Shelley Crawford has worked more than 29 years in the restaurant, hotel, sport tourism and destination marketing industry. After graduating from Ryerson University in the Hospitality and Tourism Management program, Shelley joined King Ranch Health Spa and Resort followed by positions at the Four Seasons Yorkville, Metropolitan Hotel and Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Markham in which she learned the inner workings of rooms division and sales and catering departments. In 2004, she joined Tourism Toronto as a Regional Seller in the sport market and focused on customer service, building dynamic relationships and growing her knowledge of each sport to match her client’s needs with the right venues and hotels to ensure their events were successful.
She worked tirelessly to increase sporting events coming to the Toronto area in significant levels and achieved the first Certified Sport Event Executive designation (CSEE) in Canada from Sports ETA (NASC). Shelley has worked with small to large size groups from local tournaments to provincial/national championships to international events like Invictus Games 2016, Pan/Parapan American Games 2015, FIFA World Cup 2026 and NBA 2019 Finals.
Shelley has spent many years at rinks and fields alongside her husband Doug and her son Dougie in capacities such as Goalie Coach, Team Manager to Scorekeeper and Timekeeper. The family’s long road trips to get to the many field lacrosse tournaments/showcases and prospect camps over the last 6 years has become a family favourite.
Why did you choose the meeting and events industry as a career?
I knew before leaving high school that the hospitality industry was for me. I wanted to work in an ever-changing industry that is dynamic, fast paced and would give me the ability to meet fascinating people. My husband and I dreamed of owning our own quaint resort someday and after graduating from Ryerson University, I fell into hotel sales. Now I can work with clients in all markets all over the world with Meeting Encore. The dream has changed over the years but my passion for this industry has not …… life is good!
What is your favourite childhood memory?
There are so many but they all start with my memories of times spent with family and friends at Carson’s Camp in Sauble Beach where my parents had a trailer. This is where I met my husband when I was 2 and he was 4. Yes…. that is where it all started, true childhood friends that saw each other every summer and ended up dating in high school and through University on and off. We have been together 28 years and counting!!
Who do you admire most in life?
I truly admire my son and his personal strength. Watching him conquer all of life’s road-blocks to achieve his goal of playing a sport he loves at the highest level. He has had to practice long hours with extra training to get where he wanted to go. From numerous tryouts and many bruises over the years to broken his legs in two different incidents in back to back years in grade 9 and 10. It was these experiences that he showed tremendous determination to get back to the level he was at and further develop himself that really stands out to me. By working on improving his academics, leadership skills and further developing his skills; he has proven that if something gets you down, you just need to keep working at it to achieve great things.