John Vanella

Vice President/Team Director

John brings 27 years of experience to ConferenceDirect. He started as a banquet supervisor and restaurant manager for both Four Seasons and Marriott International, ten years of sales experience with Marriott International and three years with Hilton Hotels Corporation. John’s last position was Assistant Director of Sales at the Pointe Hilton Resorts. John is a Vice President/Team Director with ConferenceDirect managing comprehensive services for the American National Standards Institute, the IEEE EMC Society and other organizations. His area of expertise is in the field of contract negotiations with hotels, convention centers and subcontractors and comprehensive conference management. He was on the sponsorship committee for the MPI Arizona Sunbelt Chapter and was awarded the “Committee Achievement Award” for 2001-2002.

John has been responsible for managing events of all sizes up to 9000 attendees. The Phoenix Office has been recognized by ConferenceDirect as “Conference Managers of the Year” in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011 & 2013. John is also a member of Meeting Professionals International, Coyote Adult Hockey League & USA Hockey.