Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/4253
Black Meetings & Tourism October/November 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 18 Darryl Whittaker, a 17-year hospitality veteran who has worked for meetings proper- ties in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee, has been named a sales manager for the soon-to- open Oasis Hotel at VictoryLand Grey- hound Park in Shorter, AL.__ Whittaker most recently served as a corporate sales man- ager for the Wynfrey Hotel at Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, AL. In his new role, he will book local, regional and national corporate meeting groups for the upscale corporate and leisure travel property. The Oasis, which opens Nov. 1, will feature 300 luxury guest rooms and suites, a fine-dining restaurant, O's Lobby Bar, and the O Brew cafe'. An 80,000-sq. ft. conference center for groups of all kinds will open in late 2010. _Whittaker was a sales manager for the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham from 2005-2008. Founding employee Amelia Roziman has been promoted to the newly created post Marketing and Communication manager in August 2009 at the Sarawak Convention Bureau. She will be responsible for media and public relations in addition to increase awareness and create desire to hold meetings and conventions in Sarawak. As a former convention bid manager for the bureau, Roziman has contributed her creativity in packaging the winning Destination Marke- ting Campaign of the ICCA 2008 Best Marketing Award. Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia, covering 124.450 sq km (about the same as Mississippi), stretching 750 km along the north- west coast of Borneo, and making up 37.5% of the country's total land area. Arthur Keith is president and GM of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas. He is responsible for all operational departments including casino operations, hotel operations, Stratosphere Tower opera- tions and facilities, as well as food & beverage, security, casino marketing and marketing functions. Keith also oversees property budg- ets, strategic planning and capital projects. Keith has served as senior VP and GM for the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. In Las Vegas, he was VP of Hotel Operations for the Rio All-Suite Hotel Casino and for The Venetian. Other executive positions were with Doubletree Hotels and the Station Casino Hotel & Casino. The New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) is pleased to announce the promotion of Rachel Avery to account executive, a critical position which services convention customers that generate billions of dollars in economic impact for New Orleans each year. In her new role, Avery will support association clients in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast, corporate clients in the Northeast, as well as clients in the labor, sports and govern- ment markets. She also will work closely with MaryBeth Guarisco, CMP, director of convention services. Avery joined the New Orleans CVB in 2007 as a part-time registrar and became a full-time convention services assistant in 2008. Prior to that she served stints at the Radisson Park Plaza in New Orleans and the Greater Phoenix CVB. The Georgia International Conven- tion Center (GICC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Christopher Sullivan to the position of sales manager. In his new role, Christopher will focus primarily on the corporate market segment. Sullivan comes to the GICC with over 19 years of experience in the hos- pitality industry, most recently as a sales executive with Delta Airlines, where he worked on multiple Fortune 500 accounts. As a grad- uate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management, Sullivan began his extensive hospitality career with Marriott Hotels & Resorts in New Orleans Louisiana, which led to his most recent sales posi- tion with Delta Airlines Alicia Miller has joined the Hilton Americas-Houston sales team as sen- ior sales manager, handling Midwest Association and Experient. Coming to Houston from the Hilton Palacio del Rio in San Antonio, where she han- dled Midwest & West Coast Corp./Association and the vertical Pharma markets, Miller brings valu- able experience to the Houston team. Miller began her hospitality eight years ago career with Homewood Suites River Walk in San Antonio. A native Houstonian, she is excited to be back in Houston and looks for- ward to being a part of the sales team at Houston's largest hotel. Connected to the George R. Brown Convention Center, the property contains the city's largest number of guestrooms, ball- rooms and hotel meeting space, available under one roof.