Newcomer strives to promote local hotel to large groups

Ray Ezelle is a new face in town, but he's not just here for a conference. He's here for many conferences.

Ezelle came to Springfield as the new director of sales and marketing for University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center two months ago.

He coordinates the sales and marketing effort of University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center with the goal of re-taining existing customers and gaining new customers.

The hospitality industry is nothing new for Ezelle. He came to Springfield from Albuquerque, N.M., where he held a similar position with the Sheraton Old Towne. Prior to that he worked at other hotels.

The hotel industry gets "in your blood," Ezelle said. "Everything changes every day and you almost constantly have to reinvent yourself to keep up with the demands of the 21st century customer."

Ezelle sought a position with John Q. Hammons Hotels "because of the reputation that they have in the hospitality industry," Ezelle said. Later he added, "It's an exciting company to work for, is growing, and will set the standards in the hotel industry."

He said he likes his job because, "No day is the same. I'm very much a relationship person and I enjoy developing relationships with our customers. I also enjoy developing strategies to acquire new business," Ezelle said.

Working with customers is what Ezelle considers the best part of his job; in particular, he emphasized helping customers by providing solutions to their conference and meeting needs.

"Our new strategy here at the hotel is that we don't just sell hotel rooms or meeting space. What we're really trying to sell is a whole experience for our guests. The experience starts when they walk into the atrium and an employee smiles at and speaks to them," Ezelle said.

The hotel's conference sales strategy is to "prospect within a 250-mile radius of our hotel and to target groups that fit within our niche market. We're being very proactive in contacting those groups via the telephone, e-mail and in person doing direct sales calls," Ezelle said.

To find and persuade associations to bring their conferences and conventions to Springfield, specifically to the University Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Ezelle utilizes many resources, with the Internet playing a major role.

"I have access to over 200,000 worldwide associations over the Internet, and I can sort those associations any way I want and pull up every one located in Missouri, or that classify themselves as environmental associations," Ezelle said.

Via the Internet, Ezelle can locate an association's Web site and study it to find out what's important to that group and where it's met in the past.

Also, according to Ezelle, a large number of prospective customers come to the hotel and conference center from the Jefferson City and Columbia area. He believes this source of business will be on the increase, and pointed out that the Springfield Convention & Visitor Bureau has a sales manager based in Jefferson City to help steer visitors to the area.

The fact that the sales manager is there "will give us a head start in getting more groups to Springfield. Once in Spring-field it is our job to sell them on the benefits of coming to University Plaza," Ezelle said.

The niche market that University Plaza is focusing on is that of groups that deal with environmental and conservation issues. The new Wonders of Wildlife Museum is one reason.

"We're trying to work much closer with the Springfield Convention & Visitor Bureau and trying to partner with the Wonders of Wildlife Museum to promote it," Ezelle said.

He added that he expects the environmental and agricultural niche market to be an important one to bring in national groups to University Plaza.

"To aggressively sell our hotel to outside groups, we have to promote Springfield and the whole Ozarks experience," Ezelle said.

University Plaza certainly has room for major events. "We have 103,000 feet of meeting space. We can actually host groups of up to 4,000 in our conference space," Ezelle said.

He pointed out that whatever Univer-sity Plaza Hotel and Conference Center might not have, one of the other three Hammons Hotels in Springfield does.

Ezelle spoke highly of the sales and catering staff and of their many combined years of experience a total of 70 years with putting on events and ensuring they go smoothly. For instance, the director of catering, Sue Martin, has 15 years of experience in the field, working for Hyatt before she came to University Plaza.

"Not only do we have the ability to host the largest meetings, but with all that experience, we can provide the best possible service to customers," Ezelle said.

So far Ezelle has spent much of his leisure time driving around Springfield in search of the right place to call home, and he is still trying to sell his house in Albuquerque.

"I enjoy Springfield and my family will enjoy it here. Springfield is grounded in the Christian faith and is a great place to raise your family. We are very excited about that," Ezelle said.

Ezelle and his wife, Stephanie, have three sons, ages 16 months, 3 years and 12 years.