JONATHAN T. HOWE, ESQ. is the President/Senior Partner of Howe & Hutton, Ltd., a law firm with offices in Chicago and Washington, D.C. He has w ritten hundreds of articles, papers and books, and has spoken to organizations all over the world on all manner of legal issues. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in diplomatic history and international political science with honors from Northwestern University and his Juris Doctorate from Duke University where he was first in his graduating class. He serves as general counsel for Meeting Professionals International and the prestigious Association Committee of 100 sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, among others. He is a founder, past President and board member of the Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys and the first to be named the Hospitality Industry Attorney. He is the legal editor for MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS and THE MEETING PROFESSIONAL magazines.

MaryAnne Bobrow is a Certified Association Executive, a Certified Meeting Professional, holds a Certification in Meetings Management, and is a Certified Hospitality Educator. She has been in the association management and meetings industry for more than twenty years. She founded Bobrow Associates in 2003, after having served as dedicated staff (Executive Director) for various associations. She has taught a variety of classes in Golden Gate University's distance learning program, including convention and meetings management, introduction to meetings management, exposition management, special event management and worldwide tourism. She now teaches in California State University Sacramento's Meeting Planner Certificate Program (Risk Management and Budget and Finance for Meeting Planners), and taught for ten years in the University of Las Vegas' distance learning program (Trade Show Operations. She was honored in 2011 as Meeting Professionals International Member of the Year (RISE Award), named CalSAE's Association Executive of the Year in 2004-2005, and MPI Sacramento Sierra Nevada's Planner of the Year in 2005-2006.