Karen S. Watson, CMP

Cultivate Event Design & Consulting is based in Austin, Texas and its owner and Chief Event Strategist is Karen Watson.

Karen holds the designation of Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), a certification which represents the standard of excellence in today’s meetings, conventions and exhibitions industry.

With the continued prevalence and increase in multi-channel (virtual and hybrid) events, Karen has also earned certifications for Virtual Events and Meetings Management, Hybrid & Virtual Event Director and Pandemic Compliance Advisor for Meeting and Event Professionals. She is also a Pine & Gilmore Certified Experience Economy Expert, making her an officially endorsed expert in design and staged experiences that memorably engage.

Prior to founding Cultivate Event Design & Consulting, Karen was on staff for twenty+ years with Maritz Global Events where she was most recently the Senior Director of Strategic Events. In this role she managed the company’s events (i.e. “event planner for event professionals”) including e4, their client conference, and EnVision, the team and industry event for the Experient division.

A recognized industry leader, Karen was a finalist for the Business Event Strategist of the Year for 2020 for Professional Conference Management Association (PCMA)’s Visionary Awards. She was also named one of the Event Planners of the Year for 2019 by Smart Meetings Magazine.