Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau
Executive Team
Click here to | Greg Ortale A 35-year travel and convention industry veteran, Greg Ortale assumed the helm of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau in December 2007. He returned to Houston after a 20 year absence, when he served as president and chief executive officer of Meet Minneapolis, Official Convention + Visitors Association™ from 1987 to 2007. He served as executive vice president and general manager of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Council from 1979 to 1987. Mr. Ortale is committed to ensuring that GHCVB delivers a quality experience to all Houston visitors—convention delegates, tourists and business travelers. He is also passionate about introducing younger generations to the hospitality industry. He helped found the Minneapolis Academy of Tour and Travel, a magnet high school that has led numerous students into the hospitality profession. He believes that the travel industry is an industry of opportunity where experience can still produce advancement. As a board member of the Destination Marketing Association International (formerly International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus), Mr. Ortale supported and co-chaired the creation of the DMAI Foundation, which enhances and complements the association and the destination management profession through research, education, visioning and developing resources and partnerships for those efforts. He also helped inaugurate the Foundation’s Spirit of Hospitality Award and nominated the first recipient, Congressman Mickey Leland, from Texas’ 18th District. Mr. Ortale was the 1999 Corporate Award recipient of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners. He is the chair of the industry council for the Center for Exhibition Research (CEIR) and the treasurer of the international Data on Meetings & Expositions (DOME) organization. He served as chair of DMAI in 1999-2000 and is a member of various industry organizations as well as serving on numerous committees and Boards. Mr. Ortale graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science. | |
Click here to | Ken Middleton After serving more than 15 years in the convention and visitors bureau industry, Ken Middleton accepted the position as Director of Sales at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau in April 2003. Mr. Middleton previously held positions as Director of National Accounts at the St. Louis CVB and sales manager at the Indianapolis CVB. He has received numerous awards for sales production and performance. Mr. Middleton is an active member of the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners, MPI, IAEM, IACVB, ASAE, PCMA and CESSE, in addition to serving on various committees for these same organizations. Mr. Middleton received his B.A. in Economics from Indiana University in 1984. He has also completed several courses on sales skills such as Professional Selling Skills, SS I, SS II, and Strategic Selling. | |
Click here to | Wayne Chappell After specializing in Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri, Wayne Chappell served as General Manager at various properties for two hotel companies. He joined the St. Louis, Mo. Convention & Visitors Bureau as a sales manager from 1969–1973. Mr. Chappell then accepted the director of sales position at the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau from 1973-1978. Mr. Chappell left Houston to become president of the Baltimore CVB where he served for 17 years (1978-1995). He then served as president of the Kansas City CVB for seven years (1995-2002). Mr. Chappell left Kansas City to accept his current position here in Houston. Mr. Chappell belongs to many hospitality industry organizations and he served on the Foundation Board of the Professional Convention Management Association for ten years. He was also honored to serve as an officer and Chairman of the board of the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. | |
Click here to | Karen Williams Karen Williams has worked for the GHCVB since 1989. In the last three years in her role as vice president of finance and general manager, she has worked closely with the president in managing the operations of the Bureau. She is also directly responsible for the administrative and financial operations of the Bureau as well as its Human Resource management. She had been the Bureau’s controller since 2000, overseeing the Bureau’s financial management, the planning and budgetary process and the effectiveness of the reporting, accounting, control and administrative systems procedures. Ms. Williams received her degree in accounting form the University of Houston. She is married and has a son, Brandon. | |
Click here to | Holly Clapham Holly Clapham-Rosenow has worked for the GHCVB since August 2003. In her role as vice president of marketing, she leads the strategic direction for marketing and advertising of the GHCVB to promote a single Houston message. Prior to joining the GHCVB, Ms. Clapham-Rosenow worked as marketing director for CBS Radio, Houston for five years. She has also worked as the promotions manager for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and was the client services manager for two Houston advertising agencies. Ms. Clapham-Rosenow graduated with a degree in Radio, Television, Film from the Dan Rather School of Communications at Sam Houston State University. She is a member of the American Marketing Association. | |
Click here to | Sara McPhillips Sara McPhillips has been in the hospitality industry since 1980 when she was a sub agent for a Houston based Talent Agency. Through this experience, she became aware of the many opportunities in this forever growing industry. A graduate of the University of Arkansas and University of Houston Clear Lake, Ms. McPhillips began her career in the Houston area teaching speech, English and drama. She will acknowledge that her first event was a Christmas pageant using the entire junior high school population with only parents and brave friends in the audience. She left teaching to broaden her experience in hotel sales, destination management and event planning. In her eight years at the GHCVB, her main role has been as a liasion between the meeting planner, convention attendees and convention bureau members. | |
Click here to | Jorge Franz Jorge Franz is the vice president of Tourism for the Greater Houston and Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has been working for the Houston office for more than five years and, in this capacity, oversees the international promotion of the City of Houston through marketing and public relations efforts. He also manages tourism outreach to travel professionals both domestically and internationally. This includes directing a staff of seven individuals along with three contracted offices in Mexico, Germany and Japan. Mr. Franz is very active in the Tourism community and is currently the vice chair of the Governor of Texas’ Tourism Advisory Committee. He is also the secretary on the board of the Houston Image Group and sits on the Mayor of Houston’s “International Traveler Task Force” and “China Tourism Task Force” where he works with various Houston organizations on issues pertaining to international tourism. Before his time with the bureau, Mr. Franz worked for six years at Time Warner Communications-Houston and spearheaded their education, internal relations and Hispanic public relations initiatives. He won many industry awards including the Texas Cable Association's "Judge's award" for his efforts. He was also very active in the community during this time, volunteering his time to a number of organizations and schools in the Houston area. Mr. Franz was born in Santiago, Chile and has lived in Chile, Venezuela, Spain and the United States. He enjoys traveling immensely and thinks he has one of the best jobs in the world. He has a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications from the University of Houston and has been a proud Houstonian and Texan for more than 25 years. | |
Click here to | Rick Ferguson Rick Ferguson has worked for the Houston Film Commission since 1988. In the last six years, direct film production expenditures in the Houston/Galveston area exceeded $100 million. This figure equates to an economic impact of over $300 million dollars. With some 320 film commissions throughout the world working to bring filmmakers to their areas, the rivalry for production dollars is becoming increasingly more competitive. Mr. Ferguson is a member of a variety of civic and professional organizations: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - Film Program Advisory Committee; Southwest Alternate Media Project - Advisory Board; Texas Association of Film Commissions - Vice President; Associations of Film Commissions International - Member; Independent Feature Project - Member; Texas Association of Film and Tape Professionals - Member; Texas Motion Picture Alliance - Member; and Houston Advertising Federation - Member. | |
Click here to | Deanea LeFlore Deanea LeFlore serves as executive director of the Houston International Protocol Alliance, a division of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Protocol Alliance is the office of protocol and international relations for the City of Houston. As executive director, Ms. LeFlore advises city officials on international relations and serves as liaison between the City of Houston and the city’s 90-member Consular Corps. Since joining the office in October 2001, she has coordinated a number of successful dignitary visits to Houston, including several head of state and royal visits. She speaks Spanish fluently. In her role at the Protocol Alliance, Ms. LeFlore also oversees Houston’s sister cities program. The volunteers of Houston’s 17 sister city associations undertake dozens of programs every year. Some focus on shared cultural bonds, others seek to strengthen economic ties and to educate Houstonians about their sister cities through local programs that promote a broader understanding of our international communities. | |
Click here to | Chrerry Eno Cherry Eno accepted the position of director of Houston Visitors center with the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau in April 1999. Ms. Eno brought to the GHCVB an extensive background of 25+ years in the retail industry. Ms. Eno has worked for many leading retain companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark. and Allentown, PA. 1994-1997); Dillards Department Stores (San Antonio, TX 1985-1994) and Stage Stores Inc. - Palais Royale (Houston, TX 1998-1999). Ms. Eno has worked in all aspects of the retail industry, including buying, planning and distribution, store operations, marketing, product and systems development. She has bought merchandise for areas as diverse as ladies apparel (sportswear, contemporary, designer, swim & active) dry grocery, beverage, bakery, lamps and lifestyle furniture. Ms. Eno spent 5 years as member of a corporate import committee, specializing in product development and traveling to Asia. | |
Click here to | Lindsey Brown Lindsey Brown has worked for the GHCVB since December 2003 and manages media relations. In her role as director of marketing, Ms. Brown integrates her knowledge of media relations into the other aspects of marketing—promotions, advertising, graphic design and the Web site. Prior to joining the GHCVB, Ms. Brown worked as the special projects coordinator at Houston Ballet's Ben Stevenson Academy. Ms. Brown began her career at Vollmer Public Relations and worked in both their Dallas and Houston offices. Her clients included Travelocity and Marie Callendar's. Ms. Brown graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in public relations. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and an associate member of the Society of American Travel Writers. |
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