Northstar Meetings Group Recognizes Carahsoft as a 2025 Stella Awards Recipient

Company Honored for Its Conference and Collaboration Center

RESTON, Va. — October 2, 2025 — Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider^®, today announced that it was a recipient of the 9th Annual 2025 Stella Awards, held by Northstar Meetings Group along with its leading brands, Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings. Recognizing 245 organizations globally, these awards celebrate outstanding achievements in quality service and innovation for meeting and event professionals. The list of awardees, finalists and their profiles can be found at NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com/Stellas. Carahsoft received a Gold Medal for Best Conference Center, referencing the company’s Conference and Collaboration Center.

Northstar's Stella Awards honor excellence across key segments of the industry, including hotels, convention and conference centers, airlines, cruise lines, DMOs/CVBs and DMCs. This year's recipients were selected from more than 10,000 votes and 1,009 nominations, reflecting superior performance in overall excellence, food and beverage offerings, staff professionalism, sustainability initiatives and other vital elements of the meetings and events experience.

Located in the heart of Reston, Virginia, the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center offers state-of-the-art meeting spaces designed to support the needs of today’s professionals. Equipped with the latest technology to accommodate both in-person and hybrid events, the Center provides a versatile and modern environment for gatherings of all sizes, from intimate team meetings to large-scale conferences. Ideal for productive discussions, impactful presentations and meaningful networking opportunities, the Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center serves as a premier destination for industry events in the region.

“The Stella Awards honor the consistent contributions of the industry’s most trusted supplier partners who set new standards for service and innovation,” said Shalise DeMott, Senior Vice President, U.S. for Northstar Meetings Group. “Awardees are first nominated and voted on by planners, then undergo a thorough review by an esteemed panel of judges.”

The judging panel for the 2025 Stella Awards includes:

• Candy Campbell - Event Director, Campbell Scott Productions
• Debbie Friedman-Hueller - Manager, Meeting & Event Operations, Land O'Lakes
• Carvie Gillikin - President & CEO, MGME
• Earla Jones - Events Director, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
• Beth Lawrence - Owner, Beth Lawrence Meetings & Events
• Edward Perotti - Principal, EP Events & Experiences
• Rachael Riggs - General Manager, Environmental Strategy, Maritz
• Shawn M. Sawyer - President, Cacique International
• Bonni Scepkowski - President & CSO, Stellar Meetings & Events
• Brett Sterenson - President, Hotel Lobbyists
• David T. Stevens – Cofounder, Olympian Meeting 
• Jerry Vaughn - President, CEO, CEALS Meetings & Incentives
• Alex Zapple - Senior Director of Meetings, American Society of Nephrology

Two of the most popular categories among nominees and planners this year were "Best Food & Beverage" and "Best Hotel/Resort Event Space," demonstrating the importance of high-quality cuisine and dedicated on-site meeting venues to event organizers and their stakeholders.

“We are proud to be recognized with a Gold Medal in the 2025 Stella Awards for Best Conference Center,” said Craig P. Abod, Carahsoft President. “This honor reflects our team’s dedication to delivering a high-quality, technology-enabled space that meets the evolving needs of our partners and Public Sector customers. The Carahsoft Conference & Collaboration Center was purpose-built to facilitate collaboration, innovation and strategic dialogue among Government agencies and industry leaders, and we’re thrilled to see its impact recognized by such a respected organization.”

To learn about the recipients of the 2025 Stella Awards, visit NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com/Stellas.

Northstar Meetings Group’s 2026 Stella Awards will open for nominations on Wednesday, November 12, 2025. Organizations are encouraged to enter early to secure the lowest rates and maximum marketing support.

About Northstar Meetings Group
Northstar Meetings Group is the leading B-to-B information and marketing solutions company serving all segments of the business meetings, events, sports and incentives market — including full- and part-time meeting planners, as well as corporate, association, sports and not-for-profit decision-makers, and incentive professionals — facilitating their professional development and achievement of business goals. The company's influential brands — Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Associations Meetings International, Meetings & Incentive Travel, Meeting News, Incentive and SportsTravel — currently serve nearly 500,000 active meeting and event planners and incentive professionals, across an integrated suite of data, digital, events and print products. For more information, please visit NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com.

Media Contact
Yvonne Garcia, Northstar Travel Group, LLC
Director of Supplier Marketing, Meetings Group
(562) 213-5936 – Cell
ygarcia@ntmllc.com

About Carahsoft
Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator^® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Artificial Intelligence, Customer Experience and Engagement, Open Source and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. Visit us at www.carahsoft.com.

Contact
Mary Lange
(703) 230-7434
PR@carahsoft.com