plenary ‘It’s Really About Saving Lives’ WHAT’S YOUR STORY? Tammi Runzler, CASE
Haitian Haven Tammi Runzler has spent 90 percent of her personal PTO volunteering in Haiti.
Throughout my entire life, I’ve always enjoyed doing some type of volunteer work. I’ve worked with the homeless. I’ve volunteered with animal shelters. I’ve always had some element of volun- teer work and activism in my life. A few years ago, I got involved with Clean the World. They are an Orlando-based non- profit that is really committed to help- ing with the hygiene revolution around the world. Many people in our industry know Clean the World because they do a lot of CSR work with them. One thing the organization does is recycle gently used soap products from hotels and dis- tributes them to those in need. They’re currently distributing soap and hygiene products to more than 30 countries in the world.
meetings to lending a hand in Haiti. T
When I was in college — I was actually studying psychology — I worked at a Hilton hotel, at the front desk for about a year. It was just going to be a part- time job at first, but I immediately fell in love with the hospitality industry. It got to the point where I thought, “Okay, I can leave the hospitality business and continue to pursue a job in the psychol- ogy field, … but I really, really like what I’m doing.”
I reached out to my mentors and told them about this little part-time job that turned into a full-time job, and how I enjoyed it so much. Several mentors told me, don’t discount how much you’re enjoying what you’re doing. Here
26 PCMA CONVENE OCTOBER 2012
I am 25 years down the road, and I still love it.
I’ve had a bit of an unusual career in that the vast majority of what I’ve done has focused on meetings and conventions through sales and services. I had the opportunity to spend several years at an Embassy Suites hotel, and then moved to the airport Marriott in Orlando for about six years. I started in catering sales, then moved to convention group sales. After that I went to the Renais- sance resort by SeaWorld. About 10 years ago, I transferred to destination sales with Visit Orlando. So I’ve been with them since 2002. Visit Orlando has remained my primary focus.
he senior vice president of convention sales and services at Visit Orlando —and a recipient of PCMA’s Best in Class speaker award — explains how she went from working
It’s really about saving lives. I was really drawn to their mission. I had the oppor- tunity to work with them as a Visit Orlando associate, and I serve on their board. They already were doing some work in Haiti prior to the earthquake. Then, in 2010, when the earthquake hit Haiti, the demand for soap and hygiene products escalated tremendously. They organized and said, “We need to help people who’ve been impacted by this terrible tragedy.” I let them know immediately I wanted to go with them. But my connection to Haiti actually supersedes all of this.
When I was at the Renaissance, a lot of our staff was from Haiti. Through them, I began to learn a bit about the Haitian culture and I saw how hard these employees worked and how many of them sent a portion of their earnings back to their family in Haiti. So when the earthquake hit, it already touched an emotional chord within me. So many of these people that I’d worked with for so many years — many of their families