Albert E. Koehl & Winthrop
W. Grice Honors to be Presented at
HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala in
New York City on Jan. 28, 2008
.
MCLEAN, VA (Nov. 16, 2007) � Recognizing individuals who have made significant
contributions and lasting impressions on the hospitality and travel industry,
the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI
� www.hsmai.org) announces the recipients of its annual Albert E. Koehl
Award for advertising and marketing and the Winthrop W. Grice Award for
public relations excellence.
The 2007 recipients will be acknowledged as part of the 51st Annual
HSMAI Adrian Awards program at the 18th annual awards gala on Jan. 28,
2008 in New York City. Ian Schrager, Chairman and CEO of Ian Schrager
Company, will be recognized with the Koehl honor, and Laura Davidson, Founder
and President of LDPR, will receive the Grice award.
�It is an honor to present Ian Schrager and Laura Davidson with these
distinctions,� states Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, President and CEO of
HSMAI. �These annual awards are HSMAI�s way of paying tribute to
those who stand out for serving the industry and encouraging others to
make similar commitments to their careers, the discipline and the profession,�
Gilbert adds.
Albert E. Koehl Award
Since
the 1970�s, entrepreneur Ian Schrager, Chairman and CEO of Ian Schrager
Company, has achieved international recognition for concepts that have
revolutionized both the entertainment and hospitality industries.
His passionate commitment to the modern lifestyle has been expressed
through a series of pioneering concepts: The hotel as home away from home,
the hotel as theater, �cheap chic,� �lobby socializing,� the indoor/outdoor
lobby, the urban resort, and the urban spa.
His keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture were honed
during the 1970�s and 1980�s, when he and his late business partner, Steve
Rubell, created Studio 54 and Palladium. Rubell and Schrager soon
turned their attention to the hotel business opening Morgans Hotel in 1984,
introducing the concept of the �boutique hotel� to the world.
Following this were the equally well received and highly successful
Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, in which Schrager again broke with
industry convention by creating �lobby socializing,� where the hotel lobby
became a new kind of gathering place and �cheap chic,� where affordable
luxury was offered in a stylish and sophisticated environment. Schrager
also received international recognition for his one-of-a-kind �urban resorts�
� the Delano Hotel in Miami and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood.
This was followed by the Hudson Hotel in New York, where Schrager realized
his �hotel as lifestyle,� and continued to refine his concept of �cheap
chic,� as well as expanding to cities such as San Francisco with the Clift
Hotel and London with St. Martins Lane Hotel and the Sanderson Hotel.
His groundbreaking hotel concepts have changed the business and set
industry standards that continue to be imitated throughout the world.
He recently completed the new Gramercy Park Hotel in an extraordinary collaboration
with artist Julian Schnabel.
His first residential project, 50 Gramercy Park North, provides unique
luxury residences adjacent to the only private park in New York City with
world-class service from the Gramercy Park Hotel. 50 Gramercy Park
North introduces the concept of �effortless living� and lifestyle management,
where owners benefit from a fully staffed household 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week, without the bother of managing it or maintaining it. The
project was designed by world-famous architect, John Pawson, known for
numerous residential projects including the Saatchi home in London, the
Novy Dvur Monastery in the Czech Republic, and the flagship Calvin Klein
store in New York City.
Schrager recently completed his second residential project, 40 Bond.
The building, designed by eminent Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron,
is an architectural masterpiece and is the first residential project in
America to combine luxury apartments and townhouses. 40 Bond residences
will also benefit from 24-hour, 7 day a week world-class service from Gramercy
Park Hotel.
Mr. Schrager�s latest venture, a partnership with Marriott International,
intends to create a new brand of as many as 100 hotels that will combine
the personal, intimate, individualized and unique lodging experience that
he created with the operational expertise that Marriott is known for.
According to J.W. Marriott, Jr. Chairman and CEO of Marriott International,
the marriage of the ultimate corporate lodging company and the pioneer
of the boutique/lifestyle hotel is an attempt by both to push the boundaries,
break new ground and take the hotel industry to a new level.
The hotels will be located in gateway cities throughout North and South
America, Europe and Asia. A diverse set of world-renown architects
and designers will be recruited to create the one-of-a-kind buildings.
In addition, Schrager is developing a number of unique and exciting
hotel and residential projects in gateway cities around the world that
are in various stages of completion.
The Albert E. Koehl award was established in 1975 to recognize individuals
who have made significant contributions to advertising and marketing in
the hospitality industry. A lifetime achievement award, it was named
in honor of Albert E. Koehl, a pioneer in hotel advertising. Past
recipients include: Barbara Talbott, Barry S. Sternlicht, Vincent
Vanderpool-Wallace, Horst H. Schulze, John J. Russell, CHME, Michael A.
Leven, CHME, Richard Branson, Michael D. Eisner and Gordon �Butch� Stewart.
Winthrop W. Grice Award
Laura
Davidson is the founder and president of LDPR, a leading New York-based
public relations agency that specializes entirely in travel. For
17 years, it has been in the vanguard of its industry, constantly expanding
the traditional limits of public relations, embracing new tools and adding
services for its roster of top international clients. Today that
roster includes destinations like Australia, Scotland and Montréal;
hospitality groups like Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, RockResorts and
Ritz-Carlton; private islands like Canouan, Mustique and Peter Island;
independent luxury resorts like Curtain Bluff, Eden Rock and The Resort
at Paws Up; and tour operators like Intrepid Travel.
Attracted by the promise of seeing the world, Davidson fell into public
relations straight out of college when she was hired as a secretary by
the Philadelphia agency Spiro & Associates in 1983. Within a
year, she was handling several key accounts, including the 100th anniversary
program for the Princess Hotel in Bermuda. Returning to New York,
her hometown, in 1985, she joined Tromson Monroe and soon became the agency�s
senior vice president, running its public relations division for six successful
years. When Tromson closed its doors in 1991, Davidson left to open
her own agency.
From humble beginnings (one client, one computer and a kitchen table)
LDPR has grown steadily in both size and reputation. Today the agency
fills a loft-office on Madison Avenue. It�s lean, smart, creative
and, with 20 clients and 18 members of staff, the optimum size to mix professionalism
with personal attention, enthusiasm with efficiency.
One measure of LDPR�s success is the collection of more than 50 HSMAI
awards (including five Platinums) that dot the office walls. Just
as significant for Davidson is the support of her business partner, Leslie
Cohen, and the caliber and loyalty of her staff members, who she recognizes
as the real winners of this achievement award. The third measurement
is the constancy and support of her clients, many of whom have stayed with
the agency for over eight years.
In addition to her agency work, Davidson has played an active role
in her industry, participating in numerous organizations including SATW
(Society of American Travel Writers), CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organization),
CHA (Caribbean Hotel Association) and ATME (Association of Travel Marketing
Executives). Equally adamant about �giving back� to society, she
involves her agency in several philanthropic initiatives � from sponsoring
teachers at a primary school in Benin, West Africa to planting a community
garden for the homeless in the Bronx.
The Winthrop W. Grice Award was established in 1989 to recognize individuals
who have made significant contributions to public relations in the hospitality
industry. It was named in honor of Winthrop W. �Bud� Grice, CHME,
a long-time senior marketing executive with Marriott, who was the award�s
first designate. Other winners include: Yvonne Middleton, Peggy R.
Bendel, René A. Mack, Lou Hammond, Bunny Grossinger, Herbert D.
Kelleher, Steve Wynn, Alan Fredericks and Donald J. Trump.
Winners will be honored on Jan. 28, 2008 at the New York Marriott Marquis
during the 18th Annual Adrian Awards Gala, a multifaceted, black-tie networking
extravaganza celebrating award-winning work, lifetime achievement, and
the �Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing.� Visit
www.adrianawards.com for more information on tickets/table purchases.
Adrian Awards benefactor partners are DEPARTURES Magazine, TravelCLICK,
and Yahoo!
HSMAI
HSMAI is an organization of sales and marketing professionals representing
all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education,
HSMAI has become the industry champion in identifying and communicating
trends in the hospitality industry, and bringing together customers and
members at annual events, including HSMAI�s Affordable Meetings®. Founded
in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprising more
than 7,000 members worldwide, with 39 chapters in the Americas Region. |