The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, April 2012 … Benchmark Hospitality International, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, has announced that Ellen Sinclair, senior vice president, has been honored with the Mel Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service.  The award is presented annually by the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), the leading professional organization governing the multi-billion dollar conference center industry on five continents.  The Mel Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service is IACC’s highest and most coveted honor.

“It is such an honor for me to receive this award,” said Ms. Sinclair.  “I have a special place in my heart for IACC, and for its contributions to our industry and to excellence in meetings productivity globally.  To be recognized in this way by my peers is a profoundly rewarding experience, and I’m grateful.”

“The Hosansky Award recognizes the best of the best and Ellen Sinclair is certainly in that category,” said Tom Bolman, executive vice president of IACC.  “She makes our industry better by challenging the status quo and inspiring her colleagues to seek continuous improvement in everything they do. IACC Americas is a stronger organization because of Ellen’s momentous contributions, particularly to the Learning Network and as a member of the Board of Directors.”

Ellen Sinclair was a worthy recipient of the 2012 Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service.  A 20-year veteran of the conference center industry and senior executive of Benchmark Hospitality International for many of these years, Ms. Sinclair has been intimately involved in the development and operations of multiple IACC-member properties, including some of the most technologically advanced conference centers in the United States.

Additionally, Ms. Sinclair previously served two terms on the Board of Directors of IACC Americas, and actively contributed to the association through her work with the Annual Conference Planning Committee, the Leadership Development Committee, the Membership Development Committee, and serving as Chair of the IACC Learning Network.

An educator at heart, Mr. Sinclair has also been instrumental in advancing IACC’s educational programming in a myriad of ways.  She helped overhaul IACC’s core competency courses, created a current and user-friendly curriculum for several course offerings, through her work with the Learning Network she led the production of the "Conference Center Concept" DVD and User's Guide that was distributed to 200 universities as part of their Hospitality curricula and to IACC members for Employee Training Programs.  Her extraordinary educational contributions were recognized previously with IACC's highest educational honor, the Pyramid Award.

The Hosansky Award for Distinguished Service was named after the late Mel Hosansky, the longtime editor of Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings magazines, who was an ardent supporter of the International Association of Conference Centers and the organization’s objectives.

About the International Association of Conference Centers
Founded in 1981, the International Association of Conference Centres is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting understanding and awareness of the conference center industry and to giving member properties the tools necessary to provide an exceptional meeting experience. Active members meet a set of stringent Universal Criteria and agree to a Code of Ethics. Currently, the association includes approximately 400 members from the United States, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, England, The Netherlands, Germany and Japan. For more information, visit the website at www.iacconline.org.  “There are meetings and then there are IACC meetings."

About Benchmark Hospitality International
Benchmark Hospitality International is a leader in the management and marketing of resorts, conference centers, hotels, and Personal Luxury Resorts & Hotels^SM.  The independent company, launched in 1980, is a worldwide organization operating properties in major metropolitan and resort destinations.  Benchmark's international headquarters is located in The Woodlands, Texas, near Houston. Benchmark Hospitality is also a founding member of the International Association of Conference Centers.  The company's eastern regional office is in New Jersey, western regional office is in Washington, with international offices in Tokyo, Japan, and Santiago, Chile. For the location of Benchmark's properties and additional information, visit www.benchmarkhospitality.com.

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