Stefan Tiessen Receives German-American Friendship Award InterContinental Hotels Appoints Americas Brand VP Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau Hires Two Staff Members Shop n’ Chek’s South America Rep Visits Atlanta

Stefan Tiessen Receives German-American Friendship Award

Stefan M. Tiessen, a partner in the international section of the Atlanta-based law firm Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP, received the Federal Republic of Germany Friendship Award last week.

Hans-Joerg Brunner, the German consul general for the Southeast, presented the award to Mr. Tiessen during an evening celebration at his residence. Officials from the Friends of Goethe, the Goethe-Institut and German companies with operations in the Southeast attended.

Mr. Brunner said that Mr. Tiessen was being honored for his efforts to foster and sustain friendly relations between Germany and the United States.

He cited Mr. Tiessen’s service as chairman of the Friends of Goethe, a non-profit organization that was founded in 1995 to support the Goethe-Institut in Atlanta, and his involvement in obtaining and presenting a collection of works of art from artist colonies in Europe that was featured this year at Oglethorpe University.

A native of Germany, Mr. Tiessen received his European legal education from the University of Würzburg, Germany; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Freiburg, Germany, and his American J.D. degree from the University of Illinois College of Law Urbana-Champaign.

Mr. Tiessen has been active in several international organizations, having chaired the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce and serving on the board of the Alliance Française. He also is a member of the America Alumni Board of the German Academic Exchange Service (known as DAAD), based in New York City.

He may be reached by calling (404) 815-3689 or sending an email to stiessen@sgrlaw.com

InterContinental Hotels Appoints Americas Brand VP

InterContinental Hotels Group has named Janis Cannon vice president of brand management for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in the Americas. Ms. Cannon was most recently deputy commissioner of tourism for the Georgia Department of Economic Development where she managed domestic and international marketing for Georgia’s tourism industry.

In her new role, Ms. Cannon will be responsible for marketing strategies and tactical marketing programs for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts in the Americas.

She was previously Swissotel’s senior vice president of global sales and vice president of Americas sales and marketing. Ms. Cannon served as general manager of the Swissotel Buckhead, where she was responsible for $26 million in annual sales and $9 million in annual profits. She was also former director of sales and marketing at the same Swissotel.

Visit www.ihgplc.com for call (770) 604-2000 for more information.

Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau Hires Two Staff Members

The Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau has hired two new staff members, Mark Vaughan as executive vice president of sales and marketing, and Mark Sussman as director of tradeshow sales.

Mark Vaughan, who was most recently director of marketing for the Marco Island Marriott Resort, Golf Club and Spa, is the ACVB’s new executive vice president of sales and marketing. He is responsible for increasing visitation to the metropolitan Atlanta area through the development and implementation of all ACVB sales and marketing programs.

Mr. Vaughan has 23 years of experience in marketing and sales, serving in several positions with Marriott International, including at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. He served as the market director of sales and marketing for the Marriott Southeast region before working for the Marco Island Resort, Golf Club and Spa.

Mark Sussman also has been hired as the ACVB’s new director of tradeshow sales. He is responsible for soliciting citywide conventions and trade shows and maximizing hotel and convention center revenues. Mr. Sussman previously served as the director of sales for the Omni Hotel at CNN Center where he was responsible for all group sales. Some of his recent positions included director of sales at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, director of sales and marketing at the Memphis Marriott Downtown and area director of sales and marketing for Marriott’s central Atlanta sales organization.

The ACVB is a nonprofit organization that markets metro Atlanta and Georgia globally as a convention, meeting and tourism destination.

For more information, contact Lauren Kenworthy, ACVB’s manager of public relations, at (404) 521-6649 or lkenworthy@atlanta.net

Shop n’ Chek’s South America Rep Visits Atlanta

Myriam Monetti de Roffo, general manager for the secret shopper firm Shop n’ Chek Inc. in Argentina, Columbia and Uruguay, was in Atlanta recently to meet with corporate executives at the company’s worldwide headquarters.

Ms. Monetti de Roffo, who has been working with the company for six years, helped develop the program throughout South America, enlisting more than 3,000 secret shoppers in Argentina and doubling the company’s client-base in the region in the past three years.

“When we started the business in our country, it was a new tool,” Ms. Monetti de Roffo said. “Now we have a very good local reputation, and business-owners are able to see whether standards are being met by local workers at the point of sale,” she said. She also said that the idea of quality control is taking off in Latin America, and grocery stores, libraries, restaurants and hotels have all been receptive to the company’s services.

Visit www.shopnchek.com for more information.