Kathy Nelson
Nelson was promoted to dual president and CEO of both Visit KC and Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. For the past ten years, Nelson maintained her role as president and CEO of Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. She has also been director of Women’s Intersport Network for Kansas City (WIN for KC) and spent a decade in marketing management positions at Time Warner Cable, Metro Sports Center and more.
Ariane Hiltebrand
Miami Beach Convention Center (MBCC) appointed Hiltebrand director of marketing and external relations. Hiltebrand has spent more than 25 years in travel, marketing and hospitality leadership. Most recently, she was content and digital committee chair at Visit California. In addition, Hiltebrand has worked for Sonoma County Tourism as director of marketing planning and insights, among other roles, marketing manager at Intrepid Travel, director of global marketing at Suntrek Tours Inc. and more.
Artesha C. Moore, FASAE, CAE
Association Forum named Moore president and CEO of the Chicago company. Moore has more than two decades of association management experience, most recently working for American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, D.C. as vice president of affiliation, engagement and membership. She has also held leadership positions at Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and more.
Alan Noone
Noone, the U.K.’s 2019 Concierge of the Year, joined The Stafford London as executive head concierge after 13 years as head concierge at The Berkeley Hotel in London. Noone brings 25 years of industry experience and, early in his career, also served as assistant head concierge at London’s The Connaught Hotel.
Edward Diano
Diano is director of sales at Hotel Citrine, Palo Alto, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel. For nearly 20 years, Diano has been a hospitality sales leader. Most recently, he was director of sales and strategy at blinkpad, a job matching platform for those in the employment process, in Saratoga, California. Diano has also been associate director of sales at Hotel Nia, Autograph Collection in Silicon Valley, director of West Coast sales at Teneo Hospitality Group in the San Francisco Bay Area and has held sales management roles at properties such as The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay; Battery Wharf Hotel Boston Waterfront; Fairmont San Francisco and others.
Cheryl Twiss
The Chanler at Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island welcomed Twiss as director of sales. Twiss, a 40-year sales management veteran, was previously director of community relations at Benchmark Senior Living in Rhode Island. She has held leadership positions at multiple hospitality companies and hotel brands, including vice president of sales at Newport Hospitality Group (NHG) and senior sales manager at Hotel Viking, Newport Marriott and Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, among others.
Pascal Forotti
Pendry Washington D.C. – The Wharf hired Forotti as general manager. Forotti enters the role with over 25 years of luxury hospitality management experience. He has held hotel and general management positions throughout the U.S. and in Costa Rica, England, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Canada. Forotti was most recently managing director at The Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.
J. Felipe Garcia
After serving as its interim president and CEO, Visit Tucson has officially appointed Garcia to the position. Garcia was also recently elected vice president of the Délice Network, a collaborative effort to develop food and gastronomy tourism internationally. Prior to joining Visit Tucson in 2004 as its vice president of community affairs and Mexico marketing, Garcia was economic development specialist for the City of Tucson.
Amanda Armstrong, CMP, CED
Armstrong is now senior vice president of brand and community engagement at Encore, the event tech company in Illinois. She joins the team from Enterprise Holdings Inc. in San Diego, where Armstrong was previously assistant vice president of global travel and meetings. Armstrong presently serves on the business recovery task force at Events Industry Council and was seated on the board of directors at Meeting Professionals International.
Travis Lunn
Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City welcomed Lunn as its president and COO. For over 20 years, Lunn has been a leader across the U.S. hospitality scene. Most recently, he was president and COO at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Lunn has held management and executive roles at The Palazzo at The Venetian Resort and MGM Grand Las Vegas, among others.
