NEWH - Spring 2011 - (Page 18)

conference roundup Keynote speaker Raul Leal, Virgin Hotels Mike Ward, Marriott Vacation Club; Philip Byrne, Wool Solutions, Inc.; Trisha Poole, Design Poole, Inc.; and Deborah Herman, Fabric Innovations Mark Linch, West Paces Hotel Group; Tom Trout, Carlson; Stacey Greene, Inland American Lodging Corp.; and Ron Kollar, Tishman Hotel Corporation Catching the Wave Robert Brown, RBF Group, and George Scammell, Wyndham Worldwide R Joyce Romanoff, Maya Romanoff, and Mitch Parker, the Parker Company oughly 200 hospitality professionals attended the bi-annual NEWH Leadership Conference in January at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort Hotel & Conference Center at Universal Orlando. Dubbed “Catch the Wave,” the three-day event featured a tradeshow showcasing the best products in the industry, a conference filled with veteran and leadership-inspiring speakers, and fun-filled networking events. Highlights include the opening keynote speech by Raul Leal, who discussed the revolutionary vision of the newly formed Virgin Hotels; an in-depth look at the branding and creation of the award-winning Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee by owner Tim Dixon and Brigette Breitenbach; Hospitality Design (HD) magazine’s Owners Roundtable, where attendees speed dated with 18 key senior hotel design and purchasing executives from around the U.S.; “America’s small talk expert” Don Gabor’s amusing speech on real-life networking techniques and skills; a special behind-the-scenes presentation by Universal’s Theirry Coup on the creation and construction of the entire Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme area at Universal; and a closing presentation by Adrienne Pumphrey on the new groundbreaking green-from-the-ground-up Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites concept. Other breakout sessions covered social media, personal branding, sustainable purchasing and design, the sustainable impact on ecology, specification writing, and running a volunteer organization like NEWH. “Thank you for putting together such a great program and allowing me to be part of it,” says Ken Koneck, public affairs manager, Valley Forge Fabrics. On Saturday night, attendees had the chance to tour and ride Universal’s Harry Potter Experience and attend an awards dinner banquet at Rising Star at Universal’s CityWalk where Lynda Sullivan of jlf/lone meadow and David Mahood of Olive Designs were honored with the NEWH Award of Excellence for their dedication and service to the organization (see page 4 for more information). Six of NEWH’s recent college scholarship recipients also shared how NEWH and its grants to students have changed both their student and professional lives. >>>>>> The next NEWH Leadership Conference will take place in San Francisco in January of 2013. 18 spring 2011 www.newh.org tel 800.593.NEWH http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - Spring 2011

NEWH-Spring 2011
Table of Contents
Chapter and NEWH News
Who’s Who
Sustainability: Competition
Sustainability: Point of View
Conference: Preview
Conference: Roundup
Design 101
Have you Seen?
Product Know-How
On the Scene
Cover Story
Project: Montage Deer Valley
Project: Courtyard Marriott
Project: Andaz
Save the Date
New Members
Partner Profiles

NEWH - Spring 2011