Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Certification
Timeline
Generic

Karen Garner

Pleasant View,TN

Summary

Strategic events and marketing leader with over a decade of experience planning, producing, and executing large-scale corporate events for fast-paced, high-growth organizations. Proven ability to drive pipeline, brand awareness, and revenue through smart event strategy. Currently managing 150+ events annually at a Fortune 1000, S&P 500 company — including trade shows, hosted events, and national conferences. Adept at cross-functional alignment, lead generation, and making big events look easy.

Overview

13
13
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Director, Marketing Events & External Comms

Corpay
03.2019 - Current
  • Lead strategy, planning, and execution for 150+ national events annually across multiple industries, supporting both brand growth and pipeline goals.
  • Regularly partner with Finance, Sales, and Marketing to align event objectives, forecast budgets, and report on pipeline outcomes tied to each campaign.
  • Own the full lifecycle of every event — from initial vetting and budget planning to onsite execution and post-event reporting.
  • Manage all trade show presence for Corpay’s enterprise business unit, aligning with sales, product, and partner teams to drive demand.
  • Oversee vendor relationships, booth design, promotional strategy, and lead capture processes.
  • Built out scalable post-event workflows in Salesforce to improve lead handoff and ROI tracking.
  • Provide onsite support and lead training for field teams attending events nationwide.
  • Collaborate with executive leadership to support press and communications efforts around major event moments.
  • Collaborate with internal stakeholders including Marketing, Product, and Brand to ensure messaging, deliverables, and on-site experience align with campaign goals and target personas.
  • Frequently operate in high-pressure, fast-changing environments — pivoting strategies on tight timelines while keeping execution smooth and brand representation polished.

Director of Marketing

HealthStream
01.2014 - 01.2018
  • Directed a $1.2M annual event budget and a 24-person team to plan and execute 20+ national and regional events each year.
  • Increased sales-ready leads from events by 46% through campaign alignment and CRM optimization.
  • Redesigned the company’s event website and content hub, boosting web engagement by 70%.
  • Reduced net event expenses by 52% through new sponsorship packages and renegotiated vendor contracts.
  • Maintained a 99.8% satisfaction score across attendee surveys.

Marketing Manager

HealthStream
01.2012 - 01.2014
  • Led operations and vendor management for the full trade show calendar.
  • Redesigned booth experience and event strategy, resulting in increased traffic and higher lead quality.
  • Developed internal metrics to measure event ROI and support business case development for future investments.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Business Administration

Charleston Southern University
Summerville, SC

Certification

  • Event Strategy
  • B2B Demand Generation
  • Field Marketing
  • Salesforce
  • Marketo
  • Budget Ownership
  • Trade Show Execution
  • Lead Management
  • Vendor Negotiation
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Team Leadership
  • Messaging Alignment
  • Project Management
  • FinTech & SaaS Familiarity

Timeline

Director, Marketing Events & External Comms

Corpay
03.2019 - Current

Director of Marketing

HealthStream
01.2014 - 01.2018

Marketing Manager

HealthStream
01.2012 - 01.2014

Bachelor of Science - Business Administration

Charleston Southern University

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Karen Garner