Chris is the Chief Executive Officer of the AEO (Association of Event Organisers), the leading association for organisers of events in the UK and internationally.
Chris started his career in media auditing at the Audit Bureau of Circulations, where he later led on the development of their auditing products for the event sector.
In 2006 Chris moved to the Events Industry Alliance, overseeing the merger of AEC & BECA to form ESSA (Event Supplier & Services Association) and the launch of the highly successful ‘Use an ESSA Member’ campaign. In 2010, he also became Director of ESSA’s sister association, AEV (Association of Event Venues), driving venue engagement through numerous special interest groups.
Chris holds a seat on the Government’s Events Industry Board Committee and is Vice Chair & Treasurer of BVEP (Business Visits & Events’ Partnership), a partnership of all leading associations in the event industry, representing the sector to government and regulators. He is an UFI Board Member and chair of their associations.

Darren Caplan joined RIA as Chief Executive in January 2017. Since then he has led the RIA team, with a mission to promote rail industry growth, increase RIA’s visibility amongst political and stakeholder decision makers and influencers, and ensure RIA develops into the very best trade association it can be for its members. In 2019, RIA won the “Overall Best Association” category for its size at the Association Excellence Awards.

Prior to RIA, Darren was for six years Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association (AOA), the trade association for UK airports. Before the AOA, Darren worked for 14 years in communications, politics and public affairs across a number of sectors, including infrastructure, planning and technology. He is a lifelong and long-suffering support of Crystal Palace FC.

Debbie joined APM in 2015 and held the roles of chief commercial officer and chief operating officer before becoming CEO in 2018. She is responsible for leading the organisation through a period of change, including establishing it as a chartered body and developing the reputation of project management as a profession of value.

Debbie’s career journey has seen her work for Thames Television, Oxford University Press and as a member of the board at Swets Information Services, delivering global transformation projects across sales, IT and customer service. Debbie has also served as a non-executive director for UKSG, a membership organisation connecting the knowledge community, and as a volunteer for Inspiring Future Careers.

Having had responsibility for teams in 25 countries, Debbie has a proven track record in leading people through change and development, and using technology to drive continuous improvement. She says the most important attributes in her role as CEO are being open to learning new things, listening to people’s views and having the confidence to do things differently.

Outside work, Debbie’s passions include travelling and exploring new places. She also enjoys property development and walking.

Noorzaman is Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute for Ergonomics and Human Factors, the professional body focussed on improving life, wellbeing and performance through integrated design, technology and science.

He has a successful track record of leading professional services firms, public sector agencies and working with membership bodies at board level. He is a former Master of the Livery Company for Management Consultants and Non Executive Director of the Foundation for Social Improvement, which has 8,000 organisational members

Dr. Vaughan-Dick (PhD) has worked at a senior level in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Valerie is presently the Chief Operating Officer of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). The RCGP is the membership organisation for 53,000 GPs and works extensively to be the voice of General Practice and improve patient care in the UK and internationally. She leads the staff across the organisation in the UK and internationally and joined the RCGP in 2014 initially as Executive Director of Planning and Resources.
Valerie started her career with the National Audit Office where she qualified as an accountant. She worked on value for money and financial audits of the Departments of Health & Social Security, Overseas Services, Local Government and Housing. Valerie has been an Executive Finance and Resources Director in central and local government, working on financial and strategic management issues. She has been a Chair of a NHS Trust and is presently the Chair of the Woolwich Creative District Trust, a major regeneration project covering the Royal Arsenal area in London and Chair of Audit and Board Member of a Housing Association.

In 2008, she was awarded the HM Treasury Government and CPFA Finance Profession ‘Personality of the Year’ award for excellence in financial management.

Ken is the Chief Executive Officer of the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP). The CIPP is the association for payroll and pension professionals in the UK and was established in 1980. With more than 10,000 individuals benefitting from the CIPP’s membership, education and training services, the Institute is dedicated to raising the profile of UK payroll in businesses across the UK.

The CIPP also has a seat at government consultation forums influencing legislation that affect payroll and pensions in the UK and in ensuring members are up to date and their views are heard. Prior to becoming CEO of the CIPP Ken has had 40 years experience within the Payroll & HR Services industry with roles as such as Global Payroll Outsourcing Director, BPO Operations Director and various Service Director roles.

Riad has over 20 years’ experience in developing content and producing conferences in the commercial and non-commercial sectors, both in the UK and in the Middle East. He has developed new conferences from scratch as well as managed and grown portfolios and increasing ROI. He is currently event portfolio development manager at the Institution of Engineering and Technology managing a range of events including technical call for papers conferences, invited speaker events, training courses and an awards ceremony. Recently he has been involved with and managed the process to convert all physical events to virtual events for 2020/21.