The New Year signaled an even bigger uptick of hiring in January not only in companies based here in the U.S., but also some well-known ones overseas. The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s (MCCA) newly minted Executive Director David Gibbons made two key senior executive decisions by naming Fred Peterson as the new deputy director and Dennis Callahan as the general counsel for the organization. Peterson served as the interim executive director from July 1, 2015, until Dec. 31, 2015, while also fulfilling the duties of director of facilities operations. Callahan, similarly, assumed the role of Interim general counsel, as well as assistant secretary to the board of directors in July of 2015. Both Peterson and Callahan will assume their new respective roles effective immediately. Paul Riemens will be the new CEO of RAI Amsterdam beginning April 7. Together with Maurits van der Sluis, newly appointed to the position of COO, they will form the new statutory board of the Amsterdam exhibition and convention organization. Riemens will assume the role of chairman within the statutory board. On My 1, Hans Bakker will retire, after 14 years as CEO of RAI Amsterdam. Paul Riemens has made his career in the aviation sector. He has been CEO and chair of the board at Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) since 2008, during which time he successfully converted the organization into a results-oriented, open company. Maurits van der Sluis has held various commercial positions within RAI Amsterdam since 1996, most recently as commercial director of RAI Convention Centre. VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau, has promoted Jason Lusk, CMP, HMCC, to associate vice president, Convention Sales. Lusk joined VISIT DENVER in September 2007 as the organization’s mid-market Washington, D.C. representative; he subsequently became the sales director for the D.C. Region, and in February 2011 he accepted his most recent role as director of sales. Effective March 1, Konstantin von Vieregge will be the new CEO of African subsidiary South African Shows Messe Frankfurt in Johannesburg. In doing so, he will be joining the existing management team. To date, von Vieregge has worked in the automotive sector for Nissan in South Africa, where he was responsible for product marketing in an area consisting of over 40 African countries. He has also held senior management positions at Audi and Cox Communications in the USA and in the consumer goods industry, working for Kraft Foods in Germany and South Africa. SmartSource Computer & Audio Visual Rentals has moved Stephen Rupolo, CPA the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), to a newly created position as vice president – Product Strategy. Since joining SmartSource Rentals as the Corporate Controller in 1987, Rupolo has been a major contributor to the company’s growth. His contributions resulted in two key promotions. In 1996, he was named vice president and in 2004, he was promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer. National Trade Productions has promoted Ryan Brown to vice president of sales and event services. In this role, Brown leads an experienced team of sales professionals focused on exhibit and sponsorship sales, revenue growth and increased profitability for NTP's portfolio of tradeshow clients and proprietary events. Brown joined NTP in March 2013 as director of sales and event services. Prior to NTP, Brown spent seven years working on the association side of the business with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA). The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) has named Sybil Davis as its new national accounts manager. Davis will be responsible for booking international, multicultural and religious meeting and convention groups for the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Greater Philadelphia hotels. Davis will work closely with PHLDiversity, a business development division of the PHLCVB, focused on promoting Philadelphia as an ethnically diverse destination for major meeting associations, groups and families, and encouraging multicultural business and social responsibility within the city.