What is SES?
What People Are Saying About SES!
SES Highlights
WHY SES?
IAVM’s Senior Executive Symposium (SES) is the premier leadership program combining industry expertise, business school training, and unique networking experiences. Designed to enhance business acumen, leadership skills, and professional relationships, SES helps advance careers, reward employees, address skill gaps, and solve business challenges while strengthening teams.
WHO IS SES FOR?
SES is an executive education program and is designed for the following professionals:
– Executives at public assembly venues, at a venue management company,
professional sports leagues/teams, hospitality companies, institution, of higher learning, and more!
– Employees on the track to leadership, and who have the support of their current senior leadership to attend.
For full details on individuals who are qualified to attend SES, please click here!
WHAT WILL I LEARN?
SES curriculum rotates each year through four areas of focus which are updated and include:
– Leadership, Strategic Planning and Visioning for Venue Professionals
– Management, Operations, and Organizational Culture for Venue Professionals, our Events, Our Teams
– Marketing, Communications, and Branding in the modern age for Venue Leaders
– Hot Topic/Current Challenges
SES 2026 Registration
Professional
Member
$3,400
SES online registration is closed. Please reach out to meetings@iavm.org to register.
Professional
Nonmember*
$3,900
SES online registration is closed. Please reach out to meetings@iavm.org to register.
Allied
Member
$4,000
SES online registration is closed. Please reach out to meetings@iavm.org to register.
Attendees should plan to arrive in time for the networking reception at 6:30pm on Sunday. SES concludes on Tuesday afternoon, attendees may plan to depart anytime Wednesday.
*To view the SES 2026 Cancellation policy, click here.
SES 2026 - Executive Education for Senior Management
SES 2026 Schedule
**All events take place at the Georgetown University Capitol Campus at 111 Massachusetts NW, unless otherwise noted**
6:30 – 8:00 PM
Registration Open/Opening SES Reception
Location – Dubliner Restaurant at Capitol Hill
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Welcome
9:15 AM – 12:15 AM
Finding Common Ground Is Critical for Successful Negotiation & Change Management
Speaker – Matthew Charles
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
The Hidden Risk of your Succession Plan. Why leadership transitions fail quietly, and what it takes to protect continuity, performance, and enterprise value
Speaker – Sharon Dye
4:30 PM – 4:40 PM
Day 1 Review and Reflections
Speaker – Amy Minniti
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Private Karaoke Experience, Live-K, The Wharf
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Welcome and Announcements
9:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Leading with Organizational Vision to Build Trust with Key Audiences
Speaker – Wendy Zajack
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Leading with Purpose: Why Intentionality in the Communication Process Matters for 21st Century Leaders
Speaker – Dr. Delmar Lee
4:30 PM – 4:45 PM
Day 2 Review and Reflections
5:30 PM
Dinner on Own
Say hello to your SES 2026 Speakers!
DR. MATT CHARLES is a Georgetown University negotiation and crisis management professor (Program Lead, Georgetown Master Practitioner in Negotiation Executive Education Program), Fulbright Scholar, author, consultant, speaker and trainer. Dr. Charles provides strategic counsel for colleges and universities, international corporations, government organizations, nonprofits, and small businesses and startups. The author of Adaptive Dealmaking: A Handbook for Innovative Negotiation Techniques, Crisis: A Global History and Shit Show: An Unexpected Life in Crisis and Risk Management, he is the former deputy spokesperson for the University of Virginia during and after the tragic Unite the Right rally and many other crises and New York City special investigator assigned to sex and drug crimes involving children. Dr. Charles holds a Certificate in Negotiation from Harvard Law School and attended the University of Virginia.
Sharon Dye is a strategic advisor to CEOs and executive teams navigating growth, transition, and enterprise complexity. With more than three decades of experience across domestic and international markets, she is known for helping organizations see structural risk before it becomes visible and design leadership systems that support long term performance.
Sharon works at the intersection of strategy, culture, and operational execution. She partners with senior leaders to strengthen succession architecture, clarify decision rights, align leadership behavior to future requirements, and embed discipline into operating rhythms. Her approach is grounded, direct, and system oriented. She does not offer inspiration without structure. She builds the mechanisms that allow strategy to endure beyond any single leader.
Clients value her ability to surface blind spots without destabilizing trust and to convert complex organizational dynamics into practical, executable frameworks. Whether advising founder led enterprises or mature executive teams, Sharon helps leaders move from reactive management to intentional enterprise design.
Sharon works at the intersection of strategy, culture, and operational execution. She partners with senior leaders to strengthen succession architecture, clarify decision rights, align leadership behavior to future requirements, and embed discipline into operating rhythms. Her approach is grounded, direct, and system oriented. She does not offer inspiration without structure. She builds the mechanisms that allow strategy to endure beyond any single leader.
Clients value her ability to surface blind spots without destabilizing trust and to convert complex organizational dynamics into practical, executable frameworks. Whether advising founder led enterprises or mature executive teams, Sharon helps leaders move from reactive management to intentional enterprise design.
Dr. Lee is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE®) and a distinguished 22-year veteran of the United States Air Force, where he excelled as Superintendent of Training, Avionics Section Chief, and Master Instructor. He holds a Ph.D. in Postsecondary and Adult Education from Capella University, along with both Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University.
As founder of SINA Management Solutions, LLC, Dr. Lee delivered expert consultation and leadership training in Leadership, Human Resources Development, Conflict Resolution, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and Educational Success. He is certified to teach 32 competencies of the CDE® and CDP® programs, has 14 years of DEI training experience, has over 20 years of leadership course design and facilitation, and more than 25 years teaching in postsecondary education.
Dr. Lee served as the Global Vice President for the Institute for Diversity Certification, provided strategic leadership, shaped, implemented, and guided organization’s DEI efforts and provided leadership training and advice for fortune 500 companies for leaders from 30 countries around the world. As Lead Faculty Area Chair for the University of Phoenix, he facilitated and led Humanities, Communications, and General Education at the Raleigh Campus for 10 years. As Senior Manager for Velox Global Services, he coordinated strategic personnel movements across five continents. Dr. Lee is recognized for his expertise in leadership, followership, workforce education, training and development, counseling veterans and their families in transitioning to civilian careers. He is dedicated to mentoring youth, coaching for academic success, and is a proud member of The Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
With more than 20 years of experience in public relations, marketing, media relations and internal communications, Dr. Wendy Zajack thrives on working to make complex topics easy to understand, exciting and relevant to broad audiences. She joined Georgetown in 2016 as a faculty director for the Integrated Marketing Communications and Design Management Communications program in the School of Continuing Studies. Wendy teaches a variety of courses across the university including a Professional Communications course in the Georgetown SCS Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, a High School Summer Academy in Marketing & Personal Branding and Integrated and Luxury Marketing for undergrad courses and Marketing for Executive MBAs at the McDonough School of Business. Wendy holds a B.S in Public Relations from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and a Masters in Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Business. She holds a PhD in Education from George Mason University focusing on online collaborative learning.
SES Hotel Information
Hilton Washington DC Capitol Hill
525 New Jersey Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20001
Registration includes 3 nights at the host hotel (Sunday arrival – Wednesday departure.)
Thank you to our exclusive SES 2026 sponsor!
Thank You To Our IAVM Global Partners
About IAVM
Representing public assembly venues from around the globe, IAVM’s 7,900+ active members include managers and senior executives from auditoriums, arenas, convention centers, exhibit halls, stadiums, performing arts centers, university complexes, amphitheaters and fairgrounds. IAVM’s mission is to educate, advocate for, and inspire public assembly venue professionals worldwide.