Alan Villaverde
Vice President, Peabody Hotel Group
“Sonya Snyder is one of the most professional, versatile and self-motivated marketing and public relations practitioners I've ever had the pleasure to work with. And, coming from a long history with some of the world's finest hotel chains, I've had the opportunity to work with some of the industry's best. Still, I wasn't expecting the high, consistent levels of Sonya's dedication to excellence, her maverick drive to excel for us, and the amount of overwhelming results she gained for us on any number of marketing promotions, during the 6 years she oversaw the PR and supported our marketing efforts at The Peabody Orlando hotel. She also was nominated as a charter member of our Service Excellence Board, and was also invited to join our Executive Committee Marketing Board. While there, she helped shape promotions towards expanding our name into other cities, while making sure our messages in all mediums we undertook were perfectly clear, exemplary, and consistent with our high commitment to the standards of service excellence. I once told her she was the best practitioner I had ever worked with after 20 years in the business, and that that accomplishment was no small feat! She just smiled, thanked me, and went back doing her usual fantastic work on our behalf. For all these reasons and many more, I will always welcome the opportunity to recommend Sonya to any company who is searching for the very best for their team.”
Michael French
CEO, Inn of the Mountain Gods; former VP, Peabody Orlando Hotel
“I had the pleasure of working with Sonya Snyder over an extended period of time, and in two locations. When we began working together, her challenge was to "spread the word" about our fabulous but little-known hotel, The Peabody. During this time Sonya used her media relations and marketing skills to gain incredible exposure for our hotel resulting in the development of a reputation of excellence on a national and regional basis. I joke with Sonya that she taught me everything I know about PR, but I am only half joking. Her knowledge of the PR industry coupled with her creativity and intense drive makes her one of the best marketeers that I have been associated with. Sonya is able to grasp the "big picture" vision and convey the message to an audience in a highly effective and ethical manner. It was a pleasure working with Sonya- so much so that I hired her again, to help open the Inn of The Mountain Gods Resort and her results were as spectacular as ever. I highly recommend her as one of the best marketers and PR professionals in the business, on either coast.”
Lenora Mullanaphy
Owner, Lenora Kruk-Mullanaphy Public Relations
“I have known Sonya Snyder for many years, as we both represented the largest, wholly-owned luxury restaurant group in the nation, Morton's The Steakhouse. We worked as the agencies of record for marketing and public relations, with Sonya in Orlando and me in Las Vegas. At the time, our two stores were the two largest with meeting space, in the global group. These two markets are the most competitive for media attention among high-end restaurants, themed attractions and luxury hotels nationally, as the main competitors are mostly multi-million-dollar corporations with large budgets for a full-range of marketing exposure. Sonya was also the marketing person in charge of opening the Morton's in Orlando, and she was chosen to work in that capacity for more than a decade. A capable marketing professional with a great personality, Sonya generated millions of dollars in advertising value in her media relations efforts and her ongoing marketing programs. Sonya is a master marketer and an aggressive, out-of-the-box thinker. I found her to be a great resource to brainstorm advantageous trends within our industry. Along those lines, I was happy to be invited to participate in her "Morton's Mavens Think Tank" consisting of several aggressive agencies she hand-picked to brainstorm best results for Morton's. Not only is Sonya a professional I greatly respect, but from working with her, she has also become a good friend. Anyone who wants to supercharge their marketing program would benefit greatly from bringing her onto their team.”
Gail Fein
Director, Universal Studios Florida
“I've been extremely fortunate to have worked with Sonya for many years hosting journalists from around the world when she headed up PR at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando and I was with Universal Studios. Not only is she a dynamic leader, she also has a wonderful ability to engage people — you can't help but want to be around her. Her passion and dedication to the tourism and hospitality industry is evident in all that she does. Sonya knows how to make things happen and with a quick turnaround! She's right up there as one of the best PR pros and I'd welcome the opportunity to work alongside her again.”
Andres Cibotti
Vice President, Pirate's Dinner Adventure, FL
“When I became vice president at Pirate's Dinner Adventure, I knew we needed strong Public Relations and Marketing support. I had remembered Sonya from my marketing days with Medieval Times and Planet Hollywood, where she was constantly representing fine hotels and tourism attractions alongside us at large trade shows like POW WOW and Florida Huddle. She was an excellent source for the media locally and around the globe — she seemed to know them all. She helped us plan and meet with journalists to help gain us and also her other clients higher positive exposure and reputation through news stories and promotions through her news contacts located all over the globe. She packaged her clients information superbly, and used it to gain exposure and even to negotiate media exposure for her clients off the trade show floor. Her professional counsel with me, directly, as well as being a consistent and informed support to all of my sales managers, helped Pirate's Dinner Adventure reach and surpass sales attendance records and forecasted goals at the time, while her efforts greatly increased our profitability. Her contacts with the press are superb, and she regularly brought in media from all around the nation and the world. She was key to the design decisions for our new logo, our new sales brochure, our web site content and details and on-line marketing. Quill also proposed and helped design from scratch a new market niche for increased profits — a detailed educational field trip program to schools, plus build partnership for us. In addition, she also built a program to enhance our internal service staff program, and to upgrade our culinary operations' Quality Plus services to our guests, through her culinary council division. These programs saved us thousands of dollars monthly, kept us within state and federal guidelines, all the while continuing to increase our quality standards. Truly, Sonya's extensive expertise and drive to excel for her clients is a strong asset any company or corporation who is looking for superior agency marketing support would desire.”
John Zarella
Bureau Chief, CNN, Miami, FL
“I've known Sonya since long before she became Quill. It's been more than two dozen years now. From the first meeting, it was clear Sonya Snyder was someone with unimpeachable character and a vibrant spirit. Journalists always tend to want the world. Sonya always made it seem possible. She did everything she could to accommodate us and to "make it happen" for us. I don't call upon Sonya often. But I call upon her when I really need something that I know will be difficult to deliver. And Sonya is always honest — doesn't string you along. If she thinks it can be done she tells you. If not, she tells you. And Sonya never leaves you hanging. She gets the answers for you quickly. It helps that Sonya was at one time on this side of the business. She knows deadlines. She knows the importance a journalist puts in timeliness.”
Maria Hayworth
Director, Visit Florida
“I have worked with Sonya for more than 15 years. While I was overseeing media familiarization groups to Central Florida through the Orlando Orange County Convention & Visitor's Bureau, she helped in making it much easier to get national and international press in to favorably review our destination. Her press tours of the facility were well delivered and she was extremely knowledgeable in her subject matter. This often resulted in her property gaining additional news coverage in major dailies, trade magazines and media features, which further helped to highlight our great destination all the more. She was also very professional and kept in close contact with us and so, was a great team player for us to partner with. When I moved on to the Florida Division of Tourism, and Visit Florida, she again assisted our media relations by hosting familiarization tours at her property, and then, additional attraction and hotel properties when she had her own firm. We did many FAM trips, and several exceptionally nice trips for British writers to Disney, where they also had a chance to stay in a beautiful country bed & breakfast inn, which was also one of her clients. The charm of both the expansive Disney along with the quaint Inn getaway, was a winning combination, and we received many travel stories placed in leading news journals recommending both. Sonya is a consummate professional whose results make her clients glad they have her representing them.”
Michael VanWynsberghe
Director, Hilton Hotel Greenville – Peabody Hotel Group Brand Management Division; Peabody Orlando Hotel
“Sonya is an upbeat, positive and professional individual who may be characterized by her ability to achieve results. Sonya — Director of Public Relations for The Peabody Orlando — was instrumental in marketing the hotel always focusing on the upscale nature of the property in reference to quality of services and products. I've always heard any publicity is good publicity but Sonya's positive, energetic approach always represented the hotel as a world class hotel. It was my pleasure to work with Sonya and I am a better person just knowing her. I would recommend her for any opportunities as her talents are unlimited.”
Dana A. Clary
Past President, Orlando Advertising Federation (AAF National Club of the Year); Disney Sports Attractions
“Outstanding, Professional with Results! That best describes Sonya Snyder and her team at Quill. As a personal testimonial, this team knows how to work the media! I regularly refer Quill as my preferred "boutique PR agency" of choice and will continue to do so.”
Henry Magenheim
Senior Editor, Travel Weekly Magazine
“Quill Communications is very aware of Travel Weekly's predominantly travel agent readership and alerts us to commission opportunities for agents. Sonya does not send us irrelevant material as some other public relations concerns do. Our relationship goes back more than a decade, when Sonya first took the post as public relations director of The Peabody Orlando, before she started her own operation.”
Pauline Bissett
Vice President, Bissett Matheson Communications Ltd.
“It was a pleasure to have worked with Quill Communications. Only rarely have we worked with a company which warranted our respect and appreciation from the outset. It is critical that our client's product (which was being introduced at an international trade show in Florida) be acknowledged through at least one U.S. print or electronic story. Sonya accomplished this and the article was helpful in attracting other stories and articles since. To date, coverage about this client has spanned Canada, parts of the US and Europe. From our relationship, I would say Quill's strengths include a strong working knowledge of the media, professional service and excellent client relations. We have no hesitation in recommending Quill, and hope we have the opportunity of working together in the future.”
Bob Schuster
President & General Manager, Trainland Railroad Services Corporation, Inc.
“I knew in an hour after I met Sonya Snyder that we wanted her company to handle our marketing for Trainland. We happened to overbook our time that day we met, and she saw the bright red train engine being delivered to our property during our initial meeting. We were still discussing the opportunity of working together when she said that outside a great news story was happening, and she took it upon herself to begin calling the media contacts she knew and telling them about the delivery of the new engine, and how this related to our upcoming opening. The result was several TV stations descending on our attraction to cover the event within the hour, plus front-page full cover stories in both the Orlando Sentinel's local section, and the hotel edition, which goes to an additional 20,000 tourists. We saw our numbers of calls and queries increase as a result, and it really helped kick-off our upcoming museum exhibit opening. The highly detailed, stylized and expansive 4,400 square foot exhibit features 14 trains and three trolleys which showcase the technological marvels of train travel from the 1920's to the 1980's. This museum display is one of the most intricate, to-scale and expansive train track exhibits in the United States. Sonya was very successful for us, and we received many guests who said they heard about us from the numerous news stories seen and read locally, regionally and nationally, as well as through her many promotions, advertising and marketing efforts. In addition to her incredible results as a business marketer, Sonya is also a friend that I can count on for honesty and integrity. I would recommend her highly to anyone wanting a marketing program which is complete in scope and second to none, Quill's work is coupled with high ethical and moral standards that I and her other clients, count on.”
Rick Gondella
Vice President, America's Charities
“Quill's attention to detail, accurate and timely follow-through, and the results they get for us are what make any project they do for us that much more successful. Quill measures up in all areas, and I heartily recommend them as a superb choice for anyone new coming into the area who wants to be noticed!”
Bob Mervine
Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal
“Sonya has a good understanding of what is needed by newsroom professionals and is ready to provide it when she contacts us. When she pitches a story we are interested in, she always has the resources — artwork, statistics, contact names, whatever we need, ready and available at her fingertips. Quill represents a diverse group of people and companies with a variety of backgrounds and areas of interest. That makes Sonya a well-rounded and knowledgeable PR person. I have worked with Sonya for more than two decades. She's more than a business associate or a contact — she's a friend.”
Kristen Stieffel
News, Orlando Business Journal
“Sonya is a knowledgeable publicist who writes useful, accurate press releases. Her understanding of how newsrooms work ensures she gets the right information to the right people without wasting valuable time and resources. She has a great attitude and is a pleasure to work with.”
Michael Mancke
Director, Daytona Beach Convention and Visitor's Bureau
“It's not often you find an honest hard working person who is creative, personable and persistent. However, in Sonya you do. We worked together at the Daytona Beach CVB and followed each other's careers in the hospitality industry for the past 20+ years, and Sonya has always given her all to her employers and then her clients once she branched out on her own. She has used the same work ethic to gain and continue to grow her professional network with Quill. If you want results, you want Sonya.”
Paul Coatsworth
News and Film Production, WJET-TV Erie, PA
“I have had the privilege of knowing Sonya Snyder for almost 30 years. We first met and worked together at WJET-TV in Erie, PA. She was one of the most determined and focused reporters that I ever had the pleasure of working with. No story line was too deep for her to explore and she was definitely not afraid to ask the tough questions when necessary. This was balanced nicely by her solid news judgment, which allowed her to know when a question may be out of the realm of good taste or not needed to complete the story. She is the only intern that I've ever known who was trusted enough to report on her own, many of her stories being integral parts of the newscast. These qualities are just some that let her stand apart in the field of PR/Marketing. She will doggedly work to get the best results for her clients, leaving no stone unturned to provide them the best possible service. While at the same time, always keeping the pitch in the best possible light to appeal to the consumer. In addition to our past working relationship, Sonya is a trusted personal friend. I know that I can always count on her and that you will be able to as well.”
Rosemarie O'Shaughnessy
President, Rao Properties; Owner, Wonderland Inn
“Sonya has been an extraordinary source of information, support and talent to us since we opened Wonderland Inn Bed & Breakfast. We couldn't have done it without her! Her motto is "Great Isn't Good Enough" — she always goes the extra mile! Through her agency and in conjunction with regional and national tourism contacts, she has brought qualified journalists to review us, resulting in full-page color articles in beautiful travel magazines and business and travel sections of newspapers in and around Florida and around the nation. She helped us fill the inn! She has continuously kept informed about our industry and alerts us to trends so we may capitalize on them. Quill completely wrote our web site and was responsible for getting it linked and marketed within hundreds of the right bed & breakfast internet sources for top sales. Quill was also excellent at building news savvy and guest desiring "Natural Florida" travel packages for us, which expanded the number of room nights per guest, and increased sales. More than a marketing expert for us, Sonya has become someone whose opinion we highly respect to this day, and someone whose friendship we cherish. We love her to death! We would recommend Quill to anyone who wants their business to really succeed, and have lots of fun doing so at the same time!”
Frank Stansbury, APR
Fellow, PRSA
“Sonya Snyder is a seasoned veteran, competent and dependable. She is well versed in public relations, marketing, communication and media relations. She's a quick study and a great ally. She is a winner.”
Barbara Wetzler
President, SPCA Orlando
“Many thanks for the creative ways you find to help non-profits. You always have good ideas.”