Mr. Wirtz oversees all aspects of marketing and sales for the Wirtz Beverage Group portfolio throughout the country.  The alcohol beverage wholesaler is among the country’s industry leaders with more than $1.8 billion in sales and 3,000 employees.  In this role, Wirtz serves as a primary liaison with suppler partners and focuses on using innovation to expand brand and market share for each of the company’s state affiliates.

In addition to bringing new and luxury brands to the Wirtz Beverage portfolios, Wirtz also uses his national and international marketing experience to lead strategic initiatives for the company.  These include integrating technology solutions to both sales and marketing and overseeing the company’s Digital Activation Teams dedicated to advancing e-commerce, social technology and trade marketing efforts.

Wirtz is a member of the company’s OPCOM executive team and leads the SELLCOM sales leadership team directing the overall strategic initiatives for the company’s wine, spirits and beer divisions.

Previously, Wirtz held several positions with Wirtz Beverage Illinois, including overseeing luxury and multicultural sales positioning in the Trade Development department.   His business acumen is matched by significant marketing experience where, prior to joining the company, he aided large-scale promotion campaigns for global product clients including Nike, Apple and Motorola.

Wirtz also leads the philanthropic efforts for Wirtz Beverage Group and is actively engaged with both community and industry affiliations including serving as a member of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association Board of Directors, Christ the King Jesuit High School Rising Leaders Council and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Council of Leadership Development.

Wirtz is also a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Coteaux de Champagne, among the world’s foremost educators and endorsers of the wines of Champagne.  This distinction includes promoting the wines unique features, their ways of consumption and everything which contributes to their reputation and image as the most prestigious symbol of success and celebration.

Mr. Wirtz holds a vested interest in Wirtz Corporation, whose diversified holdings include the Chicago Blackhawk Hockey Team, the United Center, Wirtz Realty, Wirtz Insurance and banking interests in Illinois and Florida. To that end, he offers strategic insight and coordination of business strategies to all the Wirtz Corporation’s family of companies.

A graduate of Boston College, Danny and his wife Anne live in Chicago with their two children.

Get to know a little more about Danny:

Name: Danny Wirtz

Twitter Handle: @dannywirtz

Title: SVP, Wirtz Beverage Group

Sign: Capricorn

Neighborhood: Ukrainian Village

Favorite Band/Artist: An ever evolving questions.  Currently listening to new Brendan Benson record.

Red, White, or Bubbly: Yes, please.

What is your Signature Dish for a backyard barbecue? Bison Burgers

To give back (community involvement/philanthropic efforts): Member of the Rising Leaders Council for Christ the King Jesuit Prep High School in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago.  http://www.ctkjesuit.org/about/overview.html

Also, proud supporter of Common Threads, Meals on Wheels, and Francis Xavier Warde School

Julia Buckingham Edelmann’s passion for antiques, artifacts, and found objects translates into beautiful and exuberantly youthful homes with a timeless quality.

As a former antiques dealer, she designs her interior environments with keen interest in integrating antiques and artifacts with modern elements to reflect today’s lifestyles. Her degree in Fashion Merchandising and Marketing from the University of Arizona led to multiple jobs in the fashion industry, where she honed her aesthetic eye, all the while visiting antique markets across the world while on holiday with her husband and three children.

From the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Los Angeles to the famous Parisian market, Clignancourt – and all points in between – Julia developed an educated eye for only the best and most unique pieces. She further cultivated her experiences and knowledge of both dealers and collectors as co-owner of an antiques store in Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as by exhibiting at the Botanic Garden Antiques and Garden Fair and the Bridgehampton Historical Society Antique Show.

A return to her hometown of Chicago led her to open her own showroom and interior design firm, where she concentrates on mixing styles and eras to create surprising, whimsical, and unique environments. Now on her 2^nd Chicago Showroom, located in the burgeoning design district on Grand

Avenue, she welcomes a visit to see in person her unique perspective – where antiques can be observed as pieces of modern art.

Get to know Julia a little better…

Name:  Julia Buckingham Edelmann

Twitter Handle:  @BuckinghamID

Blog: www.buckinghamid.com

Title:  Principal of Buckingham Interiors + Design

Sign:  Sagittarius

Neighborhood:  North Shore

Favorite Band/Artist:  Counting Crows & Snow Patrol

Red, white, or bubbly?  Bubbly – Veuve Clicquot!

What is your signature dish for a backyard barbeque?  BBQ Chicken with Sweet Baby Rays Sauce

To give back (community involvement/philanthropic efforts):  I donate to and am involved with Pi Beta Phi National Fraternity, the sorority I belonged to and was president of, while at University of Arizona.

Gary Metzner joined Sotheby’s in 1997. He is a specialist in paintings, prints and sculptures from Old Masters to Contemporary. As an Auctioneer, he has conducted hundreds of charity auctions throughout the Midwest including Cows on Parade and the Banner auctions for the City of Chicago.

Prior to Sotheby’s, he was Director of Fine Art for Leslie Hindman Auctioneers beginning in 1993. Prior to that, he was Director of Hokin Kaufman Gallery in Chicago.

Mr. Metzner can be seen on Chubb’s Antique Roadshow on PBS, has appeared on the Home and Garden Television network’s programmes At the Auction and The Appraisal Fair, and participates in heirloom discovery days across the country.

Mr. Metzner is a graduate of Indiana University and earned a graduate degree in Art History from the University of Chicago. He is a recipient of the Plummer Scholarship in Fine Art and sits on the board of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

Get to know Gary a little better…

Name:  Gary F Metzner

Title: Senior Vice President, Sotheby’s Midwest

Neighborhood:  River North

Favorite Band/Artist:  Sufjan Stevens

Red, white, or bubbly? All three

What is your signature dish for a backyard barbeque? Inviting someone who knows how to cook

To give back (community involvement/philanthropic efforts):  Board of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago…River North Chicago Dance… Illinois Dem Party Leadership Circle.

It’s finally time to unveil the new NoMI Brand Ambassador Class of 2012!  In case you need a quick refresher, our NoMI Brand Ambassadors are an exclusive group of hand selected individuals that help represent Park Hyatt Chicago.  Our #NBAs and vision keepers are educated professionals who have a passion for food & wine, fashion, culture, travel, philanthropy, technology and are well respected in the Chicago community and beyond.  They appreciate luxury, quality service, dining out, and enjoy the simple, yet finer pleasures in life.

We are thrilled about our line-up this year and know that each will make a memorable imprint.  So, without further ado, we would like to introduce our first NBA: Melissa Skoog Dunagan.

Melissa has been responsible for identifying and creating trends; developing, producing, and selling trend-right product; and shaping a brand’s visibility within the competitive fashion and luxury marketplace throughout her career.  After beginning her fashion career at Vogue Magazine in 1996 as the Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief and then Associate Accessories Editor, Melissa became the Accessories Editor at Marie Claire Magazine in 1999. In 2000, she moved to San Francisco to join Banana Republic’s women’s merchant team for four years, gaining first-hand knowledge of managing every aspect of a vertical fashion brand from product and brand development to production, finance, distribution.

Melissa returned to New York City in 2004 for Prada, where her last position was Vice President of Public Relations for the Men’s & Women’s Collections in the U.S. category and overseeing trend pages and collaborating on fashion features for major magazines, Melissa successfully bridged the gap between the Retail and PR internal partners at Prada and developed press opportunities that enforced the brand’s U.S. retail initiative while maintaining Prada’s firm position as a leader in the luxury retail arena.

Melissa founded SKOOG Productions LLC in April 2009, consulting for luxury and fashion brands on press communications, events, brand strategy, web development, and integrated marketing in New York City and Chicago. Current and past clients include L.K.Bennett, LOFT, Chicago History Museum, and Emanuel Ungaro.

Get to know Melissa a little better…

Name:  Melissa Skoog Dunagan

Twitter Handle: @SkoogDunagan

Title:  President/Owner, SKOOG Productions LLC

Blog:  http://www.onmyplate.com/

Sign:  Cancer

Neighborhood:  Gold Coast

Favorite Band/Artist:  tough one… Brett Dennen or Mumford & Sons

Red, white, or bubbly?  White

What is your signature dish for a backyard barbeque?  Grilled corn on the cob

To give back (community involvement/philanthropic efforts):  I’m on the board of directors of the Parent-Child Home Program, an early literacy program and am passionate about early childhood development.  parent-child.org

Celebrate Mother’s Day at NoMI Kitchen this year with our special Mother’s Day Brunch offerings.  Sample exquisite selections of market seafood, oysters, sushi, shrimp and crab at our ocean bar.  Savor salad compositions such as spring market greens, forest mushroom salad, duck and endive salad from our garden station.  Indulge in the horseradish crusted prime rib carved to order or the wide selection of cheese and charcuterie.  Traditional breakfast items such as Belgian waffles, French toast and egg dishes are served and included on our lavish bakery table.  Heighten your experience and let us serve your entree’s tableside.  Conclude with some indulgences in our pastry chef ’s table sampling sweet treat selections such as chocolate parfaits, milk chocolate-raspberry cream puffs and tea flavored macarons.

To focus on the one that shines, NoMI Spa will be providing each Mother and Grandmother with a gift upon arrival for a special afternoon of beauty.

In partnership with NoMI Spa and compliments of Saks Fifth Avenue, CHANEL beauty representatives will be on-hand before or post-brunch for complimentary eye make-up applications and touch-ups showcasing the season’s top eyeshadows in corals, golds and beige hues.  Allow mom to be pampered with her perfectly paired eyeshadow application and brighten her day.

Brunch will be served Sunday, May 13 from11:30am to 4:00pm, 115 USD per person, 30 USD children ages 6-12. For more information visit www.nomirestaurant.com and for reservations, please call + 1 312 239 4030.

NoMI SPA celebrates its spot in Condé Nast Traveler’s Iconic Hot List

NoMI Spa was recently featured amongst the world’s most blissful spas in Condé Nast Traveler’s 16^th annual Hot List.

Condé Nast Traveler’s May Hot List issue is the ultimate insider’s guide to the hottest new hotels, spas, and restaurants of the year. Of the thousands of new properties that opened in the last year, editors traveled incognito to 49 countries to visit 172 new hotels, evaluating each on a standard set of criteria including service, food, atmosphere and amenities. Their mission? To discover the best in the world. This year, 121 made the cut, including NoMI Spa at Park Hyatt Chicago.

Recognized for its originality to affiliate the spa with its sister eatery, NoMI Kitchen, editors were fancied by NoMI Spa’s signature three-course spa prix-fixe tasting menu.  The tasting menu is a relaxing combination of three custom 45-minute treatments which are carefully paired with a small bite, therefore awarding NoMI Spa as “The Eater’s Spa.”

To celebrate this recognition, a complimentary glass of champagne will be offered to guests booking spa appointments during the month of May.  Guests may simply mention #HotList2012 upon booking the appointment.

Reuben Rischall stopped by NoMI Kitchen the other day to see if our Reuben lives up to his name.  Here’s what Reuben R. thought of Reuben S. [sandwich]

Reuben is Vice President at The Modal Group a Commercial Real Estate Advisory firm. His background in the transportation and food industries have been extremely valuable because he understands the “customer’s perspective.” He launched his career at Ruby Robinson, a produce brokerage firm where he managed the distribution of fresh produce to various distribution centers and wholesalers across the country. Later Reuben joined a start-up company in Hodgkins, IL called Fresh Logistics. He spent the next year leveraging the cost efficiencies of railing in fresh carrots and juice products from the Willow Springs BNSF yard for Bolthouse Farms in Bakersfield, CA. Reuben’s next challenge was becoming an outside Sales Manager for the country’s largest mushroom producer. He specialized in utilizing the company’s fleet of trucks to provide customers competitive delivered pricing and freshest product in class. Reuben graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in Finance.

Photography:  Rubin R. Roche ross-images.com

Where did you meet?

I was in LA on holiday visiting my best friend and she invited the boy she was seeing over to her house.  He suggested and we spend the evening having cocktails on at a trendy LA rooftop hotel and he invited his friend William.  William and I spent the entire night talking under a twinkle lights tree, it was like out of a movie.

Where did he propose?

Though William grew up in Los Angeles his family is originally from Chicago.   His grandfather was one of the original Mad Men and his grandmother was a well known Chicago model.  His grandparents got engaged in the Pump Room at booth #1 in the 1940′s.  In the summer of 2011 the Pump Room re-opened it’s doors.  For our engagement William reserved booth #1 and proposed at the same place his grandparents got engaged using his grandmother’s ring box.

Honeymoon Spot:

We did things very nontraditional.  We eloped in Kauai, Hawaii at the St. Regis Hotel.  It was just the two of us, our minister and photographer.  For our family and friend’s celebration we chose Chateau Marmont in LA and NoMI in Chicago.   For our honeymoon we are planning to spend a month in Italy, Greece and Turkey this summer.

Favorite NoMI appetizer at wedding:

The steak tartar

What kind of cake did you have:

We didn’t have a traditional wedding cake

Who caught the bouquet:

We joke around that it was our butler from the St.Regis caught the bouquet but there was no traditional toss which took place.