The Team
Symon Rubens
Chief Executive Officer
Symon Rubens has two decades experience in managing and growing business conference organizations across 5 continents. His conference career commenced at Terrapinn where he held production, sales and general management positions in the Australian and Singapore offices, before being promoted to Managing Director of the Australasian operations in 2003. In 2007 he opened Terrapinn’s Middle East operations, before becoming Regional Managing Director of IQPC Middle East, Africa and India. In 5 years at IQPC he opened offices in South Africa, India, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, growing the business by 300%. In 2014 Symon left IQPC to start The Rubens Group, a consulting and trading company based in Dubai. In 2015 he moved to Houston to start the Energy Conference Network, which has quickly grown to be the preeminent energy conference company in the world.
Email Symon
LinkedIn
832-384-4498
Team Members
Caitriona O’Mahony
Marketing Director
Caitriona has almost 20 years’ experience spear-heading the marketing and sales of international B2B businesses. During that time, she has been instrumental in streamlining organizations from a structural and strategic level, increasing acquisition of critical new business, identifying avenues for growth and improving profitability. Caitriona brings a wealth of international … read full profileDan Gedal
Sales Director
Dan brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in generating revenue and developing the necessary relationships with corporations, sponsors, donors and other entities that contribute to the revenue-generating activities of an organization.
Leading initiatives for several major conference and trade show firms across sectors including Oil & Gas, Energy, Defense, and … read full profilePam Pierce
Operations Director
Pam Pierce is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has lived in Houston for over 15 years. She earned her undergraduate degree from LSU and a master’s degree from the University of Houston.
Pam spent the first part of her career in Education, as a teacher of teachers, in … read full profileCharlene Cassie
Project Director, Asia-Pacific
Charlene holds over15 years’ experience in commercial conferences, with global leaders such as IIR (now informa), Terrapinn and Corinium Intelligence having held senior positions leading teams across Product Conceptualisation, Marketing, Sponsorship acquisition, Sales and Operations.
Her career commenced at IIR’s South African operation in … read full profileVirginie Striebel
Project Director
Virginie graduated with a Master of Management in France and now offers 13 years of experience managing various projects, departments and business development. She is multilingual and multicultural, having lived in 20+ countries. She speaks French (mother tongue), English, Spanish, German and Italian and basic Mandarin, Polish and Korean.
Furthermore, she … read full profileRenu Kannu
Project Director
Renu’s work experience includes 6.5 years in project management, market research, stakeholder management, digital marketing (including content and social media), media and strategic partnerships as well as developing communications and marketing plans – in the conference and events business. Originally from Singapore, she grew up and spent most of her … read full profileWilliam Winkler
Research and Content Manager
William Winkler is a Texas native born in Dallas that grew in the great state of Wyoming.
While attending the University of Wyoming, William was a sports writer for the university student publication. He also had the honor of playing for the university’s rugby team. After graduating from the University majoring … read full profileMichaela Menezes
Research and Content Manager
Michaela has fifteen years’ experience in the research, production and management of small- and large-scale, global conferences, boutique seminars and webinars across a multitude of sectors including: fintech / blockchain, digital disruption, emerging technologies, financial services, oil and gas, pharma, supply chain, telecoms, retail, manufacturing, defense and transport.
She is tri-lingual … read full profileBen Smith
Research and Content Manager
Ben has over 6 years experience working as a Conference Producer across various different industries including Oil and Gas, Heavy Commodities, Metals and Mining, International Investing and Emerging Technologies. He has produced events all over the world and has a strong track record launching successful new events. Ben got BA … read full profileKyle Cornish
Marketing Manager
A native Kansan, Kyle Cornish joined the Energy Conference Network Team as a Marketing Manager. A lifelong fan of the Jayhawks, Kyle’s dream was to play basketball at the University of Kansas – however, the lack of a required growth spurt and general skill thwarted his plans.
Kyle graduated from KU with a degree … read full profileAkhtar Samani
Partnerships Manager
Akhtar was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and has lived in Houston for over 15 years. He earned his bachelors of business administration from the University of Houston, where he received a double major in Entrepreneurship & Marketing.
Akhtar began his career with IT cybersecurity software sales and has amassed … read full profileMohammed Asif
Partnerships Manager
Asif has over 10 years of experience working in sponsorship and exhibition sales across different industries including Defense, Transportation, Construction, Mining, Cyber Security and Emerging technologies. He has successfully handled events across Middle East, Africa and APAC region.
… read full profileChriste Cantu
Event Operations Manager
Christe Cantu is a Texas native who spent the first part of her career in education. Upon leaving the classroom, she became a national consultant and speaker in the industry, helping other professionals build connections to shift the focus from teaching to learning. Christe is active in her community, serving … read full profile