Atlanta, GA (June 5, 2017): The International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) today announced that nominations are open for the third annual Lori Raleigh Award for Emerging Excellence in Hospitality Consulting. Launched in 2015 in honor of Lori Raleigh, founder of the Travers Group and executive director of ISHC 2000-2013, the award honors young, successful industry professionals with leadership qualities in hospitality consulting.
“The Lori Raleigh Award for Emerging Excellence in Hospitality Consulting gives young professionals who demonstrate early career success a chance to be recognized for their leadership qualities and efforts,” said Kristie Dickinson, ISHC award committee chair and executive vice president of CHMWarnick. “For any industry to succeed, there must be a constant influx of new perspectives, innovation and talent. The ISHC would like to recognize the best-of-the-best in the emerging class of hospitality consultants who are on the path to becoming future industry leaders and joining the exclusive ranks of ISHC membership.”
Candidates for The Lori Raleigh Award must be 35 years of age or younger at the time of the award presentation and meet the criteria for ISHC’s associate membership, including five years’ experience in a hospitality-related field with a minimum of three years of specific hospitality consulting experience. They also must be recognized by their company leaders or other industry constituents who are familiar with their work as an exceptional example of a future leader within the field of hospitality consulting. At the time of nomination, a candidate must be working for a company that provides third-party consulting or advisory services to the hospitality industry and be actively involved or responsible for providing advisory services to clients of the firm (e.g., hospitality consulting firms, third-party asset managers, architects, designers, food and beverage consultants, hospitality lawyers, purchasing companies, etc.). Prior award winners are not eligible for nomination, while prior nominees who have not previously won remain eligible. Winner must be available to attend the annual conference for the award presentation in Bangkok, September 14 – 16, 2017.
Nominations are due by June 30, 2017. The winner will be announced in mid-July and presented at the ISHC Annual Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, September 14 – 16, 2017, at the InterContinental Bangkok Hotel. Winners will receive a one-year associate membership in ISHC, where networking opportunities with the industry’s top consultants become available with this invitation-only group of hospitality experts, as well as complimentary registration and travel allowance to attend to the event itself.
Last year’s winner was Ali Hoyt, director, Consulting and Analytics at STR. During her five-year tenure with STR, Hoyt continually undertakes leadership roles on internal committees, having already been promoted twice since joining. Her responsibilities include overseeing consulting assignments, developing analytical models and templates, creating custom products and presenting industry data. Additional duties include finding new industry applications for 30 years of hotel performance data, training new associates, assisting with internal projects such as STR’s online data platform and representing the company as a frequent speaker at industry conferences and events. Early highlights with STR have included developing custom data solutions for several clients, designing underwriting templates in order to streamline client due diligence processes and working with several of the major hotel firms in evaluating the validity of their competitive sets. Prior to STR, Hoyt worked at Starwood and at her family's ski resort in New Hampshire. She attended Cornell University’s Hotel School, is president of the Colorado-Rocky Mountain chapter of the Cornell Hotel Society and is certified in hotel industry analytics from AH&LA. She also is vice president of adoptions for Save the Giants Rescue, a volunteer dog rescue organization.
“It is important to ISHC to give back to the hospitality industry and foster new talent, and it is wonderful to recognize emerging consultants that are already making an impact,” said Andrea Belfanti, ISHC executive director. “Since the award winner is invited to be an associate ISHC member for a year and to attend our annual conference, we hope this will be a real catalyst for their career by providing unique educational and networking opportunities. ISHC believes in the power of collaboration and idea exchange and the immense impact that can have on an individual and the industry.”
“Through the Lori Raleigh Award, ISHC is introducing young professionals to a group of distinguished hospitality consultants and investing in the future of this industry,” Hoyt added. “I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 ISHC Annual Conference in Seattle and was warmly welcomed into the group. Throughout the past year, I have continued to connect with members at conferences and through consulting work. I hope other young hospitality consulting professionals recognize the unique experience and exclusive opportunities this award can bring to their career progression. I look forward to a long and continually rewarding relationship with ISHC.”
For more information on The Lori Raleigh Award, please visit www.ishc.com/awards or go directly to the nomination form here.
