The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) will recognize VisionaryFX with a Gold Adrian Award for Web marketing excellence for its winning entry in the 52nd annual Adrian Awards competition, one of the largest and most prestigious travel marketing competitions globally.
HSMAI will pay tribute to VisionaryFX during the 19th annual HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala, a black-tie affair attended by more than 1,000 hospitality, travel and tourism marketing executives, on Jan. 26, 2009 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
VisionaryFX, together with its strategic partner MeetingMatrix International, are extremely excited about this recognition and accomplishment. Formerly the creative arm of MeetingMatrix International, a premier provider of both room diagramming application software and advanced online solutions for the global event management industry, VisionaryFX was created to not only serve the needs of its hospitality customers but to anyone needing agency services. Today the two companies work together in providing its clients with fresh and innovative ideas.
The award-winning entry was an architectural visualization project done for the New Orleans Marriott. It was recognized with a Gold award for Web marketing excellence in the multimedia category for a hotel. As a result of Hurricane Katrina the city of New Orleans experienced a considerable loss of tourism, as well as widespread damage to the structures within the city. The New Orleans Marriott chose to treat this unfortunate event as an opportunity to update several areas of the hotel. During construction, the resort sales staff found they needed the ability to present their clients with a detailed view of how the renovations would impact the property, post-construction. This presented the New Orleans Marriott marketing team with a difficult challenge: How could a highly-detailed presentation of the completed renovations be created to show meeting professionals the property and pre-sell function space before the renovations were completed?
The architectural visualization team at VisionaryFX was able to use blueprints, CAD drawings and interior design specifications to develop a virtual walkthrough of the newly renovated areas of the hotel – from the chandeliers in the main lobby, to the pull-away beds in the concierge suite, all the way down to the fabric on the table cloths, VisionaryFX developed an accurate, visually appealing sales and marketing piece that would enable the hotel to bring their newly updated spaces to market before it even existed.
Jmîchaeåe Keller, president and CEO of both VisionaryFX and MeetingMatrix®, is extremely excited about this recognition. “I’m thrilled to receive another Gold Adrian Award; it is a direct representation of the dedication, hard work, and excellence our team continually puts forth," Keller said. "Our clients always come first, and we strive to exceed their expectations. The New Orleans Marriott was an exciting project, and we are proud to call it an award winning piece. I want to thank everyone at Marriott International for the opportunity to work with them, and for trusting us with such an important part of their marketing campaign.”
This year’s contest attracted nearly 1,300 entries from around the world, with entries judged by top executives from all sectors of the industry.
In addition to celebrating VisionaryFX’s award-winning work, the Gala honors lifetime achievement and the Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales and Marketing. All winning entries will be accessible in the Adrian Awards Winners Gallery online following the gala at www.adrianawards.com.