Global Events Partners (GEP), "the leading partnership of over 65 destination management companies worldwide", promoted Carrie Heiden from the position of Director of Sales of GEP Washington, to a national role as Vice President of Sales operating out of their Washington, D.C. headquarters.
Carrie will be responsible for covering the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest and West Coast markets.
Carrie brings more than 15 years of senior-level sales and marketing experience in the meetings, events and tradeshow fields. Prior to her tenure with GEP Washington, a local Destination Management Company (DMC) owned and operated by GEP, she served as a meeting and event professional both in the program development and sales capacity for organizations that included the Association of Airport Executives, webMethods (now Software AG) and Courtesy Associates.
The experience exposed her to the creative and logistical aspects of events ranging from product launches and incentives to annual domestic and international meetings for groups in the thousands.
“We’re fortunate to be able to promote first-class executives from within the GEP family. Carrie is a natural fit for her new role and our culture,” states Jim Schultenover, President of GEP.
“Through her experience with GEP Washington, she already has a connection with our other partner DMCs around the world. Carrie brings to GEP a wealth of clients and long-standing relationships. We can’t wait to see her apply her expertise and industry knowledge on the global stage. We expect great things from her.”
Carrie comments, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to offer meeting planners the world of DMCs represented by GEP. We have an unparalleled partnership in the industry, and I am looking forward to working with and further educating our clients on the full range of destination management services our partners can offer them.”
In addition to being a longtime meeting and event professional, Carrie is a lifelong Virginian. She graduated Randolph Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, where she received a B.A. in Art History.
She is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) and Meeting Professionals International (MPI). Carrie is on the committee of the Historic Alexandria Foundation, and former chairman of HAF’s Young Collectors Evening. In that role, she applies her professional expertise and art history background to further preservation efforts, and raise money for preservation projects.
