MELBOURNE, Australia – GainingEdge CEO Gary Grimmer announced today that the meetings industry consulting company has appointed a new team member, Graziela Padoin, who is based in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
As Business Development Consultant for Latin America, Graziela will be the companyโs main contact in that region of the world. Part of her focus will be helping to develop business links for two of GainingEdgeโs clients, the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Simpleview, which offers CRM and Internet marketing services to DMOs.
Grimmer said that establishing a permanent presence in Brazil had been a major priority for the new year. โWe want to become more involved in Latin America, and we feel that Brazil is the best place from which to base our efforts. Weโre very excited to have Graziela working to develop our business relationships in that part of the world.โ
Graziela has 12 years of experience in the business events market, working for hotels, resorts, convention centers, and destinations. She most recently managed the events department for the Porto Alegre Convention & Visitors Bureau, which is currently ranked among the Top 5 Brazilian cities according to ICCA. Her specialties are sales and marketing, research, special projects development, analysis, and business events.
Graziela has a MBA in marketing, speaks 5 languages, and has been involved in consulting projects for convention centers and incentive tourism for FEDERASUL – Rio Grande do Sul Commerce and Services Federation, EMBRATUR – Brazilian Tourism Institute and UNESCO.
Grimmer said, โWe see Latin America as a major growth center for convention and meetings business. The industry there is developing rapidly and associations are showing more interest in that part of the world. Weโre looking for clients in Latin America who want a competitive edge – we want to make a contribution to the success of the industry there.โ