Palm Beach County Sales Contacts

The Palm Beach County Group and Convention Sales team offers you a service-driven organization indicative of a destination that represents the "Best of Everything"®. Our message to our meeting planners and partners is basic... simplicity, expedience and efficiency. Our Groups and Meetings team of professionals focus on the entire scope of convention, meeting and event planning as a qualified and confidential source for the development and execution of conferences, events and conventions.

An exclusively assigned Sales Manager will guide planners through our confidential "one stop shopping" process which encompasses resort, hotel sites and selections with proposal and contracting facilitation. From the onset, a conference services team is further assigned to begin the process of working in tandem with the sales manager to determine the additional support entities required, e.g. transportation, DMC's, event design, technicians, offsite functions, registrations, etc... This collaborative effort from your "one source" CVB will remove hours and hours of the planning and negotiations process, assist in fulfilling your on site program needs and leave you to the business of managing your client and program.

Group and Convention Sales Team e-mail: meetingsdesk@palmbeachfl.com

Sales Services

Steve Crist
Vice President, Destination Sales
gmvp@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3050

Prior to joining the PBC CVB, Mr. Crist served as director of sales and marketing for the Radisson Resort Orlando where he oversaw group sales, transient and wholesale accounts and overall revenue management. Additionally, Mr. Crist instituted creative alliances and cross-selling programs with area hotels and served as the key liaison for the Disney Good Neighbor hotel marketing partnership. He has considerable experience in Palm Beach County with properties such as Four Seasons Resort, Palm Beach; Jupiter Beach Resort, among others. Mr. Crist will oversee destination marketing for conventions, meetings, trade shows and incentives while directing the entire sales process. He will also be responsible for the development of standard procedures and policies in addition to the deployment of sales programs and policies in support of the PBC CVB.

Donna Del Gallo
Associate Vice President of Convention Sales 
Mid-Atlantic Territory and National Associations
gmconventions@palmbeachfl.com
703.536.5961

Ms. Del Gallo is a seasoned Sales and Marketing Executive with over 19 years experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to joining the Palm Beach CVB, Ms. Del Gallo helped develop the group marketing department of the Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association, where she spent three years handling the Northeast and Mid Atlantic territories. Prior to working for the island of Aruba, Ms. Del Gallo worked for almost 11 years at the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, mostly handling the association market. Donna Del Gallo has a proven track record of assisting meeting planners with their needs. She has a good standing in the industry community with involvement as the co-chair for the PMPI leadership committee and various other committees with the DC chapter of PCMA and AMPS.

Connie Hunter
Senior Director of Sales - SMERF Nationwide
gmsmerf@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3054

Ms. Hunter has been with the PBC CVB for the past nine years and has been involved in the SMERF, medical, pharmaceutical and Florida markets. Presently, Ms. Hunter is focusing on the SMERF and government markets. With 30 years of experience in the travel/tourism industry, Ms. Hunter has held management positions with Air Jamaica and has also owned and operated a travel agency in West Palm Beach, Fla. Ms. Hunter is a member of The National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners, The National Forum of Black Public Administrators, MPI, FEA, PFA and SGMP. Through her strong community involvement, Ms. Hunter has been successful in working with nonprofit organizations in the effort of grant obtainment for tourism marketing.

Susan Carlson
Director of Sales - Northeast & Canada
gmnortheast@palmbeachfl.com
401.619.0039

Ms. Carlson brings 14 years of hospitality sales experience in the incentive, corporate and association travel sectors representing high profile hotel brands and destinations. Most recently she served as director of incentive sales for Carlson Worldwide Hotels, the Radisson Aruba and St. Martin, and previously held regional sales positions at Sol Melia Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ms. Carlson is a member of Site International and MPI and FICP (Financial & Insurance Conference Planners).

Riann Jimenez
Director of Sales – Mid-West & West Coast
gmwest@palmbeachfl.com
912.988.3325
 
Director of Sales for the Mid-West and West Coast territories, Ms. Jimenez has been a part of the hospitality industry in Palm Beach County for eight years, having represented the PGA National Resort and Spa, the Boca Raton Marriott and most recently the Palm Beach Gardens Marriott where Ms. Jimenez served as the Social Catering Manager and the Senior Sales Manager for four years. Responsibilities included working with large corporations and associations on events for the hotel. Ms. Jimenez is dedicated to building lasting relationships with not only her clients, but also with hotel partners in Palm Beach County. Ms. Jimenez is a member of HSMAI, PCMA, ASAE and MPI.

Sandy Mukitarian
Director of Sales - Southeast
gmflcorp@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3022

Sandy Mukitarian - Director of Sales - Southeast Association and Corporate Market.  Sandy is a top sales professional with a highly successful track record whose career spans more than 33 years as a convention and meeting planner for all market segments including trade show coordination in Washington D.C., San Diego, and Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Most recently Sandy served as the director of tourism for the Province of Quebec. Her duties included marketing to the meetings, conventions, and incentive companies as well as leisure tourism and media and press relations. The territory included thirteen states from Florida over to New Mexico and down to Puerto Rico, along with tenure at the Montreal Montréal Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Cindy Ekonomou
Director Destination Services
gmemm@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3060

Ms. Ekonomou joined the Group and Convention Sales team in May 2008. In her destination services and special events role she will focus on the development of the CVB’s Palm Beach County Destination Diplomats Program. Ekonomou’s 20-year background in hotel sales and marketing will be instrumental as she works closely with the Virtual Sales team in closing more business for the destination. Recent experiences within the destination include her role as Director of Sales and Marketing for the Brazilian Court Hotel in Palm Beach and The Gulfstream Hotel in Lake Worth. Additional responsibilities under her new role at the CVB will include support through Destination Reviews and the forthcoming Small Meetings and Destination Weddings page on the PBC CVB’s website.

Yvonne McGill
Destination Services Manager
gmservices@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3057

In addition to her seasoned role as Convention Services Manager at the PBC CVB, Ms. McGill is adding the small meetings market to her roster of responsibilities. In this role as the Executive Meetings Manager, McGill will be responsible for managing requests relevant to small group bookings of 100 or less in total room nights, while senior level sales managers will focus on larger meetings with greater room night potential.

Terri Hallahan
Assistant to the VP Destination Sales
gmvp@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3059

Mary Brown
Sales/Tradeshow Coordinator
gmtradeshow@palmbeachfl.com
561.233.3061

Jodi Sykes
Administrative Coordinator
gmtradeshow@palmbeachfl.com 
561.233.3062