Jason Smith | HSMAI Adrian Awards

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Brian Stiglets

Posted on August 13, 2020 | by Jason Smith

As part of the 2020 Adrian Awards, HSMAI Hospitality Heroes is honoring hospitality professionals for their efforts to take a leadership position, champion a cause, or create a program that has directly benefited industry workers, medical personnel, first responders, or communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Nominations are open.

HOSPITALITY HERO: Brian Stiglets, general manager of The Inn at Longwood Medical in Boston, Massachusetts

CONTRIBUTION: Given The Inn at Longwood Medical’s location within Boston’s Longwood Medical and Academic Area (LMA) — a globally renowned medical campus that includes medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions — Stiglets knew that his independent property couldn’t simply close its doors. From the first days of the pandemic, Stiglets kept The Inn open, including its restaurant, to continue serving LMA’s first responders as well as the patients coming to Boston from everywhere to receive critical care; he also arranged to serve more than 200 lunches to local hospitals, delivering the meals himself. And he’s prioritized the health of staff and guests, visiting pharmaceutical suppliers to procure sanitizer, gloves, masks, and other personal protective equipment — and he personally checks the temperatures of staff every morning.

RESULTS: Stiglets has kept most of his staff at least partially employed throughout COVID-19 while also providing valuable support to his local community of healthcare workers and patients.

NOMINATED BY: Gayle Sinclair, director of sales and marketing, and HeatherRose Linda, CRME, revenue manager, The Inn at Longwood Medical — “Brian managed to keep both the hotel and the restaurant open and operating, keeping most of the staff fully or at a minimum partially employed. He fairly shared shifts among the staff and was present every day to oversee that all were safe. He personally ensured that staff locker rooms were disinfected, allowed the staff to eat meals in the meeting rooms so they could be properly distanced, and if an employee were to say they were scared, he would calmly say, ‘Don’t be scared, this is what we do!’ Brian has been the perfect role model for his co-workers and for others in the industry.”

The HSMAI Adrian Awards have been honoring excellence in travel marketing for 64 years. Entry information for the 2020 Adrian Awards will be available soon. For more information, visit www.adrianawards.com.

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Nicole McAlister

Posted on August 6, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Nicole McAlister, CHSE, area director of franchise services for Choice Hotels International, working out of Schertz, Texas, an HSMAI member and Austin chapter board member

CONTRIBUTION: McAlister has focused on spreading positivity and energy not just in the industry but throughout her community. At the outset of the COVID-19 crisis, she sent personal letters to owners in Choice’s portfolio as well as other industry contacts — enclosing for each a packet of flower seeds, reassuring them that they will get through this, and urging them to focus on the beauty that will bloom from the seeds. She also chairs her local Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, championing virtual 5K “hot runs” to raise awareness and promote fitness, and has coordinated donations and volunteer work by her hotel for area food banks.

RESULTS: Through her efforts, McAlister has served as a beacon of optimism during a dark time.

NOMINATED BY: Nick Miller, area director of franchise services for Choice Hotels International — “Nicole has a passion for others’ success, achievements, and happiness, and that is what makes Nicole a great colleague, friend, and leader. I sometimes don’t think she stops thinking; she is always creating ways for everyone to be involved, give to the community, be stronger leaders, and she definitely puts service above self to the fullest.”

The HSMAI Adrian Awards have been honoring excellence in travel marketing for 64 years. Entry for the 2020 Adrian Awards will open October 1. For more information, visit www.adrianawards.com.

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Peter Ricci

Posted on July 30, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Dr. Peter Ricci, CHA, CHSE, CRME, director of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida, and an HSMAI member.

CONTRIBUTION: During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, as it became clear that there would be layoffs and furloughs throughout the industry, Ricci came up with the idea of offering a somewhat condensed version of FAU’s Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism Management at no charge for hospitality professionals who were affected. FAU’s entire Hospitality and Tourism Management faculty helped Ricci put together the five-part online course.

RESULTS: More than 77,000 people enrolled in the program and more than 45,000 completed it and were awarded the certificate.

NOMINATED BY: Gregory T. Bohan, Hospitality Management instructor at Florida Atlantic University — “Working side by side with Dr. Ricci, all of us on the faculty were completely awed by his dedication to launching the program as an effort to help out our ailing industry. He had many sleepless nights not only designing and administering the program but responding one by one to thousands of emails expressing appreciation. He truly deserves to be recognized for his outstanding effort during this time of need.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Jean-Cédric Callies

Posted on July 23, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Jean-Cédric Callies, director of sales and marketing for Hotel Monville in Montreal, Quebec, and an HSMAI member

CONTRIBUTION: Since the start of the pandemic, Callies has played a unifying role within the Montreal hospitality industry. In addition to leading the Monville to supply prepared meals to first responders working at the University of Montreal Health Center, Callies has launched a variety of initiatives to support both the property and the community, including collaborating with the Old Montreal Business Society to make unoccupied suites available for rental as private workspaces, and having the Monville use lit and unlit guest-room windows to create the shape of a heart as a show of solidarity with the city. He has also been an active participant in industry conversations around recovery, participating in roundtables and virtual interviews.

RESULTS: Callies has offered a positive model for how a hotel can remain an active, relevant presence in its community whether its doors are open or not.

NOMINATED BY: Guillaume Dupuis, director of ecommerce for Iber Immobilier, which manages the Hotel-St. Paul and the Residence Inn by Marriott Montreal–Westmount — “Jean-Cédric is a real source of inspiration through his positivism and his ability to analyze the situation. He is an outstanding communicator, a partner in the industry that I wish everyone had.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Kenan Tekin

Posted on July 16, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Kenan Tekin, dual opening general manager, Hyatt House/Hyatt Place Los Angeles International Airport

CONTRIBUTION: Throughout the pandemic, Tekin has been checking in on former colleague and employees who have been laid off or furloughed. But he has more to offer than encouragement and support. He’s let them know that he should be able to hire many of them when the dual Hyatt LAX property he manages opens later this year. He’s been using his own money to buy groceries and other essentials for them, including donating an entire paycheck to six families — as well as to fellow HSMAI Hospitality Hero Sheela Martinez’s birthday fundraiser. And Tekin has launched a platform called Emma Talent — named after his 3-year-old daughter — to provide coaching, mentoring, networking, and job-placement services to hospitality employees who have been laid off or furloughed.

RESULTS: In addition to having a material impact on his colleagues’ professional prospects and quality of life, Tekin has buoyed their spirits with the promise of work that keeps them in the hospitality industry.

NOMINATED BY: Mauricio Joya, hotel manager with Interstate Hotels & Resorts — “He keeps it very low key and does not talk about it. He always says, ‘The less people know, the more you can do for them.’”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Ava Espano

Posted on July 10, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Ava Espano, guest services agent, Accor

CONTRIBUTION: When Espano received Accor’s Heartist of the Year employee-recognition honor in 2019, she knew what she wanted to spend the prize money on: a trip to the Philippines, where she was born. When her flight was canceled because of COVID-19, she decided that she still wanted the money to get there.

RESULTS: Espano sent the prize money—several thousand dollars—to her family in the Philippines, who used it to put together care packages for those in need.

NOMINATED BY: Michael Innocentin, Accor’s vice president of ecommerce and digital for North and Central America — “When I heard about the Hospitality Heroes program, Ava immediately came to mind. Her personal act of kindness and generosity during this difficult time helped so many. Not only is she doing a great job at the hotel, she is also a role model to us all with respect to her selflessness.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Jill Flynn

Posted on June 29, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Jill Flynn, director of sales, events, and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Dulles in Herndon, Virginia

CONTRIBUTION: With the Hyatt Regency Dulles staying open through COVID-19 but reducing its staff from more than 150 to about 13, Flynn has thrown herself into 65-plus-hour, six-day workweeks. She’s done everything, including stripping and flipping sleeping rooms, working the front desk, and detailing groups coming in — all while handling tough conversations with clients and covering what used to be an 11-member sales team. Flynn has also used the lull in business to work ahead, updating the Hyatt Regency Dulles’ collateral and capacities information. Throughout it all, she has been there for her colleagues, pulling them aside for personal conversations, covering for them so they can take a quick mental-health break, and generally putting everyone else before herself.

RESULTS: In addition to having a tangible impact on her colleagues’ well being, Flynn has continued to bring in business for the Hyatt Regency Dulles. During the first weeks of COVID-19, she outfitted herself with personal protective equipment and went to Dulles International Airport, where she personally greeted U.S. Foreign Service and other federal employees who had been ordered to return home, many of them with nowhere to go — and she booked many of them rooms at the hotel. And the updated collateral she prepared has been crucial to the several meetings and one wedding that the Hyatt Regency Dulles has hosted during the pandemic.

NOMINATED BY: J.J. Abuelhawa, assistant director of sales and marketing for the Hyatt Regency Dulles — “If I could pick a handful of words to describe Jill, they would be resilient, brilliant, strong leader, and overflowing with gratitude. I have worked directly under Jill through this pandemic, and I have experienced firsthand her leadership through the toughest times.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Jonathan DiFonzo

Posted on June 29, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Jonathan DiFonzo, district sales representative for Cheney Brothers Inc. in Boynton Beach, Florida

CONTRIBUTION: DiFonzo turned the tables on restaurant workers in Delray Beach, Florida, who found themselves out of work because of the coronavirus lockdown by arranging to supply them with meals. He did it by organizing a GoFundMe campaign called “Service Industry Relief Fund” that raised more than $4,700 — and then securing matching produce donations from Boy’s Fresh Market, and was featured in a local CBS news story.

RESULTS: Armed with the money and produce, DiFonzo arranged for three dozen volunteers to pack and distribute 200 meal boxes to members of the restaurant community.

NOMINATED BY: Debbie Howarth, Ed.D., interim assistant dean at Johnson & Wales University College of Business — “Jonathan is an alumnus of Johnson & Wales University. His example of initiative and doing what needs to be done to support his restaurant community makes us all very proud.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Sheela Martinez

Posted on June 23, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Sheela Martinez, most recently front office assistant and manager at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills in West Hollywood, California

CONTRIBUTION: For her birthday in May, Martinez decided to do something for the community of ceramic potters in Santa Maria, Isabela, in the Philippines, where she was born and where her grandparents still live. With the COVID-19 lockdown preventing the artisans from creating and selling their pottery — the community’s primary source of income — Martinez put out a call on Facebook to raise money for relief bags. Costing $6, each relief bag can feed a family of four.

RESULTS: Martinez’s goal was to raise enough money to feed 200 families. Within two days, she had enough for nearly 500 relief bags.

NOMINATED BY: Kenan Tekin, dual opening general manager for Hyatt House/Hyatt Place Los Angeles International Airport — “She rallied a lot us to donate and reach out to people who can donate. For a young individual at her age to help hundreds of families in need is commendable.”

HSMAI Hospitality Hero: Mary Parks

Posted on June 12, 2020 | by Jason Smith

HOSPITALITY HERO: Mary Parks, director of sales for the Hilton Garden Inn Annapolis Downtown in Annapolis, Maryland, and an HSMAI member

CONTRIBUTION: From the beginning of the pandemic, Parks has kept herself busy — using the Hilton Garden Inn’s kitchen to bake chocolate-chip cookies for medical personnel, firefighters, and other first responders as well as personally making hundreds of masks for friends, colleagues, and people throughout Annapolis. But she took things even further when she created #Masks4Annapolis, a Hilton Garden Inn Annapolis Downtown–sponsored contest to encourage clients and partners to make masks for donation, with the hotel awarding prizes for the best ones. Parks enlisted Annapolis’ mayor, State Delegates Henson and Jones, State Senator Sarah Elfreth, and office of emergency management to help publicize the contest, and got members of Waldorf, Maryland–based rock band Good Charlotte to serve as judges.

RESULTS: The initial goal of #Masks4Annapolis was to make 2,000 masks over eight weeks, but within two weeks the initiative was on pace to exceed that. Learn more here.

NOMINATED BY: Rodrigo Arandia, regional director of sales – mid-Atlantic for OTO Development, which owns and manages the Hilton Garden Inn Annapolis Downtown — “Mary does this because she truly wants to do good and help others. She is simply an amazing human being.”