ON THE MOVE
PlannersBrowning joins Institute of Real Estate ManagementMaryAnn Browning is the new meetings and conferences manager at the Chicago-based Institute of Real Estate Management. Her responsibilities include planning the company’s annual and regional conferences and managing the company’s green meetings initiative. Previously, Brower served as meetings manager for the Rockford, Ill.-based Fabricators & Manufacturers Association.
SuppliersMark Ackerman and
Dylan Taylor have been named technical directors at St. Paul, Minn.-based Showcore Inc., an audiovisual production company for meetings and events.
Rachel Benedick has been promoted to associate vice president of convention sales for the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Karen Boatright has been hired as sales manager for the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
Meeting and event company Experient has appointed
Nancy DeBrosse as vice president of its Washington, D.C., office.
Stacey Edinger has been named director of sales and marketing for the 1,010-room Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco.
At the 380-room Four Seasons Hotel Toronto,
Kurt Englund has been appointed hotel manager.
Michael Jokovich has been named general manager of the 806-room Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa in Hawaii.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has promoted
Timothy Rector to vice president of sales and marketing for the chain’s Caribbean region.
The 626-room Regal Sun Resort, inside the Walt Disney Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., has hired
Efrain Vargas and
Kristine Messuri-Cloonan as national sales managers.
Nathaniel Waldron has been named director of conference services for the 248-room The Heldrich in New Brunswick, N.J.
Jessica Woodard has been promoted to director of national sales for corporate accounts at Phoenix-based ADI Meetings & Incentives Inc. Also at the company, Sherry Johnson has been hired as director of national accounts.
If you would like notice of a career move considered for inclusion in this column, contact Kaylee Hultgren, People Page, M&C,100 Lighting Way, Secaucus, N.J. 07094; fax: (201) 902-2032; e-mail: [email protected] 
“Our cultural adviser can perform
blessings and lead seminars on Hawaiian culture.”
Tom Donovan is general
manager of the 463-room Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, in Maui, Hawaii,
which finished a massive $160 million renovation in January.
Donovan joined the hotel just as the renovation began and has
overseen the property’s dramatic transformation. Highlights include
the new 17,500-square-foot Waihua Ritz-Carlton Spa, opening in
mid-May; two championship golf courses, and 150,000 square feet of
remodeled meeting space.
How did you end up in this
industry? I started cooking in a restaurant in college.
After a year, I was running the kitchen while going to school full
time. I enjoyed the service aspect of the restaurant, but I knew my
strength would be interacting with guests. So I got a position at a
hotel in Boston working the front desk and moved on from there.
How would you describe your
management style? I like to participate along with my
staff. I want them to be able to approach me with any question and
to be truly engaged in their work. They can only do that when they
know there is trust in the workplace -- and that means candid
communication.
What’s in store for meetings at
the resort? We offer special cultural programs tailored to
groups, led by our cultural adviser, Clifford Naele. He can perform
opening blessings and lead educational seminars on Hawaiian
culture. Also, we’re thrilled about the new Kapalua Adventure
Center, which hosts large group activities in the mountains above
the resort, including using our eight zip lines, 100 miles of
hiking and biking trails, and rock-climbing walls.