The next generation of leaders of the meetings and hospitality industry aren't waiting to be discovered; they are already out in front bringing the customer experience to the next level. MeetingNews is happy to recognize:

Lindsay Culbreath, 29
Director of Sales, Smith Travel Research
Hendersonville, TN

Culbreath, who is responsible for the growth of all Smith Travel Research participant programs, as well as increasing sales of non-traditional products, transitioned from health care to hospitality. She is a member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association's (AH&LA) Under 30 Council.

Kirsten Hassert, 29
Director of Operations, North America
Starwood Hotels & Resorts, New York, NY

Hassert began her hospitality career at 14 as a dishwasher. After graduating from Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, she spent two years in strategy consulting and now supports Starwood's North American president. She belongs to the Under 30 Council.

Trey Alonzo, 28
Financial Analyst, FelCor Lodging Trust Dallas

Alonzo began his hospitality career behind the front desk as a guest service agent. He now oversees the debt management responsibilities for FelCor's treasury group, preparing forecasting models and providing support for strategic planning. He is a member of AH&LA's Under 30 Council.

Renee Brockinton, 28
Manager of Grassroots & Gov't Affairs
American Hotel & Lodging Association
Washington, DC

Brockinton began by working for a congressman from South Carolina, where tourism is the biggest industry. Now responsible for managing, marketing, and mobilizing AH&LA's grassroots efforts, she is also staff liaison for AH&LA's Under 30 Council.

Amanda Gourgue, 28
Owner, Meeting Revolution, Lee, NH

Since starting her own company, Gourgue has traveled throughout the U.S. to educate individuals and organizations to reduce the carbon footprint of the entire industry. She is always willing to lend her expertise in meetings and the green industry to any organization.

Jean Guptil, 28
Radisson Resorts, Aruba & St. Martin

A self-starter, Guptil is noted for her positive attitude and solutions to problems. She is efficient and effective in her duties and always goes above and beyond to help her colleagues.

Meredith J. Herrick, 28
Manager of Human Resources
Hilton Hotels Corp., Los Angeles

Herrick began her Hilton career in a buyer position within the guest-room module of corporate purchasing, liaising with the company's nine brand executive teams on new products and programs. Now, Herrick focuses on employee relations and corrective action, coordinating corporate events, employee recognition, and benefit programs for over 900 employees. She belongs to the Under 30 Council.

Michael McBride, 28
Operations Analysis Manager
Gaylord Entertainment, Nashville

During high school, McBride—who is currently co-leading a project responsible for documenting best practices throughout the brand (in operations, accounting/finance, human resources, purchasing, and information technology) and implementing operational efficiencies—started in hospitality as a summer intern with Smith Travel Research. McBride is vice chairman of AH&LA's Under 30 Council.

Nathan Tollett, 28
The Golden Nugget, Houston Office

Tollett started his career at the George R. Brown Convention Center, then moved to the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, where he booked high-profile conventions for Microsoft and the Dairy Deli Association by getting creative, thinking outside the box, and generally knocking the socks off planners. He has recently taken a job at Landry's, selling the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

Mary Gallagher, 27
Conference Coordinator
Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Ctr.
Nashville

With Gaylord's conference coordinator program being relatively new to the market, Gallagher has played an important role in creating the standards for the position through training and mentoring new coordinators. Her knowledge of the convention business allows her to be proactive and make quick yet educated decisions that are critical to the massive property.

James Bland, 26
Marketing Manager, Sundial Group, England

In February, the global board of directors of the International Association of Conference Centers awarded its first global scholarship to recognize emerging young leaders in the conference center industry. Bland, who joined the Sundial group of hotels at the age of 17, became involved in IACC as part of the European Annual Conference Planning Committee in 2008 that organized IACC's hugely successful inaugural last summer at Scarman House at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England. Bland is working on a master's degree in marketing.

Jessica Soklow, 26
Manager of Media Relations
American Hotel & Lodging Association
Washington, DC
AH&LA Staff Liaison

Soklow's first job was as an account coordinator at a public-relations firm with many hotel, restaurant, and tourism board clients. She now handles AH&LA's external communications with media, promoting the association's executives, research, events, and the organization's overall initiatives. Soklow is also a staff liaison for AH&LA's Under 30 Council and is also a part of ASAE & the Center's Leadership Academy Class of 2010.

Jennifer Sosa, 26
Convention Services
Wynn/Encore Las Vegas

Sosa has been promoted three times over the three years she has been with Wynn Resorts. She started in convention services as an assistant in August; by October, she was servicing her own groups. She provides impeccable service, goes the extra mile for a client, and offers creative solutions to problems.

Brian Benitz, 25
Proprietor, By Dzign, Henderson, NV

While attending classes full-time at the University of Nevada Las Vegas' William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, Benitz worked in the design, setup, and implementation of events. Since graduating in 2008, Benitz has returned to the school to guest lecture and was recently selected to be highlighted in the college dean's publication, Premier, which goes out to thousands of alumni and program supporters.

Joshua Leveque, 25
National Sales Manager
The Mirage Casino Hotel, Las Vegas

Although Leveque only began his career with MGM Mirage in 2006 as a sales assistant, his ability to see changes in the industry before most moved him to national sales manager quickly. Leveque holds himself to the highest standards; he is the consummate team player, a polished professional, and all-around exceptional employee.

Megan Montefusco, 25
Project Manager, Maritz Travel onsite at
Schering-Plough, Kenilworth, NJ

A strong member of the Maritz team and a "frequently requested" project manager, Montefusco has developed great working relationships with clients, vendors, and team members over the last two years. Her ability to productively manage multiple and diverse program types utilizing Maritz processes and systems, while adhering to all project management standard operating procedures, is exceptional.

Rosalyn Putnam, 25
Sales, Mandalay Bay Resort
Las Vegas

Within three years, Putnam has become the top salesperson at MGM Mirage. At Mandalay Bay, she has doubled the production of the next closest manager. Her knowledge of hotel operations and relationship skills have set her far above others. Integrity and compassion are her strengths.

Vanessa Stafford, 25
Convention Services Manager
Omni Severin Hotel, Indianapolis

In 2006, Stafford completed a 12-month internship with the Indiana Pacers basketball team in the game-day operations department and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in tourism management. She started as a front office supervisor with Omni Hotels and was promoted in 2007 to the Convention Services Leader in Development (LID) position. Stafford is a member of AH&LA's Under 30 Council.

Mark A. Williams, 25
Coakley & Williams Hotel
Management, Greenbelt, MD

A graduate of the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, in Orlando, Williams is committed to human resources development within the hotel community. Since joining the company in early 2007,Williams has continued to bring fresh ideas and perspectives to Rosen's brand and image. He created a welcome YouTube video that generated 1,350 views in its year of being on the social network; he also created a new company website and collateral package that has had results.

Jelena Karic, 24
Crowne Meetings Director, Crowne Plaza
Hotel, Middleburg Heights, OH

Karic began as a hostess and banquet server at Buccis at the Crowne Plaza in July 2007 and was promoted to restaurant manager in January 2008. In April 2008, she transitioned to become a Crowne Meetings Director (CMD), after completing Crowne's CMD program.

Kaitlin Riggio, 24
VIP Services F&B Manager
Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Riggio, who graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a dual baccalaureate in hotel management and culinary arts management, now oversees budgeting, ordering, scheduling, and hiring in Caesars' three main VIP lounges. She is a member of AH&LA's Under 30 Council.

Tiffany Fonda, 23
Travel and Tour Manager
The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO

Fonda began her career in the restaurant division at the Broadmoor, then moved to the sales office, and most recently became tour and travel manager. In hard economic times, Fonda is bringing new and exciting ideas to the table, as well as generating business and keeping connections alive.

Jessica Foster, 23
BMF Media, New York, NY

Not only was Foster selected as the 2007 Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International's Greater New York Chapter Student of the Year, she was a leader and role model for her student peers in New York University's Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management, leading the drive to make the student produced NYUHSMAI Intercollegiate Networking Conference better. Foster will help define experiential marketing and the way the industry looks at the intersection of marketing, event production, and experiential branding.

Geoff Gray, 22
Rooms Director, Statler Hotel on the
Cornell University campus, Ithaca, NY

During his senior year, Gray, a 2008 graduate of Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, became the first-ever student GM for the Statler Hotel, which serves as Cornell's training site for budding hoteliers. Also, he served as managing director of the 83rd Hotel Ezra Cornell, the school's annual student-run hospitality conference. He is now a member of the Statler Leadership Development Program.

Dana Lampert, 22
Entrepreneur, Wiggio.com

While attending the Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, Lampert developed a software system to manage all the school's academic and faculty social groups. Launched this January, Lampert's solution, Wiggio.com, now claims 75,000 users—a number rising by about 1,000 per day. Most users are college students and faculty members, many of whom use the tool to manage activity across multiple groups to which they belong.

Hannah Yoffa, 22
Harith Productions, Willow Grove, PA

A member of Temple University's School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Senior Seminar Class, Yoffa planned and executed a semiformal dinner for 120 people. A tireless worker, she belongs to the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA).

Fabienne Katharina Hamberg, 21
Student, Temple University, Tourism and
Hospitality Management, Philadelphia

A member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and several charitable organizations, Hamberg speaks four languages and received a merit scholarship from Vienna's MODUL University for the fall 2008 semester and for an exchange term at Temple. She will graduate from MODUL in 2010.

Megan Lehn, 21
Sales and Marketing Intern, W Hotels
San Francisco

Lehn began her meeting planning career in high school, creating alcohol-free events for students. She was a conference services intern at the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, and was a scholarship recipient of IMEX-MPI and PCMA in 2008. She has started a PCMA Student Chapter at San Francisco State University, from which she expects to graduate in 2010.

Melanie Reese, 20
Student, Univ. at Central Florida, Rosen
College of Hospitality Mgmt., Orlando

Reese, who graduates this year, has accrued a slew of awards. She won the Harris and Trisha Rosen Endowed Scholarship, is a SKAL Scholarship Recipient, won the IMEX-MPI Future Leaders Forum Award, and won the Founders' Scholar Award, given to the top 1 percent of UCF undergraduates.

Adam McDannold, 18
Houseman, Hiltons of Branson/
Branson Conv. Center, Branson, MO

The youngest of MN's Thirty Under 30, McDannold joined the Hiltons of Branson/Branson Convention Center while still in high school. He has earned the Hilton 10 Points of Service Award and has enrolled at the University of Missouri School of Business and Hotel/Restaurant Management School.

Originally published April 20, 2009 This page is protected by Copyright laws. Do Not Copy