ABOUT US:
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
The Imago Trade Shows Board of Directors:
Director: Jimmy Mouton, President / CEO - Imago Productions, Inc.: Jimmy brings over fourteen (14) years of industry experience to Imago Productions, Inc. He has served in executive level, senior management, sales management, sales, and operational management positions through many sectors of the trade show and events industry. This experience includes the Account Executive - the Georgia World Congress Center (Atlanta, GA); Account Manager - Shepard Exposition Services (Atlanta, GA); Director of Sales - SSI Productions (Atlanta, GA); National Sales Manager - Crestline Hotels (Atlanta, GA); Trade Show Manager - CMP Media / United Business Media (Atlanta, GA); Director of Sales - The Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center (San Antonio, TX); Director of Sales & Marketing - Sterling Ledet & Associates (Atlanta, GA); and Trade Show Manager - Messe Frankfurt USA (Atlanta, GA). This history provides Jimmy experience in all aspects of event production including convention facilities, general contractors, production support, hotels and destination management, event management, logistics management, and personnel management. Jimmy recently completed the Bachelors of Science - Business Management program at National Louis University in Chicago, IL, finishing with a 3.95 GPA. He resides in Atlanta with his wife, son, and twin daughters.
Director: Dave MacDougall, CFO - Imago Productions, Inc.: David started his business career after receiving his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from West Virginia University in 1989. David has worked in the tax industry with several Certified Public Accountants and firms focusing on the compliance needs of small business entrepreneurs. David went on to earn his MBA degree from Kennesaw State University and was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society for his outstanding academic achievement there. David became a Certified Public Accountant and honed his skills while working as a Tax Consultant for a large estate planning company in Dunwoody, Georgia. He became a Tax Manager and worked at this position serving individual and business clients for a number of years. David eventually got the entrepreneurial bug and started Strategic Tax & Accounting LLC where he continues serving the public by offering a variety of tax and accounting services. David brings an amazing financial background to Imago Trade Shows, providing the company an ability to ensure effective management of funds and investments. David currently resides in Atlanta with his wife and daughter.
Director: James "Marty" Cross, CIO - Imago Productions, Inc.: Marty has been on the cutting edge of IT technology for over eight years. He founded HomeLinks-Atlanta, a Georgia corporation marketing a broad range of computer services and related audio/video integration services to clients in metropolitan Atlanta. He was instrumental in the IT infrastructure development of the Georgia based Corporation Golf Club Exchange, a leading Internet auction marketplace for new and used golf club equipment, similar to EBay.com in complexity, utilizing dynamic website applications. Marty has also served with the IT Division of PolyVision, a manufacturer of visual communications equipment and division of Steelcase Inc. with five facilities in the U.S., three in Europe, over 800 employees, and over 250 office and remote computer users. Marty has vast experience working with custom hardware/software business integration, server configuration, DSL and cable modem network integration, local area and wireless networks, and other related products and services, and has excelled with A+ and Network+ certifications, Win Server NT/00/03, Active Directory, Exchange 2003, Win NT 4/95/98/2000/XP/Vista, MS Office 97/2000/XP/2003/2007, basic OSX, basic Linux, Citrix, Doc-Link, LCS 2005, Acronis True Image, Mail Archive Attender, WSS 3.0, Faxmaker server, DameWare, Cisco VoIP (CM 4.2, Unity & 79xx phones), LAN/WAN, TCP/IP, 802.11xxx, VPN, DHCP, DNS, VNC, Remote Desktop, Virtual PC, and VMware. Marty earned his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science / International Relations at California State University at Long Beach. Marty currently resides in Atlanta with his wife, son and daughter.
Director: Carl Mitchell, President/Owner - Shepard Exposition Services: As the executive leader of one of the industry's leading General Contractors, Carl Mitchell brings much guidance and experience to the Imago Trade Shows program. Shepard Expositions has built its industry leading reputation through a commitment to innovative service, fair pricing, responsive people, a "services" attitude, and teamwork. As a result, Shepard has handled the most important vendor responsibility for some of the industry's leading events. Their reference list includes accolades from the Screen Graphic Imaging Association (190,000 NSF, 3,900,000 pounds of freight, Atlanta, Minneapolis, New Orleans), the International Association of Poultry and Egg (400,000 NSF, 3,800,000 pounds of freight, Atlanta), the Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry (120,000 NSF, 3,100,000 pounds of freight, North America), EH Publishing Electronic House (55,000 NSF, 465,000 pounds of freight, Orlando, Long Beach), the Associated Locksmiths of America (40,000 NSF, 600,000 pounds of freight, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Chicago), Summit Business Media, DECOR Expo (197,000 & 120,000 NSF, 890,000 & 650,000 pounds of freight, Orlando, New York, Atlanta, Palm Springs), Grace McNamara, Inc, International Window Coverings Expo (85,000 NSF, 400,000 pounds of freight, Baltimore, Atlanta), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (60,000 NSF, 350,000 pounds of freight, North America), the National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association (30,000 NSF, 100,000 pounds of freight, North America), the Retail Tobacco Dealers Association of America (120,000 NSF, 1 million pounds of freight, North America), and more. Carl's contribution to the Imago Trade Shows Board of Directors is invaluable and provides the company an insight to what our exhibitors, attendees, and our industry want to see from our company in order to reach win-win scenarios for all involved. Carl's core competency is the heart of our operation. Carl and his wife currently resides in Atlanta.
Director: Michael Holt, CEO - CCLD: CCLD is the exclusive telecommunications provider for the Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Dome and Centennial Park. CCLD, Inc. companies also provide residential & commercial voice, data & network equipment and cabling. Most recently, CCLD was named the primary United States distributor for ClearWire services, a wireless broadband Internet service provider (ISP) serving markets in the United States, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark (with Danske Telecom) and Mexico (via MVSNet). On May 7, 2008, Clearwire and Sprint Nextel's wireless broadband unit Xohm announced their intent to merge. Prior to joining CCLD, Inc, Holt was Director of Trade Show Sales with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. Prior to joining the Bureau he served as Vice President of Sales with Experient/Conferon Global Services, where he managed registration accounts and oversaw housing and Web site development. Holt also worked for the Hawaii Convention and Visitors Bureau where he was their Regional Director of Sales for the Northeast & Southeastern accounts. Prior to joining Hawaii, Holt worked as Director of Sales at the Georgia World Congress Center, where he developed ties to the Atlanta hospitality industry and relationships with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau. He also has extensive experience with the Marriot hotel company as their first African-American Director of Sales for a major market. Holt has served on Committees of both PCMA & IAEM. He was also the local President of both organizations as well as a founding member of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners. He is also on the Board of HSMAI, Technology Expo & the newly formed Restoration & Remediation Trade Show. Holt graduated from Michigan State with a Bachelors degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management. Michael resides in Atlanta with his wife and three daughters.
IMAGO TRADE SHOWS HISTORY:
Imago Trade Shows officially opened in May, 2008. However, the idea of the organization began in December, 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States, made landfall August 25, 2005.
At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion (2005 U.S. dollars) in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The catastrophic failure of the flood protection in New Orleans prompted immediate review of the Army Corps of Engineers, which has, by congressional mandate, sole responsibility for design and construction of the flood protection and levee systems. There was also widespread criticism of the federal, state and local governments' reaction to the storm, which resulted in an investigation by the U.S. Congress, and the resignation of Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown. Conversely, the National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service were widely commended for accurate forecasts and abundant lead time* .
As a native of Lafayette, Louisiana, the news of this event hit home. South Louisiana represented more than a home; the region represented the culture and pride of the Mouton family heritage; a culture unique to the region and experienced nowhere else in the country. On a family trip from Atlanta, Georgia to San Antonio, Texas, the Moutons visited the Mississippi Gulf Coast region from Biloxi to Gulfport, MS, as well as the infamous 9 th ward district of New Orleans, LA. These regions represented the areas suffering the most catastrophic of losses resulting from the hurricane. Though the news from the gulf coast over the days following the landfall of Katrina had a profound effect on the Mouton family, what they would personally experience on this trip would incite anger, rage, sadness, and a profound feeling of disappointment; and would eventually lead to the birth of an organization whose sole purpose would be to provide opportunities to industries whose services benefit people and the communities in which we live.
Over four months after landfall, the actual scope of the devastation experienced by this region was continuously apparent and growing due to a lack of ability to begin any progress with recovery. The affect of this single catastrophic event on the people, communities, businesses, and local, state, and federal government was unimaginable. More devastating than the physical damage was the inability of the communities to determine a course of action for recovery. The lack of communication between numerous levels of authority and the work force proved to be a catalyst to an even larger issue. The affected communities were faced with an inability to function, and faced the unthinkable possible outcome of discontinuance. There were more than enough labor and talent to begin the recovery and reconstruction process. However, a lack of disaster planning on the communal and business level, a non-existent chain of command and lack of accountability and a lack of communication among every aspect of recovery and reconstruction left these professionals with little room for success. Thousands of lives were left hanging in the balance; families displaced; communities destroyed; businesses closed; and government struggling to function; and there was no plan to recover and no chain of authority to make recovery a reality!
Over three years later, the overwhelming majority of the Gulf Coast region is still unrecovered. The 9 th ward of New Orleans remains desolate with numerous houses, neighborhoods and communities destroyed and abandoned. The Mississippi Gulf Coast between Biloxi and Gulfport remains devastated with the only business continuance belonging to small sectors of government and the wealthy Casinos, providing the smallest ray of hope of possible commerce returning to the citizens of these communities. All levels of authority have continued to blame each other for this lack of response to recovery and this monumental lack of planning. However, this region of the country has not been the only area to be affected by catastrophic events.
2007 and 2008 have witnessed record numbers of floods, tornadoes, fires and other natural disasters. Similar to the events following Katrina, many of the response, recovery and reconstruction efforts have been hindered by the same problems faced in the Gulf Coast. There has continued to be a lack of preparation for such events, and a major lack of communication responding to such events. And with each situation, the professionals whose core competencies are built around planning, responding, recovering, and rebuilding from such events have been available in abundance. Unfortunately finding out about such professionals AFTER experiencing catastrophic events is simply too late. As a result, the idea of a major Reconstruction Trade Show was born, as was Imago Trade Shows.
The purpose of our company is to provide a forum for all of these professionals to come together prior to such a catastrophic event; to discuss their crafts and how these services should work together to plan, respond, recover and rebuild from such tragedies. Our initial trade show, the National Disaster Reconstruction Expo, attempts to provide just such a forum.
Our goal: to provide a forum for Disaster Professionals to work together before tragedy strikes; to offer an opportunity for Disaster Professionals to learn more about each other, how they affect each other, how they can rely on each other, and how they can work together to ensure loss of life and property resulting from the next catastrophic event are minimized.
* Source: United States Congress (February 19, 2006). A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina (PDF), Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved on 2006-04-10.
