The pellucid Travel team consists of a collection of industry-leading experts. We have a shared purpose, built upon trust, experience, and hard work. Our team customizes a plan for your business to maximize opportunity and profitability. With your long-term success as our ultimate goal, the pellucid team will identify new growth opportunities and see them through with flawless execution. Our history is the foundation for your success and it all starts with trust. With more than 80 years of experience in hotels, working directly with and for Sports Commissions, Facilities, tournament housing, sports marketing, and event operations we know what it takes to produce quality events and services for our clients.
Shannon Barrows, CEO
Entrepreneur -Executive- Innovator- Mom of 4- PacMan Champ
As pellucid Travel's CEO , Shannon does more than shop for cool gear for us. With more than 23 years experience in the travel industry she is obsessed with creating value for our clients, simplifying processes, Improving profitability, and ensuring every team member and client reach their fullest potential.
While working with Hotels, Sports Commissions, Tournament Directors, Right holders, facilities, or technology platforms her mission is simple, Make good things happen for others.
Laura Dermody, President
Laura Dermody, President, graduated from St. John Fisher College in 2007 with a dual degree in Business Management and Sports Management. Laura is an experienced professional in the sports hospitality industry since 2007 with an Event Housing focus since 2011. She understands and respects the individual needs of each tournament director.
Laura's prior experience working for the Monroe County Sports Commission allows her to better assist tournament directors in various aspects of hosting an event beyond booking hotels. The relationship between tournament director and host city plays an important role in the long-term success of an event.
Jason Puckett, Director of Business Development
Jason has a deep passion for sports and has been fortunate to have a 15-year career in the industry. He is an accomplished leader and business development professional with experience in sport tourism, professional/amateur sports, group sales, event management and local government. He prides himself on the relationships he has created with a wide spectrum of clients and going above and beyond to exceed their expectations.
When Jason is not working or spending time with his family, you will find him watching his favorite teams, golfing, fishing or just enjoying the great outdoors.
Kelly Gawronski, Director of Operations
Kelly Gawronski has been in the hospitality and travel industry for nearly 20 years, specifically in Sport Housing since 2013. During that time, she has coordinated events large and small and understands that every detail can make an impact on the success of an event.
Kelly's extensive knowledge in hotel management has proven to be beneficial in expressing the needs and wants of tournament directors to hotels. It has also solidified her belief that service is completely intangible and an experience is remembered only by how it made you feel.
Linda Smith, Client Relationship Specialist
Linda has handled the housing for small local events to large nationally televised events, always focusing on delivering the “wow experience” to guests. She prides herself in the relationships she’s made with tournament directors, CVB’s in the areas, and hotel partners.
Kelsey Fischer, Client Relationship Specialist
Her extensive experience with sales leadership within major hotel brands has allowed her to build strong and lasting relationships with her clients, truly understand their needs, and exceed their expectations. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, 2 children, family, and friends.
Gretchen Secky, Business Development Manager
Gretchen Secky holds a degree in sports medicine, making her fully understand the full scope of a team's needs and wants. Her passion is to make events and experiences as effortless as possible for her clients. Gretchen has been in the hospitality industry for over 10 years and has provided top notch service in a variety of settings. Her degree has helped her navigate tough conversation and has helped with breakthroughs for her clients. Her passion is to help people while enjoying the wonderful world of sports, entertainment, and travel!
Patti Gaudy, Client Relationship Specialist
Prior to her career in travel, Patti spent 19 years in events management at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. During her time at Fisher, she served as a member of the Buffalo Bills Summer Training Camp Operations Core Team managing the scheduling and coordination of all hospitality events working regularly with athletes, coaches, and corporate partners. Patti’s background in events, coupled with her passion for travel, has made her the perfect partner for team travel needs for the past 7 years.
Patti is unique to our team because in addition to team travel, she is our only vacation specialist using her own "globetrotting adventures" to enhance their experiences and send them on the best vacations ever! She is a ton of fun to work with for your personal travel needs and prides herself in her customer service skills, making each client feel that they are the most important! In her spare time, Patti enjoys traveling and spending time playing with her grandchildren and sharing in their sports triumphs!
Contact Patti for your team travel or if you need a vacation! EVERYONE needs a vacation!
Amy Sniegowski, Client Relationship Specialist
Amy has nearly 20 years of hotel experience with 15 of those years being in group sales. Her passion has been the tour and travel industry along with all sporting events. Her most favorite part of working with sports teams was creating a positive experience all while taking the stress off of coaches, team managers and parents. Amy prides herself with the relationships that she’s developed over the years and provides excellent customer service by going beyond the call of duty.
When Amy is not working, she is generally spending time with her family, keeping up with her future step-son, watching her beloved Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks, or hanging out on the boat either fishing or just cruising around having fun.
David Oakes, Client Relationship Specialist
David graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing. David is an experienced professional
who has been in the customer service and Account management field for the last 15 years. He is
passionate about leaving customers in a better place than where they started their experience. David has a strong passion for hockey and golf. In between playing men's league and coaching his son's youth team, you can find David watching his son's baseball games, or spending time with his wife and daughter.
Sara Meadow, Brand Manager
Sara graduated in 2020 with a degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology from Florida Gulf Coast University. However, since graduating she has pursued a career in marketing having 3 years in the industry and continues to grow. To Pellucid's advantage, Sara has grown up around the hotel industry giving her knowledge of what we are all about. With Sara's go-getter mentality she strives to set her team up for success! Outside of work you can find her traveling around the US as she seeks adventure or laying low with the thing that makes her happiest (her cat VV).
Aaron Maciejewski, Client Relationship Specialist
Aaron has been in customer service for over 15 years, spending the majority of that time in luxury retail and fitness. When working with his clients, Aaron is always looking to elevate their experience and help create moments that will stay with them for years to come. When Aaron is not at pellucid, he can be found instructing at Spoke Cycle + Fitness in the Rochester area. There, he leads spin and row classes; pushing his members to take steps toward achieving their fitness goals.
Hope Walker, Account Services
Hope is joining our team after spending the last 24 years at the PGA of America where she served as Director of Special Events. She was born in Miami and spent most of her younger years In Tennessee before returning to south Florida in 1987. She has twin daughters residing in Savannah, GA, and a son who lives in south Florida. She’s a diehard Dallas Cowboys and Atlanta Braves fan but enjoys all sports.
Katie Nicholas, Client Relationship Specialist
Katie has worked in the sports industry for over 20 years, including roles in college athletics and club volleyball. Her experience running large-scale club tournaments as well as scheduling outbound travel for club teams has provided her with first-hand experience on both sides of team travel.
Katie has connections with the volleyball community on both a local and national level, allowing her to build relationships and provide team travel services for volleyball organizations across the country. She believes building strong relationships with people is the best way to understand the needs of an organization.
In her spare time, Katie likes to spend time with family, friends, and her two dogs!
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