The Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) has appointed William J. Myers, CAE, CMP, formerly vice president and convention manager of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), as its chief operating officer, a newly created position. David DuBois, formerly vice president of marketing for the association, moved to Dallas to become COO of Meeting Professionals International earlier this year. Eric Johnson, CMP, left his post as PCMA's director of meeting services to become MPI's director of conferences and meetings shortly thereafter.

Roy B. Evans, CAE, executive vice president and CEO of PCMA, says that the association's budget had grown from $1 million to $6 million and membership had more than doubled since 1990, a growth pattern that "pointed to the need for a chief operating officer to run the association's day-to-day business. Bill Myers' record of accomplishment made him a natural choice." Myers had been with the 84,000-member AAFP since 1970. In his new position he will be responsible for internal staff management, membership growth, chapter relations, and the programs of PCMA's Foundation.

Hotel News Briefs * In conjunction with Affinity VideoNet, AT&T Global Business Video Services, and Colortone, Hilton Hotels has created the Hilton Videoconferencing Network, designed to provide high-quality videoconferencing via telephone lines (not via satellite). The network includes eight Hilton properties: Atlanta Airport Hilton, The Capital Hilton in Washington, Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu, Miami Airport Hilton and Towers, New Orleans Hilton Riverside, O'Hare Hilton in Chicago, San Francisco Hilton and Towers, and The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. For information, contact Hilton's Videoconferencing Network at (800) 899-4151.

* Call me Renaissance. As of May, all 28 Stouffer Renaissance properties in the USA have dropped the Stouffer from their names. The rebranding signifies a "rebirth," the Cleveland-based company says with a straight face. The hotel company also welcomes Frank Calaguire, formerly vice president of sales for Hyatt Corporation, to its ranks as senior vice president of marketing, based in Solon, OH.