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February 13, 2006
Key Organizational Changes at the Vancouver Convention Centre
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre (VCEC) today announced a number of key appointments in the organizational development associated with the major facility expansion now underway.
Barbara Maple, formerly General Manager of the VCEC, has been named to the position of President. Maple served as VCEC General Manager for the past eight years, and is a prominent figure in international industry organizations. She is in her third consecutive term as President of AIPC (the International Association of Congress Centres), a global international association of congress, convention and exhibition centres representing 142 centres in 51 countries worldwide. She also chairs the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) and the World Council for Venue Management (WCVM), which recently appointed her for a two year term.
Judi Helfrich has been appointed to the position of Vice President of Business Development, where she will be responsible for overall revenue generation and oversee sales, marketing and business development. Helfrich joined the VCEC from the Metropolitan Hotel where she served as Director of Sales and Marketing and Acting General Manager. She brings more than twenty years of sales, marketing, and operations experience in the tourism and hospitality industry and has also held senior positions with Delta Hotels, Hilton Hotels, Best Western International, Amex Canada Inc., and Cathay Pacific Airways.
Carly Thorson has been appointed to the position of Communications Manager, where she will apply her ten years of marketing and communications experience to the areas of corporate communications, media relations, community and industry relations, and special events. Thorson joined the VCEC from Sophos where she was Marketing Communications Manager. Prior to Sophos, she held various communications positions at Genome British Columbia, Xantrex Technology Inc., Absolute Software, and Dynapro Systems Inc.
“We are pleased to welcome Judi and Carly as we take the VCEC into a new and demanding phase of our development,” said Barbara Maple. “Both will play a key role in our expansion strategy as we triple the size of our facility by 2008, open up new convention and exhibition markets, and gear up for our role as the combined media and broadcast centre for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
The Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre is British Columbia’s flagship convention facility, hosting more than 350 events annually with approximately 600,000 delegate days and generating more than $170 million in economic benefits annually.
