Everyone was cheering when she walked into the room at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.
Rachel Otis was in Savannah preparing to be part of a wedding when her boss called and told her to do whatever it took to be back at the hotel by 4 p.m.
She remembered winners of the global hospitality corporation’s annual awards for marketing and public relations leadership at hundreds of properties were being announced at that time.
But the marketing and e-commerce manager at the Hyatt didn’t think that had anything to do with the unexpected call-back.
As it turned out, that had everything to do with it.
After a little more than six months at the hotel, Otis was named the top performer in her job out of 26 Hyatts in North and South America with more than 600 rooms.
Moments before she walked into the room full of her co-workers after the dash back from Savannah, her name was announced as the winner during the live webcast of the ceremony.
She had no idea the least experienced marketing manager would be selected for the award over her counterparts, most of whom have years of experience.
“This is my first adult job,” she said.
Otis graduated from Florida State College at Jacksonville in May 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in converged communications. The discipline combines advertising, marketing, public relations and digital media.
She went to work at the hotel a month later, responsible for maintaining the Hyatt Regency brand as well as enhancing communication with guests through the website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and serving as public relations liaison.
“Hospitality is a people industry and people want to interact. We make sure our guests know we’re glad they are here and we hope they have a great time,” said Otis.
General Manager Gino Caliendo, who nominated Otis for the award, said her work was instrumental in “repositioning” the hotel after the recent renovation of its 963 guest rooms and amenity areas.
“The campaign was to reconnect with meeting planners who had not traditionally considered our hotel and Jacksonville. As a result, we found many meeting planners were excited about our newly renovated product and ready to do business with us,” he said.
Otis comes from a family that works in travel and hospitality.
Her father, brother and sister-in-law work at the Omni Amelia Island Resort and her mother works for United Airlines.
While in college, Otis thought she’d probably use her degree to get a job in the nonprofit sector after public relations internships at the Lutheran Social Services food bank and The Church of Eleven22.
She has discovered similarities between the nonprofit community and the hotel brand.
“Hyatt cares for guests, cares for the community and cares for associates,” she said. “And I get to do what I went to school for in an industry I’m passionate about.”
The award was established to “cultivate innovation and performance,” Caliendo said.
“The award not only recognizes Rachel, but the efforts of our entire marketing team to think outside the box,” he said. “What better way to embody that than to recognize a rising star for her contribution?”
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