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People & Places Presented by Association News (November 2015)
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CVBs/DMOs
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Shauna Stewart has been named executive director of the Olympia Lacey Tumwater (Washington) Visitor & Convention Bureau following a nationwide search. Stewart most recently directed the marketing and brand-management efforts of Building Champions, an executive coaching firm based in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale (Florida) Convention & Visitors Bureau, has announced that she will retire on June 21, 2016. Grossman took the helm of the bureau in 1995. She serves on a number of boards, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s Travel & Tourism Advisory Council, the Florida Commission on Tourism and the American Coastal Coalition.

Michael Gunn has been promoted to senior-vice president of the Greater Birmingham (Alabama) Convention & Visitors Bureau, where he previously served as vice-president of convention sales for 10 years. Gunn has served as a board member of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners and the DMAI International Foundation.

Rachel Bolduc has been hired as vice-president of marketing at the Greater Des Moines (Iowa) Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Des Moines Area Sports Commission. She most recently was vice-president of FishBait Marketing and, prior to that, she handled strategic planning, sponsorships and communications for IMG Worldwide.

Mary Neister has been appointed vice-president of Meet Hawaii, the meetings, conventions and incentives department of the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau. Neister most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Hilton/Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.

The Louisville (Kentucky) Convention & Visitors Bureau has made several recent appointments. Doug Bennett has been named senior vice-president of convention development, Brad Knapp has been hired as convention services manager and Proscovia Mattas has been promoted to senior sales manager. Bennett previously served as director of sales for the central division of Global Experience Specialists. Knapp most recently served as a convention services manager for the Galt House Hotel in Louisville. And Mattas was previously the bureau’s national sales manager and also formerly worked at the Seelbach Hilton in Louisville.

Kimberly Mladenik has been named director of Mid-Atlantic convention sales for Visit Anaheim (California). Prior to her new appointment, Mladenik spent nine years with Team San Jose (California) where she most recently served as its director of national accounts for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Michael Szymanski has been appointed director of sales and services at the Frisco (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau. He most recently served as director of sales for the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.

The Arlington (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau has appointed Fidel Mitchell as convention services manager and Scott Poland as tourism sales manager. Mitchell most recently served as a convention service representative at the Wichita Falls (Texas) Convention & Visitors Bureau. Poland previously served as the business development and social media manager at Culinaire, a food and beverage management company.

Hospitality & Suppliers

Greg Leonard has been appointed general manager of the Hyatt Regency/ Denver at Colorado Convention Center. He most recently served as general manager of the Hyatt Regency/San Antonio. Before that, Leonard served as general manager of the Grand Hyatt/ Denver for five years.

Victor Cappadona has been named general manager of the Cranwell Spa & Golf Resort in Lenox, Massachusetts, where he previously was assistant general manager. He was also formerly general manager of the Country Club of Pittsfield in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Steve Cadaret has been named general manager of the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton/Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Cadaret was most recently regional director of operations for the One Hospitality Group.

The Thompson/Playa del Carmen, scheduled to open in November on Mexico’s Riviera Maya, has named Julián Smaldoni as general manager and Alexis Kagan as director of sales and marketing. Smaldoni previously served as managing director of the Faena Hotel & Universe in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Kagan has spearheaded sales and marketing efforts for the Ritz-Carlton, SLS and Kimpton hotel brands.

John Burnham and Jami Poe have been appointed general manager and director of sales and marketing, respectively, of the Taconic Hotel, a Kimpton property scheduled to open later this year in Manchester, Vermont. Burnham previously held leadership roles at several Boston hotels including the Four Seasons, the Taj and the Battery Wharf Hotel. Poe most recently served as director of sales of TravelClick.

The Taconic plans to feature 87 guest rooms and more than 9,600 square feet of meeting space. Michael Choiniere has been appointed director of sales and marketing at the Carillon Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. Choiniere most recently served as director of sales and marketing at the Shelborne Wyndham Grand South Beach, also in Miami Beach.

Helen Pratt has been named regional director of sales and marketing for Fairmont Hotels, Pacific Northwest, where she will be responsible for six regional hotels. Pratt previously served as director of sales and marketing at the Fairmont/ Pacific Rim in Vancouver, British Columbia.

And at the Fairmont/Vancouver, Brent Iverson has been named director of sales and marketing. Iverson has been with the property since 2012, brought on as director of tour and travel sales and, prior to that, he served as director of marketing and business development for SnapAgent Ltd.

Construction & Expansion

Bethany Beach Ocean Suites has opened in Bethany Beach, Delaware, with 112 guest rooms and 4,400 square feet of meeting and event space. Amenities include a full-service spa and an oceanfront restaurant and bar.

The Pelican Grand Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has completed a multimillion-dollar expansion, which doubled its on-property event space and added a new spa. The 156- room boutique resort now offers 10,150 square feet of meeting space with the creation of two oceanfront ballrooms and terraces as well as two penthouses.

The Westin/San Francisco Airport in Millbrae, California, recently completed an extensive, $10 million renovation. The project included updates to its 397 guest rooms, lobby and 22,000 square feet of meeting space.

The Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, Illinois, has completed a $7.5 million renovation. All 295 guest rooms and suites were redesigned and now feature resurfaced balconies and patios, the sixlane bowling alley was refurbished, the fitness studios were enhanced and a “Grab & Go” market was added. For group events, the resort offers 37,000 square feet of IACC-certified space.

The Quirk Hotel opened in September in Richmond, Virginia, in a historic Italian Renaissance building downtown. Features include 74 guest rooms, more than 3,000 square feet of meeting space, an artisan restaurant and an art gallery (which can also host events).

In San Francisco, the landmark Palace Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, has updated its public spaces, including its lobby, promenade and Garden Court, and has introduced a new lounge. The 556-room hotel offers 48,000 square feet of meeting space that can be divided into 23 rooms.

The 338-room Marriott / Walnut Creek in Walnut Creek, California, has completed a renovation of its concierge lounge, hotel entrance and 17,500 square feet of event space. The hotel’s largest updated space, the California Ballroom, can host up to 400 people.

The Red Lion Hotels Corporation plans to convert a hotel in Brooklyn, New York, into a Red Lion Inn & Suites. The hotel, located in the Park Slope neighborhood, is expected to offer 104 completely new guest rooms as well as upgraded public spaces, a breakfast area and technology amenities. The renovation is expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2016.

And Finally...

Marriott Hotels has launched “VRoom Service,” a service that lets guests enjoy virtual experiences in their rooms using a Samsung Gear VR headset and accompanying headphones. Hand-delivered to the rooms, the kit is available on loan for up to 24 hours. Marriott also launched “VR Postcards,” a new virtual travel-content platform. Using the virtual reality headset, guests are able to visually experience a 3D journey of real travelers in various destinations and hear their personal stories about why travel is important to them.
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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, which will be held November 9–12 in Las Vegas. 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.

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