Passion

Abby Georgacopoulos

•   630.376.1036

Abby Georgacopoulos,Director of Marketing, has over 12 years of experience in design, marketing, communications, digital media, and project management. She is somehow both creative and analytical, which makes her passionate about marketing for results. Abby effectively uses creativity to tell a story, solve a problem, or elicit action. She loves digging in to understand the nuances of her customers and anticipate their strategic needs. When she isn’t on her phone or computer, she is filling her walls with sticky notes and ideas.

Alex Karan

•   630.376.1556

Alex has concentrated his 25 years of design experience into creating immersive award-winning exhibit environments that create lasting impressions. Alex can generate quality structural concepts while providing premium graphic design content.

Alyssa Cuevas

•   630.376.1028

Alyssa Cuevas spent three years working on the front end of the industry helping set up trade show floors and as a marketing booth staffer. Now working in TradeTec’s High Volume Small Booth (HVSB) program, her previous experience has allowed her a better understanding of the trade show industry from booth products and services to marketing. In her role, Alyssa primarily focuses on client returns where she takes an inspection of the asset parts and graphics to make sure there are no damages, confirms the number of crates, and returns the assets to their shelves. She enjoys that there is never a dull moment and that each day is different. 

Chris Ybarra

•   630.376.1542

Chris Ybarra, Creative Director, has over 12 years of graphic design and industry experience producing trade show environments. His passion for every detail goes into designing the perfect exhibit and event solution for our clients. Chris oversees an award winning design team who share his desire to collaborate and drive a successful experience. They are consistent in staying abreast of industry trends to ensure TradeTec clients have the most innovative solutions and modern expressions to meet their show objectives. Chris enjoys giving back to the industry by mentoring a number of design students as they finish up their degree programs and enter the professional design community.

Cory Preis

•   630.376.1546

Cory Preis, Director of Operations, has been deeply embedded in the world of Trade shows for over 9 years. Cory is an Architect, in the sense that he can creatively extrapolate process and procedures to build an organization/culture that is most effective and efficient. Cory is OSHA Certified and continues to expand his education in management and leadership. He’s an effective problem solver and has many responsibilities in overseeing the entire operation of our business.

Heather Bundgaard

•   630.376.1538

Heather’s marketing career started more than 22 years ago with a focus on trade show planning and execution. Her current role as a senior exhibit consultant allows Heather to work with various companies and industries on their trade show needs from design to implementation and asset management. Heather strives to provide the best customer experience, relieve her clients of stress, and prevent wasted time and money.

Jackie F. Biggs

•   630-376-1031

Jackie Biggs is a 21-year veteran in the trade show industry. She started her career in marketing prior to moving into sales. Her goal is to provide any industry resource, support, and education her clients need to create a successful trade show program. Jackie prides herself on being a dedicated and reliable partner her clients can turn to for whatever they need and make it happen. She views herself as a part of her client’s team, and is committed to making each show a success. Her ability to put her clients at ease and build trusted relationships comes from her core values to always be honest, open, and transparent no matter the situation.

Jenny Hertel

•   630.376.1480

Jenny Hertel began her career in the trade show industry in 2005. She spent six years working as an Account Coordinator when a shared idea for a program dedicated to building small booths, now known as High Volume Small Booth (HVSB), became a reality. Together as a team, the HVSB program was born and has grown into something far greater than expected. On a daily basis Jenny pulls assets, stages booths and takes photos, creates billing, and prepares packages for shipping. Jenny enjoys the active fast-paced nature of her role and during busy can have up to 14 orders shipping out a day. 

Jerry Cizek, IV

•   630.376.1534

Jerry Cizek, IV Exhibit Consultant, will go the extra mile for every client. Details, flawless execution, and customer service are a few of the things that make him tick. He grew up learning about trade shows from his father, GM of the Chicago Auto Show and President of The Chicago Automobile Trade Association. His experience spans business development, event planning, and client partnerships in various industries including automotive, hospitality, and retail.

Krista McCloud

•   630-376-1548

Before joining TradeTec in 2015, Krista McCloud worked on the client side of the industry where she planned and executed trade shows. She draws on that experience and understands firsthand the pressure that comes with the industry from both sides. In her role as an Account Manager, Krista works closely with clients as well as hand-in-hand with the sales and design teams on all aspects of new client projects and asset management. 

Laurie Young

•   630.376.1526

Laurie Young has over 10 years of experience in the trade show industry with roles including sales, planning, show services, operations, event marketing, and actual exhibiting. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Her diverse experience allows her to completely understand the challenges in front of clients and coach them through the process of creating successful exhibits. On top of all this, we hear her son is a pretty awesome hockey player too.

Lisa Venegas

•   630.376.1552

Lisa Venegas, Senior Account Executive, is a veteran of the trade show industry with over 20+ years of experience ranging from exhibit sales, to working for a large machine tool manufacturer as their Trade Show Marketing Manager. She brings a high energy vibe to TradeTec and likes to get deeply involved with her projects to ensure her clients get maximum results from their programs. You understand Lisa’s passion for the industry immediately upon meeting her and her clients all love her creative, hands-on approach to meeting their exhibit needs.

Maria Borrero

•   630-376-1545

Maria Borrero is a veteran in the trade show industry with a diverse sales background. She has spent more than 25 years building lasting relationships with clients in a variety of industries. Maria serves as a liaison for her clients to ensure all aspects and logistics meet their needs from pre-, during, and post-show initiatives. Known for her excellent customer service, being a bilingual speaker elevates her ability to effectively communicate with her clients. Maria’s goal is to help each of her clients overcome their challenges by working one-on-one to develop creative solutions.

Mark Beasanski

Mark Beasanski joined TradeTec in 2015 and manages the day-to-day operations of all trade show exhibits during staging, shipping to show, and maintaining client assets. He works directly with Account Service to ensure his team has accurate details to build each exhibit to precise specifications. With more than 10 years of logistics and warehouse management experience, Mark has developed a keen eye for detail and understands the importance of an organized and efficient workspace. Mark is also part of TradeTec’s Lean Process Improvement team dedicated to creating effective best practices. 

Matt Franklin

•   630-376-1544

Matt Franklin, a graduate from the Illinois Institute of Art – Schaumburg, has a deep understanding for branding and elevating visual design. His experience as a graphic designer has given him the skills to start a project from the ground up and creatively take designs to new heights.

Matthew Schneider

•   630.376.1484

Matthew Schneider is a Senior Account Executive at TradeTec with over a decade in serving the trade show exhibits and events industry. His clients are industry leaders with a keen focus on corporate image, brand identity, and market place position. Matthew helps his clients execute their aggressive marketing objectives, and exceed their sales goals. Recent corporate event accomplishments for Matthew include executing a private exhibition for City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, hosting President Hu Jintao of the Peoples Republic of China, as well as a media event day for Austrian based Fronius, LLC., with Governor Mitchell E. Daniels of Indiana to unveil their new North American Headquarters.

Matt Waterwall

•   630.376.1038

Matt draws on 10 years of experience in the trade show industry as a Senior Account Executive. Understanding your brand and its relationship to your clients, prospects, and industry is the foundation to his consultative approach. Matt’s goal is to create a branded trade show environment or event that serves as an exciting marketing vehicle to maximize your ROI. Matt is eager to evaluate your current program and show you how to get the greatest return on your investment.

Patrick Rudlang

•   630.376.1050

Patrick holds a degree in Exhibit Design from Bemidji State University in Minnesota, where he graduated Magna cum laude. He strives to discover ways to bend the fundamentals of design and works to continue his education in the trade show industry.

Rachel Rodriguez

•   630-376-1026

Rachel worked in TradeTec’s High Volume Small Booth (HVSB) program for three years, which provided her with a first-hand understanding of trade show products, graphics, and booth staging. She often taps into that experience and knowledge in her day-to-day tasks as an account coordinator. Rachel is passionate about being the best at her job, and clients have come to rely on her friendly nature, level of detail, and sense of urgency to meet deadlines.

Ryan Lovell

•   630.376.1524

Ryan spent over 5 years as a TradeTec client, planning and executing over 100 trade shows. Due to the excellent partnership with TradeTec, Ryan’s company was acquired for 7x the earnings. After the acquisition Ryan eventually decided to join the TradeTec team as a sales executive. He draws on his experience as a trade show manager to help his customers find the right solution.

Tom O'Shea

•   630-376-1002

Tom O’Shea spent more than three years working on the transportation and logistics side of the trade show industry as an account coordinator. When he made the move into sales, Tom’s ability to draw on his experience managing move-in schedules, freight logistics, and onsite communication proves to be a valuable resource for clients. Tom’s goal is to become an extension of each clients’ team by working together to understand their needs and challenges to create the best solution.

Toni Sawilchik

•   630-376-1564

Toni Sawilchik has been in the B2B sales industry for more than seven years working with small, mid-sized, and large companies. Known for being an exceptional listener, clients feel confident working with Toni due to her detail-oriented nature and her consistent project updates and follow through. Toni approaches each project with fresh eyes as she believes there is not a one-size-fits-all solution and every clients’ challenges should be individually met.

Troy Trice

•   630.376.1532

Troy Trice, President, has been in the trade event industry since 2001. He became General Manager and co-owner of TradeTec in 2010. His experience in sales has helped him understand the obstacles and areas of focus to be successful within this industry. He is passionate about sales and advancing opportunities, building new relationships, and going above and beyond for clients. Troy is dependable, organized, and a problem solver. As President, Troy oversees all operations, support, and services.

Victoria Conti, CTSM Gold

•   630.376.1522

For the past 23 years, Victoria has excelled as an Account Executive with Skyline by forging and cultivating lasting relationships. Victoria is proud of her client retention and new account development rate. Her clients can always count on Victoria to deliver and quickly troubleshoot issues with the utmost professionalism. Her ability to keep the big picture in mind while using her highly effective project management, decision-making and communications skills results in consistently exceeding expectations.