In this blog post, we’d like to introduce the main Event Crew who are working on PASS Summit this year.  

We believe we do our best work in teams, and we thrive on having a group of people who bring different perspectives and experiences. Ultimately, the team aims to ensure all PASS Summit attendees (including speakers and sponsors) have an incredible experience. We love working with the data community and sharing our passion for learning and development in this rapidly changing world. 

Here’s the 2024 PASS Summit Event Crew and a quick summary of their roles on-site:

• Al Shuler – Al will oversee the load-in and set up of the exhibit hall, ensuring every square inch of the hall perfectly aligns with our latest floor plan. You may recognize Al’s dulcet tones as he does the morning voiceover for the keynotes, and he is the MC for the raffles held in the exhibit hall. You’ll likely find Al by the Exhibitor Help Desk alongside Craig, Dylan and Sanj throughout the week.
• Amy Watson – Amy will work closely with Thy on marketing communications, helping to ensure attendees know what’s going on, and when. When she’s not busy behind-the-scenes, Amy’s looking forward to connecting with lots of attendees in-person to see how you’re all finding the conference. 

• Anika Poliseno – Anika is the glue that holds the entire event together! Anika will be working closely with the PASS Summit Event Crew, along with our partners, suppliers and vendors to ensure everything runs smoothly. She’s relishing the opportunity to tackle the challenges that may come her way when working in a new building. 

• Annabel Bradford – Annabel will be overseeing the PASS Summit Event Crew and supporting the Redgate Booth Crew in the exhibit hall. She’s looking forward to re-connecting with the data community this year, and meeting lots of new faces. Her number one priority is making sure that PASS Summit is an incredible event, year in and year out, for all involved. 

• Cara Creek – As our dedicated Code of Conduct Officer, Cara will be on-site to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable. Cara is looking forward to supporting her fellow Redgate Crew in making the event a success and being energized by the positive atmosphere created by everyone on-site.
• Craig Ellis – Craig will be supporting our key sponsors and partners on-site, and you’ll likely see him enjoying the buzz in the exhibit hall with Dylan and Sanj. Craig’s already looking forward to helping announce the winners for the Expo Expedition on the last day of the conference.  

• Dave Convery – Dave is our website wizard! Dave will be busy working behind-the-scenes to resolve any technical issues. Along with our third-parties, he’ll be on hand to make sure the PASS Summit website and livestream all run smoothly.   

• Dylan Harding – Dylan will be on hand to ensure things are running smoothly for our sponsors and partners in the exhibit hall and to answer any questions around sponsorship opportunities at PASS Summit. You’ll likely spot him with Craig and Sanj at the Exhibitor Help Desk, and this year he is excited to be in our beautiful new home at Summit, SCC, Seattle!

• Fergus Reed – Fergus is excited to be attending PASS Summit for the very first time this year! He’s looking forward to meeting the data community in person, and he’ll be on-hand to support our on-site volunteers throughout the week. 

• Ghalia Al-Ghoul – Ghalia will be coordinating logistics and operations for the event, ensuring everything’s in place and where it needs to be. 

• Jess Hume – Jess is the point person for anything to do with design and graphics on-site, supporting the Event Crew with numerous requests, and helping to ensure everything looks aesthetically pleasing. Jess works closely with vendors, production, and Pat to help bring the PASS Summit design and branding to life on-site.

• Kirsty Roper – You’ll find Kirsty and Louise organizing talks and answering attendee questions in the Community Zone. Kirsty loves making sure that the Community Zone is a great space that offers something for everyone, whether you’re looking to network informally, join a session or simply sit down, relax, and catch up on emails for a little while!
• Louise Domeisen – You’ll find Louise and Kirsty in the Community Zone, making sure attendees are having the best time at the unofficial ‘home of the hallway track’. Whether that’s listening to a Community Conversations talk, connecting with friends old and new, or chilling out between sessions on the infamous bean bags. 

• Marcella McKeown – Marcella is our program maestro! After working all year with our Program Committee volunteers, Marcella will oversee the final schedule, sessions, and speakers this fall.

• Nik von Schulmann – Nik is our Director of Production and has been working with the Community and PASS Summit since 2007. He ensures that all technical production, including audio, lighting, video, internet, recording and on-demand viewing, run flawlessly. Nik also show calls and leads the keynote production.

• PASS Summit Registration Team – Ok, so we’re calling out a team here rather than an individual, but some of the very first Event Crew you’ll come across when you enter the building are the PASS Summit Registration Team. They’ll be on hand throughout the week to help you check in, collect your badge and attendee gift, and of course help answer any questions you might have.    

• Pat Lima – Pat has designed all branding for PASS Summit 2024, she really deserves all the praise! Whether it’s signage, badges, or videos, you’ll see Pat’s beautiful designs everywhere you go on-site. She’ll be working with Sneh to deliver intro videos each morning prior to the keynote (using some of the incredible footage taken the previous day). 

• Sanj Gandham – Sanj will ensure everything runs smoothly for our Sponsors and Exhibitors in the exhibit hall during set–up and the conference itself. You’ll likely see Sanj by the Exhibitor Help Desk along with Dylan and Craig. 

• Sneh Zaveri – Sneh manages the PASS Data Community Summit and Redgate brands, leading the team to ensure a seamless experience both before and after the event, as well as during week of the event. Sneh collaborates closely with Tom, Pat, and Dave to oversee the event, branding, and the successful delivery of the Redgate keynote. Additionally, Sneh coordinates with suppliers to provide on-site photography and videography, ensuring that high-quality footage of each day’s activities is produced in less than 24 hours! 

• Thy Pham – Thy will be working closely with Amy to make sure attendees are kept up-to-date with what’s taking place on-site, delivering messages across email, social media and the conference app.

• Tom Russell – Tom heads up the teams responsible for organizing PASS Summit from end-to-end, from the website right down to crewing on the day. He’ll be busy behind-the-scenes for most of the conference, helping to make sure that the event and key elements, such as the keynotes, run smoothly.

There will likely be some people here you recognize, and possibly some you don’t. The team come from a wide range of backgrounds, some of whom are relatively new to the conference, and some of whom bring many years’ worth of experience having formerly worked with the previous P.A.S.S Association.  Our combined experience helps us draw on the event’s rich heritage, whilst ensuring we deliver something that continues to evolve with the changing needs of the data community. 

If you see us around the venue (we’ll be wearing Event Crew T-shirts), please do come and say hello. We love to connect with the community in-person each year. We’ll be on hand to ensure PASS Summit is a brilliant conference and a safe space for the global data community to connect, share and learn with one another.   

The core organizing team are by no means an island, so this isn’t an exhaustive list of everyone involved! We’d like to say a big thank you to our colleagues at Redgate (some of whom you’ll see in the exhibit hall in Redgate T-shirts), as well as our partners, volunteers, suppliers, speakers and sponsors. We couldn’t do this event with you, your hard work and your expertise!  

Last, but by no means least, we’d like to thank you – the data community – for making this conference such a rewarding event to work on. We look forward to seeing you all this November!