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Association News
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People & Places Presented By Association News (March 2017)
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Los Angeles, CA – March 2017 / Newsmaker Alert / Each monthly issue of Association News contains information from state and regional associations, convention bureaus, hotels and hotel chains and other meeting facilities.

CVBs/DMOs
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People & Places Presented By Association News (March 2017)Dave Beachnau has been promoted to senior vice-president of sales, marketing and sports at the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Beachnau has worked at the bureau in different capacities for the past 24 years; prior to that, he spent eight years working in the hospitality industry.

Visit Phoenix has promoted Lorne Edwards to vice-president of sales and services. Edwards came to the organization as director of sales after 16 years with the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

Kellie Linder has been named national sales manager at Visit Savannah (Georgia) where she will handle accounts based in Chicago and other major markets in the Midwest and West. Linder previously held sales and management positions at two Savannah properties: Hotel Indigo and the River Street Inn.

Tamara Whiting has been hired as national sales manager of the Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau. She previously worked at VisitPittsburgh as national sales director. Whiting also previously spent time with Starwood Hotels & Resorts as a field marketing manager.

Lauren McKee has been appointed national sales manager of Visit KC (Missouri); she will be responsible for the Southeast. McKee most recently served as sales manager of the Crowne Plaza/Kansas City Downtown.

Laura Saeger has been named director of sales and business development at the Bermuda Tourism Authority. For the last decade, Saeger has served as the head of North America meeting and incentive sales for the South Africa National Convention Bureau.

Hosts & Suppliers

Ryan Golpeo has been named director of operations at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu. Golpeo has experience serving as director of operations at the Forum in Inglewood, California, and as general manager of premium services at the Talking Stick Resort Arena (then the U.S. Airways Center) in Phoenix.

Giovanni Beretta has been appointed vice-president of Swire Hotels in the United States and general manager of the hotel East, Miami in downtown’s Brickell City Centre. Beretta most recently served as managing director of the Carlyle hotel in New York City.

Shepard, a trade-show services and event-production company based in Atlanta, has appointed Frank Villamar as chief financial officer and promoted Steve Margos to vice-president of West Coast operations. Villamar most recently served as CFO of Turnberry Innovations. Margos previously served as manager of Shepard’s Las Vegas branch. He will maintain that role but also assume leadership of the Phoenix and California branches.

Fredia Brady has been named general manager of the SMG-managed Wilmington Convention Center in Wilmington, North Carolina. Brady has more than 25 years of experience and most recently served as senior director of sales and marketing for the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center in Georgia.

Matthew Humphreys has been named general manager of the Hyatt Regency/San Francisco. Humphreys most recently served as general manager of the Hyatt Regency/Santa Clara, also located in California.

Peter Simoncelli has been named general manager of the Ritz-Carlton/ Chicago. Simoncelli has more than 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry. He previously served as general manager of two Westin properties in Chicago: the Westin/Michigan Avenue and the Westin/Chicago River North.

Hans-Georg Roehrbein has been named general manager of the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino, which recently completed a multimillion- dollar renovation. Roehrbein most recently served as general manager of the Cairo Marriott Hotel & Omar Khayyam Casino in Egypt.

Richard Byrd has been appointed general manager of the Shores Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida. Byrd most recently served as general manager of the Crowne Plaza/Melbourne Oceanfront in Melbourne, Florida.

Steven Hurst has been named general manager of the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort in Gleneden Beach, Oregon. Hurst previously served as general manager of the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

Fred Findlen has been appointed general manager of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa on the Hawaiian island’s western Ka’anapali Coast. Findlen has been with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts since 1985 and most recently served as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa & Casino in Incline Village, Nevada.

Bill Hendrix has been promoted to general manager of the Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pennsylvania, effective May 1. He currently serves as the property’s assistant general manager. Prior to joining the Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, Hendrix worked at various Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons properties.

Philip Clough has been named resort manager of the Four Seasons Resort/ Scottsdale at Troon North in Scottsdale, Arizona. Clough has worked for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts for six years and was previously resort manager of the Four Seasons Resort/Oahu at Ko Olina in Kapolei, Hawaii.

The Waldorf Astoria/Beverly Hills, scheduled to open in June in Southern California, has hired Jeroen Werdmolder as hotel manager and Vanessa Williams as director of sales and marketing. Werdmolder most recently served as hotel manager of the Waldorf Astoria/Amsterdam while Williams was most recently director of business development at the Conrad/ Seoul in South Korea.

Peter Rockwood has been named vice-president of sales of L.E. Hotels, a global hospitality brand. He most recently served as vice-president of sales for Salamander Hotels & Resorts.

Joe Gaeta has been named director of sales and marketing for the Grand Hyatt/New York in New York City. Gaeta most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the InterContinental New York Barclay.

Kathy Kolar has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center. She has experience leading the pre-opening marketing for the Hotel Indigo/Pittsburgh– East Liberty.

Dustin Imbesi has been named director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt Regency/San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California. Imbesi most recently served as director of sales, marketing and events at the Hyatt Regency/Reston in Virginia.

SiuYin Ko has been named corporate director of sales at Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. She brings to her new role extensive experience in the incentive, meetings and events industry, including serving as regional director of sales at Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts for more than 20 years.

Construction & Expansion

The Wyndham Grand/Clearwater Beach has opened in Clearwater, Florida. The resort offers 343 guest rooms, a pool overlooking the beach and a 24-hour fitness center. For meetings, the hotel features more than 22,000-square-feet of space including an 10,632-square-foot ballroom.

The 126-room Aloft/Louisville East has made its debut in Louisville, Kentucky. Hotel features include nearly 3,600-square-feet of meeting space, an indoor pool, a fitness center and a bar.

In Kansas City, Missouri, Hotel Phillips Kansas City has completed a $20 million transformation and is now part of the Curio Collection by Hilton. The 20-story, downtown hotel offers 216 guest rooms, a new restaurant and meeting space for groups of up to 150 people.

The US Grant Hotel in San Diego has completed a $13 million renovation of its grand lobby, meeting venues, fitness center and all 270 guest rooms. The property offers 33,000-square-feet of meeting space, including four ballrooms.

LaPlaya Beach & Golf Resort in Naples, Florida, has completed a $6 million renovation, which included new Beach House guest rooms, sustainability initiatives and a gourmet coffee bar. The 189-room resort offers 12,000-square-feet of indoor and outdoor event space.

In Arlington, Virginia, what was formerly the Hyatt/Arlington is now the Hyatt Centric/Arlington. Following a full renovation, the property now offers 318 guest rooms and more than 6,700-square-feet of event space.

And Finally…
Plans have been announced for the construction of the Red River Street Canopy Walk, which will connect the Austin (Texas) Convention Center to the Fairmont/Austin, currently under construction. The $6 million, elevated bridge will enter into the second floor of the convention center and is expected to be complete in August. The 37-story Fairmont is also scheduled to open in August with 1,048 guest rooms, a spa and nearly 140,000-square-feet of meeting space.

Download/view above People & Places (w/photos) via PDF

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 ‘17 will be held October 30–November 2, 2017, in Orlando, Florida. TEAMS ‘18 will be held October 1–4, 2018, in Louisville, Kentucky. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 156 million hotel room nights annually.

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

Association News, Meetings Quest, SportsTravel and TEAMS are registered trademarks of Schneider Publishing.

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Publishing Dates: 03/09/17 – 05/09/17
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Hospitality Newsmaker Alert