About

ACEM was formed in January 2011 to serve the specific needs of Association and Corporate clients. With over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of event and project management, ACEM president, Jo-Ann Maude, began her career working side-by-side with the owner for Performance Seminar Group to organize over 1,000 one and two-day seminars per year in North America and the United Kingdom.

After 8 years with PSG, Jo-Ann joined Cowles Event Management (now Penton Media) and served as Director of Conference Programming for a variety of industries: The Folio:Show and M2 (magazine industry); NACD (National Association for Database Marketing); Annual Catalog Conference (Catalogers); The Strategic Marketing of Conferences and Expos, and the Annual B2B Conference (B2B Marketers).

The next step in her career took her Chemical Week magazine where she served as Director, Conference Programming & Marketing. At CW she focused on a portfolio of global conferences and meetings for the chemical industry, including the Asia Pacific Chemical Industry Meeting (APCIM) and launched successful initial conferences and trade shows in Beijing, Berlin, Shanghai and Rio de Janeiro as well as CW’s first Chemical Industry CFO Conference in New York City.

After spending 2 ½ years consulting for American Express in the Marketing Education Department she began to work with other corporate clients including Boehringer-Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Fuji Medical, Forbes, Harvard, MIT, The Hartford Insurance Company, Foot Locker, Inc. and Unicomm where she managed the 2009 Green Travel Summit, which complied with all green meeting requirements.

Jo-Ann ventured into the association market as an independent Senior Account Manager for The Academy Group where she worked with a variety of associations including NACD NJ, NY and CT, VIANY, Connecticut Hedge Fund Association, Connecticut Venture Group, CVG Angel Initiative and the Association for Corporate Growth, NY, NJ and CT Chapters. She served as Chapter Executive for ACG New Jersey and currently holds the position of Chapter Executive for ACG Connecticut. In 2010, Jo-Ann was nominated and accepted her current role as Co-Chair of ACG Global’s Chapter Council. Through ACEM, Jo-Ann and her team provide support services to ACG Philadelphia’s newly launched ACGUniversity program, the chapter’s Membership Committee and the Annual M&A East Conference. In addition, ACEM also assists MarketingProfs.com, a membership-based organization for marketing professionals with the coordination of their live and virtual conferences.

Jo-Ann holds a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Post University. With memberships in both MPI and ASAE, we aim to keep informed on the current issues and trends in our industries.

Laetitia manages the on-site logistics for conferences and events, ensuring a smooth registration process. She brings to ACEM years of experience in day-to-day seminar planning and operations with top-notch customer service skills. Laetitia most recently organized large medical meetings throughout North America.

Val is an experienced meeting and event specialist in both domestic and international programs. She is adept at cutting costs and incorporating green initiatives into events. Clients include Impact Communications, American Express, American Cancer Society and AQR Capital Management.

Danielle spent seven years managing two member-based associations, one based in New York City and the other based in New York City, Boston, Chicago and Washington, DC. She was responsible for planning and executing events and meetings; budget management; growing and sustaining membership; developing and managing sponsorship campaigns; marketing and back-office support. Report to the Board of Directors for each association and support their stated mission. She now brings this experience to the ACEM team.

Michele handles the graphic design needs for ACEM’s clients. She has over 15 years of experience including print, web and consumer and association promotional industries.

Kate manages pre-event and on-site logistics for our client events in Boston. She has over 15 years of experience in event marketing, graphic and web design, and works on a variety of design projects through her company KH Design.

Diane is a seasoned event management professional with more than 25 years of experience in event operations and conference programming, including corporate sales meetings, large national and international multi-city consumer and trade industry shows, and high-level conferences for Forbes, and in various industries such as emergency medical services, wine/vintners, recycling, infrastructure, and travel to name a few.

Prior to joining ACEM in 2012, Diane most recently managed the conference programming for the Travel and Adventure Shows, booking speakers, performers, and culinary experts for the multiple stages at these national events. She has also helped with the launch of a new association, The Family Travel Association, organizing its annual industry Summit and taking on the role of Director, Membership Services.

At ACEM, Diane works with associations including Association for Corporate Growth, International Association of Claims Professionals, National Association of Corporate Directors, and others, and most recently the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management.

Diane holds both an AS and BS in Business and Marketing from Sacred Heart University.