Illinois
- The Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau appointed Tracy Barrett Janosko director of Washington, D.C., regional sales, based out of the bureau’s D.C. office. Janosko will be responsible for the D.C.-based medical industry, in addition to the education, building construction and food and beverage industries in the D.C. tri-state area. Most recently, Janosko was a national sales manager with the San Antonio CVB and prior to that was national sales manager for the Atlanta CVB, also based in its D.C. office… The JW Marriott Chicago, on track for a spring 2010 opening, appointed David Cole pre-opening director of sales and marketing. Cole was most recently the director of sales and marketing at JW Marriott New Orleans. Prior to that, he was director of sales at the Chicago Marriott Downtown and InterContinental Chicago… Sage Hospitality selected Shakir Hussain to lead Chicago’s The Blackstone in its post-opening phase. Sage spearheaded the $128 million renovation of the historic Blackstone, which reopened in April. Previously, Hussain served as assistant general manager of the Art Deco Righa Royal Hotel in New York City… Benchmark Hospitality International appointed John Billings executive chef and assistant director of food and beverage for Eaglewood Resort & Spa, located in Itasca. He is responsible for all culinary activities at Eaglewood Resort & Spa, including the property’s catering and meeting operations.
Wisconsin
- VISIT Milwaukee named Brent A. Foerster vice president of sales and marketing. In his position he will oversee the marketing and convention sales and services functions of VISIT Milwaukee, the city’s tourism marketing arm. Foerster has 20 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, most recently serving as general manager for the Hilton New Orleans Airport. He has worked the majority of his career in Minneapolis, where he spent almost 15 years with the Hilton organization, holding top operations, marketing and sales posts at the Minneapolis Hilton.