ON THE MOVE
Planners
Brown moves up at NACAS
Heather Brown has been promoted to director of membership and business partner services at the Charlottesville, Va.-based National Association of College Auxiliary Services. Brown is responsible for organizing the association’s annual conference as well as several regional conferences, development workshops, leadership meetings and online events.
Suppliers
Angela Berrigan has been named vice president of sales and marketing for the Grand Canyon Railway, a luxury train that travels between Williams, Ariz., and the Grand Canyon.
Dennis Carew has been appointed global director of group sales for Millennium Hotels & Resorts, North America; he is based in Washington, D.C. The hotel company also named David Johnson director of sales and catering information, North America, at its New York City headquarters.
Matthew Davis has joined NYC & Company, New York City’s convention and visitors bureau, as senior national sales manager. Also new at the bureau is Eddie Emeric, senior manager, trade shows.
Arleen Edwards recently joined the Greater Hartford (Conn.) Convention & Visitors Bureau as director of conference services.
Justin R. Hannah has been named director of sales and marketing at the Coralville (Iowa) Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. Also new at the property: Courtney K. Goddard, catering sales manager; Deborah Mounier, corporate sales manager; and Anissa A. Wolfe, special markets sales manager.
Mark Metcalfe has been appointed national sales manager for the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau; he is based in Washington, D.C. Also joining the CVB: Polly Prince Johnson, national convention sales manager, based in Baton Rouge, La.
Larry Peterson is the new director of sales, corporate, government and association groups, for the MonteLago Village Resort, Lake Las Vegas, in Henderson, Nev.
“Corporations are picking up
on the association mode of meeting...”
Mike Mason is senior vice president of
sales for Nashville-based Gaylord Hotels. A resident of Kissimmee,
Fla., Mason is responsible for selling all four Gaylord properties,
including the Gaylord National in Prince George’s County, Maryland,
near Washington, D.C., which will open in 2008.
How difficult is it to sell a
nonexistent hotel? It was certainly more difficult when we
had to pre-sell the Gaylord Palms, which opened in 2004. The
company has learned that the best way to sell is to deliver
excellent service and have happy, loyal clients.
Who’s booking the Gaylord
National? We are getting business from both associations
and corporations, some 547,000 room nights so far for the
1,500-room hotel. We find corporations are picking up on the
association mode of meeting, where exhibits account for a very
large percentage of the association’s income. Corporations are
starting to fund their meetings this way, too, and they are asking
us to provide very flexible space. They also tell us that they want
their meetings to include networking opportunities, and this is
where our huge atriums come into play, as people want to remain in
them long after the day’s business is done.
What do you do in any spare
time? I like to be with my family, mainly. I have four
daughters, ages 3 to 14. I also enjoy photography. Recently I
bought a Canon EOS 20D digital camera, which takes five shots a
second -- very useful for filming my children’s swimming, softball
and soccer games. I then later bore them all with home slide
shows.