Meet Chicago Northwest hires new president

SCHAUMBURG - Meet Chicago Northwest, the official destination marketing organization for Chicago's Northwest suburbs, has selected Heather Larson to lead the organization after a nationwide search.

Larson, of Des Plaines, will take on the position effective immediately. Larson previously served as director of sales with Meet Chicago Northwest.

Larson joined the organization in December 2010 when it was then known as Greater Woodfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. Her career spans back to the early 1990s when she started fresh out of the University of Wisconsin Madison as a sales manager at the Bismarck Hotel, now the Allegro Royal Sonesta in Chicago's financial district.

Continuing in sales, Larson then moved to The Whitehall Hotel, The Drake Hotel and The Fairmont Hotel Chicago. Larson worked for three years with HelmsBriscoe before taking time off to raise her children. She joined the convention bureau as a sales manager and became the director of sales in 2014.

"It is of high importance that Meet Chicago Northwest guides the recovery of our hospitality community," Larson said. "We will start work immediately to engage community stakeholders to assist in laying the framework for our recovery."

Larson has served on the board of directors for numerous industry associations including Meeting Professionals International Chicago Area Chapter and the International Association of Exhibitions and Events Midwest Chapter, where she is chair-elect.

Larson resides in Des Plaines with her husband of 22 years, her two college-aged children and their dog, Comiskey.