Lodging Interactive, CoMMingle Recognize Excellence with Director Promotions

With more than 50 employees serving more than 650 hotels, Lodging Interactive values the expertise and dedication of its team members and rewards them accordingly by promoting from within whenever possible. Recently Alicia Pavignano was promoted from Manager to Director of Client Services for Lodging Interactive, and Rosella Virdo was advanced from Manager to Director of Social Media Marketing for CoMMingle by Lodging Interactive.

Lodging Interactive is an award winning social media marketing agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry, while CoMMingle by Lodging Interactive is an outsourced social media marketing agency that also develops customized solutions for hotels, restaurants and spas. "At Lodging Interactive, we believe it's critical to acknowledge employees for a job well done and show each person how much he or she is appreciated," said DJ Vallauri, Lodging Interactive/CoMMingle Founder and President. "Alicia Pavignano and Rosella Virdo have each contributed a great deal to our company, and not only is the workplace better because of their efforts, but our customer satisfaction is at an all time high. These promotions are a reflection of jobs well done."

As Director of Client Services, Pavignano oversees and directs experienced client teams focused on providing a consultative, hands on approach to website maintenance and advising on web strategies and Internet marketing reporting.

"From a client-service perspective, the No. 1 challenge I see hoteliers facing today is being able to remain one step ahead of their competitors as it relates to their own website marketing," Pavignano said. "With the Internet playing an ever increasing role in room reservation revenue, as well as group/event revenue, it is so vital that the information that is put out there is current and advertised in a timely manner. This promotion to Director of Client Services is enabling me to work more closely with clients to overcome online marketing challenges and assist them in reaching definable goals."

By taking a more active role with Lodging Interactive clients and actually becoming an extension of the hotel's marketing department, Pavignano said she hopes to further nurture the company/client relationship.

"I've had the great fortune to work at Lodging Interactive for the past five years, and during that time I have witnessed firsthand the incredible growth in our client base, advances in the services we provide, and tremendous growth and stability of our staff," she said. "Although my role is constantly changing, I am confident that under the direction of DJ Vallauri, everyone at Lodging Interactive will continue to provide services that truly satisfy our customer's needs for assistance with Internet marketing."

Prior to joining Lodging Interactive Pavignano held senior management positions with various national media companies based in New York. She is a graduate of Hunter College, where she received her Master of Science in Education and Pace University, where she received her Bachelor of Business Administration and was awarded a four-year, full-tuition academic scholarship.

Improving Social Circles
CoMMingle is the full-service social-media marketing arm of Lodging Interactive. The company works with its customers to grow and better manage their use of social media channels. CoMMingle also provides reputation and consumer sentiment monitoring and social search engine optimization.

As Director of the CoMMingle Social Media Marketing operating division and its related departments, Virdo is responsible for client reputation management and responses, social platform blogging and micro-blogging, report management and tracking, copy writing and overall CoMMingle office operations.

"This new position gives me the opportunity to lead the CoMMingle team while working hands-on with clients while planning the direction of all Lodging Interactive's social media efforts," Virdo said. "Our customers directly benefit from the in-the-trenches experience I gained related to social media marketing for hospitality. Because of my experience, I am able to work closer with each client and help them coordinate their marketing efforts into the social media arena. It's a win-win for everyone."

Virdo said keeping up with the ever-changing social media landscape is a real challenge for hoteliers today. CoMMingle brings much-needed expertise to the table that enables managers to easily blend social media into their traditional marketing efforts to achieve the best possible results.

"One of the great advantages of being a CoMMingle customer is that we tackle social media challenges on behalf of our customer hotels, teaching and sharing with them the nuances of each social network so they can continue to evolve throughout the process," Virdo said. "We are very fortunate not only as employees, but as an industry to have DJ Vallauri directing this effort. He has continually remained three steps ahead of where social media is heading and shares his vast knowledge through us to the industry.

"For example, with Google's search algorithm, Panda and the Freshness initiative, hoteliers can now blend in their social media efforts to remain optimized on search engines," she said. "DJ saw this search shift coming three years ago and lead CoMMingle in tracking this crucial need for our clients. His vision, enthusiasm and foresight creates an infectious energy in this company. It is from those qualities that he created a service for our hospitality customers that we as a staff believe passionately in and which delivers results. To say that I feel fortunate to be part of his 'work family' for the past three years is an understatement."

Virdo joined CoMMingle with more than 25 years advertising and marketing experience, working in operational and management positions for various advertising agencies throughout New York and New Jersey. She studied Hotel/Restaurant Management at The College of Technology of the City University of New York.

About Lodging Interactive
Lodging Interactive, headquartered in Parsippany, NJ, is an award winning leading provider of Internet Marketing Services to the hospitality, spa and restaurant industries. The company provides a portfolio of effective hotel Internet marketing services to hundreds of hotels, resorts, ownership properties, spas and restaurants. Clients include branded hotels from nearly every major brand as well as prestigious, landmark independent hotels.
Through its CoMMingle Social Media Marketing Agency operating division, the Company offers hospitality focused and fully managed outsourced hotel social media marketing customized solutions.
Lodging Interactive is an award winning interactive marketing agency and has been recognized as a leader by the International Academy of Visual Arts, Interactive Media Awards, Web Marketing Association and Travel Weekly's Magellan Awards.

Lodging Interactive is a proud supporter of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and a proud member of the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. (AAHOA). For more information contact Richard Walsh, Vice President of Business Development at or at 877-291-4411. The company's website is located at www.LodgingInteractive.com