|
People & Places Presented by Association News (July 2014)
|

CVBs/DMOs

James Wood has been named CEO of Meet AC in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Wood previously served as president and CEO of the Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau.
|
The Kansas City (Missouri) Convention & Visitors Association has named Ronnie Burt president and CEO. Burt has more than 23 years of hospitality and tourism industry experience and previously served as vice-president of sales and services for Destination DC.

Tom Caradonio has been named executive director of the Daytona Beach Area (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau. He was previously senior director of sales for the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Al Hutchinson has been named president and CEO of the Mobile Bay (Alabama) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Previously, Hutchinson worked as vice-president of convention sales and marketing at the Virginia Beach (Virginia) Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Jim Browder has resigned as president of VisitLEX, the visitors and convention bureau for Lexington, Kentucky. Browder had served in the position since June 2011. While a search is being conducted for his replacement, Patricia Knight and Mary Quinn Ramer, the bureau’s vice president of finance and operations and its vice-president of marketing, respectively, have stepped in as acting interim directors.

The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau has promoted Andrew Wilson to executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. Prior to his promotion, Wilson served as the bureau’s senior vice-president and general manager. Before working at the Atlanta CVB, Wilson served as chief operating officer for Brand Atlanta.

The Santa Monica (California) Convention & Visitors Bureau has named Richard Peterson executive vice-president. Peterson previously served as director of sales and business partnerships at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

The Greater Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau has named Kim Butler vice-president of marketing and communications. Previously, she served as director of communications at the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The Springfield (Illinois) Convention & Visitors Bureau has hired Karen Jewell as a sales manager. Jewell has experience as a trade show producer and most recently worked as a sales manager at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Springfield.

Carla Steffen has been named assistant director of financial operations at the Austin (Texas) Convention Center. Prior to her appointment, Steffen served as the City of Austin’s deputy controller.

Hospitality & Suppliers

Alex Klein has been named vice-president and general manager of the Grand Teton Lodge Company in Moran, Wyoming. Klein most recently served as the vice-president of operations at Vail Resorts in Broomfield, Colorado.

The Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia in Paradise Valley, Arizona, has named Paul Eckert managing director. Previously, Eckert served as general manager of the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort on Florida’s Amelia Island.

Anna Gaffney has been appointed general manager of the Verb Hotel in Boston. Most recently, Gaffney worked as director of sales and marketing at the Sanctuary Hotel in New York City.

In Jacksonville, Florida, the Hyatt Regency/Jacksonville Riverfront has named Gino Caliendo general manager. Caliendo most recently served as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio.

John Esainko has been named general manager of the Hotel Madera in Washington, D.C. Esainko has more than 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry and previously served as director of rooms at the Hyatt Regency/ Bethesda in Maryland.

The Plano Centre in Plano, Texas, has appointed Mark Jarrell general manager. Jarrell most recently worked as the senior park manager of Fair Park in Dallas for nine years.

Laurens Zieren has been appointed general manager of the New York Hilton Midtown. Zieren most recently served as general manager of the Hilton/ Chicago O’Hare Airport.

The Hyatt/Palm Springs in Palm Springs, California, has named David York general manager and Celeste Brackley director of sales and marketing. Both have previously worked at the Sheraton/ Mission Valley in San Diego, York as general manager and Brackley as director of sales.

Juan Asin has been appointed general manager of the ME/London. Previously, Asin worked as general manager of the Meliá/Luxembourg.

Shashi Poudyal has been named general manager of the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa in La Jolla, California. Most recently, Poudyal served as general manager of the DoubleTree by Hilton/ Santa Ana-Orange County Airport in Santa Ana, California.

SMG has promoted David Causton to regional vice-president for the company’s convention center division. Additionally, Causton will maintain his role as general manager of McCormick Place in Chicago, which he has served in since 2004.

Paul Keogh has been appointed senior vice-president of sales and client service at the Ottawa Convention Centre in Canada. Previously, Keogh worked for the Ottawa Convention Centre and the former Ottawa Congress Centre for more than 15 years.

Meredith Voller has been named director of sales and marketing at the Edgewater Hotel, scheduled to open in August in Madison, Wisconsin.

Timothy Rutland has been appointed director of sales and marketing at La Quinta Resort & Club and PGA West in La Quinta, California. Most recently, Rutland worked as director of sales and marketing for the Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley in Park City, Utah.

The Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort, Spa & Marina in Cambridge, Maryland, has appointed Christopher Levine director of sales and marketing. Most recently, Levine served as director of sales and marketing at the Hyatt Regency in Sarasota, Florida.

Construction & Expansion

Events DC, the convention and sports authority for Washington, D.C., has opened a pedestrian walkway connecting the Walter E. Washington Convention Center and the Marriott Marquis/Washington, D.C. The new walkway provides direct access to the 1,175-room hotel with 100,000 square feet of meeting space, and the convention center, which has 198,000 square feet of space.

The Sheraton Steamboat Resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, has completed a $16 million renovation project. The resort offers 285 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Ritz-Carlton/Rancho Mirage has opened in Rancho Mirage, California, with 244 guest rooms and 41,000 square feet of indoor-outdoor meeting space. Amenities include swimming pools, a spa and a restaurant. This fall, the Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge and a steakhouse are expected to open.

The Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa in Sedona, Arizona, has completed phase one of a $7 million renovation. The second phase of renovations, scheduled to begin later this year, will include upgrades to the resort’s 219 guest rooms and suites. Group amenities include two restaurants, three heated pools and 20,500 square feet of meeting space.

DoubleTree by Hilton has opened two properties with event space: the DoubleTree by Hilton/Newark-Fremont in Newark, California, with 315 rooms and 20,000 square feet of space, and the Waterstone Resort & Marina Boca Raton in Boca Raton, Florida, with 139 rooms and 8,500 square feet of space.

The Hilton/Burlington in Vermont has completed a multimillion-dollar renovation. The hotel offers 258 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Jackson Lake Lodge, located within Grand Tetons National Park, has recently been upgraded. Eight cottages were completely renovated at the 385-room property, which offers 17,000 square feet of space.

In Memoriam

Kay Hollander, former director of sales and marketing at the Miami Beach (Florida) Convention Center, passed away on May 9 in Weston, Florida. Hollander, who had worked for more than 30 years in the convention industry, retired in December 2012 after nine years at the convention center.

And Finally...

This summer, guests can support local nonprofits by renting cabanas at the Westin/Fort Lauderdale in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The hotel has unveiled three new poolside cabanas, with artwork personalized to reflect the Rock the Ocean Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. A portion of the proceeds from the rentals will be donated to the corresponding charities.
|

Schneider Publishing Company publishes Association News, America’s most-read magazine for association executives, and SportsTravel, the sports world’s event magazine. Schneider Publishing also organizes the TEAMS Conference & Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers, and Meetings Quest, the nation’s longest-running series of trade shows for corporate and association meeting planners. TEAMS ’14 will be held November 10-13 in Las Vegas. The next Meetings Quest will be held September 9-10 in Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The group travel markets served by Schneider Publishing generate 106 million hotel room nights annually.

For more information, call Schneider Publishing toll-free at 877-577-3700, (310-577-3700 if calling from outside the United States) or visit SchneiderPublishing.com.

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

Association News, SportsTravel, TEAMS are registered trademarks and Meetings Quest is a trademark of Schneider Publishing.
||