Hotelier to Head Chicago Bureau
Bahamas resort exec takes the reins, acting CEO Bill Utter resigns
By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 2/20/2006
After a six-month national search for a new leader, the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau has chosen Tim Roby.
The 45-year-old suburban Chicago native currently is senior vice president of Kerzner Intl. Resorts, where he is responsible for sales and marketing of the 2,317-room Atlantis resort, the company's flagship property on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. He will become president of the bureau in April.
Roby takes over the top spot following a year of executive turnover at the bureau.
In August, Chris Bowers stepped down as the bureau's CEO to return to the private sector.
Deborah Sexton left as CCTB president last February to become president and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Assn. The CEO position will not be refilled, according to the bureau.
Most recently, acting CEO Bill Utter resigned from the bureau, two days after Roby was hired early this month.
Utter, the group's vice president of marketing, has accepted the positions of president of America's Greatest Cities and executive vice president for business development and strategic alliances for Weaver Multimedia Group. Utter will remain in Chicago, where he spent nearly seven years with the bureau.
Roby said he's "excited about coming home and being part of a team that is creating the greatest combined business and leisure tourism destination in the United States."
Roby added that, "Chicago has become one of this country's few truly global cities, and that's a great selling point. (The city) also has a fertile business environment in which tradeshow exhibitors have access to a vast network of connections and opportunities."
Phil Stefani, chairman of the CCTB and president of Phil Stefani Signature Restaurants, said the bureau is "fortunate to have someone with Tim's strong sales and marketing track record and impressive credentials."
Atlantis, which opened in 1994, has consistently achieved one of the highest occupancy levels of any major Caribbean resort and is considered the catalyst for the redefinition of tourism in the Bahamas. Roby has been with the resort since 1998.
Stefani also thanked Utter for temporarily heading the bureau, and noted that Utter will "continue to promote Chicago, but on a national level, and has made a strong commitment to help the CCTB in the future."
In his resignation letter, Utter said, "I am very excited about my new roles, but I submit this resignation with mixed emotion." He was a contender for the top bureau position.
New shows coming to Chicago as a result of the bureau's recent sales efforts include the biotechnology event BIO Annual Convention (No. 172 on the Tradeshow Week 200) April 9–12 and the Natl. Business Travel Assn. Intl. Convention & Exposition July 16–19.
Three 2006 shows — the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Annual Meeting Jan. 30–Feb. 1, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Annual Meeting (No. 102 on the TSW 200) March 22–26 and the Natl. School Boards Assn.'s Annual Conference & Exposition April 8–11 — relocated to Chicago from New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
Among many other major shows, Chicago hosts the biennial Intl. Manufacturing Technology Show, No. 3 on the most recent TSW 200. Peter Eelman, vice president of exhibitions for show owner AMT — the Assn. for Manufacturing Technology, said that, although he hasn't met Roby yet, he looks forward to it.
"The position itself is critical as the city moves forward with initiatives to improve the experience at McCormick Place and market the new West building," Eelman said.
Prior to joining Kerzner, Roby was vice president of sales for Las Vegas' MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, where he supervised sales of the 5,005-room hotel, as well as the MGM Grand Adventures, a 32-acre theme park (now closed).
Roby started his 23-year career in the tourism and hospitality industry with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, where he worked for 13 years. He joined the company in 1983 as convention services floor manager at Hyatt Regency Minneapolis.
