Fargo-Moorhead CVB 2015 annual awards winners

The Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau held their Annual Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, March 29th at the NDSU Harry D. McGovern Alumni Center. Six awards were presented to individuals and/or organizations for their efforts in enhancing and promoting tourism in the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo community.  

Tourism Champion Award – Rob Sobolik, FARGODOME
The Tourism Champion Award is awarded to the individual who has contributed most to tourism promotion, development and hospitality during the last year.
As General Manager of the FARGODOME, Rob oversees a large staff of people who make sure all events at the venue go off without a hitch. For all the work he and his staff put in to make the FARGODOME the community jewel that it is, this year’s Tourism Champion Award was presented to Rob Sobolik.

Pineapple Award – The Arts Partnership
The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality and the Pineapple Award is awarded to the organization that has contributed most to tourism promotion, development and hospitality during the past year.
This year’s recipient, The Arts Partnership, works tirelessly to make sure that the arts and culture in our community have a seat at the table. They truly cultivate the arts in the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo community.

Industry Excellence Award – National Association of College & University Residence Halls (NACURH)
The Industry Excellence Award is awarded to the individual or organization that has made  a significant effor to bring a major convention, conference, meeting or special event to Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo during the last year.
NDSU Residence Hall Association helped bring the NACURH event to Fargo in 2015. NACURH brought 2,500 student leaders and professionals from around the world to Fargo. The social media presence alone for the event was remarkable. Thousands of tweets and Instagram posts throughout the week raved about the experiences students were having in our community.

MVP Award – University of North Dakota
The MVP Award is awarded to the group or individual responsible for a sporting event that had a significant impact on tourism promotion, development and hospitality during the last year.
This year’s recipient, University of North Dakota, hosted the NCAA Division I Hockey Regional in Fargo in March 2015. That event put our community on the NCAA’s radar, and was no doubt a factor in the West Regional coming back to Fargo in 2017.

North of Normal Award
The North of Normal Award is awarded occasionally to an individual who has made a significant contribution to tourism promotion, development and hospitality in our community during their career in the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo area.

• Carrol Juven, Norwegian Tour Operator Extraordinaire
  Since 1967, Carrol Juven has escorted tours throughout the world. He brought thousands of people of Norwegian heritage to the Fargo-Moorhead area to learn more about their relatives that have made our community their home.
• Curt Jones, Retired West Fargo Athletic Director
  Curt Jones served 26 years as West Fargo Athletic Director. In addition to his duties at West Fargo, Curt also held multiple leadership positions with the North Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and directed several state tournaments as a member of the Metro Tournament Committee.

Award Creator
This year’s awards were created by artist Karman Rheault. She has worked in several different media in 20+ years as an artist, but recently her focus has been 3-dimensional steel and mixed media sculptures. Karman is currently Gallery 4’s President, and her work can also be found there.

To see more photos from the event, check out this Facebook album.