Speaking of People

SPEAKING OF PEOPLE

Heather Turner serves as national sales manager for the San Jose Convention & Visitors Bureau (SJCVB), a position she has held since August of 2007. In this post Turner focuses on promoting San Jose as a premier destination to various east coast regions, including meeting planners in Maryland, Virginia, Southeast Region Association and the U.S. Government. She draws on extensive sales contacts and experience she obtained while working with Hyatt and Wyndham Hotels as well as with the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore convention & visitors bureaus (CVBs).

The San Jose CVB’s mission is to enhance the image and economic well being of San Jose by marketing San Jose as a globally recognized destination.

Kathy Taylor has joined Road Scholar/Elderhostel as associate Vice president of Community Business Development. Taylor most recently served as senior director of Local Corporate Development at WGBH Educational Foundation in Boston for 10 years. Prior to WGBH, she was a senior account executive with WBZ-TV (CBS) of Boston and special assistant for Minority Affairs to Boston Mayor Kevin White. Taylor received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Boston College, a Masters in Education from Lesley University and a Certificate of Advanced Studies from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Road Scholar/Elderhostel, the world's largest provider of educational travel programs to the mature travel market, reports annual revenues of $190 million.

Experience Columbus, recently promoted Vineetha Thomas, formerly a sales assistant, to the position of sales manager. Thomas, in her new position, will generate leads and new bookings for meetings, conventions and events, regardless of market, which require 10-100 room nights. She will also market the city to Ohio-based corporations.
Thomas is a graduate of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She joined Experience Columbus in October 2006, after serving as business center supervisor at Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.

Experience Columbus is the destination marketing organization for the Greater Columbus community.

The Convention Industry Council (CIC) is pleased to announce that Heather Doughlin, CMP, has joined the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) program as its new director. She joins CIC after 25 years of service to the Hyatt Hotels Corporation with positions in the Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and Washington DC metropolitan areas.

Her most recent position was senior Catering and Convention Services manager for the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington DC. Notable accomplishments in her tenure at Hyatt include expanding the wedding market while director of Catering at Hyatt Arlington. She was also co-chair of the Hospitality Division for the DC Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives for a period in 2006.

The InterContinental Boston has named Kenneth Ng director of Sales & Marketing. In this role, Ng will lead the InterContinental Boston's 12-member sales and marketing team, launch new marketing initiatives in 2008 and work to further market the InterContinental Boston as a premier luxury property for both the business and leisure markets.
With nearly 20 years experience in the hospitality industry with specific emphasis on sales, marketing and catering, Ng' comes to the InterContinental Boston from the Hotel @ MIT, an upscale non-branded Hilton property, based in Cambridge, MA, where he served as director of Sales & Marketing since January 2004.
Ng began his career at the Stouffer Bedford Glen Hotel in Bedford, MA, where he worked in catering.

Experient, the source for integrated meeting and event solutions, recently announced the addition of Margot Louden to the Experient Sales Network. The Experient Sales Network (ESN) is comprised of a team of Experient business development specialists located in primary customer markets across North America. These meeting solution professionals design and implement meeting and incentive solutions for Experient customers. Louden is based in Laurel, MD – serving Washington DC and Baltimore, MD – and has 15 years of experience in the event industry. Her previous positions included reservations, production and sales at Global Distribution Systems in New York and site sourcing, as a regional manager, for HelmsBriscoe.