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

CVBs/DMOs
|
The Scottsdale (Arizona) Convention & Visitors Bureau has named Shannon Johnson national sales manager of the Rocky Mountain region, an area that includes Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico and Colorado. Johnson previously was territory manager at the American Hotel Register Company in Fontana, California.

Scottie Ellis has been named marketing communications manager and convention services specialist at the Louisville (Kentucky) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Ellis previously served as director of communications for the Kentucky Department of Travel & Tourism.

Wendy Foster has been appointed convention services manager at the Irving (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Foster was a partner at Foster+Fathom, a leadership-training and team-building group in Argyle, Texas, and also formerly served as a managing partner of the Circle R Ranch, an event venue in Flower Mound, Texas.

Visit Phoenix has selected Connections Housing, a national full-service sourcing, housing and event-management company, as its preferred housing partner. The company will help organizations seeking housing in the greater metro area—including hotel bookings and room-block management—and offer pre- and on-site event-management support, among its services.

Hospitality & Suppliers

Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe has been appointed president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center Corporation. He will start his new role at the corporation— which manages, markets and operates the San Diego Convention Center on behalf of the city of San Diego—on April 18. An industry veteran, Rippetoe most recently served as president and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board in Louisville.

Sharon Siskie has been named senior vice-president of sales for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts. A 21-year veteran at Disney, Siskie most recently served as vice-president of marketing and sales, international, providing strategic direction for consumer and trade marketing as well as travel-industry sales efforts in Canada and Latin America.

Irby Morvant has been named general manager of the Hyatt Regency/San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California. He will oversee the property’s major renovation, which is expected to be complete this summer. Morvant most recently served as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina in San Diego. 

Donte Johnson has been named general manager of the brand-new Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington, D.C., a Kimpton property that offers 4,000 square feet of event space. Johnson most recently served as general manager of another Kimpton hotel, the Surfcomber in Miami’s South Beach.

Pina Purpero has been appointed general manager of Hyatt at The Bellevue in downtown Philadelphia. In her new role, Purpero will oversee the property’s multimillion-dollar renovation, which is scheduled to be complete this spring. She most recently served as food and beverage director at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort & Spa in Lost Pines, Texas.

Lisa Lindgren has been named general manager of Hotel Boulderado in Boulder, Colorado. She most recently served as general manager of the Table Mountain Inn in Golden, Colorado.

David Mariotti has been named general manager of the One Ocean Resort & Spa in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Mariotti has served as general manager of the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club and The Lodge & Club, both located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Ousmane Diop has been hired as general manager of the Hotel Preston in Nashville, Tennessee. Diop most recently served as hotel manager at the Roosevelt Hotel in Seattle and has also served as assistant general manager of the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, Washington.

Jay Spurr has been named director of sales and marketing at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. He most recently served as director of sales and marketing for the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas.

Eamon O’Brien has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Omni/Louisville, which is scheduled to open in the Kentucky city in early 2018. O’Brien most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Louisville Marriott Downtown.

Brad Simmons has been named director of sales and marketing at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, British Columbia. Simmons previously served as assistant director of sales at Maybourne Hotel Group and director of sales at Rosewood London.

The SBE Hotel Group has appointed Paul Sposare as area director of sales and marketing for two of its New York City properties—The Redbury, scheduled to open this spring, and the SLS/ Park Avenue, to open this summer. Sposare most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Trump International Hotel & Tower/New York.

John Yeadon has been named director of sales and marketing at the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego. Yeadon has held various management positions at Hyatt properties including the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa in Hawaii, the Hyatt Regency/Denver and the Grand Hyatt/Denver.

Deborah Topcik has been named director of marketing for National Harbor, a 350-acre, mixed-use development in Maryland. Topcik previously served as director of marketing for the Clover Restaurant Group in Washington, D.C.

The University of California/Los Angeles’ Meyer & Renee Luskin Conference Center, scheduled to open in August in Los Angeles with 25,000 square feet of space, has appointed Brandi Hyder as assistant general manager and has promoted Hedy Varga to senior sales manager. Hyder most recently was assistant general manager at the Logan Hotel in Philadelphia. Varga previously was the venue’s sales manager and has also served as director of sales for the Loews/Hollywood.

Stacey Purcell has been named assistant director of sales at Caesars Entertainment, overseeing the Nevada market and Caesars Direct. She has worked for Caesars Entertainment for 25 years, previously as national sales manager.

Construction & Expansion

The 303-room Hyatt Regency / Bloomington-Minneapolis has opened in Bloomington’s South Loop District near the Mall of America. The hotel offers more than 15,000 square feet of multipurpose space, including a 7,080-square-foot ballroom.

The 200-room Cloister at Sea Island in Sea Island, Georgia, debuted its 5,000-square-foot Mizner Ballroom as part of an expansion project, and a 63-room Garden Wing is expected to open this spring. Three types of accommodations make up the Sea Island, which offers a total of 51,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Magnolia Hotel Denver has completed a multimillion-dollar room renovation, which brought its total room count to 297. For meetings, the hotel offers 10,000 square feet of space.

The 21c Museum Hotel/Lexington has opened in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The property features 88 guest rooms and more than 7,000 square feet of art-filled space.

The Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, recently opened the 800-space Goodale Garage and the renovated, 25,000-square-foot Union Station Ballroom. The updates are part of a $125 million expansion and renovation project that is expected to be complete in 2017.

The 75-room Quirk Hotel in Richmond, Virginia, has unveiled six new event spaces: the 720-square-foot Love & Happiness, the 460-square-foot Gray Owl, a 750-square-foot lobby mezzanine, a 1,000-square-foot courtyard, a 1,000-square-foot terrace and an 1,800-square-foot rooftop. The hotel can host events of up to 200 people.

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island has unveiled the new, 3,543-squarefoot Kauna’oa Ballroom. The 252-room property now offers more than 8,000 square feet of indoor event space and additional outdoor space.

The Emerson Resort & Spa in Mount Tremper, New York, has completed a multimillion-dollar, 12-month renovation and has opened a new restaurant, the Woodnotes Grille. The hotel offers 53 guest rooms, two conference rooms and three break-out spaces.

In Memoriam
Jim Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, passed away on March 23 following a brief illness. Ricketts had been director of the bureau since 1988 and was planning to retire April 1. He worked for 42 years for the city of Virginia Beach. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Virginia Beach Travel and Tourism Foundation, where a memorial scholarship has been established in his name. Donations can be mailed to the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, Attn: Scholarship Fund, 2101 Parks Ave. Suite 500, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23451.

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.