Dennis is the founder and Chief Executive of Major Events International (MEI). His role is to ensure MEI continues to extend it geographic and customer reach and quality control of all deliverables. His experience includes: assessing and leading must-win bids, setting requirements for complex procurement, running prime contracting business and preparations and delivery of major events.

Prior to forming MEI he has worked for Thales where he formed and ran the Land Systems business achieving rapid growth in new markets prior to establishing the Security Systems business in UK with responsibility for major events. His last appointment was the London 2012 Account Director for Atos Origin, the International Olympic Committee World-Wide IT partner having completed training in Beijing in the build up to the 2008 Olympic Games.

His formative working years were in the UK Army where he retired in the rank of Colonel with a Command and Control and Security background. He lead requirements and major bid assessment teams, commanded at Regimental level and served in numerous multi-national organizations and on operations.

Dennis is well connected internationally, having lived for eleven years outside UK, with an extensive network across many countries and industry. He is a regular contributor to journals and conferences. With MEI he has assembled a leadership team of unrivalled breadth and depth of skills and experience and used the principles of prime contracting to build a supplier community which MEI helps to win new business.

Chris Juett is a Graphic and Website Designer with a Degree in Media. Chris runs his own business called christinct designs and has provided graphic, print and web design services to numerous businesses.

Chris heads up the media, design and technical support for MEI. Specifically he manages and creates the advertising accounts, banners and images featured on the website.

Chris also produces all the print material for MEI, everything from the fliers to the advertising displays. He also provides staff and customer support for the website and all other technical and computer aspects of the day-to-day business administration of MEI.

Antonio is the Brazil Country Director and leads the growth of MEI in this high priority market. Based in Rio, he has an extensive network of contacts and significant experience of growing key accounts in the export market. He will be supported by 3 other members of the MEI team, and will assist international clients with their growth plans in Brazil. This includes customer contact planning, in-country training, and use of all MEI services to include shared use of office space and translation services during meetings. He will also support Brazilian companies meet new international partners and winning business outside Brazil. He will maintain close contact with all Major Events key customers and support MEI support services to this community.

Antonio é o Diretor no Brasil e responsável pelo desenvolvimento da MEI neste mercado de alta prioridade. Baseado no Rio de Janeiro, tem uma extensa rede de contatos e experiência significativa no gerenciamento de contas importantes no ramo da exportação. Antonio terá o apoio de três membros da equipe da MEI e vai dar suporte aos clientes internacionais na realização de seus projetos de instalação e crescimento no Brasil. Isto inclui um esquema de contatos com clientes, treinamento in-loco, e uso de todos os serviços da MEI, incluindo o uso compartilhado de escritórios e serviços de tradução durante as reuniões. Vai igualmente assessorar firmas brasileiras, para que encontrem novos parceiros internacionais e transações proveitosas fora do Brasil. Antonio estará em contato permanente com os clientes mais importantes da MEI , e irá dar todo o apoio aos serviços de assessoria da MEI neste país.

Michael is the principle point of contact for MEI to assist clients with funding major projects such as Stadiums or other venues. He has the access of a network of funding agencies and will make introductions, write business plans, support presentations and help justify joint funding ventures in support of major events.

Michael has a strong background in finance, senior management in large organisations and start-ups and experience in restructuring businesses. With a degree in economics from the University Hamburg, Germany, he has more than 20 years experience having been a Managing director and CEO in several companies in a stockmarket-listed private equity plc and Restaurant and Hotel group. Until 2009 Michael was MD in the financial holding of Dr. Peters group which financed major shipping and aircraft projects including the Airbus A380. In addition to CFO MEI, he supports an airline company in a growth and stabilizing process.

Michael is convinced that everything is about the people. “A motivated team with straight and clear objectives can have outstanding success. However be aware, everybody likes to earn money and therefore a well balanced P&L account with sustainable Cash flow and a debt/equity ratio in balance-sheets showing strength and power to the market is evident as background in all industries. Put these together and it works fine.”

Additionally Michael is called as honourable judge at the Hamburg Court for Trade Affairs and the Financial Court for customs for more than 10 years.

Michael is a highly experienced former CEO and CFO with significant experience in the Sports and Venue markets. As the CEO of Wembley National Stadium he was responsible for the transitioin to the new National Stadium and which was widely recognised as an outstanding success. A more detailed overview of his experience is summarised below.

He is an experienced General Manager with a financial background, who leads by creating clarity through clear planning and control. Core management abilities are leadership, strategy, commercial development and stakeholder management, which were mainly acquired in well managed blue chip FMCG organisations such as Unilever, Diageo (Guinness) and Coca-cola Schweppes. These skills have, more recently, been used to improve less well managed organisations in the sports and leisure sector and to lead the successful redevelopment of the new Wembley National Stadium. They are now being used to good effect across a number of, mainly non-executive, roles.

Previous Events and Venue experience includes:

Chief Operating Officer - Aston Villa Football Club. Created detailed commercial plans for AVFC that mapped out how to achieve a 40% increase in turnover and 100% increase in the number of Premium seats within the existing stadium at minimal capital cost. Also highlighted fundamental operating issues and initiated a programme of remedial work which should ensure that all events, in the future are properly and safely managed.

Chief Executive Officer – Wembley National Stadium Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of The FA). Responsible for guiding Wembley National Stadium Ltd (WNSL) from a perilous financial position, with a very uncertain future, to become a commercial success with much public acclaim for the new National Stadium itself.

Chris is the founder and Managing Director of the International Protect and Prepare Security Office. He started the company after thirty years as a Police officer. His specialism however is in the field of strategic Counter terrorism advice and best practice. He has extensive policing experience in both Public order and community based policing. This included event commander for major sporting events and concerts at Twickenham Stadium.

During his service he has experience of commanding events such as Wimbledon tennis. As a public order commander he led teams at many hundreds of public order and security events across London. As Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office he co-ordinated the Counter Terrorist security for visits to the UK from foreign governments and dignitaries.

Chris had three major responsibilities within the United Kingdom. He was responsible for training, accrediting, tasking and co-ordinating over 250 Counter Terrorism Security Advisers across the UK. His speaking engagements typically includes 30 plus keynote speeches a year at major conferences in the UK and abroad. He has written many articles for magazines and is frequently quoted in the newspapers and media.

Rob brings to clients reach within and out from Australia and New Zealand a legal entity which will ensure MEI clients get the best possible support in domestic and international markets. He will leverage his strong background in senior management generally and his experience in operational delivery of services in Major Events & Venues applying lessons learned. He is well connected with Sports Federations and organisations and has a well established network through his experience over many years in senior management experience with sporting bodies and venues alike, as well as his role as Managing Director of Turnkey Management Group (TMG) which has provided commercial, strategic and management advice to sporting, entertainment and other organisations for their event and venue related business activities. Clients have included: The Football Federation of Australia; The Sydney Football Stadium & Sydney Cricket Ground; the Western Bulldogs; Moshtix; Manuka Oval; the CA Brumbies; the Canberra Raiders and the Gold Coast Suns.

He has a Masters Degree in Management attained from the University of Technology in Sydney, and has held General Manager and Operations Director roles with the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Melbourne Stadiums Ltd (Etihad Stadium); the CA Brumbies, the Australian Rugby Union, and Assistant Operations Manager for SOCOG at the Olympic Stadium during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Geoff represents MEI in Japan where he has lived for the last 12 years and has developed an extensive network of business contacts.

His role is to advise and support MEI clients in both inbound and outbound projects. He is a Chartered Accountant and has spent most of his career advising Western companies on business developments and transactions in the Far East, and particularly Japan.

Geoff has been working independently for the last 5 years with small and medium sized clients. Prior to that he spent 25 years working for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Credit Suisse in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

James is currently based in South Korea , he majored in English and Spanish and Convention management. He has extensive experience of the convention industry and has managed over 100 conventions and exhibitions, including Sports events in South Korea and East Asia.

Previously James has undertaken the following roles:

- CEO, SJSKP Co., Ltd. (Global Marketing, Convention, Exhibitions). 2002 - CEO, Golden Speakers Bureau in Korea (The first professional Speaker Bureau in Korea) ~ 2005 - Chief Executive Director, International Affairs, The 4th Busan TAFISA Games (patrons by IOC, UNESCO) : 2008 - Former Chief Managing Director, The London Speaker Bureau Hong Kong / Asia (has managed over hundreds of world renowned vips/speakers including Former President of USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, Dr. Jacques Attali, Dr. Guy Sorman)

His current roles encompass:

- CEO, COMPASS Co., Ltd Global Consulting Group (Business Management/Consulting/Marketings, Global Negotiations, Conventions, Exhibitions, MICE Industry) - Chief Executive/Advisor for overseas business, U-Engine Co., Ltd (IT Company producing open-source BPM Software)

Rachael Church-Sanders is an independent sports consultant and journalist, operating under her ZagZig Media banner.

Church-Sanders is the author of several widely-acclaimed business reports including best-selling Sport on the Internet (Screen Digest, June 2000), The Global Business of Sports Television (Screen Digest, March 2003), Bidding and Hosting: The Guide to Successful Sporting Events (Sportcal, October 2003), The Global Business of Poker (ArkSports August 2006; Second edition SportBusiness July 2007) and The Ultimate Sports City 2008: Strategies for Successful Event Hosting (SportBusiness, April 2008).

She is currently writing The Global Business of Bingo (Screen Digest, September 2008) and Creating a Winning Sports Website (SportBusiness, November 2008).

She was the guest contributor to Mediametrie's One Sport Year on the Television in the World 2003 (May 2004), and a contributing author to Mobile Technologies: The Opportunities for Sport (SportBusiness April 2005).

Rachael is the previous editor of both the European Sponsorship Newsletter and PACT Magazine for the Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television. As well as a previous Financial Times newsletter editor, she was also Head of Reports at FT Media & Telecoms for two years with direct responsibility for a list of over 200 management reports covering all aspects of sponsorship, broadcasting, film, new media and telecoms.

She sold her consulting company ArkSports to SportBusiness Group PLC in January 2007, including the company’s successful brands Sport and Technology and Sport and Technology: The Conference.

In addition to being a regular conference speaker, guest on international television and radio and an invited university lecturer, Rachael contributes as a writer and interviewee to trade press globally.
As well as being Chairman of Bromley Common Football Club, Rachael is a member of the Royal Television Society, the International Association for Sports Information, the European Sponsorship Association, the Institute of Directors and the World Poker Association.

Rachael has a BA Honours degree from Queen's University Belfast and an MPhil from Exeter University.

Amy graduated from University of Surrey in 2007. In her short career, she has gained experience in a variety of roles, working in Human Resources, Recruitment and Research positions.

Amy has brought her exceptional co-ordination and organisational skills to MEI, on top of her customer service expertise. As a result, Amy is in a position to provide MEI with first-rate administrative support, while their network and profile continue to grow.

Barbara has extensive experience working in different areas of the tourism market and her most recent role was to develop the guidelines and structures for the tourism office at the ville of Casimiro de Abreu (Brazil).

She currently attends Rennes 2 University, studying for a Masters in Tourism and Sports Events. At MEI she conducts market research surrounding the new opportunities from within the Brazilian market.

Robert Gogel brings his considerable senior executive experience to support the growth plans for Major Events international as the founding member of the Advisory Board. As a former Chief Executive of companies going through transition, and working across international markets, he also supports key client meetings to ensure business alignment and maximum value is gained. His particular strengths are in business development, restructuring and turnarounds, managing growth and creating shareholder value. He has a wider range of current and previous experience will deliver value to MEI and this includes:

Chief Learning Officer for the European Executive Council, a group of European business leaders from major multinationals

Adjunct Professor of Consulting and Strategy at the MBA Program at the Institute d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) in Paris

Guest lecturer at Cass Business School, London, England

Active member of Prince’s Trust, London, UK, working with disadvantaged youth

Former member of Board of Directors of Framfab, a publicly traded digital consultancy

Former member of Board of Directors, Tescom, a publicly traded software testing company

Former member of Advisory Board of Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Richard Skaife has 23 years experience in the UK Military before embarking upon his second career in the commercial sector, where he has 18 years experience as a business executive, with extensive experience in operational aspects of high tech start up businesses gained initially in the telecommunications sector.

Richard has successfully delivered multimillion telecommunications systems in international environments. He brings significant intellectual and business skills together with significant operational and organisational capability.
He is an innovative and creative thinker who is competent at both Board and detailed engineering level. He is an experienced people manager, team leader and innovative team player (invented several patents and in 1999, initiated the business idea for public wireless broadband hotspot broadband operations in Europe). He has led several technical initiatives in the terrestrial and satellite mobile communications industry with experience gained in ORANGE, Asia Cellular Satellite, ICO Global Communications, NORTEL, Inmarsat as well as an independent consultant.

He is a Chartered Engineer, member of the UK Energy Institute and has a PhD in Telecommunications Security.

Having a 30-year sales and marketing portfolio with a client roster that includes The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins & Genesis and The Los Angeles Lakers, Jeff has been consistently successful in conceptualizing, developing, and spearheading innovative marketing and promotional strategies that expand brand awareness and sponsors profitability.

For The 16th Asian Games, Jeff has personally sold and manages a rostrum of corporate clients that has generated substantial revenue for the Games organizers. Based in Guangzhou, China, Jeff is considered one of the most effective managers in media relations and communications support at the global elite event level. Not only is he the sole foreigner in the Games organizers marketing department, he currently supervises the global media outreach of the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, directing team of more than 15.

He is adept at applying his vast experience to help event organizations - particularly Bid and Host nations - understand and navigate the complexities of managing iconic events. Jeff is well suited to creating and executing win-win corporate sponsorship and international communications programs for suppliers and sponsors aiming to gain business in this prestigious environment.

Prior to joining The 16th Asian Games, Jeff served as Senior Expert to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. For two years, as the sole American on the Chinese senior management staff, Jeff was part of the marketing and sponsorship team as well as spokesman for the Olympics to international TV outlets ... and managed the global press relations during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games.

He was named a “Model Worker” by the Chinese Government for his management training of BOCOG’s senior staff.

Jeff is a three-time Summer Olympic Games Sportscaster for Westwood One, America’s largest radio network and was America’s “voice” of Olympic Volleyball and Beach Volleyball, Track and Field, Tennis and Boxing at the 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games. He has also served on the White House Advance Staff for U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Alf is a highly experienced consultant specialising in commercial and technological strategic development and implementation. With a background in ICT systems and business integration, and infrastructure implementation, his current focus is on providing consultancy services in networks and telecommunications, portfolio project management and commercial strategic development. This combination of well-rounded multi-vertical and business experience together with executive communication, presentation, negotiation, analytic and conflict management skills and a high commitment to customer satisfaction, has led to work in complex environments and challenges, not just focusing on the project/programme, but also the wider picture from a strategic viewpoint of business solutions to achieve the knowledge worker value proposition and understand Corporate Social Responsibility. He has an impressive record of delivery of enterprise projects and technical sales support in national and global accounts, with Mentoring and coaching responsibilities.

Formerly responsible for developing a Programme Management Architecture for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and has recently led the L.B. Newham Network Telecommunications Convergence Project and incorporating Legacy Technology from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games in London. Delivery of a £20m IT infrastructure project, including a future proof Voice and Data capability utilising VoIP and Gigabit Ethernet for Excel (Docklands). Alf is also a registered consultant with SOCITM and The CMA

Eduardo is MEI’s Key Account Director based in London and also responsible for the supervision of the MEI business strategy in Brazil. He is a senior executive with over 12 years experience in strategic planning, marketing and working in companies such as Deloitte, Whirlpool, Publicis and BrMalls. Eduardo has a range of experience in different business sectors including retail, technology, services and B2B. His focus has been to develop strong knowledge of developing strategic plans and restructuring business unit marketing. He has also developed new business departments, including running multidiscipline teams to deliver marketing projects, go to market strategies for launching global consumer brands in Brazil, integrated communication plan development, brand positioning, events, advertising and PR campaigns.

Eduardo is fluent in Portuguese (mother language), English and Spanish and has a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Communication Advertising and Marketing,and MBA from Fundacao Getulio Vargas, in Sao Paulo.

Piers Lawson served with HM Forces for 14 years leaving in 1994 to set up his own event management business. Altis Consulting Ltd specialises in ticketing, bespoke corporate events and sponsorship management. In 2010 he transferred the executive management to his business partner. Piers remains a non-executive director of Altis Consulting Ltd. Since then, Piers has been working as a consultant for the Walpole Group, a not-for-profit organisation that represents the British luxury brands. Piers started with MEI in October and will be acting as the Client Relationship Director. Piers is married, has 5 children and lives in Wiltshire. His interests include NH racing, country pursuits, red wine and red meat.

Eduardo Canastra is a business professional with progressive, hands on experience in diverse organizations ranging from start-ups to industry leading companies throughout the multi-states of Brazil and across global locations. Eduardo is a high performing, strategic thinking professional with more than 15 years experience in global business. A resourceful, organized team player renowned for forging strong business partnerships, Eduardo is recognized for being both ethical and approachable with a clear focus on the big picture. His strong, hands-on approach allows him to manage diverse projects simultaneously and with excellent communication skills. He worked for the Brazilian Olympic Committee during the master planning of The Rio 2007 Pan-American Games. Academic background: Bachelors in IT and Business Administration. He is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish.