"Peggy knows conferences! She successfully led the WITI summit for years, organizing speakers, content, and logistics. Peggy is high energy and understands the technical and human sides of creating conferences with high impact. She is a joy to work with and her lifelong experience in theater shows in her ability to make a complex process with many moving parts on the back end into a seamless audience experience out front." – Diana Kelley, Chief Information Security Officer, Protect AI.
"Peggy Kilburn can do all the things everyone else says she can do--and excellently--but she can also interpret theatrically. Perhaps that is not always the first item on the list of considerations, but it sure does help when a role is at question or a personnel issue is a sticking point or budgeting is particularly dicey or tempus is fugiting. She can do it all with aplomb and grace. Her organizational skills are massive and finely tuned." - Philip Shore, Former Executive Director, Randolph Arts Guild.
"Peggy Kilburn always goes out of her way to make each speaker feel special and that we are her first priority. Her attention to detail is extraordinary. The bottom line is that if I received two invitations to speak at two different events for the same day, I'd accept one from Peggy over any other." - Rick Smolan, CEO, Against All Odds Productions.
"Peggy is a high-energy, detail-oriented professional with a tremendous ability to work with all types of people, in all different types of situations. In addition to being a world class individual, her dedication, devotion, and professionalism are incredible and second to none. I look forward to working with Peggy again on future projects!" – Lawrence Dvorchik, Global Head of Value Creation & Strategy, Operating Partners Forums.
"I've given presentations around the world and I've seen everything when it comes to conference planning. Peggy Kilburn's conference organizational talents are some of the best I've ever come across. I can always rely on her to make things run smooth and efficient. I never have to worry about a thing." - Russell Preston Brown, Senior Creative Director, Adobe Systems.
"Peggy Kilburn is the consummate professional! She understands how to build a strong and compelling conference program. Peg never fails to dot each I and to cross each T. Her work is thorough, professional, and on time. Nothing is ever left to chance. She is funny, friendly, accessible and smart." - Barbara Gavin, Former Director of Conferences, Pearson Education.
"I worked with Peggy Kilburn on a trade show called MacWorld, back in the '80s. In those days each person would have to wear 1,000 hats and in fact, Peggy is one of the people who taught me how to do that: How to stand up under pressure. How to deal with the myriad of craziness, stupid issues, and unions that haunts every trade show producer. Peggy Kilburn to me is THE person - who wrote the book on running conferences and trade shows. Bottom line - Peggy is the person to hire to run a conference, trade show or any other event which brings people together." - Marc Canter, CEO & Chairman, Instigate.
"Creating a conference program is a unique skill. You take a concept or idea, break it down in to various smaller themes (which become the conference sessions) and set out to recruit the best speakers. This is as much artistry with a blank canvas as it is project management with hundreds of elements, and it takes a uniquely-skilled manager to do it well. Peggy Kilburn has worked with me in three companies (each with a world-class conference) doing this unique artistry and creating a conference from the bottom up, doing it on the time-pressed schedules we all live by, and creating a winning program. I highly recommend Peggy for any conference or event - or any project - you may have. Clear planning and communications, easy management and professional direction are the name of the game. You can't go wrong with Peggy Kilburn on your team!" - William Sell, Managing Partner, Advisor Communications.
"I have had the good fortune of working with Peggy as a fellow actor and community organizer throughout my years in Asheboro. As an actor, Peggy is on-time and prepared. She brings her joy and love of theater into the space and creates a safe and positive working environment. She shows her heart through being patient and game with the goal of successful storytelling. These traits follow her into her community and event organizing. She is diligent, kind, and clear. And maybe most importantly, she follows through on her intentions. I have found the ability to get things done is somewhat rare and Peggy gets things done." - Patrick Osteen, Associate Artistic Director, RhinoLeap Productions.
"I've never worked with a conference director who cared as much about her work as Peggy. I would gladly speak at any Kilburn conference in a heartbeat. All Peggy has to do is ask and I'll be there…" - Bob LeVitus (“Dr. Mac”), Retired author of 90+ technical books.
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"As a speaker, I work with many teams and leaders putting on some of the most important events in the world! Peggy is often leading them. Her attention to detail, ability to create a stellar event staff, and ability to bring a diverse and inclusive program that celebrates uniqueness is why I look for her name every time I encounter a new event. She strives for operational excellence and delivers an event that not only delights but also transforms attendees. I am much more likely to accept a keynote to speak if I know that Peggy is at the helm." – Noelle Silver Russell, Chief AI Officer, AI Leadership Institute.
"Peggy is an engaging, tireless, extremely positive and well-connected conference maestro. I worked with Peggy as a speaker/panel moderator at the annual WITI Summit in 2014. She drove the process of recruiting all-star panelists, ensuring that the session met both WITI's and my goals with time to spare. Her combination of upbeat attitude and professionalism ensured that the process was always moving forward without ever feeling rushed. She has great organizing skills and attention to detail. At the same time, every encounter was warm, personal and positive. Peggy manages to be flexible and accommodating while keeping things on track. I've worked with many conference organizers, and this combination is rare - and greatly appreciated by speakers and conference organizers alike." – Abbie Lundberg, Editor in Chief, MIT Sloan Management Review.
"Peggy Kilburn possesses a terrific talent for putting together very complicated conferences and organizing large numbers of people from all parts of the country. I find her one of the true professionals of this business." - Craig Luigart, Chief Health Technology Officer, Fairfax County, Virginia.
"Over the past 25 years or so, I've spoken at several hundred conferences. Never over the years have I seen a conference director whose work was superior to that of Peggy Kilburn's. And only a few even came close. If I had the opportunity to choose a conference management firm for ANY type of project, I'd pick the firm where Peggy is involved." - Stuart Gitlow, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President, Clinical Development, Ignite Biomedical.
"I have worked with Peggy Kilburn on several conferences. She was detail oriented, easy to work with, and has a 'can do' attitude. I would be happy to hire Peggy to coordinate any conference that I was putting together." - Jon "maddog" Hall, Board Chair, Linux Professional Institute.
"I've worked with Peggy Kilburn on a number of conferences and always come away impressed with her organizational and strategic skills in driving conference content and program development. Peggy knows what it takes to put together a conference program that attracts attendees and - more important - delivers what they came to learn." - John Gallant, Enterprise Consulting Director, Foundry (formerly International Data Group).
"It definitely has been a very positive experience working with Peggy. She is always upbeat; has a great ability to understand the issues related to event development specially related to content structure and speaker selection." - Anto Budiardjo, Founding Member, Coalition for Smarter Buildings.
"Peggy is the human embodiment of ‘get things done well’! She is resourceful, proactive, thoughtful, with energy and personality to spare. She is easy to work with, a great communicator and problem solver." – Heidi Roizen, Partner, Threshold Ventures.
"Peggy turns a conference into a family affair to which every participant is happy to come home." - Bert Monroy, Artist, Author, Lecturer.
"I make my living as a global speaker, coach, and trainer, so I have worked with many conference directors. Having worked with Peggy for many years now I can say that she is at the top of her field. She is both a consummate professional as well as someone who is very pleasant to work with. She is very good at juggling many moving pieces and at the same time she always makes me feel valued, respected, and appreciated. I like her clear and concise communication and I appreciate her proactive efforts to make sure that I, too, get the most out of my attendance at the conference. I love working with Peggy and I give her my highest recommendation and I know that if you get the opportunity to work with her you will feel the same way." – John Bates, Founder & CEO, Executive Speaking Success.
"I have dealt with many conference organizers; Peggy stands out as one of the true gems. Peggy is not only well organized, but she anticipates the needs of vendors, conference participants, and attendees. But above all, Peggy remains calm and a pleasure to deal with." - Jim Burger, Hi-Tech IP Lawyer, Adjunct Professor & Policy Professional.
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"Peggy is a highly experienced conference organizer who is excellent in all aspects of conference coordination and management. She is energetic, collaborative, and engaged with team members, service providers, and content contributors.” – Katherine Thompson, Innovation and Cyber Security Advocate; & COO, Cyber Future Foundation.
"Peggy worked with us at WITI for 13 years, on both our Annual Summit and the Women in Science & Technology Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony. Her professionalism, attention to detail, organizational skills, and ability to interact most effectively with all types of people and personalities were powerful assets for our events. Peggy is innovative, creative, and enthusiastic, with an upbeat, can-do attitude. She is a clear, concise, proactive communicator. She has exceptional determination to deliver an excellent product no matter the obstacles." - David Leighton, Co-Founder & CEO, Women in Technology International.
"I highly recommend Peggy Kilburn as the go-to person when developing and executing on a corporate conference. Peggy was brought into the planning process of Smart Grid Interoperability Panel's (SGIP) 2014 Annual Conference with a very short timeline to execute on the event. Peggy and I worked together to identify the desired core content and ideal speaker candidates. Peggy then creatively and skillfully secured and wove together industry leading subject matter experts and topics to allow SGIP to present critical content that was delivered in fresh and compelling ways. Through her thoughtful insights, professional and moving communications, and follow-up to inquiries and requests for help even months after the close of the event, Peggy helped take our event's content and our attendees experience to the next level. Make sure you include Peggy when planning your next event." – Blaine Kohl, Principal, BKC Consulting.
"As an industry executive, I work with many show and conference directors. While all of them are very good, Peggy Kilburn stands out as one of the best. Her organization skills as well as industry knowledge make her one of the top show and conference organizers I am privileged to work with." - Tim Bajarin, Chairman, Creative Strategies.
"From an exhibitor and speaker point of view, the best conferences we've been to are the ones arranged by Peggy Kilburn. Peggy knows what she’s doing; gets things done; and is a joy to work with on top of that." - Mary and Tom Evslin, Co-Founders, NG Advantage.
"Peggy Kilburn is in a class by herself, doing everything from the early contact to the final follow-through precisely, professionally, and without missing a beat. She's able to be ringmaster over the typical expo circus and make it all look easy. And if that's not enough, she treats every speaker as if they were the keynote presenter, giving a personal touch to the entire process." - Jahan Salahi, International Director, Agence Global.
"Peggy is incredible. She handles high profile people with incredible egos and makes everyone feel special. She built an outstanding advisory board of very high profile, talented people and had the group eating out of her hand. She managed to get this group of people together year after year to do conference program planning and had each person wanting to leverage their rolodex to provide the best people to speak on topics. She would work most of the night pulling together the work we had done the day before and present it back to us the next day for us to continue to work, tweak, and edit. A tireless, extremely organized person, very positive and upbeat, wonderful attitude, generous with her time and effort. I would gladly work with Peggy again." - Pam Sansbury, Industry Alliance Director, KPMG.
"I learned a huge amount from Peggy early in my career when we worked together putting on early computer tradeshows like Applefest. Peggy showed me how to charm (and calm) difficult people, how to organize teams with ease and humor, how to become a master of whatever subject matter is required to assemble the right team of speakers, and just get everything done without fuss and to the highest standard. She remains a master of all this. Peggy is always on top of every detail and every event that I've seen her manage has been done with polished professionalism, and is always delightfully sprinkled with Peggy’s unmatched charm, enthusiasm, and humor." – Alice Lankester, Principal, Lankester Engineering.
"Peggy brought with her the tech industry experience and network to drive a successful awards program at WITI year after year. She utilized her contacts to ensure only the top influential women in tech and science were nominated for WITI's prestigious awards. She ensured each year's program ran smoothly and with the utmost care. Her attention to every event detail and refined approach to executive relations lent well to ensuring the exceptional brand of the awards program was maintained, if not heightened, year after year." – Paula Gould, Co-Founder, WomenTechIceland.
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