Howard Givner

Howard Givner is an event industry innovator, serial entrepreneur, and business strategist. He is the SVP of Knowledge and Innovation at PCMA (Professional Convention Management Association), where he leads event strategy & content, learning products, research and subscription areas.

Previously, he was the Founder and CEO of the Event Leadership Institute (ELI), the leading provider of certification courses, curated summits, thought leadership content, video classes, and other professional development resources for the meetings and events industry. ELI was acquired by PCMA in early 2023.  

Prior to that, he was the Founder of award-winning event agency Paint The Town Red, which he sold to the Global Events Group, and CEO of North America for two other global agencies.

He advises corporate event teams, event agencies and other businesses on growth, innovation, measurement, strategy and M&A. Howard is a frequent industry speaker, writer and educator on a broad range of topics.

He is an avid hiker, crossword solver, podcast junkie, fiction writer and cancer survivor.

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