Join BizBash as we induct three industry visionaries into the BizBash Hall of Fame during the general session. BizBash's Hall of Fame was created to recognize and reward key event strategists who in their careers have made major contributions to furthering the event industry's goals, as well as to personal philanthropy.

ADRIENNE ARSHT Philanthropist and Business Leader	MONA MERETSKY CSEP, President, COMCOR Event and Meeting Productions, Inc.; COMCOR Consulting Services, Inc.	LEE SCHRAGER Vice President of Corporate Communications and National Events, Southern Wine & Spirits of America

Adrienne Arsht

Philanthropist and Business Leader

Adrienne Arsht is a respected national business leader and hands-on philanthropist whose background and experience allow her to apply business principles and savvy to her non-profit endeavors. 

A community-minded power broker, Arsht has taken a leading role promoting artistic, business and civic growth and development nationally and in the three cities among which she divides her time: Washington, D.C., New York and Miami.  In January of 2008, her commitment to the community and the arts took the form of a $30 million contribution to Miami’s Performing Arts Center.  With this contribution the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County secured its financial footing and ensured the quality cultural programming for future generations

Arsht began her career in law in Delaware in 1966 and joined the legal department of Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1969. Arsht moved to Washington, DC in 1979 where she initially worked with a law firm, moving on to start her own title company before moving to Miami in 1996. For more than 10 years, Arsht served as Chairman of the Board of TotalBank of Miami. Under her leadership, TotalBank bank earned a solid reputation for highly personalized service and a strong commitment to the community. In November 2007, she sold the bank to Banco
Popular Español and was named Chairman Emerita of TotalBank in January 2008.

Arsht serves on various national boards, has also generously donated funds and resources to numerous organizations, and received numerous awards and honors for her life-long contributions to both business and community.  

A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and Villanova Law School, Arsht is a member of the Delaware Bar. Arsht is the daughter of the Honorable Roxana Cannon Arsht, the first female judge in the State of Delaware, and Samuel Arsht, a prominent Wilmington attorney. Upon graduation from Villanova Law School, Arsht was the 11th woman admitted to the Delaware bar — her mother having been the fifth.  She was married to the late Myer Feldman, former counsel to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. 

 

Mona Meretsky

CSEP, President, COMCOR Event and Meeting Productions, Inc.

COMCOR Consulting Services, Inc.

Mona S. Meretsky, CSEP, is president of COMCOR Event and Meeting Production and COMCOR Consulting Services of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. COMCOR is an award-winning, full-service producer of special events, meetings, and incentive programs. Meretsky has been in the industry for 37 years and was a founding member of the International Special Events Society (ISES) and co-founder and first president of the South Florida/Caribbean chapter. Meretsky has served on the boards of ISES International, Special Events magazine, and the SEARCH Foundation. She is currently on the board of BizBash Florida. She also holds a membership in MPI.

Meretsky and COMCOR, which was founded 25 years ago, have been honored often. They are proud of their 11 GALA awards from Special Events magazine (nominated 28 times as finalists); the Event Planner of the Year award from both Event Solutions magazine and BizBash Florida; her induction into the Events Industry Hall of Fame in 2004 by Event Solutions magazine; and in 2005, her presentation with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Special Events magazine. In addition, on April 28, 2010, she will be one of the first three people inducted into the BizBash Florida Hall of Fame.

 

Lee Brian Schrager

Vice President of Corporate Communications and National Events,

Southern Wine & Spirits of America

Lee Brian Schrager, one of the nation’s preeminent event planners and public relations experts, serves as vice president of corporate communications and national events at Southern Wine & Spirits of America. He joined the company in 2000 and oversees projects for the company in all 29 states in which it does business. Schrager is known for his creation of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, and more recently, the launch of the New York City Wine & Food Festival.

As the South Beach Wine & Food Festival approaches a decade of hosting the best in the business, Schrager is working on the release of his first book, Sizzlin’ Hot: Celebrating 10 Years of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (Clarkson Potter, Winter 2010).

Prior to joining Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Schrager spent 17 years with InterContinental Hotels across the country, where he began as a room service manager and worked his way up to vice president of food and beverage. Schrager studied at the Culinary Institute of America and at the School of Hospitality Management at Florida International University.