I'm Nelia

hello.

-Nelia

"It takes a village to plan an event, and I believe that being part of that village should be inspiriting, collaborative, and fun."

When I am not working, you will find me spending time with my husband Ken and two daughters Sabrina and Alexa, my 2 dogs Bowie and Theo, and our grumpy cat Sammy. I enjoy reading, Happy Hours with friends, and traveling.

• I got featured in Pottery Barn’s International Women’s Day campaign!
• STYLE Folsom/EDH Magazine


I am a Certified COVID Compliance Officer and a Digital Event Strategist.

I am a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Independent Meeting Professionals Sacramento (IMPS), IAEE, California Women Lead, and Folsom Chamber of Commerce.

I believe in being actively involved in my community. I am a member of Cal-TASH (the California state chapter of TASH, the international leader in disability advocacy which advocates for human rights and inclusion for people with significant disabilities and support needs). I have presented at various inclusion disability related conferences, and have sat on the district’s Inclusion Task Force.

As the owner of Blue Plaza Events, I get the opportunity to work with a variety of companies to produce high-quality tradeshows, conferences, and meetings.

I bring 20 years of experience to companies such as UBM/Informa, Linux Foundation, Gainsight, and Freeman.

I absolutely love what I do, especially working with clients, business partners and vendors.

I enjoy learning and growing as a professional. I am a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), and am actively working towards my CEM (Certified in Exhibition Management).

ABOUT ME

fun facts about me

more FUN FACTS

I am 100% Portuguese.

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My husband calls me the spreadsheet queen. I love them. I also absolutely love diagrams and floorplans. I can stare at them for hours.

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Up until this year, I've had a deep fear of carwashes

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I have a horrible sense of direction and am grateful that the invention of GPS has given me hours of my life back. 

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I Used To Be Able To Sleep Until Noon. And Then I Had Kids… I Now Consider 7am “Sleeping In”.

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I am an only child

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more FUN FACTS

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My birthday falls on International Women's Day.

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I somehow got in the position of managing a xxxx dor my first event ever, as an Assistant 20 years ago. 

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One of my favorite quotes: “Ask yourself what is really important, and then have the wisdom and courage to build your life around that answer.”

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“Nelia is an extraordinary event and meeting planner. She is incredibly detail oriented and has the ability to juggle multiple ongoing tasks and projects. Nelia is always a pleasure to work with in the preplanning and onsite phases. I would not hesitate to include her on my team for future program needs.”   

Katherine Leong

“I had the opportunity to work with Nelia while managing sponsorship & exhibitor fulfillment for a large event. I found myself jumping in and as the scope of the project grew Nelia was a rockstar, setting clear expectations. She's an expert in her field, an incredible resource and one of the best all around humans to work with. Nelia has a proven track record of successfully managing complex pieces of large events and focusing on the big picture all while capturing all of the details. I hope to have the chance to work with Nelia again, she is one of the best and brightest!”   

Jennifer Payne

“I love working with Nelia-- she owns her work and always delivers. She manages her events with great attention to detail and onsite, she always maintains the same sense of calm that she has pre show-- no small feat as onsite logistics can get chaotic. Hands down one of my favorite operations managers to work with at UBM.”   

amy giannini

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