Salvatore "Sal" Dickinson, CHME, who led the session, gave the overflow crowd a one-hour glimpse into techniques, theories and success stories.
AH&LA Radio had an opportunity to catch up with Sal Dickinson, HSMAI Chair Elect and President of Dickinson & Associates, 360 degree marketing (Ft. Myers, FL), immediately following the session. In this streaming audio interview, we hit on the high notes of the session. And as you'll hear in this interview, George Jetson and Fred Flinstone did get a mention.
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Sal Dickinson, CHME, founded Dickinson & Associates in 2001 and serves as the firm's chief executive and strategist. An unabashed travel & tourism marketing veteran, Sal laid the groundwork for his "clients' perspective" from 1994-2001 as the VP Marketing for MeriStar Hotels & Resorts (including South Seas Resorts prior to its acquisition by MeriStar). This tenure offered Sal the opportunity to significantly grow revenues and brands for both companies; to build and develop revenue directed teams of marketing and sales professionals, and to put in place metrics to truly determine each initiative's ROI (return of investment). It also afforded a chance to test new strategies and ventures such as custom publishing and the Web/e-commerce world, where success was ultimately measured in millions of dollars of new customer revenues. More information available at .
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The AH&LA Annual Conference is a property member services forum that provides education, motivation, and entertainment through specialty speakers, events, and programming subjects that impact professional development. The 2002 AH&LA Annual Conference was held in Philadelphia PA, April 2-4. This year's prominent keynote speakers included Bernard B. Kerik, former Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, Tom Brokaw, NBC Anchor: "An Anchorman Looks at the World" and Horst H. Schulze, former President & COO, Ritz-Carlton Hotels.
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HSMAI is an organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. With a strong focus on education, HSMAI has become the industry champion in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry while operating as a leading voice for both hospitality and sales and marketing management disciplines. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is an individual membership organization comprised of over 5,000 members from 35 countries and 60 chapters worldwide. More information available at www.hsmai.org.
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Kevin Heilbronner is the US Editor for hsyndicate.com, wiredhotelier.com and hospitalitynet.org, providing content for these websites in the form of articles and both audio and video interviews. Based outside of Washington DC, Heilbronner has worked with Hospitality Net to conduct interviews at several hospitality trade shows in the US and Europe over the last year. A familiar voice in Washington, DC, Heilbronner is the stadium announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics, WUSA's Washington Freedom and DC United of MLS. He resides in Centreville, VA and can be reached via [email protected].