An Atlanta native, Dan began his 35-year career in tradeshows when, at age 22, he boarded an airplane and left the Southeast for the first time to set-up and manage a trade show booth in San Francisco. He knew immediately: this was the industry for him. Since that modest beginning in a Fairmont Hotel ballroom, Dan has produced more than 90 trade and consumer shows including some of the industry’s largest and most diverse events – The International Surface Event, Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, NY NOW, The Original Miami Beach Antique Show, The World of Concrete, International Roofing Expo, Surf Expo and Medtrade.

Dan says he was drawn to LightFair by its position as market leader, its sheer beauty and the deep camaraderie of the show team, as well as the opportunity to return to IMC, where he’d worked in the 1990s.

Dan is a graduate of the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and an incredibly proud father and grandfather. He can be found most weekends in his workshop building or redesigning.

P: +1 404.220.2218
F: +1 678.686.5259
E: dand@lightfair.com

Lea has 25+ years of experience in the trade show industry. She started her career at Americas Mart Atlanta, growing over the years to take on Show Director roles with Urban Expositions and Exponation. She entered the lighting industry in 2013 as Sales Manager and later, Show Director of LightShow West. Her experience includes the areas of exhibit sales, conference program development, attendee relations and new business development. She also orchestrated the launch of the West Coast Lighting Insider monthly newsletter and was the creator of and Show Director for Chicago, Denver and Seattle LED Specifier Summits.

Lea joined LightFair in May of 2019 as Director of Attendee Relations in pursuit of her love of working with all the connections she had made in the lighting industry. In her current role she leads the attendee relations and exhibit sales teams.

This Oklahoma Sooners fan loves spending time with her family. Hobbies include water sports, snow skiing, and travel.

P: +1 404.220.2291
F: +1 678.686.5259
E: leat@lightfair.com

Donna joined LightFair in July 2021 as Sales Manager. She has 20 years’ experience in Trade Events, Media Advertising, Saas and Telecommunications fields. Formerly with Emerald Expositions, her role included exhibit sales and customer success serving Medtrade, GlobalShop/IRCE (now retailX) and the Prosper Show.

Donna is an Atlanta native obsessed with everything UGA and in constant pursuit of Foodie life and traveling.

P: +1 404.220.2132
E: donnam@lightfair.com

I have been in Sales for the last 10 years in the chemical and lighting industry. I’ve become very passionate about the lighting industry over the last 4 years. The innovation and technology advancements continue to grow and I love to see what products are coming out year after year. I grew up in Peachtree City, Georgia. After high school I spent 6 years in the US Army, then went on to spend the last 8 years in Boston and Martha’s Vineyard. I enjoy hunting, lake activities and hanging out with my wife and daughter. Go Dawgs!

P: 1.404-220-2221.
E: benjamins@lightfair.com

Rowena has 14 years of experience in the trade show industry. She started her career at Surf Expo and has worked for U.S. Antiques Shows, RFID Journal LIVE!, Artisan Bakery Expo and Pizza Expo. Her experience includes exhibit sales, customer service, marketing, and attendee relations.

Rowena joined LightFair in 2021 and is excited to be working for such an incredible show and with so many talented people.

Rowena is a native of Atlanta and a graduate of the University of Georgia. In her spare time she loves to read, travel and spend time with family, friends and her dog, Murphy.

P: +1.404.220.2287
E: rowenab@lightfair.com>

Musselman leads the strategy for content development in technical standards and in education for IES. Her experience as an architectural lighting designer contributes to her ability to manage programs, seek input from stakeholders, and curate content for the benefit of IES and IALD members as well as LightFair's non-member participants. She was one of Lighting Magazine’s International 40 under 40 in 2017, and past president of the Detroit IES section (2013-2015). She served as IES Annual Conference Committee Chair in 2016 and 2017.

“Overseeing the LightFair Conference offers IES an opportunity to represent the lighting community in new ways. With appreciation for LightFair’s diverse attendees, the IES will work with IALD to explore new education modalities and encourage bold memorable content.”

Please contact Melanie Bradley (below) with Conference queries.

Melanie has been in the trade show industry for over 15 years, starting her event experience at AmericasMart in 2008 as the Executive Director of Sales. After returning to her home state of Ohio in 2018, Melanie became a part-time Realtor and loves helping people in her community build financial wealth. She then spent time on the general service contractor side at Shepard, as an Account Executive managing upwards of 15 national events annually.

Melanie joined Lightfair in 2022 and enjoys managing the Conference and Operations piece of the event. Planning the presentations and executing is her main responsibility, along with being the liaison for the speakers, Freeman and show site logistics.

Melanie graduated from Ohio University in 2007 with a Retail Merchandising major. Through college internships at Giorgio Armani and Vandale Industries in NYC, she was able to learn many aspects of the fashion industry. Outside of work, Melanie enjoys spending time with her two children and husband, traveling, being a foodie, making people laugh and spreading positive vibes.

P: +1. 404.357.6136
E: melanieb@lightfair.com>

Lori Kisner is a 36-year veteran of the trade show industry. Her career started at Americasmart Atlanta, the nation’s largest wholesale marketplace, working on tradeshows for the apparel and home furnishings industry before she was appointed show manager for Surf Expo, the world’s largest action sports trade show. As SVP of Retail Shows, Lori spent 10 years working for dmg world media, where she continued to manage Surf Expo and the West Coast Gift Show portfolio that included eight gift shows in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Under her management - for two consecutive years - Surf Expo made Trade Show Week’s Top 50 Fastest-Growing Trade Shows in the U.S. Lori spent five years as SVP for Apparel for the Atlanta Apparel Market, a 2-million square foot wholesale facility for the apparel industry. While at Americasmart, Kisner launched an aggressive expansion for the social occasion industry resulting in a 30% gain in square footage.

Lori launched Market Maker Events in 2014 to pursue her goal of creating an event consulting company that focuses on providing dynamic events that give customers the highest level of service and ROI. Market Maker Events owns and manages three trade shows for the floorcovering industry as well as provides consulting services for the trade show industry. Recently, she consulted on Emerald’s NY NOW and SF NOW events.

Lori is a graduate of the University of Illinois and has been a member of IAEE and SISO.

P: +1. 404-220-2251
E: lorik@lightfair.com>

Ryan has over 20 years of executing marketing and advertising strategies for global brands in the television, real estate, and hospitality industries. When he is not working at LightFair you can find him traveling, cooking, reading a good sci-fi book, and delving into landscape design.

Ryan won an Emmy for Turner Entertainment’s “100 Years of Film” as associate producer.

P: +1.404.220.2237
E: ryanc@lightfair.com

Rupa joined LightFair in November 2019 following marketing positions with a Fortune 50 retailer and a decorative lighting manufacturer. Her work experience spans 15+ years, two continents, and a range of roles with agency and in-house corporate teams. She enjoys collaborating with the LightFair team and members of the lighting industry to drive engaging and relevant content marketing initiatives.

Learning at least one new thing every day about the industry she works in is one of Rupa's goals. When she is not strategizing, curating and crafting content for LightFair, she enjoys spending time in nature, hanging out with her family, doing yoga, reading, teaching, daydreaming, binge-watching, and dabbling in personal writing projects. She is a happy, oddball marketer/writer in a family of engineers and techies.

P: +1.404.220.2233
E: rupar@lightfair.com

Blake has been with LightFair since December 2019 and this is her first experience with the lighting industry. She is excited to grow her knowledge and loves seeing the complexity lighting holds within so many different industries. "We can’t live without light and it’s a vital, yet beautiful part of our daily lives. I’m glad we can transform this passion into a tradeshow with the best of the best."

In her spare time, Blake loves taking walks with her pup Ziggy and making fresh flower arrangements.

P: +1.404.220.2298
E: blakeb@lightfair.com

Amanda joined the LightFair team in 2021 and this is her first experience in the lighting industry. She is excited to learn more about the world of trade shows from an industry that specializes in making many aspects of life even brighter, and she loves the ability to meet journalists from all over the world that cover such an impactful industry. “A light has the ability to shift any mood in any room. Lighting is so powerful, and I can’t wait to share the story that it tells with the press.”

When Amanda isn’t working, you can find her exercising, playing with her cat, Pepper, or creating new makeup looks with her many colorful products. Amanda is also a Georgia Bulldog, and whenever she can, loves to say, “Go Dawgs!”

P: +1.404.220.2153

E: AMerritt@imcenters.com

Bob joined the LightFair team in 2010 to assist with hotel logistics, contracting, and to enhance the host city/convention center deliverables to LightFair. His career experience as a hotel director of Marketing for Marriott Hotels and 10 years directing city-wide sales with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau made for a good partnership.

Bob's responsibilities also include supporting our parent company IMC—running the Convention Center business, maintaining hotel partnerships, supporting our food service and event operations teams.

When not working, golf, beach and lake vacations with the family are the priority.

P: +1.404.220.2652
F: +1 678.686.5101
E: bschuler@imcenters.com