ONHTEC STUDIO 2003: Interview w/ Paul Rantilla, VP of Sales and Marketing, Passkey and Jon Carres, CIO, Boca Raton Resorts and Clubs - Passkey Helps Boca to Manage the Group Reservation Process

Paul Rantilla, Passkey - Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Paul joined Passkey in March 2002 to head up sales, drawing business opportunities from across all channels of the meetings and conventions industry. He most recently served as Director of Sales for Newmarket International, Inc. in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where he successfully managed an extensive sales force in North America and Asia Pacific, and was responsible for revenue growth rates of as much as 25% within a single fiscal year. He began his career with the company in 1995, holding several positions, all of them related to software technology sales. As Regional Sales Director, Paul was named top producer of achieved sales. He then was promoted to managing director, Asia Pacific, and enjoyed great successes closing contracts with a number of major hotel operations. Paul received his degree in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire.

About Passkey - Passkey, the Internet-based booking engine and event management solution, is the meetings and convention industry's standard for group reservations management and distribution. The Quincy, Mass.-based provider empowers organizers of single property meetings and citywide events with access to a Web-based application that provides all parties with 24/7, shared access to critical event information and real-time reports. The Passkey-enabled global network consists of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), hotels, association and corporate meeting planners, meeting management companies, Professional Congress Organizers (PCOs), travel agencies, and registration vendors. Passkey investors include: Lazard Technology Partners; Sabre [NYSE: TSG] (www.sabre.com); Galileo [NYSE: GLC] (www.galileo.com); Worldspan (www.worldspan.com); and TravelCLICK (www.travelclick.net).

Kevin Heilbronner is the US Editor for wiredhotelier.com and hospitalitynet.org, providing streaming multimedia-content for these websites. Based outside of Washington DC, Heilbronner has worked with Hsyndicate to conduct interviews at several hospitality trade shows in the US and Europe over the last couple of years. His column and content are featured in the Hospitality Net weekly newsletter. A familiar voice in Washington, DC, Heilbronner is the stadium announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics and WUSA's Washington Freedom. He resides in Centreville, VA and can be reached via email: [email protected].