Who's Attending

Cheryl Williams is Chief Revenue Officer for Preferred Hotels & Resorts, dedicated to overseeing and fine-tuning best-in-class commercial efforts globally for the organization across key departments including sales, revenue optimization, marketing, e-commerce, loyalty, distribution, events, and customer relations.

Cheryl has earned numerous accolades in the hospitality industry. She was named by Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) as one of the world’s “Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Hospitality & Travel Sales & Marketing.” She also helped launch the Aloha Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and has since been honored with the MPI Aloha Chapter Founders Award. She was a finalist for the Pacific Business News Businesswoman of the Year in 2014 and was honored in 2018 by Pacific Edge Magazine for her contributions to Hawaii’s visitor industry. She is based in Preferred’s corporate headquarters in Newport Beach, California.

Amy Butterfield is Senior Vice President of Global Group Sales for Preferred Hotels & Resorts. She is responsible for overseeing the company’s Group Sales department, which includes managing a global team of group sales professionals while working closely with member hotels and key clients to create strategic programs that drive impactful business and lasting relationships while elevating worldwide recognition of Preferred and all of our 650 hotels around the world as best-in-class partners for the MICE industry. Amy joined the company in 2015 as Director of Group Sales, responsible for managing the Midwest Incentive Market, and was promoted to Senior Director of Group Sales in 2018 before assuming her current role in October 2019. During her time with Preferred, Amy has been a top sales performer year after year and has received numerous industry accolades for her work, including being named “Inspirational Partner of the Year” by BI Worldwide in 2018 and “Outstanding GSO Partner of the Year” by MotivAction in 2019

Christie Pienaar started in the industry right after graduating from Cornell Hospitality School in 2002.  She began with a management training program at The Colonnade in Boston where she dug into operations, front desk, banquets, restaurants, and management.  These positions prepared her for her next journey in luxury hotels – Ritz Carlton Pentagon City in DC planning weddings followed by a couple of years servicing brides, galas, inaugural balls, and financial forums at the Renaissance DC.  Her true passion and niche were uncovered once she took the plunge into sales when she moved to San Diego in 2005.

She worked with Destination Hotels & Resorts, Leading Hotels of the World, and finally landing her dream job at Preferred Hotels & Resorts in 2011.  She’s been twice promoted at Preferred and currently oversees a sizable territory in the SoCal & Southwest regions as well as oversight of special projects and mentorship with members of the group sales team.  Her guiding core values are operating in integrity, trust and excellence in all that she does for her clients and stakeholders.

Cindy Taylor‘s love for travel and passion for hospitality began at an early age. As a child, she loved receiving postcards from her grandparents who traveled extensively around the world. Her thirst for travel and adventure deepened while a college student when she had the opportunity to study abroad in Europe. After receiving her bachelor's and master's in English, Cindy started her career as a corporate meeting planner handling more than 100 global events a year, and she continued with this organization for 20+ years.

Seeking a change, Cindy started with Preferred Hotels & Resorts over sixteen years ago as the Executive Director of Corporate Projects, overseeing various company-wide initiatives. After a few years, Cindy transferred into the meetings and events department and happily returned to her first loves, travel and hospitality. As Vice President, Global Meetings and Events, Cindy leads a passionate team of professionals who seek to execute events with excellence while planning over 200+ global meetings a year. When she is not entertaining, Cindy enthusiastically adds to her list of 43 countries already visited, and she happily sends postcards to her family and five grandchildren.

An icon in the hospitality industry, Cindy Novotny is the original founder of MCA and is an internationally renowned leader in sales, leadership and customer service. She has been recognized by the American Society of Training and Development as one of the most powerful, innovative and passionate speakers in the industry. Recently Cindy was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from HSMAI for sales excellence. Cindy has become a “radical mentor” for thousands of executives around the world. Her ability to close the “gap” with senior executives and line employees has made MCA a leader in many industries. Cindy is responsible for the leadership of all MCA trainers, consultants and develops her team to go far beyond customers’ expectations.

Spare time? What’s that? Seriously, she loves traveling, spending time with family and enjoying the Midwest where she and her husband have a working farm in Iowa and a cottage in Northern Michigan.

Tina Sampson is a versatile and relatable facilitator, coach, collaborator, and leader with extensive experience in senior leadership roles in the hospitality industry. She has held executive positions with Vail Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, Gaylord Entertainment, Experient and Maritz Travel Company. Her wealth of knowledge includes sales, marketing, revenue management, event management, partnerships, change management and executive leadership.

Tina is considered a thought leader and she is an accomplished international speaker and expert in leadership for innovation, women in leadership, sales training, and revenue management. She was recently a panelist and a published contributor about women in sales leadership.

tinasampson@masterconnection.com

lesli.castaneda@coxinc.com +1 678 645 0164

Adele Farina has been with ION almost 5 years. Hired as a Senior Manager running a team of 3, she was promoted to Senior Director of Global events within six months and now manages a global team of 10.

Adele is an accomplished global corporate event and conference planning Director with more than twenty-five years of experience and proven results in driving leads and strengthening the company’s brand, objectives, partnerships and vision. She has great experience in Automating processes to enhance workflow within ION, she has created tools including a business case automation and contract automation that allows complete visibility from stakeholders to spend ops and senior leadership with Power BI Dashboard. She has extensive experience in conferences and tradeshows, incentive events, board meetings, product launches, branding events and C-level executive events. Her experience includes event management at IPG, AIM Group and Fourth Wall events and has managed events for KPMG, VMWARE, IBM, JPMC, HP etc.

adele.farina@iongroup.com +1 646 523 8938

In Anne’s current role with the department, she oversees the Meeting Planning team as well as the Centralized Event Services teams.  These teams include the Meeting Planners and the Finance and Productivity team, responsible for managing centralized event payments and savings reporting.

Anne has been at McKesson since March 2006 and has worked as a senior manager of centralized event services, senior meeting planner, associate meeting planner, manager of web design and planning, and project specialist for the Meeting, Tradeshow and Event Services team. She is a member of MPI and PCMA, professional meeting planning organizations.

Prior to that, she was a tour coordinator at a local tour company where she booked hotels and venues for proposed itineraries. Before entering the meeting and event industry, Anne taught middle school in Phoenix, AZ, for 10 years. She held various positions teaching students as well as adults and peers. She received a BA in diversified liberal arts from the University of San Diego and an MA from St. Mary’s College. Anne currently lives in Keller, TX, with her husband, Erik, and three children, Clay, Emma and Jack.

Terese Irwin is the Director of Events & Travel at Express Employment International, the franchisor for staffing giant Express Employment Professionals, where she has worked in a variety of positions since September 2000.

Terese’s team is responsible for the planning and execution of Express’ 80+ internal events, meetings, and incentive trips annually. Spanning from a 1,500 multi-day, multi-venue leadership conference to 600-person incentive trips to flights, accommodations, and catering for in-house training meetings, the Events & Travel Department spans the full gamut of corporate meeting planning.

Terese married her husband shortly after starting at Express 23 years ago, and together they have the privilege of raising two girls, currently aged 2 and 3. When she’s not working or keeping up with the kids, Terese likes to attend live entertainment events (from Broadway to the mosh pits, music is where it’s at!) and travel when she can.

terese.irwin@expresspros.com

Logan Keane has worked in the event management industry going on 18 years. She is currently an Event Manager at Latham & Watkins,LLP, a global law firm with thirty-two offices and over three thousand attorney worldwide. As part of Latham & Watkins global events team, Logan has grown and developed a team of event planners to create world class events across all channels throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Logan is a strategic and creative thinker, skilled at professional development, event operations, design and relationship building.

Rachelle Nall has worked in the meeting and events industry for primarily technology companies for nearly 30 years. She has achieved both the CMP and CMM certification. At present, Rachelle is the Director of Global Events at Infor, a global leader in business cloud software products.

Rachelle currently leads her team in successfully planning and executing many of the company’s North America tradeshows, meetings, customer conferences, webinars, and international incentive programs. She resides in Johns Creek, Georgia with her husband and two children.

Gwen Peters, a Senior Director of Event Management, brings extensive experience and an unwavering commitment to exceptional customer service while orchestrating diverse events within budget constraints. Her career reflects a results-driven approach and a knack for innovation, consistently exceeding client and employer expectations. She excels in managing business operations, spearheading development initiatives, and crafting revenue-optimizing marketing strategies. Gwen's distinguishing feature is her capability to execute complex projects within prescribed timelines, fostering seamless collaboration with highly skilled teams.

Beyond event logistics, Gwen is adept at building beneficial networks, conducting meticulous market research, and conceiving captivating event concepts. She is a seasoned communicator and decision-maker, renowned for establishing trust-based relationships with business partners and stakeholders, passionately advocating for organizational vision and values.

Lynne Polinski is currently the Senior Manager of Events & Experience at Aura, a technology and digital wellness company. In this role, Lynne custom curates high-level luxury retreats and meetings for their product developers and customer base. Prior to Aura, Lynne spent 16 years with Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) where she advanced the sales connections between the hoteliers and event planners who utilized ALHI as a resource. Her true passion is weaving a theme through design, decor and sensory elevation with food and beverage. Lynne believes these three elements, along with the emotional connection of face-to-face gatherings, are the core to a successful event.

Kathlene is a strong operations and creative professional skilled in venue management, overall special events operations, and talent management with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and live event industries. 

She got her start in San Diego in the music and sports sector running event operations at a 13,000 seat venue where she remained for 8 years. Paramount Pictures then came calling along with a switch to entertainment and marketing event planning. Kathlene is now the SVP, Event & Operations for PTTOW!, an invite-only community for today's leading CEOs and CMOs spanning 70 major industries. 

Northwest Anesthesia Seminars was founded in 1976 and is the leader in continuing medical education for professionals in the Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, and Critical Care fields.

Heather joined Northwest Anesthesia Seminars in 2003 and learned the business from the ground up - including site selection, contract negotiations, group housing, and banquet event orders. In 2008, she acquired partial ownership of the company and took on the role of Vice President of Operations. 

While helping to plan over 140 meetings a year, Heather's goal is to add new and exciting destinations and unique hotels to the meeting roster to offer attendees a wide variety of CME/CEC vacation options.

Heather believes long-term partnerships with hotels help to keep her current on industry trends while allowing her to find great deals and the latest offerings. Heather is genuinely interested in all aspects of the hotel and hospitality industry.

In her free time, Heather enjoys camping, attending concerts, and collecting tattoo art.

Dee Patel was born and raised in Coventry, England, attended high school in Mississippi, and graduated at age 16. From there, she headed to Johnson and Wales University in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent time working for The Jefferson in Richmond, Virginia, after graduation. In 2003, she made her way to Nashville, joined The Hermitage Hotel, and has been there ever since.

Sixteen years and many roles later, Dee serves as the first female Managing Director of the hotel, a fact made even more interesting as nearly 100 years ago, it was The Hermitage Hotel that served as the headquarters for suffragists and anti-suffragists alike as legislators contemplated the passage of the 19th Amendment, which would give women the right to vote.

Today this impressive, passionate woman is running the show at The Hermitage Hotel, and Dee’s love for Nashville still runs deep. Her optimistic view of what’s in store for Nashville and her special reverence for the history The Hermitage holds is both contagious and inspiring.

Born and raised in Sao Paulo - Brazil, Tatiana began her hospitality career at the historic Hotel Del Coronado. After graduating with a B.A. in Advertising & Marketing from Mackenzie Presbyterian University in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Tatiana went on to earn her Professional Certificate in Business Management from the University of California, San Diego. In May 2000 Tatiana joined the team of the Hotel Del Coronado, first as an Operations Manager in the in-house destinations management department, and later as Conference Manager. In May 2004, Tatiana joined the beautiful Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa as Director of Conference Services. Then in 2005, Tatiana moved to Milan, Italy, where she gained valuable experience on the client side, working as a marketing manager while studying for her Master’s in Fashion Marketing.

Returning to the United States in 2008, Tatiana joined the ACCESS San Diego team as a Sales Manager. She quickly moved into the Director of Sales Role and was later promoted to Director of Business Development in 2012. Tatiana then spent some time as a Global Sales Specialist at Associated Luxury Hotels International, promoting and sourcing meetings for a portfolio of 160 four and five diamond hotels and resorts worldwide. In 2014, she was happy to find her way back to the ACCESS team as the Regional Director of Business Development and later being promoted to Vice President of Sales in 2019 . In addition to her focus on developing new hotel partnerships as well as strengthen existing relationships for all ACCESS offices, she is a strategic part of the leadership team. Currently, as a Vice President of Business Development, Tatiana’s mission is to position ACCESS as a strong partner to our hotel community.

In her free time, Tatiana spends time with her partner Joe, surfing, playing tennis or visiting vintage shops around town. She also loves a good beach day or working out with her sister Patricia.

Sarah started her hospitality career in production at Gaylord Opryland almost 14 years ago and has been a force in the hospitality industry ever since. She has worked on the sales and convention side of hotels over the years and found her true passion in 2017 when she opened the Access Nashville Office. Sarah has expert qualities for event sales: thorough attention to detail, industry knowledge, ingenuity in identifying and solving problems, and responsive to her clients. She maintains a big picture philosophy with a focus on the goals and critical eye on the details. Through the years, Sarah has established connections with an extensive network of trusted professionals to customize the best outcome for each event.

2023 Preferred Hotels & Resorts Group Sales Advisory Board