Meet the Team
US Offices
STR has its headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee and provides data to customers throughout North America.
HotelNewsNow.com is dedicated to providing global hotel industry headlines, community and insight through its multimedia website and daily e-newsletter. With first access to data from the STR family of companies, HotelNewsNow.com provides vital information in a timely manner for today’s busy hotel executive. HotelNewsNow.com is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
RRC has over 25 years of experience in research and community planning, specializing particularly in tourism and the ski industry in the United States and Canada. Based in Boulder, Colorado, RRC also provides a broad range of market research, land use planning, real estate, customer satisfaction, and media and communications research services.
STR Analytics offers the unique combination of experienced lodging industry experts augmented by the unparalleled international hotel database compiled by STR. Based in Boulder, Colorado, STR Analytics provides objective trend-based analysis and empirical data, allowing clients to gain a more complete understanding of key industry aspects, resulting in optimal decisions.
Download a pdf of additional key team contacts
Nashville Office
Biography
Randy Smith co-founded STR in 1985. He is widely quoted in the industry as the authority on hotel industry performance and is a frequent keynote speaker at industry conferences and seminars. Mr. Smith received the 2011 Lodging Hospitality Magazine’s Stephen W. Brener Silver Plate Award, he is the 2010 recipient of the ALIS Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to the lodging industry, and he was a 2007 inductee to the Florida State University College of Business Hall of Fame. He is a member and past co-chairman of the Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council (IREFAC) and the 2002 recipient of the prestigious IREFAC C. Everett Johnson Award. He is also vice-chair of the American Hotel Foundation Funding Committee. Mr. Smith is a charter member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants and a former member of the board of directors. He is the recipient of the 1996 Industry Pioneer Award of the ISHC for outstanding contribution to the lodging industry.
Biography
As President, Mrs. Amanda W. Hite sets company policy and direction while overseeing daily operations. In addition, she coordinates initiatives and implementation for STR's Family of Companies: HotelNewsNow.com, based in Cleveland, OH; RRC Associates, based in Boulder, CO; STR Analytics, based in Boulder, CO; and STR Global, based in London, UK. Mrs. Hite is a member of the Board of Directors of the US Travel Association. She also serves as a member of the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Prior to joining STR, Mrs. Hite was the Director of Research for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. She is a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College with a B.S. in Business Administration. She resides in Hendersonville, TN with her husband and two children.
Biography
Brad Garner is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day activities of STR’s core business operations. He is a primary contact for STR clients, customers and the investment bank and institutional investor industries.
Biography
Jenny Trotter serves as the Office/Contract Manager at STR. Her primary role involves the maintenance of STR's corporate and destination report contracts. She also oversees STR's general office functions.
Biography
Brian Anderson is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day activities of STR’s IT Organization. This includes the System, Development and Processing groups.
Biography
Bobby Bowers oversees all aspects of STR client services and sales efforts. He is often the keynote presenter at international, national and regional industry conferences.
Biography
Debbie Gryszko directs all financial and accounting functions at STR. Her team handles all subscriptions, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and payroll functions.
Biography
Steve has been with STR for 15 years. He currently serves as Senior Vice President of Research. He is responsible for research-related activities, including special analyses and methodologies. He manages STR’s relationships with the government and with the educational community. He currently serves as the Director of the SHARE Education Center.
Vail Brown
Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, CMHS
Biography
Vail Brown is responsible for the overall coordination, the functional management and leadership of the sales and marketing strategies and activities for the STR Family of Companies. Along with hotel specific sales and marketing, Mrs. Brown’s efforts are directed towards expanding relationships with third party vendors by promoting new products and services. She is often featured as a guest speaker at international, national, regional and state conferences. Mrs. Brown currently is the Chair for the AH&LA Women In Lodging (WIL) Council and holds a seat on the HSMAI Foundation Board of Directors.
Biography
Jonathan Bell oversees the data processing and client output departments, which are responsible for the loading, validation, processing, and distribution of reports and data files involving all US and worldwide, monthly and daily hotel performance data. He also works closely with other STR staff to fulfill customized data processing requests for our clients.
Biography
Denis Caron oversees and directs all IT infrastructure and systems development.
Kay Caudle
General Counsel/Vice President, Corp. Management
Biography
As STR’s General Counsel, Kay manages the legal affairs for the company. Kay counsels on a variety of transactional, intellectual property, real property, and employment matters, and is also responsible for ensuring that the company complies with federal and state laws and regulations.
Biography
Jan Freitag is charged with exploring opportunities related to STR's development initiatives. He is the author of a recurring column in Lodging magazine, presents lodging performance trends at industry conferences, and is often quoted in trade publications.
Biography
Michael Leggett manages the core development programs for the IT department.
Biography
Duane Vinson serves as the head of STR’s Client Service and Trend Departments, which oversees the day to day care of all client request.
Biography
Elizabeth Bentle is responsible for managing all aspects of hiring and training at STR.
Biography
Melinda is responsible for overseeing the Trend department and the production of ad-hoc HOST reports.
Biography
Chad Church is responsible for overseeing the STR Market Forecast and assists in the service and support of corporate, government, investment bank and institutional investor clients.
Biography
Lindsay Culbreath is responsible for the growth of all STR participant programs as well as increasing sales in non-traditional products.
Biography
Carolyn oversees all additions and changes to the North American hotel census database.
Biography
Rachelle Johnston oversees the HOST (Hotel Operating Statistics Study) program and the AH&LA Directory, and works closely with the Operations team.
Biography
Angela Keen is responsible for managing and maintaining positive relationships between STR and its corporate clients and properties. She has spoken and presented at various industry events and specializes primarily in the STAR Report.
Biography
Karrie Keen is responsible for overseeing the relationships of North American Convention and Visitor Bureaus and Destination Marketing Organizations. She also assists in the service and support of corporate and customer requests across the globe.
Biography
Keith McHenry is responsible for generating customized data, US and global corporate report requests and working on other ad hoc projects.
Biography
Maria works is the Data Output Department and has been with STR for 9 years.
Biography
Lynne is responsible for overseeing accounting department and all accounting functions.
Biography
Melane Rueff oversees all client output operations, and ensures all files and reports are sent correctly and in a timely manner. She also ensures all client contracts are set up properly. Melane has been with STR for 20 years.
Biography
Marcella Quaglia oversees the Global Pipeline department which tracks hotel construction in seven regions. She works closely with our data partners to ensure accurate pipeline reporting and with our global clients to meet all their pipeline needs.
Biography
Meg oversees all additions and changes to the Non-North American hotel census database.
Biography
Annie Gaffron manages all marketing initiatives for the STR family of companies, including brand strategy, marketing campaigns, advertisement and design.
Biography
Lori Satterfield is the Manager of Strategic Development for STR. Ms. Satterfield works with our global development team on new product development and strategic integration. She assisted with the integration of HotelBenchmark and The Bench to form STR Global. She is also responsible for onsite operations at STR conferences, Hotel Data Conference and Hotel Data Conference Europe. Ms. Satterfield has been with STR for almost 5 years in multiple roles and departments including: Sales, Pipeline, Global Comp Sets, Special Projects and Strategic Development.
Biography
Brittany Baldwin covers Southeast and West Coast United States and the Caribbean Territory.
Biography
Lauren Irvin covers the Central United States Territory.
Biography
Fatima Thompson covers the Mexico Territory.
Cleveland Office (HotelNewsNow.com)
Jeff Higley
Vice President, Digital Media and Communication
Biography
Jeff Higley is the former editorial director for Hotel & Motel Management magazine and has specialized in hotel industry journalism for many years. He oversees all aspects of the HotelNewsNow.com (HNN) digital platform, including the HNN website and daily newsletter. Jeff also leads the HNN team’s efforts with corporate public relations and press releases. He frequently writes articles on the lodging industry.
Biography
Lynsie Chamberlain is responsible for developing and maintaining partnerships with clients of HNN and STR. Lynsie brings with her two years of award-winning advertising sales experience in the newspaper industry. She is a member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Under 30 Gateway.
Biography
Rachael Urie is responsible for communications and media relations for STR, as well as marketing, promotion and outreach for the HotelNewsNow.com brand. She has experience in consumer sales and marketing. Rachael is a member of the Public Relations Society of America. She is a graduate of Bowling Green State University.
Boulder, Colorado (STR Analytics)
Biography
Steve Hennis focuses his expertise on lodging investments, Destination/CVB studies and Excel Modeling. He currently assists in the development of the Hotel Investment Barometer Newsletter and the Tableau dashboards.
Biography
Carter Wilson focuses his expertise on Excel Modeling, Impact Studies and Database Solutions. He currently works on the STARScore Reports as well as the STR Chain Scale Model.
Biography
Orly Ripmaster is a Certified Revenue Management Executive (CRME). She is an expert in Brand/Comp set analysis and is currently working on forward booking tools.
Biography
Caitlyn Hillyard is a graduate of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality program. She recently traveled to Berlin and won the Fractional Industry Strategic Business Plan Challenge at the International Hotel Investment Forum. Ms. Hillyard publishes several monthly articles for the Hotel Investment Barometer and manages the company’s social media presence.
Boulder, Colorado (RRC)
Biography
Chris is a founding partner of RRC Associates, an STR Company. He specializes in practical applications of research techniques including surveys, customer satisfaction evaluations, modeling and applied analyses to solve problems in tourism and hospitality, business, and city planning and administration.
For more information on RRC Associates
click here.