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Click on
Women's Chamber of Commerce below
to see live
video interviews of all 2008 Recipients |
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2008 ATHENA®
Award recipient
interviews
were brought to you by the
WOMEN'S
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
THE STRIP
VIEW LIVE
VEGAS NET
TV |
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Congratulations
to our
2008 Recipients
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Fifth
Annual ATHENA® Awards honors
Marla Letizia as Leadership Recipient and
Stacey Wedding as Young Professional Recipient |
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The Fifth Annual ATHENA Awards was a day to
remember. The Awards were held at The Stirling
Club on November 7, 2008 with entertainment
courtesy of master impressionist Rich Little and
singer/recording artist George Bugatti and a
Silent Auction comprised of items from renowned
international, national and local celebrities
and businesses from the Las Vegas community.
John Huck of Fox 5 News presided as the master
of ceremonies; Ray DuGray and Maria Ngo hosted
the Red Carpet Showcase, and Las Vegas Photo &
Video provided professional photography.
The Award Presentation Chair, Ms Barbara Wood,
did an outstanding job with her committee that
included Karen Scherer, Janet Ryan, Eileen
Hayes, Lizzette Villanueva, Trudy Platzer, Romie
Semenza, and Nan Okuda, A very special thank you
to our Platinum Sponsor, American Family; our
speakers; Host Organization, the Women’s Chamber
and June Beland; Punam Mathur, MGM MIRSGE; Gina
Polovina, Boyd Gaming; Dee Ladd, Sunrise
Children’s Foundation, and Marlena Safarian. |
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ATHENA®
Leadership Awards |
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MARLA
LETIZIA
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Big Traffic Mobile Billboards
Worldwide |
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Marla Letizia, President, Big Traffic Mobile
Billboards Worldwide
With deep roots in Las Vegas and a thorough
understanding of marketing, Marla Letizia owns and operates Big
Traffic Mobile Billboards Worldwide, an outdoor advertising
company that allows clients to strategically target specific
segments of the market at any time of the day. Since 2001, Big
Traffic has served dozens of markets across the country. As well
as trucks with more than 400 square feet of visual advertising
space, the company has also introduced a unique, dynamic and
100-percent green concept – WOBI™, illuminated display boards
worn by walkers who are educated to interact with viewers who
have questions about the displayed information. Letizia’s
earlier background is based firmly in broadcast journalism and
marketing. Early in her professional career, she gained
distinction as the first female director in the history of Las
Vegas, and as the first female hired in production, during her
career with KLAS-TV-8. |
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Mary Arnold-Ronish

Nominee |
Mary Arnold-Ronish, Founder,
President and CEO, Professional Permanent Cosmetics
& Tattoo Vanish
Mary Arnold-Ronish CPCP brings more
than 30 years of experiences as a registered nurse
to the permanent cosmetic industry. Prior to
starting her own permanent cosmetics business in
1992, Arnold had decades of experience in the
medical industry. She began her nursing career in
1969, working in area hospitals and physicians
offices. Arnold also served as a business and front
office manager, and dermatology nurse for a
dermatology practice in Las Vegas. Later, she was
the director of marketing and operations for a large
home health care organization with locations in
Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. Arnold founded
Professional Permanent Cosmetics in 1993, employing
her years of experience as a nurse and knowledge as
a medical practice manager to create a quality
permanent makeup practice in the Las Vegas Valley. |
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Pamela Howatt, President, The Divine
Family Events and You Name It Events
Pam purchased You Name it Events in
2005 and then added Inventive Incentive Productions
last July. You Name It Events is a full service
catering and event planning company that specializes
in corporate events and company picnics, producing
over 600 events each year. Inventive Incentive
Productions is a full service destination
management, event and décor company that has been a
major player in the Las Vegas community since 1991.
Prior to these acquisitions Pam was an executive in
the Gaming industry. During her 17-year career with
gaming manufacturer IGT, Pam was responsible for
planning meetings, trade shows, and customer events
all over the world. With the purchase of her own
company, Pam has been able to help many different
organizations through the donation of food, decor
and services provided by all her companies. |
Pamela Howatt

Nominee |
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Cindy O'Keefe

Nominee |
Cindy O'Keefe, VP of Hotel
Operations, Caesars Palace
A 1978 graduate of Tennessee Tech
University, Cindy O’Keefe parlayed her clarinet
major into a 30 year career in the hospitality
industry, beginning upon graduation at the heart of
Southern hospitality, Nashville’s Opryland Hotel.
Cindy joined Caesars Palace in 2004, and was
promoted to VP of Hotel Operations. She strives to
be highly inclusive with her teams, sharing
information from executive meetings to guide her
teams in putting some context around their work,
effectively raising them from tactical implementers
to strategic thinkers. Cindy encourages her
strongest performers to move on to new challenges
with other leaders, and her mentees can be found at
other properties across the Harrah’s Entertainment
network. In 2006, Cindy O’Keefe was one of 10
recipients of Harrah’s Entertainment Excellence in
Leadership Award across the then 90,000 employees in
the company. |
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Suzanne Trout, Vice President of
Marketing, Harrah’s and Flamingo Las Vegas
Suzanne’s career with Harrah’s
Entertainment began in 1999 as Vice President of
Marketing for Harrah’s Las Vegas. In 2001, Suzanne
moved to Atlantic City where she was the Senior Vice
President of Marketing for Harrah’s Entertainment’s
East Coast Division. In this regional role, she
oversaw the marketing efforts of 11 Harrah’s casinos
in 7 states. A senior level executive with over 20
years of experience in the casino and hospitality
industry, Suzanne is responsible for the overall
marketing efforts for both Strip properties. She
successful leads the Entertainment, Advertising,
Direct Marketing, Special Events, Total Rewards,
Public Relations and Internet Marketing teams. In
addition to her property role, Suzanne has also been
a key strategist in the Las Vegas multi-property
visitation initiative. She returned to Harrah’s
Entertainment Las Vegas in 2005. |
Suzanne Trout

Nominee |
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ATHENA® Young Professionals |
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STACEY
WEDDING
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Professionals in Philanthropy LLC |
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Stacey Wedding, Founder/Principal, Professional
in Philanthropy, LLC
A native Las Vegan, Stacey Wedding is the founder
and principal of Professionals in Philanthropy, LLC, a boutique
philanthropic consulting firm that provides a myriad of
customized services to foundations, corporate & individual
philanthropists, and nonprofits. Stacey’s past and current
experience as a board member to several organizations, board
president, grassroots volunteer, fundraiser, nonprofit executive
and philanthropist have her uniquely positioned to meet the
needs of her clients. Stacey holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in
Communications from UNLV, received the Board of Regents
prestigious Undergraduate Scholar of the Year Award and later
was awarded the UNLV 2004 Outstanding Alumnus Award for her
support of the Honors College. |
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Christina Donelson

Nominee |
Christina Donaldson, Director of
Leadership, Harrah's Entertainment
Christina is currently the Director
of Leadership Services for Harrah's Entertainment,
Inc., a leader in the gaming entertainment industry
with over 40 casinos in three countries, primarily
under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brands. As
such, she focuses on the identification, assessment
and development of current and emerging leaders
throughout the organization. Prior to this role,
Christina served as the Director of Talent
Acquisition, with special focus in recruiting
executives in Human Resources, Brand Marketing and
Strategic Sourcing. Before joining Harrah's in 2005,
she spent five years as a Project Manager in the
recruiting industry, where she was responsible for
developing and implementing integrated recruiting
solutions for a variety of clients, with special
emphasis on the consumer goods and retail sectors. |
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Jan-Ie Low, General Manager, Satay Malaysian
Grill Grille
Jan-Ie Low’s business experience
spans the corporate, entrepreneurship, and
not-for-profit sectors and gives her a unique
perspective on how women can embrace opportunity and
create results.
Jan-Ie held multiple strategic and
senior-level positions in human resources for over
12 years with Fortune 500 companies AT&T Wireless
and T-Mobile, USA. As an entrepreneur, she was a
founding partner in starting SATAY Malaysian Grille.
She is responsible for all sales, vendor relations,
marketing, public relations, catering, event
planning, and customer service functions. Her
results-oriented approach was recognized by Las
Vegas Weekly Magazine which recently named SATAY
Malaysian Grille the “Best Asian Restaurant in Las
Vegas.” Jan-Ie is building on this success by
spearheading the opening of SATAY #2, which opened
in August of this year. Brief synopsis. |
Jan-Ie Low

Nominee |
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Maureen Peckman

Nominee |
Maureen Peckman, Chief Operating
Officer, Lou Ruvo Brain Institute
Maureen currently serves as the chief
operating officer of the Keep Memory Alive
Organization, in support of the Lou Ruvo Brain
Institute (LRBI), Based in Las Vegas. The LRBI’s
mission is to prevent the disabling symptoms of
chronic brain disease and to prolong health, ‘vital
aging’ in people at risk for dementia and memory
impairments. She is also the executive director of
the Council for a Better Nevada, founder and owner
of Peckman Outdoor Media, a Las Vegas-based company
that specialized in the acquisition, development and
sale of outdoor advertising structures, which sold
to a national outdoor media conglomerate in 2008.
Maureen is an active member of the chairman’s
council of Conservation International, and is the
current chairman of the board for the Nevada
Community Foundation. |
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Elisa Shen, Casino Marketing Manager,
Caesars Palace
Elisa Shen received a BA in English
Literature with a Minor in Systems Science and
Engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 1991,
and joined Harrah’s Entertainment following her 2006
graduation from Rice University’s MBA program.
Elisa started as a President’s Associate and was
quickly promoted to Casino Marketing Manager at the
company’s premier Las Vegas property, Caesars
Palace, where each member of her 27-person domestic
host team is responsible for generating $1-2 million
in revenue per month. Elisa is also the primary
liaison between the Total Rewards player
loyalty program, Hotel VIP Services, Call Center,
Public Relations, Advertising, Special Events, Food
& Beverage, and Accounting to increase operational
efficiency, improve the customer’s perceived value,
and maximize cost savings across all Harrah’s-owned
Las Vegas properties. |
Elisa Shen

Nominee |
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