|
People & Places Presented by Association News (January 2016)
|

CVBs/DMOs
|
Jayna Leach has been appointed vice-president of marketing at the Panama City Beach (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau. With more than 20 years of marketing and public relations experience, Leach most recently served as vice-president of marketing at Sterling Resorts.

Krista Rupp has been promoted to director of sales and marketing at the Santa Cruz (California) County Conference & Visitors Council. Rupp previously served as the CVC’s sales and marketing manager.

The Cedar Rapids Area (Iowa) Convention & Visitors Bureau has hired Taylor McGurk as tourism director and Sarah Hermanson as director of meetings and conventions. Before starting his role as tourism director, a newly created position at the bureau, McGurk worked at Stamats, a higher education marketing agency. Hermanson previously held positions at the Transamerica Corporation, Clickstop, Inc. and Management Recruiters of Cedar Rapids.

Donna Saenz has been named director of national accounts at the Arlington (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau. She previously worked as director of sales and marketing for the SpringHill Suites/Dallas–Arlington North and as national sales manager at the Fort Worth (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Dawn Holden has been appointed vice-president of partnership development at VisitPittsburgh. Holden previously served as a sales executive for Hargrove Inc., which offers customized exhibit, trade show and event services. She also served as the partnership and alliances manager at Destination DC.

Hospitality & Suppliers

Kathy Maher has been named senior vice-president of global sales and revenue at the Wyndham Hotel Group. In this expanded position, she will now oversee the company’s global sales efforts as it sharpens its focus on groups, corporate meetings and the specialty meetings business. Maher most recently served as Wyndham’s senior vice-president of revenue management.

Michael Hooper has been appointed general manager of the Hilton/Miami Airport. He has 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry and most recently served as hotel manager of the Hilton/Chicago. Prior to that, Hooper served as the director of full-service hotels with First Hospitality Group.

Vincent Bucci has been named general manager of the Hyatt/Palm Springs in Southern California. He most recently served as general manager for the Hyatt/Atlanta Perimeter at Villa Christina.

Sean Kennerty has been appointed general manager of the Hilton/Dallas–Park Cities. Kennerty most recently served as director of rooms at the Hilton/Anatole, also in Dallas.

Prior to its scheduled grand opening in early 2016, the Cardinal Hotel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has named John Esainko general manager and Tina Fullard director of sales and marketing. Esainko most recently served as general manager of the Hotel Madera in Washington, D.C. Fullard previously served as director of marketing and revenue at Wake Forest University’s Graylyn International Conference Center, also in Winston-Salem.

Mehmet Bahtiyar has been appointed general manager of the Renaissance/Boca Raton in Florida. Bahtiyar most recently served as director of operations at the Westin/Tysons Corner in Falls Church, Virginia.

In Austin, Texas, the Archer Hotel has hired Dana Cust as general manager and Melanie Barba as director of sales in advance of the property’s expected summer opening. Cust previously played a key role in the debut of the Aloft/Austin at the Domain in 2009. Barba also recently worked at the same Aloft as director of sales.

Nathan Wood has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa & Convention Center in Branson, Missouri. Wood most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Westin/Columbus in Ohio.

John Hess has been named director of sales and marketing at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pennsylvania. He most recently served as director of sales at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort, also in Pennsylvania.

Lisa Monache has been named director of sales and marketing at the Park Place Hotel in Traverse City, Michigan, where she previously held the role of sales manager. Monache most recently served as sales manager at the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City.

Dawn Walzak has been named director of sales and marketing at the Hilton/Orlando in Florida. Walzak was most recently senior vice-president for the Tishman Hotel Corporation, where she worked with brands including Starwood, InterContinental and Marriott. Prior to that, she held senior sales roles with Westin and Hyatt hotels and resorts.

Jorge Martinez has been appointed director of group sales and special events at the Viceroy/Anguilla on the Caribbean island of Anguilla. Martinez previously served as director of catering at the Hilton/Miami.

Anna Fortier has been named director of event management at the JW Marriott/Grand Rapids in Michigan. Fortier began her career with the JW Marriott/Grand Rapids overseeing 50 individuals in the housekeeping department.

Construction & Expansion

The JW Marriott/Minneapolis–Mall of America has opened in Bloomington, Minnesota, with 342 guest rooms and nearly 20,000 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom that can accommodate more than 1,700 people. The property is the first JW Marriott brand in the Twin Cities area and is part of the Mall of America’s recent luxury expansion. It will serve as the host hotel for Meetings Quest, July 13–14, 2016.

Hotel Emma recently opened in San Antonio within a former 19th-century brewery. The culinary-centric hotel offers 146 guest rooms and 7,681 square feet of indoor-outdoor meeting space.

The Hotel Granduca/Austin recently opened in the Westlake area of the Texas capital city with 194 guest rooms and 6,650 square feet of meeting space. Functions can be held in six conference rooms and a ballroom that can accommodate up to 400 people. Additionally, an outdoor courtyard and pool deck can host up to 300 and 200, respectively.

The Aloft/Louisville Downtown recently opened in Louisville, Kentucky, near the KFC Yum! Center and the Kentucky International Convention Center. The hotel offers 175 guest rooms and 2,750 square feet of meeting space.

Taconic, a Kimpton boutique hotel, has opened in Manchester Village, Vermont. It offers 87 guest rooms and more than 9,600 square feet of meeting space.

The Red Lion/Orlando–Kissimmee Maingate has opened in Kissimmee, Florida, near the Walt Disney World Resort. The property offers 516 guest rooms, a business center and more than 5,000 square feet of meeting space.

The InterContinental/Los Angeles-Century City recently unveiled a new Grand Chateau Ballroom, which offers 1,500 square feet of space and can accommodate up to 140 people. The addition brings the hotel’s total function space up to 16,650 square feet.

The Sheraton Macao Hotel in Cotai, Macau, offers 80 new guest suites on the top floors of the hotel, bringing its total to more than 350 suites at the 4,001-room hotel. For meetings, the property has more than 152,000 square feet of space.

The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, California, has added Monte Luna, a new outdoor function space. Monte Luna features a private lawn area of 9,800 square feet that can host up to 550 for dining options and up to 1,000 for other functions. The 512-room resort offers a total of 65,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 26,000 square feet of outdoor space.

In Memoriam

Bradley Burlingame, president and CEO of Visit West Hollywood, passed away on December 8 at the age of 62. Burlingame led the organization since 1997 and during his tenure had grown it from three staff members and a six-digit annual budget to a 14-person staff with a $6 million annual budget. He was active in the Los Angeles community and served as past chair of the California Travel Association and chair of the CalTravelPac. His family is planning a memorial service in early January.

And Finally...

As soon as meeting-goers at the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino in San Juan notice that their mobile devices are running low on battery, they can simply call up the “energizer butler.” This new staff member is responsible for delivering free wireless chargers, which guests can use throughout the duration of their stay.

This current issue of Association News can be viewed in digital format online by clicking here.

About Schneider Publishing
Schneider Publishing is the parent company of Association News, America’s most-read magazine for association executives, and SportsTravel, the sports world’s event magazine. In addition to Meetings Quest, Schneider Publishing organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers, TEAMS ’16 will be held September 26–29, 2016, in Atlantic City. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 106 million hotel room nights annually.

For press information, please contact Ann Shepphird, or call 310-577-3700.