NEW YORK CITY—Mark DePiero, former regional director for The Compass Group, has been appointed to the new position of vice president of operations for conference center network company Convene.

DePiero, who has more than 25 years of diverse hospitality experience, will oversee Convene's national expansion, which began last year with the announcement of its first conference center outside New York City in Tysons Corner, VA.

Convene plans to open six new locations in the 2014-2015 timeframe, company officials state.

During his tenure at The Compass Group, DePiero, a resident of Ramsey, NJ, had the operational responsibility for Flik Hotels and Conference Centers in the Northeast and the Midwest and was also responsible for the start-up and roll out of a corporate multi-property day conference center initiative, which included the opening of centers in seven states.

Previously, he was with Dolce Hotels & Resorts for 15 years as senior vice president for acquisitions and development, in addition to serving as senior vice president of operations for North America and Europe.

"Mark DePiero has built a very successful career in helping major hospitality companies rapidly expand their national and international footprints. His experience and leadership will be invaluable to Convene as we embark on our own ambitious national expansion program that is expected to double our conference center locations within the next 18 months," states Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene.

Christopher Kelly, Convene president and co-founder, adds, "Mark's tremendous experience in conference centers and hotels adds additional capabilities to our industry-leading team.”