Promotions;and;Changes
Mitchell L. Dvorak, MS,
CAE, is now account
executive at Bostrom, a
Chicago-based association
management and profes-
sional services firm. Dvorak most recently
served as executive director of Consumers
Advancing Patient Safety, a consumer-
led nonprofit that advocates on behalf
of patients to prevent harm in health
care encounters. At Bostrom, Dvorak is
responsible for the day-to-day executive
management of the National Association
of Housing Cooperatives and consult-
ing to several of Bostrom’s medical and
health care clients.
Two Southern Illinois tourism bureaus
— the Tourism Bureau of Southwestern
Illinois and the Southeastern Illinois
Convention and Visitors Bureau — have
merged to create Tourism Bureau
ILLINOISouth, a combined entity that
promotes tourism and group business
within 19 Illinois counties. Headquartered
in Fairview Heights, Ill., the organization
represents almost 9,000 square miles, the
largest geographic coverage area of any
Illinois tourism bureau. Jo Kathmann,
formerly president and CEO of Tourism
Bureau Southwestern Illinois, retains her
title with Tourism Bureau ILLINOISouth.
Ed Brumley, formerly executive director of the Southeastern Illinois CVB, is
now sales and marketing coordinator for
Tourism Bureau ILLINOISouth’s eastern
division.
The City of San Antonio has
appointed Casandra Matej
as executive director of the
San Antonio Convention
& Visitors Bureau in San
Antonio, Texas. Most recent-
ly, Matej was senior vice president of sales
and services for the Dallas Convention &
Visitors Bureau.
VISIT Milwaukee has
named Todd O’Leary its
new director of marketing.
O’Leary previously was the
organization’s director of
membership, a position he assumed in
2008.
The
Indianapolis
Convention
& Visitors
Association
has made
two new hires: Wendy Petersen as
national sales manager and Amanda
Brothers as destination sales specialist.
Previously director of sales for the Seattle
Convention & Visitors Bureau, Petersen
is based in Chicago and will target cor-
porate and association groups in Illinois,
Minnesota and Wisconsin. Brothers,
meanwhile, will support the sales team
by showcasing Indianapolis as a destina-
tion to prospective customers during site
inspections. She most recently was part
of the pre-opening sales team for the JW
Marriott Indianapolis, which opened in
February 2011.
Petersen Brothers
Linda Ruby, CMP,
CHME, has joined the
Tempe Tourism Office in
Tempe, Ariz., as director of
sales. She previously was
national sales manager at
the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort in
Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Corpus Christi
Convention & Visitors
Bureau in Corpus Christi,
Texas, has hired Erica
Lozano as senior sales
manager. Previously a sales
account manager at the Best Western
Marina Grand Hotel, also in Corpus
Christi, Lozano will work primarily with
the social, military, education, religious
and fraternal group markets.
News;and;Awards
Two organizations have recently selected
The Sherwood Group of Deerfield, Ill., to
provide association management services.
The Hosted Payload Alliance, a trade
association formed by a consortium of
satellite industry companies to increase
awareness of the benefits of hosted government payloads on commercial satellites, chose Sherwood to manage its start-up and provide full-service headquarters
staffing. Meanwhile, the American
Academy of Medical Administrators,
located in Des Plaines, Ill., has contracted
with Sherwood to provide database management, order processing and web services. A third association, the American
Physician Scientists Association, also
chose Sherwood for management services
earlier this year.
The Chicago Marriott O’Hare hotel has
commenced a $40 million renovation
project throughout the entire property.
Scheduled for completion in January 2012,
it includes a full redesign of 470 guest
rooms and suites, as well as a remodel of
the hotel’s lobby. New additions include
a fitness center and 7,400 square feet of
additional meeting space on top of its
existing 27,500 square feet.
Work is moving ahead on a long-stalled
plan to expand Chicago’s Hyatt Regency
McCormick Place convention center
hotel. Scheduled for completion in mid-
2013, the expansion project will add
another 460 guest rooms to the 800-room
hotel.
