Virtual UVAMC 2021
General Session Speakers
Donald M. Bonk is the owner and Principal of Good Future Innovation LLC, an economic development consulting firm based in Pittsburgh and Johnstown, whose clients include Carnegie Mellon University.
Donald served previously as the Director of Strategic Business Connections at Carnegie Mellon University. There, he worked with Start-ups, Alumni Relations, and at the intersection of the wider business development ecosystem at the university.
Donald earned his master’s degree in Public Management at Carnegie Mellon, specializing in Economic Development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History and English from the University of Pennsylvania.
Donald hosts a Podcast called Pittsburgh Tomorrow (www.pittsburghtomorrow.com) for the Pittsburgh Quarterly Magazine. He interviews business, government, academic, non-profit and thought leaders in Pittsburgh, around Pennsylvania, and those interested in Pittsburgh, nationally and internationally. Episodes are also available on the Apple and Spotify Podcast platforms.
He spent 7½ years as a Regional Coordinator in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s International Trade Program. There, he acted as an international business consultant, helping over 60 companies to export products and services around the world. He recruited for and participated in numerous state and federal international trade missions. Nine of his client companies won the PA Governor’s Export Excellence Award, another won the PA Governor’s Foreign Direct Investment Award. Three client companies won the Department of Commerce’s Export Excellence Award.
He has served the past seventeen years as a member of the U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service’s District Export Council in Western Pennsylvania, by appointment of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. He is also member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition’s PA Advisory Board.
He serves as President of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Club of Western PA/Pittsburgh, and is the Co-Chair of the University of Pennsylvania Alumni Interview Admissions Program for Pittsburgh. He is a member of the City of Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Pittsburgh Entrepreneur Fund Advisory Committee, and is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh’s Class XXIV.
Donald grew up in his family’s 41 year old grocery store, Mr.Food, in Johnstown, PA. He worked there growing up and later returned to help his parents manage it, in his early adult years.
Joel Hauff, Director of Research, Education, & Consulting, Unique Venues
Joel joined Unique Venues as a full-time staff member on January 1, 2020. He has been engaged as a consultant for Unique Venues 20 times since 2015 and now leads the consulting services team. Prior to joining Unique Venues, Joel completed a 25-year career at the University of Arizona in Tucson where he retired as the Associate Vice President for Academic Initiatives and Student Success. Throughout that career, he served primarily in management, financial, and operational roles for large, auxiliary departments such as Housing & Residential Life and the Arizona Student Unions, and in administrative leadership roles for Arizona Online and the Arizona Distance Campus network.
His background in conference services includes six years as the Conference Services Manager for the UA, 11 years of service to the ACUHO-I Conference Services Workshop committee, including two years as Chair, and the delivery of multiple presentations to ACCED-I, ACUHO-I, NACAS, ACUI and ResLife.Net on topics related to the business and operational side of collegiate conference services.
Chuck Salem, Co-Owner & CEO, Unique Venues
Chuck joined the team at Unique Venues in 2000 as Vice President for Marketing and Sales. Chuck was promoted to President of Unique Venues in 2007. In 2018, Chuck along with Neal Burghardt, purchased Unique Venues.
Prior to working at Unique Venues, Chuck served as the Assistant Vice President for Conference and Auxiliary Services at the University of Pittsburgh’s Johnstown campus. There, Chuck led the effort to develop and grow the award-winning Conference Center at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. It is here, that his passion for exemplary customer service standards was born.
Chuck is co-owner of Event Guru Software, a cloud-based event management software system designed for small to medium size conference and event venues. The system manages the entire life-cycle of an event from proposal to invoice and everything in between.
Chuck is a highly sought-after speaker and educator for professional development for higher-education based hospitality professionals. Areas of expertise include building sustainable marketing and sales plans, developing a culture of customer service, branding and storytelling, and maximizing event and conference operations.
More speakers and educational sessions will be announced soon, keep checking back for updates!
