News for the Hospitality Executive |
Washington,
D.C. (February 15, 2013) — The
Knowland Group today
announced that Kelli O’Dell joined the company as a National Sales
Director,
Professional Business Development. Ms.
O’Dell’s book of business and customer relationships include meeting
planners
in the Greater Washington, D.C. market and portions of the
Mid-Atlantic. In addition to assisting and serving her
established clientele, Ms. O’Dell will be working closely with
Knowland’s Sales
Enhancement Team, using Knowland’s massive database of meeting planner
information to deliver lead opportunities to hotels who are current
Knowland clients.
She will be assisting in closing and converting leads into definite
business as
well as generating additional leads from her own extensive client
relationships, in addition to helping meeting planners negotiate group
contracts.
Ms. O’Dell has more than 20 years of senior-level sales and marketing experience within the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the Knowland, Ms. O’Dell was National Sales Manager for the Krisam Group (DC Mid-Atlantic Region-Association and Corporate Group Markets), Senior Sales Manager for an Interstate Hotels & Resorts portfolio with over 200 properties, as well as Director of Sales with Affiliated Hotels & Resorts, where she represented a collection of domestic and international hotels and resorts while overseeing over 500 accounts. In addition to Ms. O’Dell’s national sales experience, she was Director of Sales in several Washington, DC metro area hotels. During her tenure at Interstate Hotels, she was among the top IHR Interlead company producers, with lead generation for over of $2 million and $1.7 million in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Ms. O’Dell is a member of ASAE, the Center for Association Leadership, Destination DC and DC Connections. “I am looking forward to helping meeting planners save time and money in site selection by assisting them when searching for the perfect hotel or venue in any city”, said O’Dell. “I am excited to advocate for meeting planners during their contract negotiations and after-the-sales solutions. “We are pleased to welcome Kelli to our PBD team,” said Knowland CEO Michael K McKean. “Kelli’s rich book of business and extensive customer relationships in the Greater Washington D.C. and Mid-Atlantic region will be advantageous to Knowland as it expands its client base into new markets and turns leads into definite business.” About the Knowland Group The Knowland Group is a proven innovator, developing intuitive marketing products and services that streamline and support event and group sales in the hospitality industry. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. in historic Chinatown, the Knowland Group serves more than 3,000 hotel clients and 25,000 users globally. Knowland is ranked as the 76th fastest growing software company in North America by Deloitte and the second fastest growing private company in the travel industry for both 2009 and 2010 by Inc. Magazine. For more information, please visit Knowland’s website or call (410) 860-2270. |
Contact:
Ryan
Miner, Communications Specialist The Knowland Group (202) 312-5880 Ext. 302 [email protected] |