Lee, Dobrikow take top honors at Chamber Annual Meeting

Lee, Dobrikow take top honors at Chamber Annual Meeting A Fort Lauderdale publisher and a hospitality leader were honored at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce’s 103rd annual meeting recently attended by 500 business leaders, elected officials and guests. Ina Lee, publisher of Travelhost Media, received the Carolyn M. Michaels’ Leadership Award for nearly four decades of service within the Chamber, particularly focused on beach and hotel related expansion. The award is named after the Chamber's executive vice president who has been at the organization for three decades. Ms. Lee is currently the Chair of the Chamber’s Beach Council and serves on the organization’s Board of Directors. “The wonderful honor given to me was most treasured because it is named after Carolyn Michaels,” Lee said. “I have never met anyone in my lifetime who exemplifies service with humility like her.” For increasing Chamber membership by 11 percent, Heiko Dobrikow, executive vice president of the Las Olas Company and general manager of the Riverside Hotel, was honored by 2012 Chairman Andreas Ioannou, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort. "This was a team effort by our wonderful business development staff and our members giving strong leads," Dobrikow said. "Being part of a Chamber that gets it makes all the difference." Ioannou turned the gavel over to 2013 chairman, Chuck Mohr, senior vice president with BB&T. Mohr recognized Ioannou for his leadership as he outlined his focus for 2013 on issues related to beach renourishment, expansion of Port Everglades and the Convention Center. The Chamber will also focus on more regional consensus management to give South Florida a strong voice in Tallahassee and Washington, DC. A keynote speech was presented by Kelly King, CEO and Chairman of BB&T Corporation, ending the meeting on a high note in motivating attendees by saying, "yesterday is in the past, tomorrow is never promised, so we must strive for excellence today."