Experient, Ed Shartar Part Ways

When Ed Shartar's contract as president and CEO of Experient came up for renewal recently, his decision to step down June 6 wasn't all that hard to make.

Shartar said he and Andrew W. Strauss, chairman of the Experient board and a partner with The Riverside Company, Experient's majority shareholder, discussed what Shartar wanted and what would be best for the business.

Strauss and the board wanted a president and CEO based at one of the company's major operations hubs. Shartar, who's worked from an office in his hometown of Atlanta for the past four years, did not want to either relocate his family or spend his workweek away from them.

“I just wasn't willing to make that choice,” Shartar said.

As of press time, he didn't have another position lined up, he added, but intended to seek a management opportunity in the hospitality and events industries.

“I've had incredible career experiences up until now, and all I can say is I'm looking forward to what's next,” Shartar said. “Hopefully, there will be a number of great opportunities out there for me.”

The Experient board appointed George S. Benson to serve as interim president and CEO while the search for Shartar's successor is conducted, according to the company. Benson is an operating partner at Riverside. As interim CEO, Benson's focus will be on accelerating the pace of full and successful execution of the company's strategy.

According to the company, the board is looking outside of Experient for a CEO to drive the continued execution of the company's strategy. Strauss and Shartar said no radical adjustments will take place in 2008.

Shartar said there were several options for where Experient's next president and CEO could be located, but the most logical one is the company's office in Fredrick, Md., within an hour of the Washington, D.C., office and the company's many association clients. Five of the seven employees who report directly to the CEO are in Fredrick or the district, he added.

During Shartar's four years at Experient, the company unified three separate divisions – Conferon, ExpoExchange and ITS – into a single entity, took on a new brand and name, opened an office in Las Vegas, increased revenue, grew its market share in the corporate marketplace and entered the government market.

Beginning in 2005, his first full year with Experient, through the end of 2007, Shartar said revenue, number of events and room nights all increased by double-digit percentages.

“As a result of Ed's commitment and passion, we are well on the way to making our vision a reality,” Strauss said.

This year, Experient will be involved in more than 3,300 events attended by more than 2.8 million people who will occupy more than 5.5 million room nights, according to the company.

“As the company succeeds, I will know that I played a role in making that happen,” Shartar said. “I'm looking forward to watching that vicariously.”

In 2004, Shartar joined what was then Conferon Global Services after 13 years with The Coca-Cola Company, where he was most recently president and CEO of its Canadian subsidiary, based in Toronto. Before joining Coca-Cola in 1991, he had several senior management roles at Citibank in the United States and United Kingdom.

Shartar said one lesson he picked up from a career guidance book was that there is not always a plan for a career path.

“I believe the road forward is full of intersections, and you make the choice when you get to them,” he added.