What has been your career journey?

My first glimpse into the hospitality event planning world was in college. I went to University of Central Arkansas and I was on the Arkansas Fair team. I was one of two freshmen to experience that and got to experience media, public relations, event planning and UM, and customer service.

My hotel journey started with someone handing me a job description saying I think you’d really like this while I was working for a nonprofit in Little Rock. So I just kind of fell into the catering side of hotels after working at that nonprofit. I worked for two hotels in Little Rock and quickly joined the sales side. From there, the Embassy Suites in Rogers was adding on the Convention Center and then the spa tower and had reached out and had a couple of conversations with the Director of Sales. I joined the team in 2007 and have now been with the property going on 18 years.

It didn’t get built all at once, so tell us the history of the Embassy Suites & Rogers Convention Center?

The property was built in three phases. The main tower was opened in 2003, as the growth of the community continued there was a need for more event space. The Convention Center was then added. At the time it was named after John Q Hammons, now it is called the Rogers Convention Center. In July of 2007, we added the Spa tower to give us more guest rooms, we now have a total of 400. Those guest rooms allowed us to accommodate the larger conventions with the additional event space that we had.

Did you get a chance to meet and engage with Mr. Hammons?

Once on a property tour, he was a genuine person. It makes me think of stories of J.B. Hunt or Sam Walton. Also, the stories of the three of them together, you hear about their sincerity, their genuine personality and care for their own associates within their companies. Mr. Hammons was the same.

When did the change of ownership happen and what does that look like now?

In May of 2018, Atrium Hospitality took over the remaining Hammons hotels. It’s been great, the transition and the magnitude of the hotels that Atrium has with over 70. They are a leading management company for the Hilton brand. Our hotel falls under that and it’s been great. The leadership, growth and opportunities that Atrium has for their managers and associates has been really nice.

Can you give us an overview of the property?

The Embassy Suites & Rogers Convention Center has 400 guest rooms around 125,000 square feet of event space with the largest ballroom being just at 42,000 square feet. Whether it’s local, regional, or national conference, the property as well as the city and market has the ability to host and attract many large conferences and events. These have a very positive economic impact on our area. It’s a full-service property, one of the only full-service properties in our area with a spa and restaurant.

What sets this property apart for hosting events?

In Rogers the walkability is a great attraction for many conferences and along with attendees having a variety of things to do, Whether they’re flying in or even just driving in being able to walk to shopping, restaurants, and activities to do in the evening sets us apart from a comfort level and ease for their attendees. Then I would say we are a one stop shop, we are your main contact for the Convention Center and the hotel. Also for audio visual and food and beverage needs. We work hand in hand with Destination Rogers to bring in those conferences and provide additional services.

What makes a really good successful partnership for you between an event organizer at this type of property?

Building rapport, trust, and our experience, whether it’s myself or the team. Thinking beyond what they’re just sharing. You know, you read a request for proposal, digging into the history of the group, knowing what has been successful, what hasn’t been successful. Also, what the organization’s goal for the event and how can we expand upon it and provide additional information for them to think about based on that. Bringing to the table things that they haven’t been asked or thought of before.

It takes a lot of people and departments to run a hotel and convention center. Can you share about some of the people that make the magic happen?

Mitch Thompson is our chief engineer. He started the same year I did and he is the person behind the property. He knows all ins and outs of this place. He will shimmy up the rafters in the Grand Ballroom to rewire something when something’s not working correctly, he works with the Fire Marshall, he helps us ensure that we’re meeting guidelines and specifics. When someone wants to bring in 18 wheelers, a helicopter in the parking lot, or put something under the porte-cochere he’s that go to person to get it done. I think in our industry we want to make anything happen for our clients.

Maria Ponte is in housekeeping. She takes care of our public areas and she is always a joy! The tenure that we have at the property. Angel in the kitchen man’s our restaurant line. Julio takes care of all the employee lunches and does an exceptional job. It’s just really nice to see them when you get time away from your desk and your day-to-day tasks. They are some of the ones take care of us internally, but our guests as well. We all provide services to our external guests, but internally we’re customers to each other as well.

Why would an event planner want to choose Rogers & Northwest Arkansas for their event?

Sometimes it is who’s in our backyard. Whether that’s to engage with the University of Arkansas, Tyson Foods, Walmart, J.B. Hunt, or someone else in our community. Northwest Arkansas also attracts a lot of surrounding states and conferences. With our size and centralized in the United States, that in itself is an attraction when you have people part of a regional or national organization for ease of access.

Additionally, the walkability of the convention district, the size of our hotel, and things to do like the outdoors. For attendees to be able to extend their stay beyond just a meeting or conference and enjoying whether that’s like a leisure vacation or bringing their family to enjoy themselves in our area.

Our size and flexibility are also key. For example, even our parking lot hosts events like an annual championship truck driving events and a BBQ contest. Once you explain that to people, show that through video, and having those conversations it paints a whole different picture and provides opportunities for people to consider.

Destination Rogers also has great programs that helps us sell and attract conferences that maybe otherwise wouldn’t have considered Rogers before.

Why is Rogers a good place to live, work, and play?

It’s always amazing when people aren’t aware that we exist, not that we expect everyone to know about Rogers. You’re in the middle of it all. You’re in the mix of it all, but yet you don’t feel like you’re in the mix of it all. You don’t have to spend a whole lot of time in the car to enjoy everything we have like you might in a tier one city. With Rogers, you can quickly be down at the University of Arkansas in 20 minutes and then you can be in Bentonville in the same amount of time.

As a local that lives and works in Rogers I love the things that I can do and take my kids to do. Mount Hebron Park, the Railyard Bike Park, and Lake Atlanta are areas that we truly enjoy visiting. The walkability around those parks are great. For the kids being able to run around, but then go to an ice cream shop or go to a local restaurant is really fun.

What are your favorite restaurants in Rogers?

Blu Downtown Rogers is probably one of my favorite places. The sushi and chefs’ choice, they do a phenomenal job. I love the experience being in an old Firehouse then opening up a door and immediately being out in the mix of it all in Downtown Rogers. Here at the Embassy Suites, my team, and the property managers, we go to Theo’s across the street. It’s great for when we celebrate someone coming in or saying goodbye to a manager as they’re on their next growth opportunity, that’s kind of our go to place. It is great to be able to walk to local restaurants from work like Theo’s or Wright’s BBQ.

What do you see for yourself and the hotel in the next 5 to 10 years?

I don’t truthfully foresee going anywhere, I think growing with Atrium and whatever that looks like in the future. For the hotel, as our community grows new opportunities come to our market. We want to see how we can evolve with those changes and also consider what might be preventing people from coming here. So whether that’s new bike action stations, additional trade show building in our parking lot to add a different enhancement. Those are the kinds of things we continue to have conversations about: what will attract people, what people are looking for and what they’re wanting to see as they come to any conference facility.

What does the Embassy Suites & Rogers Convention Center partnership look like with Destination Rogers?

The opportunity of incentive funding coming from Destination Rogers when a group is interested in coming to the area. It’s really an “aha” moment for less seasoned planners that something like that even exists simply by selecting a specific destination. They can use it for marketing materials, transportation, or conference costs in general. It really helps put Rogers on the map as an opportunity for consideration.

When a planner that is completely new to the area is able to work hand-in-hand with the Destination Rogers team is a big component for the sales team here at Embassy Suites. Their team helps from getting the request for proposal, explaining the surrounding area, and helping facilitate site visits. Destination Rogers does a great job talking about the city as a whole, doing driving tours and expanding upon what Rogers has to offer. Other activities, whether they’re bringing significant others or having additional time and days off, then Destination Rogers can put together additional agenda items that groups could select from if they’re looking for an off-site venue to host maybe an awards event or just a fun opportunity to bring in a band.

Providing additional locations, groups are not only putting on a great conference and bringing revenue to the city, but they’re also supporting other local business and even overflow hotels in our market. That’s really something we’re proud to showcase, because it highlights that we’re not just a local venue. We’re a regional and national one. We can host a 3,000 person conference that might require 1,200 room night in our area. Making that kind of experience possible takes coordination, and that’s where the partnership with Destination Rogers becomes so important. It’s about working with Destination Rogers to map all of that out from the transportation plan and where the shuttle service would pick up attendees from local hotels to getting the city involved in meaningful ways. That involvement might include talking to the mayor, arranging for someone to officially welcome the group, signing a proclamation, or even making a formal commitment from the city to support something specific that the organization may be looking for.

Being an organization to welcome them, and so we really do work, hand-in-hand. And it is interesting how some of us are all intertwined with each other. I think of Dick Trammell and how he is intertwined with the University of Arkansas and the state highways. He is just one example of the many local partners here always willing to help.