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VP Sales Engagement & Special Events
Hilton
Kelly Knowlen is Vice President, Sales Engagement and Special Events for Hilton. She leads the execution and strategic direction of more than 200 customer and industry events each year, along with Hilton's internal conferences and incentive trips ranging from 200 to 9,000 attendees.
Following the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Kelly led the commercial workstreams responsible for creating and launching Hilton EventReady with CleanStay and the EventReady Playbook, a proprietary resource for teams and event planner customers.
In 2025, Kelly helped launch Hilton's World's Most Welcoming Events initiative. Built on original research into the future of meetings and events, the initiative provides tools and solutions designed to create welcoming experiences that encourage attendees to return. Kelly believes events should give people compelling reasons to come together, particularly at a time when technology can make it easier to stay apart.
For the past 10 years, Kelly and her team have led Global Week of Engagement, helping bring team members together to strengthen collaboration and customer relationships. Kelly began her more than 30-year Hilton career as a Sales Manager at DoubleTree Concourse in Atlanta before progressing through sales, operations and engagement leadership roles across the company.
Date
Attendees have never valued face-to-face events more, yet many arrive feeling overwhelmed, uncertain and underprepared. Concerns about networking, fitting in, what to wear, navigating busy agendas and finding time to recharge can create barriers to engagement before an event even begins.
In this hands-on, interactive workshop, explore how Hilton's World's Most Welcoming Events research uncovered the hidden anxieties shaping attendee behavior and what planners can do about them. Through practical exercises, games and real-world examples, discover proven strategies to reduce stress, increase connection and design experiences that help attendees feel confident, comfortable and genuinely glad they attended.
Backed by global research, the World's Most Welcoming Events program provides practical tools and tactics to improve the attendee experience, drive stronger engagement and encourage repeat attendance.
Learning outcomes:
Learn tactics to boost attendee preparedness and confidence before the event
Discover strategies to reduce stress around networking, dining and what to wear
Design experiences that increase satisfaction and inspire attendees to return
This session is approved for the following certifications.
* ICCA Skills Domain CICS/CICE: 1
* CMP/CEU Approved: Event Design, 1.0 credits
* CSEP Approved