Steven Bonda, CMP
Steven has 21 years of experience in the hospitality industry, with 15 years of experience planning, coordinating and executing meetings and events all over the world.
Prior to starting Bonda Experiences and joining ConferenceDirect, he was Director of Private Events at the University Center Club, a private club located in Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida, where he sold 1,600+ private events in over 100,000 square foot of meeting and event space. Before that, he was the Senior Manager for Corporate Meetings & Events at Visit Florida, the official tourism marketing corporation for the State of Florida. At Visit Florida, he was responsible for planning and executing over 30 meetings annually, ranging from the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, Board Meetings to major industry tradeshows like Florida Encounter and Florida Huddle.
Prior to his 15 years at the UCC and Visit Florida, he worked at the Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, a boutique oceanfront resort in Jupiter, Florida, where he started at the front desk and quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the Corporate and Association Sales Managers.
Steven is a proud member of MPI and FSAE and was a Plannie Awards Finalist for the Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism in 2016. In 2012, when he was still under 40, he was voted one of the “40 under 40 Meeting & Event Professionals to Watch”. In 2020, he was named #10 on the ConferenceDirect Conference Management Top Producers. He also obtained his Cvent Event Management Advanced Certification. He currently sits on ConferenceDirect’s Conference Management Advisory Board.
Steven has a Bachelors Degree in International Sales & Marketing from Enschede University in the Netherlands and an MBA from Western Carolina University in North Carolina. He became a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) in 2004.
Originally from the Netherlands, he proudly calls the Sunshine State home. He lives in Tallahassee with his wife Brittany, their fat cat, Patron, and the subject of Patron’s constant annoyance, a hyper labradoodle named Buttons. Connect with Steven via steven@bondaexperiences.com and on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Christy Gandy
For over fifteen years, Christy has planned and executed meetings and events across the country, including serving as the Vice President of Operations for the Florida Ports Council. Christy is actively involved with conference management and meeting consulting for several association clients in Florida. She is also active with the Florida Society of Association Executives (FSAE) where she has chaired and volunteered on numerous committees as well as served as a speaker for various events.
Christy has lived in Tallahassee for over twenty years with her two sons, is a proud Army mom and is an active participant in several community events such as the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and Big Bend Cares Artopia.
Connect with Christy via christy@bondaexperiences.com.
