Meeting News - November 10, 2008 - (Page 6)

People Making News Harrah’s Clark, Vegas VP, Steps Up In October, Jordan Clark was named VP of sales at Harrah’s Entertainment. Formerly the vice president of sales for the seven Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah’s properties, Clark is now responsible for synergy and consistency in meetings across all Harrah’s Entertainment properties nationwide. “Jordan is the keystone of our sales team,” said Michael Massari, vice president of meeting sales and operations for Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah’s. “In his new role, Jordan will help further our commitment to providing planners with a consistent and valuable experience at any one of Harrah’s properties nationwide.” nation. Sonto faces a challenging and potentially lucrative task.” Shout Outs I In October, Sue Hocking, director of sales and marketing for Australia’s Adelaide Convention Centre for the past 10 years, became director of sales for the new Qatar National Convention Centre. Hocking was an active member of Conventions Australia’s steering committee and the Global Congress Centre Alliance, and she is past president of Meetings Events Australia’s South Australian Branch. She is now in Doha. I At LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, area director of sales Steve Silverman announced the promotion of Chip Minick as area sales manager. Minick will be responsible for furthering corporate and group sales for LXR’s South Florida Collection: the Miami Beach Resort & Spa in Miami Beach; the Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club, a Hilton resort in Key Largo; and Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club and the Reach Resort, both in Key West. I In October, the JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. Live announced four new executives: Peter Psihas, director of group sales; Anne Marie Brault-Hess and Peter Francis, directors of national accounts; and Hannah Bartell, destination sales manager. Psihas, Brault-Hess, Francis, and Bartell were recruited to expand the existing sales team for the property, which is now more than 40 stories complete and on track to open in March 2010. I The Lancaster County Convention Center and Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square has announced that sales manager Sarah Heath received the Certiﬁed Meeting Professional designation by the Convention Industry Council. “Sarah’s designation adds a powerful punch to the sales team,” noted Josh Nowak, director of sales and marketing. H McCollum Oversees the Big Apple In October, the Carino Collection, a sales and customer information company assisting luxury hotels, announced that its executive director of sales, Colleen McCollum, was named president of the New York City Business Travel Association (NYCBTA). In this role, McCollum oversees all meetings and events held by NYCBTA and will continue strengthening the organization. McCollum brings over 15 years of hotel industry experience to NYCBTA. She was previously vice president and director of membership for NYCBTA. Since joining Carino in 2002, McCollum has built and managed a global sales team, overseen the sales process, and conducted direct selling in the corporate transient sales market, which includes managing the RFP bidding process. Prior to Carino, McCollum was manager of corporate accounts for Preferred Hotels (now Preferred Hotel Group). She also held various sales positions at the Ritz-Carlton New York, the Algonquin Hotel, and the Loews Hotel New York. For South Africa, Sonto Is All Business Last month, Nomasonto Ndlovu (better known as Sonto) was appointed new global manager for business tourism at South African Tourism. Between 2005 and 2007, Sonto was general manager of marketing at KwaZulu-Natal Tourism Authority (TKZN), responsible for brand management, leisure and business tourism marketing, events, and trade relations in the province. She led a team of eight managers and five staff members to a successful bid for hosting Tourism Indaba, South Africa’s most prestigious tourism exhibition, from 2007 to 2009. “We are thrilled to have Sonto join the team,” said South African Tourism CEO Moeketsi Mosola, adding, “business tourism is both a crucial sector in the South African travel industry and a strong focus of our destination marketing work here at South African Tourism.” Mosola continued, “Next year, we present the second Meetings Africa hosted by South African Tourism, and our mandate is to grow South Africa into a premier global business tourism desti- Industry Mourns the Late Jim Fausel Jim Fausel, president and founder of Phoenix-based Conference Connection, passed away on Oct. 18 from complications of surgery. Fausel, with his son Jim, Jr. and other partners, recently expanded his company and established Global Conference Associates. Fausel was also an educator in Arizona State University’s College of Public Programs, where he taught meetings and conference management. He was instrumental in establishing with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) a certiﬁcation program for hospitality students, and received numerous accolades and honors from professional associations and colleagues over the years. Fausel was a frequent contributor to MiForum, MeetingNews’ online community. He is missed by many. E-mail your personnel announcements in the meetings and hospitality industries to Terri Hardin, Editor-In-Chief, at terri.hardin@nielsen.com, or mail them to MeetingNews, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. 6 MeetingNews November 10, 2008 www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - November 10, 2008

Meeting News - November 10, 2008
MN Exclusive Research
%20%20%20%20%20Green & Social Responsibility: The Year that Was in Meetings
Incentive Special: Recovering from AIG
Perspectives
What's Up @ MeetingNews.com
Letters to the Editor
Inside the Meetings Industry
South Africa Supplement
Newsmaker Q&A
People Making News
Hotels & Resorts
%20%20%20%20%20Starwood Hopes E-Portal is Small Meeting Utopia
%20%20%20%20%20Intercontinental O'Hare Puts Art at Forefront
Convention Centers
%20%20%20%20%20Dallas and Philadelphia Move on Their Projects
CVBs
%20%20%20%20%20Jacksonville Markets to Medical, Cultural Groups
International
%20%20%20%20%20Jamaica's Rose Hall Area Blossoms with Resorts
%20%20%20%20%20EIBTM Puts Together an Ambitious Program
Transportation & Services
Meeting News South
Technology
Green Beat
Destination Insider
%20%20%20%20%20Fort Lauderdale
%20%20%20%20%20Cleveland
Incentive Report
%20%20%20%20%20Mexico
MN Webcast Report
Ad Index
Live from the Forum

Meeting News - November 10, 2008