Longtime Station Casinos spokeswoman Lori Nelson-Kraft is leaving the Las Vegas-based gaming company to join the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority as the organization’s senior vice president of communications and government affairs.
LVCVA CEO Steve Hill announced the appointment Tuesday during the organization’s monthly board meeting. The LVCVA is the official destination marketing organization of Southern Nevada, promoting tourism, the casino industry, conventions, meetings and special events.
Lori Nelson
“We are excited Lori is joining our team,” Hill said in a statement. “Her depth of experience in gaming and tourism, and her deep roots in the community, will be an incredible asset to our organization.”
Nelson-Kraft, 48, spent 14 years with Station Casinos, which is now the operating arm of Red Rock Resorts. Currently vice president of corporate communications, Nelson joined the company after six years with R&R Partners, one of Nevada’s largest marketing firms.
A native of Detroit and a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, Nelson-Kraft is well-recognized in Southern Nevada and Station Casinos’ markets as one of the gaming industry’s leading spokespersons. She worked closely with Station Casinos’ owners and key executives, Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta.
During her time with Station Casinos, she oversaw communication strategies when the publicly traded company was taken private through a buyout. Nelson-Kraft also guided the company’s communications efforts during its two-year bankruptcy reorganization that ended in 2011.
Nelson-Kraft also planned the communications efforts for the openings of Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Aliante Station in North Las Vegas, Gun Lake Casino in Michigan and the Graton Rancheria in Northern California. She also handled communications for numerous master-planned expansions of Station Casinos properties.
She said the opportunity to work with Hill, who became CEO of the LVCVA last summer, and the opportunity to manage the organization’s government affairs program, were key to her making the change.
“I was drawn to Steve Hill and the board’s vision for the LVCVA and am thrilled to be a small part of helping bring it to fruition,” Nelson-Kraft said. “It’s not lost on me that all of my career experiences the past 24 years, from having worked at R&R Partners on behalf of the LVCVA and with Frank and Lorenzo at Station Casinos, have prepared me for this incredible career opportunity.”
Outside of Station Casinos, Nelson-Kraft is a member of the executive board of trustees for the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board for Noah’s Animal House, a Nevada-based charity that created shelter facilities allowing victims of domestic violence to keep their pets.
Former Governor Brian Sandoval appointed Nelson-Kraft as a member of the Governor’s Commission for the Nevada Sesquicentennial/150th celebration, where she served from 2012-15. While with R&R Partners, Nelson-Kraft handled communications outreach for the City of Las Vegas’ Centennial Birthday celebration in 2005.
She begins her position with the LVCVA on May 13.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
