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Alumni and Current Student Updates
Alumni News Shiri Leventhal, MTA (2006) - Sport Management Shiri is currently in Delhi, India, working with the Micro Insurance Academy, doing research and training for microinsurance schemes in rural India. This past summer she also participated in the Blue Planet Run, a non-stop relay run around the world in 95 days. Along with 20 other runners, Shiri ran through 16 countries, and covered 15,200 miles to spread awareness and raise funds for water and sanitation programs in developing countries. Mitch Biersner, MTA (2007) - Individualized Studies Following graduation in May, Mitch was hired full-time to continue working at AARP as Specialist - Internal Events in the AARP Events department. He has been working as part of a team to develop the Association's strategic meetings management program, in addition to supporting Life@50+ | AARP's National Event and Expo. Life@50+ recently hosted a record 27,000 attendees in Boston September 6-8, 2007 and all indications are that, with AARP's 50th anniversary in 2008, Life@50+ in Washington, DC will be larger! He remains active in the local chapters of PCMA and MPI, serving as Student Sub-Committee Chair of the Capital Chapter PCMA Emerging Leaders Committee, and serves on the Potomac Chapter MPI Member Care Committee. Sarah E. Hamilton, AMTA (2006) - Event and Meeting Management Sarah E. Hamilton, CMP currently holds the position of Event Project Manager at George P. Johnson. She is responsible for the overall project management for a variety of events and serves as a main client liaison for George P. Johnson's largest worldwide account, IBM. In January of 2007, Sarah completed and passed the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) exam earning her the CMP Designation. In June of 2007, Sarah was awarded the Kathy Keegan-Cummings Professional Development Scholarship Award by MPI New England for her outstanding leadership and commitment to volunteerism. Sarah currently serves as Chair of the MARCOM Committee for MPI/NE. In this capacity, Sarah has successfully redesigned and introduced the chapter's new website, making it an important industry-wide resource. Sarah also heads up the Annual Meeting Planning Team, and sits on the Nominating Committee. Marlene Blas, MTA (2007) - Event and Meeting Management Marlene is the Associate Director for Meetings and Events at California Western School of Law in San Diego. Marlene currently serves as Special Events Chair for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) conference that will take place in December 2007 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. During the 3-day conference, Marlene will direct over 25 events with a F&B budget of $500K. In January, Marlene will be a featured speaker at the CASE conference for Homecomings and Reunions in Austin, TX. Sue Kennedy, MTA (2006) - Sustainable Destination Management Sue currently lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, working for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a private sector arm of the World Bank. She is working on creating the second version of a widely distributed booklet called "Stay Another Day Cambodia" with funding from the German Development Corporation (GTZ). Inside this booklet are NGOs and businesses that are doing good work in sustainable tourism - or they are NGOs such as hospitals or organizations for the disabled (i.e. landmine victims) where tourists can go, tour the facilities, donate money, and purchase handicrafts made by disabled artisans or watch a performance by disabled performers. The Stay Another Day Initiative has received worldwide recognition and its full potential remains to be seen. Eli Gorin, CMP, MTA (2002) - Event, Sport & Hospitality Management Eli is currently working for his own company, gMeetings, Inc. doing meetings throughout Latin America, as well as speaking at industry conferences, including MPI-PEC in Houston in February and IdeaFactory in Las Vegas in February. Eli was named to MeetingNews' list of 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry in 2007 as well as The Meeting Professional's list of “30 Under 30”. Eli and his wife are also expecting the birth of their second son in early January. Linda Kasatri, MTA (2007) - Individualized Studies & International Hotel Management  Linda is originally Bangkok, Thailand and just completed an internship with Starwood Hotels & Resorts in the Global Sales office. Prior to working with Starwood, Linda worked with Challenge Hospitality Ltd in Bangkok Thailand as a Marketing & Research Manager. Now that Linda has graduated, she hopes to be part of international hotel company focusing on business development. David C. Brown, MTA (2007) - Sustainable Destination Management  David spent this summer working in Istanbul, Turkey, as part of the International Practicum. He remained on site for a month after the completion of the project working with Bogazici University, private sector partners and the Istanbul Tourism Authority to implement a number of the GW consultant team's recommendations and facilitating further cross-sectoral networking. David has spent the fall as a communications assistant at the Discover America Partnership, a public advocacy campaign, housed in the Travel Industry Association, with the mission to leverage the public diplomacy power of tourism by increasing international visitation to the United States. Additionally, David is working with IITS and Solimar International on the development of the S.A.V.E. Travel Alliance website, due for launch at the end of the year. Current Students Miyoung Kim, MTA (May 2009) - Event and Meeting Management Miyoung, who is conducting an event-related research under the advisory of Dr. Soyoung Boo, recently submitted a paper entitled, Comparative analysis of travel-related characteristics between special event attendees and non-attendees to 2008 International Convention & Exposition Summit that is scheduled to be held in Singapore from 2/14- 2/16, 2008. Yoon Koh, MTA (May 2008) - Event and Meeting Management Yoon, who is writing a thesis under the advisory of Dr. Soyoung Boo, will present two papers at The 13th Annual Graduate Education & Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality & Tourism to be held in Orlando, January 2008. Her papers are entitled "Prior Work Experience and Academic Achievement Among Graduate Level Tourism and Hospitality Students" and "Does Franchising Help Restaurant Firm-Value?" She won six scholarships during the 2007-2008 academic year: J. Willard Marriott Foundation Scholarship, Hyundai Scholarship, NEWH Scholarship, PCMA Multinational Scholarship, NDTA Scholarship as well as Conference Travel Grant for Graduate Students. Michael J. Kohrn, MTA (2008) - Hospitality and Tourism Management Michael is currently studying Tourism Planning and in the process of developing a sustainable destination resort located in Portugal. The sustainable resort idea was in collaboration with a fraternity brother, and they are currently developing the strategic business plan. Currently, Michael also works part time as a Line Chef at the Oval Room Restaurant. In the future, Michael plans to find an internship for an event planning firm or an assistantship with a strategic planner. Maria Bea Querido, MTA (May 2008) - Individualized Studies  Maria participated in the International Consulting Practicum in Istanbul with Dr. Hawkins, Milena Nikolova, and 15 talented GWSB students this past summer. This fall, she traveled to India and interned for an Indian business involved in event & travel entertainment for her practicum. Querido was recently hired by The Boeing Company in Crystal City, VA as a Marketing and Sales Specialist in Missile Defense Systems. She was also admitted to participate in the competitive Dubai Winter Study Abroad coordinated by the MBA Program. Querido is currently finishing a Directed Research project with Dr. Yu on sustainable commercial aviation.
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