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HSMAI's Central Florida Chapter Receives New Chapter of the Year Award |
MCLEAN, VA (March 23, 2007) � The Hospitality Sales & Marketing
Association International�s (HSMAI) Annual Leadership Conference, held
last week in Memphis, brought together an impressive mix of the organization�s
top-level volunteer leadership for two days of strategic planning, discussions
and brainstorming, as well as the presentation of the Frank W. Berkman
Chapter Awards winners.
Attending the conference were the HSMAI Americas board of directors, members of the Special Interest Group Advisory Boards (SIGs), managing directors and presidents of more than 30 chapters, collegiate chapter presidents and faculty liaisons. �This multi-faceted conference, whose agenda was driven by a �Flying
in Formation� theme, was designed to give our leadership ideas, innovations
and the tools to assist them in their many endeavors on behalf of HSMAI
and our constituency, as well as with their own personal career paths,�
states Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHA, president and CEO of HSMAI.
�It was a tremendous experience of information sharing, forward-thinking
and strategic planning.�
Category Large Chapter Medium Chapter Small ChapterA �new chapter of the year� award was presented to HSMAI Central Florida for their work in chapter management, which drove excellence in educational programming, communication, fundraising and community involvement. . New Chapter of the Year� award Presented to HSMAI Central Florida Additionally, the Los Angeles chapter made a special donation of $3,330 to the Gulf South chapter. The money was raised by the Los Angeles chapter as a fundraiser to assist Gulf South in rebuilding their chapter educational programming following Hurricane Katrina. Among the highlights of the multi-day event, were a �Welcome to Tennessee� from Susan Whitaker, commissioner of tourism of Tennessee, and an address from Kevin Kane, president & CEO, Memphis CVB. �Strategies for Success� was delivered by Dr. Lalia Rach, associate dean and HVS International Chair, Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. In a presentation tied to the �Flying in Formation� theme, she discussed four strategies for success: working together, recognizing possibilities through awareness, active leadership and fostering idea teams. �Just like anything you want to get better at, you have to work at being a leader�incremental change is the key to long-term success,� she stated. Discussing �Customers Trends: Data Driven Strategies,� Mike Pustateri, principal and founder, Vantage Strategy Consulting, said: �There is no mainstream out there anymore�you have to refresh your view of who is out there; build value from intangibles; put the customer in charge and think about having your sites in multiple languages.� Gayle Christensen, managing director of FedEx global brand management, said that �consistency is the mantra of branding at FedEx,� and she spoke of using the master brand strategy to build value under the FedEx brand. She also talked about FedEx�s approaches to �operate separately, market collectively,� and to look for non-traditional ways to get customers through the Web and sponsorship. Other presentations included:
A full day�s agenda was dedicated to the HSMAI Special Interest Groups (SIG), which included leadership roundtables and discussion on strategies for membership growth, communications and partnership development. In a joint SIGs/Chapter Leadership �Flying in Formation� panel, examples of unified efforts were presented, such as:
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 40 chapters in the Americas Region. |
Contact:
HSMAI
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Also See: | HSMAI Names the Frank W. Berkman Chapter Award Winners for 2005 / March 2006 |
HSMAI Recognizes the �Best-of-the-Best� in Chapter Practices / April 2004 |