History
CES has specialized in servicing a wide spectrum of events since 1975. Over the last several decades, our strongest emphasis has been placed on expanding our role in the exposition industry. In that process, our geographic focal points have been in the Washington and Baltimore markets, where we have been active since our inception.
We provide the majority of security and event personnel services in the Washington and Baltimore markets, including the lion’s share of large annual public events and trade shows.
Leadership
Founded in the mid-seventies, CES has benefited from the considerable and varied experience of a number of top management staff. The top three executives who oversee all aspects of our event-services sales and operations have a combination of experience amounting to over 75 years.
President – Denny Bernstein
Prior to the founding of CES, Denny was heavily involved in the creation and management of a university-based crowd-control service. At the same time he was involved with the booking and promotion of events that included concerts and a lecture series. He later went on to create and manage a university box office. CES was a private-sector outgrowth of these university-based services. A well-rounded experience in various aspects of event management allowed a smooth transition to the creation of CES.
Denny’s vision of creating an event-services firm dedicated to quality, affordability, and depth has been in place for many years and continues today. Denny holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland.
Senior Vice President – Jay McCabe
Jay’s event career began in 1975 as the Executive Director of both the Towson Center and Minnegan Stadium at Towson University. In 1979 Jay accepted the position of Senior Account Executive at the new Baltimore Convention Center. He was promoted in 1980 to the position of Assistant Director of the Baltimore Arena. Jay returned to his previous position at Towson University in 1983 and moved to Essex Community College in 1988 to serve as the Director of the Business and Economic Development Conference Center. Jay joined our firm in 1991. His varied and impressive professional history in the management of events and event facilities has provided us with a unique perspective from which to understand the industry we serve, and the clients with whom we work. Jay holds a Master’s Degree from The University of Baltimore.
Vice President, Event Services – Ned Ahnell
Ned is responsible for all aspects of the company’s event services, including sales and operations. He joined CES in 1994, starting as an Account Manager supervising all onsite operations. After several years in this capacity, he was promoted to Vice President, Event Services. A graduate of the University of Richmond, Ned holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. Upon graduation, he worked as an Operations Manager in the commercial construction industry before joining CES. He is a member of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) and has presented on event security at several national IAEE Meetings and Conferences.
Organizational Depth
We are unique in our approach, maintaining dedicated and fully staffed offices in both the Washington and Baltimore areas. These offices are staffed with full-time professionals, solely dedicated to event services, including Human Resource Managers, Scheduling Managers, Event Managers, and internal administrative support staff.