NEWH - Winter 2012 - (Page 18)

Q&A NEWH’s director of corporate sponsorships, and executive vice president of PMI Meet Cynthia Millow Why did you want to become involved in NEWH? My initial introduction to NEWH was twenty years ago when ladies like Sue Clark Hepler and Marla Davis and a handful of us in Dallas got together to talk about this hospitality organization started by women. Since then I have always believe in and enjoyed NEWH events and participation for both networking and personal growth. grows through our networking and through the scholarships that bring the next talent to our doors. How/why did you get involved in the hospitality industry? What has it done for you? I’ve been able to meet people on a personal and professional level that may have not been possible otherwise—my creative sidekicks in a big way when we’re talking about events and design competitions and the like. NEWH has always strived to come up with ways of keeping it interesting and fun. When you think of how much money NEWH has collected for scholarships, you have to be proud to be part of the organization. I got into the hotel industry through the operations door, starting o in catering sales, then later into purchasing, and nally into pre-opening teams and project management. e people who do well in this industry genuinely like the pace, the hard work, and the team work it takes to complete a project or function. What are some of the biggest challenges it faces today? What are some of the major initiatives you have implemented as director of corporate partnerships? Everyone on the board and every member is in uential in soliciting and keeping our corporate partners interested and engaged. Every thank you at an event is appreciated, and every time we take an extra moment to make sure a corporate partner is introduced to people and included in activities we keep adding to the value. I think my contribution is continuing to remind folks of that. I’ve also been involved with the library label program to continue to bring awareness of who the corporate partners are, and also the implementation of their service contact so that they are taking full use of the bene ts of the program at their participation level. Some of our industry’s biggest challenges have to do with the relationship part of the business. We have all become too familiar and, in many cases, dependent on email that we sometimes forget to pick up the phone and talk to people. I haven’t seen a situation yet, that gets resolved over an email correspondence trail only. Let’s face it, most of us are in a hurry when we respond to emails and very often we don’t write very well so the impression given o can be less than attering. We all need to recognize that and try to be better communicators. Why do you love this industry? What have been some of the highlights of the year? I’ve attended three NEWH tradeshows this year: New York, Houston, and now Dallas is coming up next. e HD/NEWH Owners’ Roundtable at the New York tradeshow was a great event, very professionally done and a high level of attendees. Where else can you work where you can develop twenty-yearplus relationships with some pretty interesting people, where you are surrounded by and collaborate with the creative individuals who build and design the spectacular hotels and casinos that we see? Where you can renovate the same hotel three times in your professional life and still remember them all. In my case, and most especially where I’ve been blessed to work alongside our PMI family for 18 years and watch our business and personal families grow. Besides, I get bored easily so this is a perfect t. What projects are you currently working on at PMI? What’s still to come? I’m really looking forward to the Leadership Conference in San Francisco. A lot of effort has gone into this event and what a great city. Recent projects include: Revel Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City; Renaissance DC; Hilton Columbus, Ohio; Bellagio, Las Vegas; Enchantment Resort, Sedona, Arizona; JW Marriott, New Orleans; Ritz-Carlton St. omas; Caesars Atlantic City; Crowne Plaza Delaware; Four Winds Casino, New Bu alo, Michigan, to list a few. Where is NEWH headed? NEWH will continue to grow as the premier organization for networking and growth in the hospitality industry. is organization has the purest of agendas, to provide a mechanism where individuals can meet and come together for the bene t of our next generation of hospitality professionals. Our industry 18 www.newh.org When you are not working or at an NEWH event, where can we nd you? at’s easy, with my two-legged family (my husband and daughters) and my four-legged family (my two pekenese pups) at the pool or on a beach somewhere the cell reception is a little irregular. ❙❘❚ http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Winter 2012

NEWH - Winter 2012
Contents
News
Who’s Who
Conference Roundup
Sustainability: Point of View
Q&A: Cynthia Millow
Q&A: Lisa Ghai
Have You Seen?
Product Know How
On the Scene
On the Cover
Project: Hilton and Marriott Prototypes for Latin America
New Members
Project: Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa
Save the Date
Partner Profies
Ad Index

NEWH - Winter 2012