motivated, creative, individual who faces challenges with enthusiasm,” said Amy Allen, executive vice president, dmg events USA. “I have confidence in her leadership abilities and look forward to the innovation she will bring to ad:tech in the coming year.”

Jennings has more than 10 years’ experience driving top-line revenue and coaching teams toward organizational growth. With a proven track record for successfully leading strategic event initiatives tapping multiple event management disciplines, Jennings’ leadership skills are well-suited for ad:tech’s bottom-line goals.

Prior to joining dmg events USA, she held sales and management roles with Hanley Wood Exhibitions.

Convention Data Services has named John Hawley as its new Chief Technology Officer. Hawley brings to CDS a strong technology architecture and development background along with 15 years of experience managing diverse technical teams. In this new CTO role he will oversee all technology groups, including product development and support, product management, application delivery, infrastructure management, information management and quality assurance. 

“John Hawley’s strong leadership experience makes him the ideal person to lead our CDS technology team. His expertise in strategic technology development will facilitate our continued technical evolution and commitment to our clients to create and improve technology solutions for their events,” said John Kimball, president and CEO, Convention Data Services.

Hawley’s extensive background in all aspects of technology spans over two decades. He has held numerous senior management positions, most recently at the TJX Companies and NeuEon Inc.