Manager Customer Service

Barry E. Pitegoff

**** ******* **** ****** . ***********, Florida 32311 . (850) 212-

8779

abio3f@r.postjobfree.com

PROFILE

. Accomplished professional with experience in nonprofit, public, and

private settings reflecting the expertise

to assess needs, design market research projects, and facilitate

cooperation in gathering, interpreting, and transforming statistics

into practical knowledge with the potential to optimize organizational

effectiveness

KEY SKILLS

. Accountability . Board Relations . Budget & Cost

Control . Change Management

. Joint Collaborations . Public Speaking . Qualitative

Methods . Report Development

. Research & Analysis . Revenue Growth . Quantitative Methods .

Strategic Planning

. Staffing & Supervision . Training & Development . Trend

Spotting . Writing & Editing

CAREER PROGRESSION

Guest Services Representative, April 2010 - present

Holiday Inn - Capitol East, Tallahassee, Florida

. Responsible for checking guests in and out of the hotel, handling

billing postings and questions, and delivering exceptional

customer service. Extensive experience with Opera PMS hotel guest

management system.

Marketing Research Professional

Barry E. Pitegoff, Independent Tourism Research Consultant, May 2009 -

present. Clients include Greater Miami and the Beaches Convention and

Visitors Bureau, Hollywood (FL) Visitors Bureau, Georgia Visitors

Bureau,, and Travel South USA.

VISIT FLORIDA (a private entity created to replace the

OFFICE OF TOURISM, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE), Tallahassee,

Florida

. Demonstrated exceptional job knowledge, critical thinking skills, and

adaptability to evolving priorities that

earned career advancement into a series of key leadership roles with

a state-wide organization, including:

. Vice President of Research - VISIT FLORIDA, 2000 - 2009

. Research Director - VISIT FLORIDA, 1998 - 2000

. Research Manager - VISIT FLORIDA, 1996 - 1998

. Tourism Research Administrator - Florida Department of

Commerce, 1981 - 1996

. Joined the Executive Leadership Team as VP of Research to take

charge of a position created in

a strategic realignment that integrated research into all facets

of cross-functional decision making:

. Led the Market Research Department of an association that

serves 3,400+ industry partners

by promoting the state's tourism and hospitality industries to

domestic and international markets

- Played an integral role in evaluating staffing needs to recruit,

screen, hire, train, motivate, and

supervise an energized team of up to seven professionals and a

fluctuating number of interns

- Participated in creating Annual Plans to set measurable goals,

chart a clear path, and advance

the directives of the Florida Commission on Tourism, the

organization's governing board

- Formulated financial projections, provided input to budget

development, and managed annual

departmental budgets of $1 million to assure accountability and

achieve a high ROI

- Promoted the brand image and interests of VISIT FLORIDA,

representing the association as

a sought-after guest speaker at regional and national meetings,

conferences, and events

- Departed from the organization in a financially-driven

downsizing that eliminated 17positions

. Designed and executed research projects for VISIT FLORIDA,

consulted with industry partners,

advised local tourism boards, and built a reputation for

excellence with achievements including:

- Developed advertising research tools that increased accuracy,

devised methods to measure

brand trust, and created a trend-spotting system for indicators

affecting business conditions

- Spearheaded research that provided VISIT FLORIDA with its first

verifiable ROI measures

- Refined methods and reduced costs of securing statistically-

accurate estimates of visitors

- Designed strategic research programs to address

crises and changing competitive environments,

such as the projected impact of hurricanes and the

proposal to lift the U. S. ban on travel to Cuba

- Awarded a Special Achievement Certificate from the National

Council of State Tourism

Directors for developing a prototype research product that

measured overseas tourism to states

and cities in conjunction with a major payment system that now

profitably markets the product

- Created an innovative research design to measure the economic

impact of destination welcome

centers, which was published in Tourism Economics, a prestigious

British trade journal

- Directed the sponsorship of the National Student Advertising

Competition of the American

Advertising Federation, mining research from 150+ universities

into relevant strategic insights

. Served as Research Director for VISIT FLORIDA; assessed workloads,

evaluated priorities, delegated

assignments, and supervised of a team of up to seven

professionals and a varying number of interns:

. Designed strategic research programs to address crises and

changing competitive environments,

in addition to designing and managing research projects for

local tourism boards across the state:

. Served as Research Manager and one of only a few select staff

invited to join VISIT FLORIDA in the

legislatively- mandated shift from a public agency and re-

branding into a privatized organization:

. Oversaw operations of the department, and supervised

seven professionals and interns

. Produced quarterly reports on estimated numbers of

visitors to Florida destinations, which served

as vital industry indicators for government economists,

the media, and tourism oversight boards

. Served as Tourism Research Administrator with the Florida Department

of Commerce, conducting

research to develop statistics on the estimated numbers and

characteristics of Florida's visitors:

. Exercised administrative and supervisory responsibilities,

including administering vendor contracts to

assure compliance with terms of agreements and supervising

seven professional staff and interns

Adjunct Instructor, COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY,

Tallahassee, Florida, 1986 - 1990

. Recruited by the School of Hospitality to update curriculum and teach

a required undergraduate course

that had not been offered in several semesters as a result of funding

issues and faculty shortages:

. Taught one course in Advanced Marketing for Hospitality Majors

per term with up to 100 students

. Assured that course content, instructional methods, and class

management practices were

aligned with policies, procedures, and standards of the school,

college, and university

Senior Statistical Analyst, PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE, Port Washington,

New York, 1972 - 1980

. Worked with an industry leader to develop systems to measure

effectiveness of initial waves of television

advertising campaigns and recommendations to enhance package design

through component analysis

EDUCATION

ADELPHI UNIVERSITY, Garden City, New York

Master of Business Administration with distinction

Concentration: Consumer Behavior

BERNARD M. BARUCH COLLEGE, New York, New York

(formerly THE BARUCH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS - CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK)

Bachelor of Business Administration with highest

honors

Concentration: Statistics

SPECIALIZED TRAINING & CERTIFICATIONS

. Certified Professional Researcher - Expert Level

. Focus Group Moderation Techniques

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

. Marketing Research Association, Member

. State and Provincial Tourism Researchers Network, Former Dean

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES

. Specialist in End-of-Life Issues, Tallahassee, Florida, 1984 - present

. Completed training with Big Bend Hospice and ongoing training

and

seminars as a qualification to provide emotional support and

practical

guidance to terminally ill patients and families facing end-of-

life issues

. Function as Cemetery Manager for three properties owned by a

local

religious organization; manage business operations, and serve

as primary

liaison to advise bereaved families with planning final

arrangements

. Serve on the Pastoral Care Committee of Tallahassee Memorial

Hospital

COMPUTER SKILLS

. Adept at learning and efficiently applying knowledge of new

technologies and proprietary software

. Skilled in operating Windows-based computers and familiar with a range

of applications that include:

. Word . Excel . PowerPoint . Access . SPSS . Harvard

Graphics . web-based survey tools

Contact this candidate