BizBash will celebrate veteran event and meeting professionals in Southern California by inducting them into the BizBash Hall of Fame. The honorees are Cheryl Cecchetto, Steve Goodling, Edward Perotti, Sharon Sacks, and the Los Angeles Times’ events team, represented by Scott Dallavo and Hillary Manning. The ceremony, to be held Thursday at the 1220 Event Space at Universal Studios Lot, will also recognize two rising stars in the industry: Caroline Lett and Justin Tribe. Chosen by the BizBash executive committee for their work, accomplishments, and contributions to the industry, the honorees join a distinguished group of industry professionals. The full list of BizBash Hall of Fame inductees can be found here.
Cheryl Cecchetto
Owner and president, Sequoia Productions
From humble beginnings in a tiny Santa Monica apartment, Cecchetto built Sequoia Productions into one of Hollywood’s leading special events production companies. Cecchetto has coordinated and produced the Primetime Emmys Governors Ball and Emmys Creative Arts Ball for 19 consecutive years. The Emmy events are North America’s largest annual seated dinners, totaling 7,500 guests. Cecchetto and her team have also produced the Academy Awards Governors Ball for 27 consecutive years. Sequoia Productions has also produced Australia’s elite G’day USA Gala for the past 14 years. She is author of Passion to Create: Your Invitation to Celebrate, and her events and designs have been featured in publications including the Los Angeles Times, InStyle, The Robb Report, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, People, and Vanity Fair.
Steve Goodling
President and C.E.O., Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Goodling joined the Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau in 2001, leading an organization that serves as the city’s marketing agency for conventions and tourism. It has become a vital part of Long Beach's economic health: Overnight visitors generate more than $300 million annually and support nearly 7,000 local jobs. The bureau also supports cultural and charitable groups by providing marketing and promotional expertise and making connections with business leaders. Goodling graduated from Penn State University with a degree in marketing. He brings more than 30 years of hotel and destination marketing experience to Long Beach, first with Marriott and then with Shangri-La Hotels, a Hong Kong-based company operating luxury resorts throughout Asia.
Los Angeles Times Events
The Los Angeles Times develops and executes more than 90 events each year, from large-scale community festivals to exclusive high-end gatherings. Its events are an extension of the newspaper’s mission to bring readers the information they need to make their lives more productive and enjoyable. The events amplify the Times' journalism and civic engagement initiatives, cultivate and maintain audiences, generate original content, connect sponsors and affiliates with consumers, and create new revenue streams. Representing the paper are Dallavo, director of events and strategic alliances, and Manning, director of communications.
Edward Perotti
Senior director of global meetings, events, and travel, VMware
For more than 25 years, Perotti has been creating events ranging from 10 to 15,000 participants for clients in the high-tech, corporate, nonprofit, and government arenas. In addition, Perotti has created and managed global travel programs, giving him a unique perspective on the art of event planning. Perotti has held leadership positions within Meeting Professionals International, and has received awards for his work on event design and innovation, sustainability, corporate social responsibility, and industry leadership.
Sharon Sacks
President and founder, Sacks Productions
Through her Los Angeles-based event production company, Sacks has traveled the globe coordinating large-scale events from the 60,000-person Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Revlon Run/Walk for Women to smaller celebrations including celebrity weddings and private parties. Sacks has worked on behalf of former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore, Prince Andrew, Jennifer Lopez, Norman Lear, Madonna, Denzel Washington, and couples including Yvette Prieto and Michael Jordan, Lily Aldridge and Caleb Followill, and Vanessa Minnillo and Nick Lachey. Sacks is a featured columnist for the Huffington Post, and her work has been featured by publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, The Knot, People, Us, and The New York Times. She also recently launched the Sharon Sacks by Lenox Collection of fine china.
Rising Star Honorees
Caroline Lett
Director of campaign events, University of Southern California
Lett produces high-level events for the university's $6 billion capital campaign. For the past three years she has been responsible for designing and producing events that support and advance the university’s mission. Prior to this position, Lett served as the senior event and marketing director at Warner Bros. Studios Special Events. Lett has been a speaker at industry event conferences and serves on the advisory board of Special Events magazine; in 2015, she was named one of "25 Young Professionals to Watch."
Justin Tribe
Conference and incentive planner, In-N-Out Burger
Tribe joined In-N-Out Burger in 2014 as a meeting and event coordinator. He coordinated and executed corporate workshops, conferences, awards dinners, and incentive trips before being promoted in 10 months to conference and incentive planner. He graduated from California State University Fullerton and continues his educational reach today as he works to become a certified meeting professional.
