Robert Miller is both a Certified Meeting Professional and a licensed attorney.  His meeting planning experience coupled with his legal expertise makes a powerful combo enabling his customers to have the sharp negotiating skills of an attorney and the street smarts of a group travel planner.

Robert has booked hotel rooms, cruises and events for various groups since 1996.  By working in the trenches of the meetings and hotel industry, he has done everything from catering and A/V to conference planning and executing full-scale meetings and events.  While in law school, Robert founded TravelAdvocates to better assist his customers in their site-selection process.

While Director of Tour Development for Starr Tours, Robert was responsible for managing the company’s tour product line and negotiating hotel room rates for all group tours.  He went on to work for Prime Hospitality Corp as Director of Corporate Sales.  Robert has consulted on major events for the EPA, American Red Cross and The George Washington University.  In 1999, he was selected as the only individual to represent the United States at ICCA’s Young Professionals Forum in Geneva, Switzerland.  Robert has been featured on programs on CNN and Fox Business News.  He has taught travel and tourism classes to aspiring industry leaders and was elected to his local Board of Education all by the age of 23.  No wonder Successful Meetings Magazine in 1998 featured Robert as an “Up and Comer” in the industry.

While on a music scholarship, Robert earned his B.A. in Psychology and Communication from The George Washington University.  He went on to earn a Masters Degree in Meeting & Event Management from GW’s School of Business where he graduated first in his class. Robert is the only person to receive both the “Sage Tourism and Hospitality Industry Award” and the “Excellence Award in Tourism.”  He also received the first ever “Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award” from GW’s Department of Tourism.  He was both trained and employed by the world-renown industry leader Dr. Joe Jeff Goldblatt, CSEP, founder of the International Special Events Society (ISES).  Robert is the founding President of the GW Tourism Alumni Network and a member of the GW Department of Tourism’s Leadership Advisory Council.  He has also served on the Board of Directors of the GW Alumni Association and GW’s philanthropic Luther Rice Society.

In response to his clients who often need advice before signing a hotel contract, Robert went to Seton Hall Law School where he graduated cum laude and won awards for his legal writing.  He is admitted to practice law in both New York and New Jersey after passing those states’ bar exams on his first attempt.  Although Robert has his own law practice, his main focus is helping his customers find great hotels and cruises at rates within their budget.

Robert’s next endeavor is to work for you.  Contact him so he can find your next hotel!

Jason Wood was born and raised just outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business management and chemistry from Ripon College. As a student at Ripon, Jason was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Because of the leadership roles he assumed in planning student orientation, student activities, and his work in undergraduate admissions, he won the Alumni Award for Overall Dedication to the School in 1996.

After Ripon, Jason moved to Philadelphia to earn his MBA in Finance from St. Joseph’s University. Philadelphia is where he caught the “hospitality” bug! Jason has worked in various hotel sales positions. He has also opened brand new hotels as a General Manager in the Philadelphia area and in northern New Jersey. Jason has worked for the Holiday Inn, Starwood and Wyndham hotel chains.

After working at the hotel property level for six years, Jason began working for a site selection company assisting tour & travel operators with hotels. Over the years, Jason has attended several events and conferences hosted by the Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the National Tour Association (NTA), the American Bus Association (ABA) and the International Motor Coach Group (IMG).

In his free time, Jason is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University where he is the head coach of the Speech Team. In this role, he has coached several students to become national champions in their respective events. He is also the Assistant Coach of the nationally acclaimed Speech & Debate Team at Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, NJ.

Jason serves double duty at TravelAdvocates. In addition to assisting groups with their hotels, Jason is putting his MBA to good use as he is responsible for overseeing all accounting and financial aspects for the company. His unique finance and hotel background makes him ideal for this role.

Margaret Bitetti earned her degree in Hotel Management from Fairleigh Dickinson University.  Since then, she has spent over fifteen years working in hotels, specializing in the group tour and travel market.  Her experience includes a long stint as Director of Sales and Marketing at the Radisson Hotel in Englewood, NJ (now the Crowne Plaza).  Margaret has also worked for Hilton Hotels Worldwide and the Intercontinental Hotel Group.

Throughout her years of work, Margaret has garnered a number of awards as well.  She earned “Sales Manager of the Year” three years in a row, “Sales Team of the Year,” and “Director of Sales of the Year.”

When she isn’t working, Margaret enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and family dog, Camilla, at their Bergen County, NJ home in the winter and in their South Jersey home in the summer.  She enjoys boating, running, cooking, and playing tennis.

Margaret’s years of hotel sales and revenue management experience makes her a strong advocate for her group clients.

Ron has worked in the industry for over 13 years and has a great deal of experience in working at Hotels and also in the Meeting Planning Industry. While in the hotel industry, he worked with such brands as Radisson Hotels Worldwide, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Choice Hotels International, Intercontinental Hotels Group and some successful Independent hotels.

After his employment on the Hotel level, he opened up his own company in 2006, RAS Meeting Services, LLC, and has been maintaining and developing new clients, while always providing the best services to each and every client. His skills of negotiating contracts, budget conscious decisions and providing above and beyond service has enabled him to grow his company while maintaining the clients he has worked with for many years.

As of January 3^rd, 2011, RAS Meeting Services has merged with TravelAdvocates and Ron’s role within Travel Advocates will be to build their role within the Association, Government and Corporate markets.

As a life long resident of South Jersey, he has worked with corporations, associations and government agencies on a local level, but, also on a regional, Federal and North American level as well. He has been a member of ASAE, MPI, SGTP, SGMP, GSA, NCBMP, FEA and NJSAE while in the hotel industry and has kept many of his clients and relationships from these organizations for over 10 years.

Ron is a graduate of Rowan University with a Bachelors degree in Business Administration.

Bob Miller has a special place at TravelAdvocates: he is the proud father of the owner! Bob is responsible for creating strategic partnerships with the athletic college team market.

Bob joined TravelAdvocates after working 43 years in the food service industry. Starting out bussing tables while still in high school and working his way up to General Manager during his 21 years of service, Bob worked for a widely popular full service restaurant & dairy bar called the Parfait House, a family-owned business. Bob was responsible for sales and operations of its flagship location on Route 33 in Hamilton Township, NJ. Once the family business was sold in 1988, he continued to work in the food industry. Most recently, Bob worked for 15 years as an outside sales rep for U.S. Foodservice where he was responsible for nearly $5 million in annual gross food sales. Because of Bob’s passion for providing excellent support and customer service, he was a natural fit to join the TravelAdvocates team in 2008.

Bob is a native resident of Hamilton, NJ where he currently lives with his wife. They raised two children and were extremely active with them in school, swimming, tennis, basketball and band. He has fond memories of traveling with his children to various sports competitions all across the country. Bob uses that personal experience to help guide coaches and other group leaders through the hotel and overnight travel process.

Bob is proud to tell his customers he works with his son. He has had many positive comments from his clients who see value in working with a family-oriented company like TravelAdvocates.

Bob enjoys helping his teams and other groups save money on hotel rooms. He can also help you charter a bus at a price that fits within your group’s budget. Bob loves talking to people so please contact him today so he can begin helping you save time and money.

Stephen Orsini was an intern with TravelAdvocates in the Summer of 2010.  He was hired full time after he graduated from Montclair State University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business.  At Montclair, Stephen studied International Marketing & Management, World Trade and Investment, Operations Analysis and Strategic Management, among other business administration topics.  Stephen is fluent in Italian which comes in handy for our group clients based in Italy.