The San Francisco Travel Association announced the following promotion and appointments to its Convention Sales team.
Susanna Flores was promoted to Director, Citywide Sales in July. Flores joined San Francisco Travel in 2012 as Senior Manager of Convention Sales for the Northeast Region, responsible for generating self-contained meetings business in her market. She was promoted in 2015 to Director, Convention Sales, Northeast Region, tasked with developing strategic partnerships with American Express and Meeting Professionals International while increasing the association’s presence in the Northeast market. During the pandemic, Flores assumed responsibility for the Midwest market in addition to her Northeast accounts. Prior to joining San Francisco Travel, she worked for Choose Chicago (Chicago’s official destination marketing organization) as National Sales Manager for the Northeast market. Flores is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and has over 25 years of hospitality experience.
Kelly Blecke joined San Francisco Travel in late July as Director, Citywide Accounts. In her role, Blecke will be responsible for booking Moscone Center conventions for all accounts in Washington D.C., Virginia and Maryland. She brings more than 25 years of experience within the hospitality industry to her new role. Before joining San Francisco Travel, Blecke spent two years as Senior Director, National Accounts at the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau based in the mid-Atlantic region. Previously, she worked as a senior account executive at hotels such as the JW Marriott Indianapolis, Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Anaheim Marriott Hotel and Hilton Anatole. She also held the role of Association Global Sales Manager with Marriott Global Sales in Washington, DC.
Karen Dunn joined the San Francisco Travel’s Convention Sales team on Aug. 1 as Senior Manager, Convention Sales, Northeast Region. She will also oversee the Midwest self-contained market on an interim basis. Dunn brings more than 20 years of group sales experience and has worked with Marriott’s Kessler Collection, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts and the Omni Hotel at CNN Center. Most recently, she was Northeast Director of Business Development – Corporate Market for the Venetian Resort Las Vegas. Dunn is a graduate of the State University of New York at Oneonta and received a Master of Science degree in School Counseling from The College of New Rochelle.
In July, San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and City Administrator Carmen Chu appointed Kenneth Bukowski as the next Director of the Convention Facilities Department, overseeing operations and development at the city-owned Moscone Center. Bukowski has served as Deputy Director at the City Administrator’s Office since 2012, where he has worked closely with city officials, industry partners, and community leaders on every major transition at the Moscone Center in the past decade, including the completion of the $551 million Moscone expansion project and the creation of the Moscone Recovery Fund to help bring back conventions to San Francisco. In his new role, Bukowski will oversee operations and management of the Moscone Center, which consists of three buildings (North, South, and West) with over 500,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, 120 meeting rooms, a 50,000 sq. ft. ballroom and more than 25,000 sq. ft. of outdoor terraces ideal for receptions. Bukowski has served as the Acting Director of Convention Facilities since the retirement of former Director John Noguchi in January 2022. He has served on the San Francisco Tourism Improvement District Management Corporation Board since 2017.
Bukowski has over 25 years of executive leadership experience in both government and community-based nonprofits. Prior to joining the City Administrator’s Office as Deputy City Administrator, Bukowski served as Chief Financial Officer/Director of Finance & Administration for several City departments—the Department of Technology, the Police Department, and the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families. He has also served as the Executive Director of San Francisco nonprofits, the Positive Resource Center and the Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center. Bukowski earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln College of Law and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln.
