There were several high-profile shifts in show management recently, with some people retiring, others named into new positions and another taking on a new role altogether.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation promoted Melissa Schilling to the position of director, Exhibitions & Conferences. Schilling’s most recent position with the organization was director, Recruitment & Retention, a title she held since 2012.

Schilling worked on the development and organization of NSSF’s many conferences and shows, including its annual Industry Summit, Congressional Fly-In and the SHOT Show, one of the country’s largest trade exhibitions, attended annually by more than 65,000 firearms industry professionals from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

“Melissa has risen steadily over the course of her career with NSSF,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF senior vice president and chief marketing officer.

He added, “She has a proven track record of managing for results and is well respected by everyone she works with. Melissa has a remarkable ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships and I’m confident that she will be very successful as our Director of Exhibitions & Conferences.”

Paul Miller joined Penton as group president with responsibility for a broad portfolio that includes energy and buildings, design engineering and sourcing and manufacturing and supply chain markets.  

“Paul has a keen ability to grow businesses, both organically and via acquisition,” said David Kieselstein, CEO. “He’s an inventive leader with a strong strategic vision, exceptional digital knowledge and the ability to help us develop and expand our business in new and compelling ways.”

As the former CEO of UBM Tech, Miller drove the $200 million business unit’s expansion into digital content and services, as well as international expansion into Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Miller is replacing Bob MacArthur, who is retiring and started at Penton as district sales manager in the electrical industry brands.

Tradeshow Logic, an event solutions firm that works with associations and show organizers on their events, hired industry veteran Chris Price as chief strategy officer.

In this role, Price will lead TL’s team of event strategists in developing and implementing new ways to grow shows and energize events.

Price most recently was vice president at GASC/NPES, where he oversaw Graph Expo and PRINT. 

Venue management company SMG as appointed of Sara Blayne as general manager of the Lynnwood Convention Center.  

She will direct all aspects of the convention center's operation and will work with the Lynnwood Public Facilities District, owner of the convention center, to provide direction to grow the success of the building.

Hargrove hired three sales executives and promoted three employees to new sales positions. Dawn Holden was hired as an exhibit sales executive, Nadine Isvarin as a senior sales executive for events and Tanner Cooley as a sales associate for trade shows and exhibits.

Promoted from within, Kathleen O’Brien and Andrea Long both join the exhibit sales team, while Tiffany Ball was promoted to senior sales executive for the events department.

“It’s exciting to not only bring in new expertise and talent, but to also reward the drive and accomplishments of our current employees,” said Tim McGill, Hargrove CEO. “Our sales teams are continuously growing and propelling the company to higher successes because of their desire and capability to provide exceptional client experiences.”

Amanda Kunkel was promoted to the position of eReg Sales account executive with Convention Data Services (CDS) of Bourne, a provider of registration and lead management services. She brings to her new position more than nine years of experience with the company and the tradeshow industry.

Formerly the CDS eReg Coordinator, Kunkel has become the company’s in-house expert on the X·Press eReg system, a complete self-serve registration solution for specialty events.

MC2 brought on Susan Ginwala to its San Francisco office as an account executive. Ginwala brings 17 years experience of domestic and international convention marketing and branded environments.

Most recently, she was senior account executive at General Graphics Exhibits, a Group Delphi company, where her responsibilities included client acquisition and development of new business opportunities.

Lana Calloway, president of Exhibit Resources, recently announced her retirement after a 40-year career in the trade show industry, 25 of those years as the owner and president of Exhibit Resources, an exhibit design and production agency.