We’re very proud of our team and the work they do to create a friendly, professional service for you, your members and your delegates. Find out more about about them and the unique skills and experience they bring to Echo…
Membership Services Secretary
Membership Services Administrator
Conference Manager
Claire Westgate, DirectorClaire is a professional conference and event manager with over 14 years experience delivering client services and project management. Along with Dorothy & Tracey, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and client services.
Prior to Echo, Claire spent 8 years in London working for specialised B2B media groups - EMAP and Centaur Media. She was an integral part of the conference team at EMAP and delivered events across their publication portfolio which included Retail Week, Architects Journal and The Lawyer. In 2008 she moved to Centaur Media as Head of Events for Centaur Conferences. Leading the logistics team in their delivery of around thirty events a year including conferences, exclusive round table dinners and 121 summits. On her return to Newcastle Claire has delivered a number of events for Echo's clients ranging from large academic conferences to award ceremonies. In 2018 Claire headed up the launch of Echo's North East Marketing Awards which attracted over 300 marketing and business professionals from across the North East. The event has quickly become the 'go to' event for the marketing sector, attracting brands such as Barbour, Fentimans and Nexus.
Claire is a full member of ABPCO (Association for Professional Conference Organisers).
Dorothy Inverarity, DirectorMore than comfortable in a multi-national environment, Dorothy brings her extensive knowledge and experience in all aspects of events management and organisation including strategy, implementation and evaluation. Along with Claire & Tracey, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and client services.
Prior to her return to the UK in 2013, Dorothy spent several years managing programmes for large scale international conferences and events for MCI in Brussels. Specific projects included events such as the Society for Clinical Data Management (Baltimore, LA), Dioxin Annual Conference (Brussels), 20th EACMFS Congress with over 1900 delegates (Bruges), and the United Nations Global Compact Leaders’ Summit (New York). Fluent in French and with a PhD in Chemistry, Dorothy heads up Echo’s international congress and association management services, creating an international and scientific slant to client events.
Tracey Christy, DirectorTracey Christy is an experienced finance manager with extensive financial knowledge gained from over two decades working within a range of different sectors. Along with Dorothy & Claire, she oversees the day to day management of Echo and heads up the finance division.
Tracey manages the finance team who cover a wide range of services for clients, from the day to day back office finance functions, to more complex finance functions, such as cash flow and working capital management, foreign currency risk management, and preparation of Management Accounts and EU Project Reports for International clients.
Tracey specialises in finance system processes, reviewing and improving current systems. For clients this means improved efficiency, compliance and management information reporting.
Throughout her career Tracey has worked for employers such as the NHS, Royal Mail and Local Council, through to charities and private sector Ltd companies. Tracey is a fully ACCA qualified Accountant.
Laura Gibson, Associations ManagerLaura works across a number of client accounts offering an exceptional level of customer service to our associations and their members. She oversees the day to day administration, membership renewals, websites and handles membership enquries.
After graduating from university Laura worked for the Labour Party on a full five year election cycle. During that time, she worked in the Membership team where she drove membership retention and the Conference and Events team where she project managed the Autumn Conference Fringe Event Programme.
After the Labour Party she spent a year in Melbourne, Australia before returning to the UK and joining the Echo team in 2017.
Rachael Scott, Membership Services AdministratorRachael handles membership enquiries and works on the day to day running of our associations. An invaluable member of the team she also provides administrative support for the committees and board members - planning meetings, agendas and papers for distribution.
Nicole Dixon, Sponsorship & Exhibition ManagerNicole works across all of Echo's events building relationships with our partners and delivering sponsorship packages which create real opportunities for investors.
Prior to Echo Nicole worked for a number of large London based conference specialists including Clarion Events, Financial Times and Ascential Events.
Having lived all over the world from Dubai to London she has a thorough understanding of the opportunities that event sponsorship can provide and the power of face to face meetings.
Kate Donnelly, Event Co-ordinatorKate joined the Echo events team in June 2018. Kate works across all of Echo's events supporting Claire and Dorothy with the logistical organisation. Her role is varied and includes venue and supplier sourcing, managing the delegate registration system, creating booking reports, answering delegate queries and onsite management. With excellent customer service skills and an eye for detail she is an valuable member of the events team.
Previously Kate managed events and marketing at Capital Shopping Centres - Metrocentre and spent three years working for the British Olympic Association, helping organise prestigious events for athletes and team managers.
Cheryl Price, AccountantCheryl joined Echo in June 2017 and works on the Associations side of the business, fully managing client accounts financial & reporting needs. This involves everything from overseeing the day to day financial processing, through to preparing final year end reviews and adjustments prior to the accounts being sent to the external Accountants for drafting & filing. Association client accounts will typically involve bank reconciliations, VAT returns, Management Accounts & EU project reporting.
Cheryl is a fully ACCA qualified Accountant, having gained experience from working previously for employers such as Ernst & Young & the Westfield Shopping centres.
