Business View Magazine | June 2020

24 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JUNE 2020 Q & A : MCVE IGH GLOBAL MEET INGS & EVENTS History BVM: How has McVeigh Global Meetings and Events evolved since its founding? MGME: “The business was initially started by Frank McVeigh in 1990 and quickly grew to be one of the 25 largest meeting planning companies in the industry. Jeff Guberman, the founder of Fourth Wall Events and current CEO of McVeigh Global Meetings and Events, initiated an acquisition of McVeigh Associates in 2017, in partnership with Infocommerce Partners, a Boston based private equity company. Together, they had the vision of combining all three companies and creating a dynamic powerhouse to the meetings and events world. The initial acquisition was challenging, but exciting, and created a company we are all proud to work at. “The first year was devoted to combining the three companies and creating one team. We worked to set the team up for success and create new processes and service offerings. Because of this, we were poised for growth coming into our second year. Our sales team, led by Carvie Gillikin, was making fantastic progress. The next step was to bring in a senior finance leader, so we hired an outstanding CFO, Jennifer Filippone. She joined the team in January of 2020 and immediately made great strides in transforming our finances. “At MGME, we believe in a very high touch- each-attendee experience with a creative, strategic approach. Our passion is understanding our clients‘ goals and creating engagement strategies to meet these goals. We believe that when you bring people together for a shared experience, great things happen.” Challenge in the Industry BVM: What do you do when your entire industry isn’t allowed to exist for the foreseeable future? How do you pivot and continue to provide value to clients? MGME: “We believe that live events are completely unique – they connect people in a way that nothing else can. When each of us leaves a live event, we feel energized, engaged, and connected to a community. In mid-February,