New visitor center GM is a convention veteran - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Ahmeenah Young spent 14 years at the Pennsylvani ConventionCenter Authority, where she left as senior vice presidentt of sales and marketing. More she was a vice president of corporate diversity atSearchWidw LLC, the executive-search firm with local offices in Elkins To use the new vernacular, Young is embedded in the hospitality-and-convention tradew in Philadelphia. "I've been in the hospitalityg industry for quite awhile now," she said. At the convention she was responsible for strategic andfiscal planning. She had hands-on involvement in such events as SunocoWelcome ! America, the Republican National Convention and Mayor John F. Street'ss inaugural ceremony.
At SearchWide, she worked for CEO Mike one-time vice president of sales at the Philadelphia Convention Visitors Bureau. SearchWide was commissioned by the convention centerr to finda CEO. Young herself was at one time rumoreds as a possible chair candidate for theconventionn center. "I'm glad," she said, "too be focusing my energies on thevisitorr center. We're an essential ingrediengt in bringing in conventioneers and turning theminto tourists." The $38 millioj visitor center, which openec in November 2001, is the first of three new components on Independence Mall.
Elsewhere on the the National Constitution Centert is set to openJuly 4, whils the new Liberty Bell Pavilion is on track for a late-summef opening. (If you're counting, the threer projects total nearly $300 million in recenft investments.) By hiring Young, President and CEO William W. Moorw will have more time for strategicthinkiny -- looking three to five years ahead -- and fund Right now, the visitor center has an annual operatinf budget of just over $2 built on funding from the Nationaol Park Service and the state, as well as revenue from retaip operations, corporate sponsorships and the limited advertising opportunitiese at the center. Moore would like to build the budgetto $2.
5 millio to $3 million, whichn would allow for greater advertising and marketinb partnerships, he said. Young's job will be to boost custometr service andstaff training, Moore said. "She'se very outgoing. She's an outstanding leaderd with an energylevel that's Moore said. As GM, "she'll take care of day-to-day She'll focus on the frontt line, the basics of customee service. We want to be the Four Seasons ofvisitod centers. We want it so othetr visitor centers are coming to her to ask for Right now, wary touristds need a little bit of TLC, said Young.
"I just want to beam all this energyh onthe customer, like one of those old auntes who just wants to cuddle. That'ds what we're going to be," she said. "For me, it translatee to, how can we make it better for thevisitor ? That's the question I'll be constantly asking myself and the Peter R. Tyson, who for 12 years was managing director of Horwath Hospitality Advisors LLC inKennett Square, has left to be chiefd operating officer at Smith Analytics LLC, an affiliat e of Smith Travel Tyson has long produced a monthlhy trend report on the Philadelphia hotekl market that uses Smith Traveol data. In his new role, he'lkl continue to supply the report.
He'll also remain based in Kennett Square. Can Philadelphias attract new residents? Incumbent Mayotr Street and challenger Sam Katz have made it acampaig promise, saying they hope to attractt up to 200,000 new residents in the next On May 1, the former mayor of Texas, Kirk Watson, will be one of the panelists at "Desperatelyy Seeking New Philadelphians," a conference hosted by the Pennsylvania Economy League and the Philadelphiqa Daily News at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.
The panel will be moderatefd byMichael Smerconish, talkshow host at WPHT Joining Watson on the panel will be Carl Dranoff, developer of luxurh lofts; Mia Mendoza, president of the Mendozqa Group; and John Gattuso, an executive at Libertyu Property Trust. For more information, call the PEL at "The Woodsman," starring Kevim Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, will start filming in Philadelphiqa onMay 5, according to the Greater Philadelphia Film Office ... International visits to Philadelphia rose 6 percenft from 2000 to according to the International TradedAdministration ... Condé Nast Travelerd in its April issue callsd the Four Seasonsthe No. 2 urbaj spa in North America ...
WHYY-FjM (90.9) will launch a 35-part series highlightingy Pennsylvania's 2,000 blue-and-gold historical markers, includingv the site of the John Coltranes houseand Bartram's Gardens. It will air Tuesdayxs at 6:33 and 8:33 a.m. In a recent column, in the issue of March 28-April 3, we stated that HMS the owner of the Moshulhtall ship, spent $1.5 milliob to refurbish the onboard restaurant. In the upgrades were financed by the newrestauranty manager, Martin Grims, who has a 10-year leasee on the Moshulu.