Leadership Biography: Bill DeForrest
 Lane Hospitality
Having spent the last 25 years in varying and ever-increasing leadership roles in hotel and resort management, Bill DeForrest brings outstanding industry perspective and expertise to his current position of president and chief executive officer of Lane Hospitality, which has 24 hotels in its portfolio.
His hospitality management career has encompassed diverse roles such as food & beverage manager, general manager, restaurant owner and operator, regional operations manager, vice president of resort management, and vice president of sales and marketing for a number of successful regional hotel companies, as well as major destination resorts.
Bill has been recognized by both state and industry associations as "Hotel Manager of the Year" in both 1984 and 1995. These awards recognized Bill's contribution to the success and performance of his hotels, as well as his contribution to the industry and the community.
Having spent 10 years developing his skills in the Midwest, Bill had the opportunity to move West where he managed the Yarrow Resort Hotel in Park City, Utah. After a successful few years managing resort hotels in mountain locations, Bill was recruited to become the vice president of hotel and food & beverage operations at Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado. In addition to his involvement in operations, Bill was soon given the responsibility for sales and marketing for this four diamond, year-round resort. Working with the resort's external advertising agency, Bill developed a new resort marketing campaign that was awarded a Silver Effie Award for the second best, travel related, consumer marketing campaign in the country in 1996. This award presented by the New York Marketing Association recognizes not only the quality of the creative, but also the effectiveness of the campaign.
Bill has served on numerous boards relating to tourism promotion and development, chamber of commerce, and charitable organizations. Bill has served in a leadership position on many of these boards, including being Vice Chairman of the Holiday Inn Committee of the IAHI, Chairman of the Regional Operations Committee, and Chairman of the Central Region Committee. He also has been President of the Summit County, Lake Dillon, and Copper Mountain Resort Association Boards.
Bill earned his Masters of Business Administration in 1991 at the University of Denver. He also has taught in the Resort Management Program at Colorado Mountain College, as well as a course in leadership and high performance management for the MBA program at the University of Denver.
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