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Raeside out as Tri-Valley Convention Bureau chief
'Leaving to pursue other avenues'

by Glenn Wohltmann

The Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) has announced that Grant Raeside resigned from his position as president and chief executive officer effective Sept. 10.

Raeside served as president and CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau for 10 months. He was appointed late last year.

A statement posted on the CVB website says that Raeside "is leaving to pursue other avenues."

"We wish Grant well in his new venture, and appreciate the efforts he has made on our behalf to promote tourism to the Tri-Valley region," Faye Cater, chairman of the board of directors, said in a statement. She said Raeside's resignation will "absolutely not" affect the bureau's efforts to increase tourism and promote the region as a "weekend destination in the East Bay of San Francisco."

The CVB's board of directors is preparing to conduct a search for a new president and executive officer. Meanwhile, its staff and the executive board will manage the day-to-day activities.

Circumstances surrounding Raeside's departure were not immediately available. One source told the Weekly that Raeside's management style was in conflict with the board's preferences, and that he was put on notice to make changes but those efforts were not successful.

Even so, Raeside told members of the Valley Real Estate Network earlier this month that there's been a 6.5% increase in the occupancy rate of the Tri-Valley's 38 hotels with Danville's one hotel, the Best Western, leading the way at 85% occupancy. He said the CVB could take credit for those gains.

Raeside also worked with the San Francisco Examiner to produce an eight-page special section promoting the Tri-Valley, and earlier this year, the CVB began running 1,500 30-second spots on local portions of the Travel and Food networks in the San Jose market. Last July, it sponsored a 12-page promotional section in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Prior to his tenure at the CVB, Raeside was executive director of the Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Alliance.

When he was named CEO, he filled a position that had been vacant for much of 2011 after Amy Blaschka, the CVB's longtime executive director, resigned "to pursue other interests" early last year without explanation.