Meetings & Events > Meetings & Capacities > Meet the Team
Click the name of each team member to find out more about this dedicated member of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino team.
Tom Clearwater
Vice President of Sales
David Sukala
Director of Group Sales
Deanna Burgess
Director of National Accounts
Brad Meyer
National Sales Manager
Laura Dimitt
National Sales Manager
Chris Maston
National Sales Manager
Tatum Delia
Hotel Sales Manager
Michelle Durante
Hotel Sales Manager
Heather Coldwell
Hotel Sales Manager
Danielle Braunstein
Sales Assistant
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John Lanata
Senior Director of Special Events and Catering
Cammy Warden
Assistant Director of Special Events
Richard Diaz
Catering Sales Manager
Creecy Underwood
Catering Sales Manager
Brandi Payne
Catering Sales Manager
Chelsey Pierce
Catering Sales Coordinator
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Jenny Patterson
Director of Production Services
Andi Davison
Production Sales Manager
Jamie Fox
Senior Convention Services Manager
Samantha Leurey-Peach
Convention Services Manager
Chris Cala
Convention Services Coordinator
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Tom Clearwater
Vice President of Sales
Tom Clearwater is a seasoned professional with over 18 years in the hospitality industry. Prior to joining Hard Rock in 2008, Tom held executive positions with GE Capital in Scottsdale, AZ and was Regional Vice President of Sales for Starwood Hotels & Resorts from 2002 through 2005. Adept at understanding the business needs of both the enterprise and its clients, Tom insists on customer focused initiatives and his leadership enhances any environment in which he operates.
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David Sukala
Director of Group Sales
Director of Group Sales David Sukala joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in August 2005. A veteran of the hospitality industry, he is responsible for driving revenue for the property through group sales channels as well as assisting and maintaining positive marketing objectives.
David Sukala joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with more than 15 years of hospitality industry experience. Prior to coming on board David’s most recent position was Director of National Accounts for the JW Marriott/Ritz Carlton Grand Lakes, Orlando. David's background includes an 11 year career and several leadership positions with Marriott International, Senior National Sales Manager Caesars Palace and National Sales Manager Venetian Resort Hotel, Casino Las Vegas.
Deanna Burgess
Director of National Accounts
Deanna Burgess joins the Hard Rock team as Director of National Accounts, handling groups of 75 rooms or more. She will take care of accounts from the Southern California area and the Southwest.
An industry veteran of 15 years, Burgess most recently held both senior sales and operations positions with the Venetian Las Vegas. Deanna will play a pivotal role in the growth of group business to Hard Rock.
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Brad Meyer
National Sales Manager
Brad Meyer joined the Hard Rock Hotel sales team in October, 2008, as National Sales Manager handling the East Coast. Prior to this position, he was Citywide Sales Manager for the East Coast market at Harrah’s Entertainment. He was responsible for selling all 7 of their properties: Bally’s, Paris, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Imperial Palace, Rio and Caesar’s Palace.
Prior to Harrah’s, Brad gained invaluable experience on the Destination Management side of the industry. He was Director of Sales for Paramount Destination Services and co-owner of ADVintage Destination Management. This knowledge has proven to be an extremely useful tool. Prior to this run, he held the position of National Sales Manager at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino.
Brad began his hotel career in operations, which proved to be a perfect stepping stone for his career in sales. His last hotel operations position was Assistant Hotel Manager at Bally’s. When ground broke on Paris Las Vegas, he was recruited to join the expanding sales department to sell Bally's and Paris. This experience of opening Paris has also proven to be a valuable asset with the current metamorphosis of the Hard Rock Hotel.
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Laura Dimitt
National Sales Manager
Laura is responsible for the direct selling efforts for Hard Rock groups of 75 rooms or more and the geographic area of the mid-Atlantic and Southeast. In addition, Dimmit specializes in government groups.
Dimmit has a wealth of industry experience, having formerly worked at the Venetian Las Vegas as a National Sales Manager and for the Grand Hyatt Lake Las Vegas. A native of the city, Laura has played a critical role in establishing new accounts and building key relationships.
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Chris Maston
National Sales Manager
Chris is responsible for the direct selling efforts for Hard Rock groups of 75 rooms or more and the geographic area of the Northeast. In addition, Maston specializes in both pharmaceutical and financial groups.
Maston is a true industry professional, having come to the Hard Rock from the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando Florida as Director of Northeast Sales and Senior Sales Executive with JW Marriott Grande Lakes and Ritz Carlton. With his strong background in large group business, Chris a welcome member of our expansion team.
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Tatum Delia
Hotel Sales Manager
Tatum joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in July 2006. An ambitious and experienced professional, she is responsible for East Coast & Mid-West Group Sales for programs with 10 to 74 rooms per night.
Tatum joined the Hard Rock with a great foundation, including both operations and food and beverage management roles at Hard Rock Orlando and a Bachelors of Science Degree in Hospitality Management from The University of Central Florida. Her most recent roles at Hard Rock Las Vegas have been in Convention Services Management and Special Events.
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Michelle Durante
Hotel Sales Manager
Michelle joined Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2007 and handles groups of 74 rooms or less on the West Coast.
Having been in the hotel industry since 2000, Michelle started her career at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino. There she was a Sales Assistant for two (2) Small Meeting Managers, preparing contracts and handling details for group arrivals. Michelle was then promoted to Daylight Data Entry Coordinator, entering meeting space for ten sales managers for 1.5 million square feet of convention space. From there, Michelle transferred to the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino as a Daylight Coordinator. Durante ran reports for the VP of Sales, worked for 5 Sales Managers merging contracts, handled FIT Stop Sell Letters and Wholesales yearly contracts. She was then promoted to Small Meeting Manager for groups of 50 rooms or less.
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Heather Coldwell
Hotel Sales Manager
Heather joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in January of 2009. With an extensive background in consumer product sales, gaming industry sales and food and beverage, she is continually driven to provide quality service for her clients and is adept at anticipating needs.
Prior to joining Hard Rock, Heather was Director of Sales for SEGA GameWorks Las Vegas where she implemented a successful sales program encompassing the corporate, convention and SMERF markets. Additionally, Heather had been a Sales Manager for Black Gaming, specializing in the corporate market for three casino resort properties; the Virgin River Resort, the Oasis Resort and CasaBlanca Resort. Heather’s professional career in hospitality also includes work for Vegashotspots.com, a destination management company, and various management positions in fine dining in New Orleans.
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Danielle Braunstein
Sales Assistant
Danielle has been a Las Vegas resident for 9 years and is a graduate of the University of Nevada Las Vegas with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Marketing. Her responsibilities include all aspects of office management and spearheading customer service initiatives for our clients.
For the past 6 years, Danielle has volunteered for The Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation’s “Camp Cartwheel”. She spends one week every summer as a camp counselor to children with life threatening illnesses.
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John Lanata
Senior Director of Special Events and Convention Services
John joined the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in 2008, taking on the opportunities presented with the now open 81,000 sq ft of meeting space. With a new performance art venue, The Joint; almost 26,000 sq ft of new meeting space plus numerous unique special events venues, Lanata will oversee all aspects of Hard Rock’s events and convention services. This includes both the enhanced focus on customer service with the new Higher Frequency program as well as an expanded outreach to planners Hard Rock could not accommodate in the past.
Lanata comes to the Hard Rock with over 15 years of hospitality industry experience. He has opened large, complex properties such as the Phoenix Convention Center during it’s recent expansion; and understands gaming properties, having held executive positions with both the Borgata Hotel, Resort & Casino in Atlantic City and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
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Cammy Warden
Assistant Director of Special Events
Cammy joined the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in April of 2007. Her primary role is developing the reinvented Hard Rock Hotel and Casino from extensive relationships with local and national destination management companies, incentive houses and corporate meeting planners.
Warden joined the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino with 15 years of hospitality industry experience in Las Vegas and Scottsdale Arizona. Prior to joining the Hard Rock team, Cammy’s most recent position was National Sales Manager for The N9NE Group at the Palms Casino Resort. Cammy’s background includes an 8 year career with Caesars Palace with several positions including Concierge, Housekeeping Manager, Conventions Services Manager, Director of Colosseum Sales, and National Sales Manager.
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Richard Diaz
Catering Sales Manager
Rich joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in March 2008. A veteran of the sales industry, he is responsible for planning, coordinating and designing corporate and private events.
Diaz joined the Hard Rock with more than 10 years of hospitality and sales industry experience. Prior to coming on board, Rich owned a sales and consulting company. He is also a motivational public speaker.
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Creecy Underwood
Catering Sales Manager
Creecy Underwood, Special Events Manager, joined the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2008. Creecy is responsible for Special Events and Catering for the Midwest market, along with several event companies, and vertical markets.
Creecy is a Texas Tech Graduate, with both a BS and MS in Restaurant, Hotel and Institutional Management. After moving to Las Vegas in 2001, she spent several years in the Destination Management business, in both sales and operations. She joins the Hard Rock team after her last venture as Associate Director of Sales and Catering at PURE Management Group. There she was responsible for group sales for 9 different venues, including the opening and catering development of 3 new venues. She believes each encounter with a client is the chance to develop a lasting impression. With her experience in the industry, she is able to use her knowledge and skills to create unique and special events to meet and exceed each client expectation.
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Brandi Payne
Catering Sales Manager
Brandi Payne comes to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with over five years of wedding and event planning experience. She initially honed her creative talents at Texas Southern University, where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. It was then she discovered her theater background was the perfect training ground for planning social affairs. Her experience working with lighting, décor, production and timing, set the stage for her to succeed in the special events industry. As a result, Brandi combined her creative flair with business acumen and opened her first event planning firm called Stunning Soirée in Houston, TX. She has planned and coordinated weddings for 30 to 500 guests, directed grand openings of event venues and planned a myriad of social events ranging from birthday bashes to wine tastings.
Today she plans and coordinates Hard Rock Exclusive Weddings and is a member of the highly accredited Association of Bridal Consultants.
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Chelsey Pierce
Special Events Coordinator
Chelsey swept onto the Hard Rock scene in May 2008 as the Special Events Coordinator for the Catering department. Chelsey graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in Business Marketing. She made the trek to Vegas as an intern for a Destination Management company and then made the move to the Hard Rock in order to pursue her passion for the special events scene. Her drive, confidence, and charm have allowed her to be an asset when providing the best customer service in the industry. Chelsey is now in charge of assisting the special events team, qualifying wedding & special events’ leads, and coordinating in house meetings. After work, she can play Rock Band on the Expert level...any challengers?
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Jenny Patterson
Director of Production Services
Jenny has one of the coolest jobs available; she gets to throw parties at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
At the age of 19, Jenny left her small hometown in rural Ohio and moved to New York City to pursue a life in the theatre. Her career has led her through circuses, Broadway shows, ice shows, and major spectacles. Her production and entertainment experience spans over 25 years and includes lighting design, direction, programming, master electrician, stage management, set builder, property master, large format projection, heavy equipment operation, carpentry, and even truck driving.
When not at work, Jenny enjoys spending time with her husband of 19 years, her pets Biscuit the dog and Gravy the cat, gourmet cooking, entertaining and home remodeling projects.
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Andi Davison
Production Sales Manager
Andi Davison is celebrating her fourth year on the Hard Rock Productions team. She graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Performing Arts Management. Her background in production and show management provides the Hard Rock team with a new level of event production support. Her attention to detail and her creative design makes her a valuable asset to not only the team, but to our clients.
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Jamie Fox
Senior Convention Services Manager
With years of experience planning fundraising events for a non-profit, as well as time spent in the private sector at Tiger Woods Conference Center at the Nike World Campus in Portland, Oregon, Jamie jumped into hospitality as a Sales and Catering Coordinator at a historic downtown Hilton property in 2003. It was only a year later she was promoted to the position of Catering & Conference Services Manager, elevating the level of service and hospitality at the hotel for the next 2 years. With a desire for all things bigger and better, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas answered the call for Jamie’s continued excellence in her current position as Sr. Convention Services Manager. Jamie brings a unique style to the Hard Rock team, using her sharp eye for detail and easy-going attitude of the Northwest to foster successful meetings and events that keep our guests returning.
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Samantha Leurey-Peach
Convention Services Manager
With a varied background in Business Development, VIP Hosting and Special Event Planning, Samantha is able to anticipate the needs of her clients and aims to deliver beyond expectations in her position as Convention Services Manager at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Samantha’s previous experience as an Operations Manager at a local Destination Management Company have given her the unique ability to touch every aspect of what Las Vegas has to offer guests. There is no request too big, small or strange and out there – she knows how to locate anything a client could dream of to make their program a success. Thorough, knowledgeable, and patient, Samantha's mission statement is "Always be Prepared." Her attention to detail, creativity, approachable demeanor, and innovative ideas create lasting relationships with her clients.
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Chris Cala
Convention Services Coordinator
As Convention Services Coordinator at the Hard Rock, Chris is responsible for providing exemplary service to rooms only and citywide group blocks in addition to providing support to the Convention Services team. Chris recently joined the Hard Rock Hotel staff after three years at Planet Hollywood, handling large corporate clients, coordinated televised production events and a myriad of high profile celebrity gatherings.
Originally from San Diego, Chris is a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, former Chef of Waters Catering and Fine Food and has a background in international public relations.