Trudy Rautio, who became CEO of the Carlson Companies last summer, took a low profile during the company’s full-service hotel conference last week at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago.

　　CHICAGO—Trudy Rautio, who became CEO of the Carlson Companies last summer, took a low profile during the company’s full-service hotel conference last week at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel Chicago.

　　While she oversees the hotel, restaurant and travel management aspects of the business, the executives of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group took center stage during the conference.

　　That doesn’t mean Rautio was in hiding. She was visibly mingling with the more than 500 attendees throughout the conference and had meaningful discussions with a number of the media members present.

　　Rautio, who has been with Carlson for 15 years, declined to sit down for an official interview but agreed to answer a series of questions via email. Following is an excerpt of that exchange:

　　Reporter： Carlson has undergone a dramatic change during the past 10 years in terms of becoming a true global company with the influx of executives from Europe. How does that enhance Carlson Rezidor’s position?

　　Rautio: “Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest and most dynamic hotel groups. The portfolio of the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group includes more than 1,300 hotels in operation and under development. With that kind of global footprint, which spans 100 countries and territories, it allows us to develop deeper relationships in other parts of the world, which is essential to growing our business. We have leaders from around the world. They understand their markets as well as the international traveler’s needs and preferences. It strengthens us as an international hospitality company.”

　　Reporter： Hubert Joly spearheaded the Ambition 2015 program for Carlson Rezidor in 2010. Can you please give a brief description of what that program entails, and where it stands with two more years left before the clock strikes 2015?

　　Rautio: “Ambition 2015 really helped to create discipline in the company and instill better business processes around three easy-to-define objectives: to be the No. 1 company to work for, the No. 1 company to invest with and to create segment leading brands. We planned to grow the company"s hotel portfolio by 50%, reaching 1,500 hotels in operation or under development by 2015. As I said earlier, we have made great progress against these objectives to date.