Mike Blake
Chief Information Officer, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts
Board of Directors, HTNG

Michael Blake is the CIO at Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Previously Michael was in the role of VP-Finance-Global Marketing, Brand Standards & IT for Hyatt Corporation. Michael has over 20 years of experience in finance and technology in various roles.  Working with senior leaders throughout Hyatt, Michael is charged with providing strategic leadership and sound perspective that contributes to the management and evolution of Hyatt's global IT functions. He is responsible for driving innovation and supporting revenue growth. Prior to his role with Hyatt, Michael was Senior Vice President of IT for First Data, VP of IT Finance at Kaiser Permanente and Director of IT Finance for Sears, based in Chicago, IL. In each of his roles, he was the highest ranking IT Finance resource and key internal consultant and advisor to national senior leadership teams. Prior to that, Michael was Director of Financial Planning & Analysis for Commerx, a B2B startup, and Director of Financial Planning for United Airlines.  Michael received his MBA Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and his MS Information Technology from Northwestern University.

Pierre Boettner
Vice President of Hospitality Technology & Product Management, Nor1 Inc.

For more than 20 years, Pierre Boettner has been influencing technological innovation in the hospitality industry. He currently is Vice President of Hospitality Technology & Product Management for Nor1. In this role, he is responsible for bringing Nor1’s industry leading up-sell technology to the front desk operations of thousands of hotels worldwide. Prior to joining Nor1, Mr. Boettner worked for Micros Systems, the world’s leading developer of enterprise applications, in various positions including director of product development, Product Manager, and MAC executive. Under his leadership, the company’s integration engine (OXI) grew exponentially to more than 17,000 sites and he successfully introduced the company’s revenue management system to the industry. Additional positions include revenue management consultant for OPTIMS France and Director of Sales for Movenpick Hotels & Restaurants. Mr. Boettner is an esteemed graduate of L’Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne.

Stephen Burke
CTO, Taxeo, SAS

Stephen is based in Paris, France and oversees technology and product development at TAXEO, a company that provides tax-free business travel solutions by automating the process of recovering VAT for travel within the European Union, Switzerland and Norway. Prior to his role at TAXEO, Stephen was head of product development for Knowcross Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a New Delhi, India-based provider of software products that are aimed at enabling high-end hotels to deliver an exceptional overall guest experience. He was the Director of Systems Integration for HBSi, working with distribution and supply interfaces primarily utilizing OpenTravel standards. Stephen was also part of New Orleans-based Hotel Booking Solutions, LLC, where he focused on distribution channel and supply acquisition, as well as partner management. Stephen has served in technology management roles for Diamond Data Systems, Sprint E|Solutions and Tulane University. He has been active in HTNG since 2005, and was part of team that created the Property Distribution v1.0 specification. He has been a member of the HTNG Reference Architecture workgroup since its founding. Stephen is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans. He enjoys adventure travel and spicy cuisine.

Fred Crespo
Director of Technology and Business Development, Samsung, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Group

Samsung Electronics America, Inc., the technology leader and innovator in electronics and telecommunications, has appointed Fred Crespo as Director of Technology and Business Development in the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Group. Samsung’s growing hospitality business caters to the hotel, hospital and cruise industries. In his newly created role at Samsung, Fred Crespo will focus on emerging technologies in the hospitality sector, with a focus on creating and delivering interactive guest room experiences, leveraging Samsung’s leadership in Smart TV and cross-platform connectivity. Fred Crespo was most recently Vice President of Information Technology for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, where he was responsible for overseeing all day-to-day corporate IT operations as well as technical leadership and direction for all Rosewood properties.

Tom Duke
CTO, iBAHN

Tom Duke serves as iBAHN's Chief Technology Officer, responsible for worldwide product development including IPTV, HSIA, Conference & Lobby PC offerings. Additionally, Tom has responsibility for the company's R&D function. Prior to iBAHN, Duke served as chief technology officer for four+ years at Memex Technology, where he was instrumental in developing and delivering real time data management tools. Additional experience includes serving as director of engineering at Sopheon (formerly Orbital), and several years in consultative roles at Andersen Consulting. Based at iBAHN's Centre of Excellence in Stirling, Scotland, Tom is focused on bringing technical innovation to iBAHN's products for the hospitality industry.

Jane Durment
Chief Information Officer, The Marcus Corporation
Secretary, Treasurer Board of Directors, HTNG

Jane Durment is the Chief Information Officer for The Marcus Corporation. The Marcus Corporation is comprised of Marcus Hotels & Resorts and Marcus Theatres, Inc. Marcus Hotels & Resorts owns and manages independent and franchised full service City Center and Resort Hotels throughout the US. Marcus Theatres, Inc. owns and manages the 9th largest Movie Theatre circuit in the US. Jane joined Marcus 10 years ago to take responsibility for a completed refresh of enterprise and property systems and networks, and to develop and launch the company's new E-Commerce, Distribution and Business Intelligence plans. Jane's staff participated in the first HTNG Work Group and is now working as members of the In Room Technology Work Group. As an HTNG Director, Jane has been working with The Open Group on the implementation of the HTNG Certification program. Prior to joining Marcus, Jane had 20+ years of experience working for Technology Vendors, including 10 years in management with Tandem Computers, who brought fault tolerant computers to the market for mission-critical applications. Jane has a Computer Science Degree from the University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana and an MBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Eric Eichensehr
CTO, Life-ware

In 1994, Eric Eichensehr joined Unlimited Solutions, a point-of-sale software company, as Director of Software Development. Eichensehr used his software product knowledge to guide a team of software developers in developing the first Windows-based point-of-sale solutions. Over the following years he defined the architecture and technologies required to develop innovative new point-of-sale systems including the first COM-object model-based point of sale, the first Windows Client/Server distributed subsystems, and the first .NET point of sale. Before co-founding Life|ware, Eichensehr had become Chief Technology Officer for the NSB Group, where he was responsible for defining the technology vision for the group. His responsibilities covered five development organizations in three countries developing a wide variety of products using a vast array of technologies. In 2003 Eichensehr and Seale Moorer co-founded Life|ware®. Eichensehr, as the Chief Technology Officer, defined the technologies and architecture Life|ware would develop to deliver a scalable, distributable, configurable application for home and commercial automation. He and Moorer worked closely to ensure that the products created by Life|ware used the best technologies capable of delivering measurable benefits to the residential and commercial automation, hospitality, healthcare, and mobile marketplaces.

Chris Farrar, Ph.D.
Principal and Senior Analyst, Windrose Analytics, LLC

Dr. Farrar’s career experience includes work in software development, sales, communications, product marketing, product management, marketing, channel management and more. In 2009 he established Windrose Analytics, LLC (www.windroseanalytics.com) to provide decision support research to technology companies in the areas of market analysis, technology productization, intellectual property litigation and mergers and acquisitions. Among Dr. Farrar's most significant experiences was several years spent as the president of a multi-million dollar communications technology company with operations in the U.S. and Asia. Prior to establishing Windrose Analytics he managed a two-tier global distribution channel in a multi-national enterprise of over 1,200 employees. In addition to being the principal of Windrose Analytics, Dr. Farrar works with Glomark-Governan, Inc. as a Senior Executive Consultant. Glomark-Governan is the developer of the Enterprise Value Creation™ methodology and the related Genius™ software tools, which together allow companies to create rigorous and authoritative business cases for technology investments.

Micah Friedman
Director - Hospitality Industry, Oracle Travel, Transportation & Hospitality Industry Business Unit

Mr. Friedman has a career in Hospitality Technology spanning 27 years. In his current role as Director – Hospitality Industry for Oracle Corporation, he is responsible for oversight of Oracle's strategies and offerings to: Lodging, Gaming, Cruise, Car Rental and Travel Distribution. In prior roles, Mr. Friedman has served as an Enterprise Architect working across the Blackstone Group's Real Estate Portfolio (Hilton Worldwide, LXR Luxury Resorts), as well as Management roles at Starwood Hotels & Resorts (Financial Systems Manager, PMS/CRS Property Systems Development - Project Manager) and Ocean Reef Club (Executive Director).

Brennan Gildersleeve is the Director of Global Property Technology at Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, responsible for strategy and standards of critical guest-facing technologies including broadband/Wi-Fi, in-room entertainment, public area computing and meeting room technology. He also serves as the technology liaison to Starwood’s nine global brands, providing highly valued strategic consulting and project delivery support. Prior to his current role, Brennan was Starwood’s Director of Broadband Services, where he helped guide the roll-out of high speed Internet and Wi-Fi networks to Starwood’s properties globally. Brennan began his career in 1994 in restaurant management and in 1998 joined the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen Colorado as the Manager of Food and Beverage. Brennan is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

David Heckaman
VP of Technology Development, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Americas Co-Chair, Infrastructure and Device Forum

David Heckaman has been engaged in the technology and hospitality industries for the past 20 years with the past ten being with Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. He joined the group to lead the technology development aspect of their North American flagship property in New York City. The development of this property placed Mandarin Oriental as a clear international leader in the area of lodging technology. There were numerous technologies that were presented to the world for the first-time when this property opened in 2003. In his current position with Mandarin Oriental he oversees hotel development, technology direction and physical infrastructures. Mr. Heckaman’s technology path started with Stormont Trice Hotels where he was a regional technology manager and participated in hotel development and project management. He later joined Crestline Capital in Bethesda, MD to assist in the creation and growth of Crestline Hotels & Resorts.  Dvaid earned his undergraduate degree in Hotel Management and Development from the University of Central Florida. He has also obtained certifications as a Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD) and a Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA).

Bruce holds global accountability for all business information technology resources.  With 22 years at Marriott, Bruce brings a vast and diverse set of experiences to this role. He was previously Senior Vice President, IR Shared and Application Services, leading the effort to drive sustainable efficiencies within the technical infrastructure that supports the computing resources for Marriott’s worldwide operations. In addition, he directed the development efforts to replace and update the Sales and Marketing, Event Management and Revenue Management systems in order to optimize profits across the total hotel, increase the efficiency of the selling process and enable the delivery of superior events. Beginning his career at Marriott as a Senior Financial Analyst for Development Finance, Bruce has held various finance and accounting roles within the Development, Information Resources, and Lodging functions. He has also held the position of Senior Vice President, Global Revenue Management where he was responsible for developing and leading the company’s worldwide pricing, inventory management and selling strategies. Bruce holds bachelor degrees in mathematics and biology, with a minor in computer science, from Thomas More College, as well as a masters of business administration degree, with concentrations in finance and accounting, from the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University.

Ted Horner
Managing Director, E. Horner & Associates Pty. Ltd.
HTNG Executive Advisor

After graduating with formal qualifications in Catering & Hotel Management from Victoria University in 1976, Ted was involved in the establishment of several companies specializing in supplying technology for the hospitality industry. In 1989, he launched a Consulting Practice specializing in Technology Consulting to the Hospitality Industry which is now recognized as the leader in the Australian market. In 2005 he was awarded his first consulting assignment in Dubai with Jumeirah. In 1995, he launched the first newsletter dedicated to technology in the Hospitality Industry, HTR this was then replaced in 2002 with the launch of Australia's first hospitality technology portal site. In August 1996, he launched the first dedicated Australian Hospitality Technology Conference and Exhibition held in Sydney. In 2004 he was the first non US person to be elected to the HITEC Technology Hall of Fame for his contribution to the advancement of technology in the hospitality industry. In 2002 he was one of the founders of HTNG and is now an executive advisor.

Jon Inge is an independent consultant in hotel technology. He has over 35 years experience with hotel systems, gained through working with both vendor and hotel companies and, for the last fifteen years, through his own consulting practice. Based in Seattle, WA, Mr. Inge works with clients from 8-room hotels to international chains on all aspects of selecting and using property systems. He compiles a bi-weekly e-newsletter on hospitality technology, and his articles appear frequently in the trade press. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences, a former member of the AH&LA Technology Committee and HFTP HITEC Advisory Council, a founder member of the HTNG initiative and a member of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants. In June 2006, he was inducted into the HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame.

David Jackson is Director of Enterprise Architecture & Security for Omni Hotels. He is responsible for scoping, defining, and validating all infrastructure implementation and changes for Omni. He is also a PCI-ISA certified and oversees the company's security and compliance initiatives. Mr. Jackson joined Omni Hotels in November 1992 as an auditor and worked his way up the financial chain to Assistant Director of Finance. In 1996, he changed his career path and joined the Information Technology team as a Regional Manager and has held many roles in route to his current position. Prior to Omni Hotels Mr. Jackson was a member of the United States Navy as a Petty Officer where his core responsibilities included installing and maintaining his ship’s Turbine Engines used for propulsion.

Paul is responsible for developing and overseeing LodgeNet’s product strategy and product-related business development activities. He has been Vice President of Product Management since November of 2007 and a member of the LodgeNet team since 1996. Paul brings a broad range of management and engineering experience in the fields of software engineering and systems development. He has been extensively involved over the last 16 years in working with LodgeNet’s major customers. Paul holds a B.A. from Augustana College in Computer Science and Business Administration.

Dayna L. Kully has over 30 years of experience in sales, channel development, marketing and senior level management, specializing in telecommunications technology for the hospitality and healthcare markets. As VP, Hospitality Business Development at Enseo, a leading provider of digital media solutions for hospitality, Dayna is directly responsible for development of the hospitality vertical. Previously, as Sr. Director Vertical Business Development at Corning MobileAccess, an acclaimed distributed antenna system provider, Dayna positioned the company for success and growth in hospitality and healthcare vertical markets. Prior to Corning MobileAccess, Dayna was the VP, Sales and Marketing for IP3, a broadband gateway supplier specializing in the hospitality market. Earlier in her career, Dayna held sales management positions at Pacific Bell and AT&T, and managed sales, technical and operations teams at GE/RCA and Williams Communications, later joining Nortel Networks’ emerging optical and access group. Dayna later went on to become Vice President of Hospitality Divisions at both Everest Broadband and Mitel Networks. Prior to this, Dayna co-founded Brautovich/Kully, a product marketing firm. Dayna holds a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Monika Nerger
Chief Information Officer, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Board of Directors, HTNG

Monika Nerger joined Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in 2006 as Vice President of Technology, the Americas, and was promoted to global Chief Information Officer in 2011. Prior to Mandarin Oriental, Monika worked internationally with Pan Pacific Hotels, KPMG Consulting, Advanced BusinessLink and Royal Caribbean Cruise lines. As a writer and consultant, she has published several articles on subjects ranging from legacy application modernization, CRM in the gaming industry, to the use of satellite communications onboard cruise ships. She holds a Masters Degree in Business as well as an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, and is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. Monika has a keen interest in working with and mentoring the next generation of hospitality technologists. Be prepared to debate whether technology in our industry is evolutionary or revolutionary!

Vanessa Ogle founded Enseo in 2000 and has led the company to become the preferred digital media platform for North America’s largest hospitality groups and digital signage solutions. An active member of HTNG and other industry organizations, Ogle understands what technology is needed to create a five-star in-room entertainment experience in any hotel. Ogle previously served as the Vice President and General Manager of 3dfx Interactive, a publicly traded California Corporation in the business of 3D graphics and entertainment products. In the ten years prior, Ogle held various sales, marketing and management roles with STB Systems, a publicly traded Texas Corporation focused on the design and manufacture of high-end graphics and video adapters. Ogle graduated from the University of Texas in Austin earning her BBA in International Business and Marketing and a BA in Spanish, specializing in language and culture.

Mike Olson is vice president of commercial products and vertical markets for DIRECTV, one of the world's leading providers of digital television entertainment services. In this role, Olson is responsible for creating programs and products that support the sale of DIRECTV services to customers in apartments, hotels, large business developments and other commercial and government institutions that require centrally-wired signal distribution systems and specialized programming packages. Olson joined DIRECTV in 2009 from M&L Holdings, where he was the co-founder and managing director.  In this role, Olson led merger and acquisition plans resulting in three successful acquisitions of fibre to the home (FTTH) residential and commercial triple play networks.  Additionally, Olson led the company's operations and business development focused on new business creation and the implementation of a sales bundle that increased MDU consumer subscriber value over 500 percent.  Prior to M&L, Olson served as vice president of worldwide sales and distribution channels for Verlink Corp.  There, he led the sales planning and launch of a new program that resulted in first-of-its-kind voice over internet protocol (VOIP) deployments. Olson also served as COO of Convergent Communications, a publicly traded DLEC and was the Vice President for Wholesale Operations at US West Communications prior to its acquisition by Qwest.  Olson holds a bachelor's degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN as well as a master of business administration from Northwestern University.  He is based at DIRECTV's El Segundo CA, headquarters.

Christian Palomino manages an international team responsible for the provision of Voice and Data Networks Services to the Group, Guest Internet Access Services to hotels, as well as managing the corporate networks infrastructure.  He is also responsible for the Information Security Management Team.  Christian started his career at Meliá in 1999 as an IT System Analysts and in 2002 he started the development of the Information Security function in the Group, later he took responsibility over voice and data networks infrastructures in 2007 with the mission to align its delivery to the Shared Services strategy of the group.  Christian is also co-chair of the HTNG Secure Payments Framework Workgroup and also participates at ISACA as Chair of the CISM certification Test Enhancement Subcommittee, contributes to the development of COBIT 5 Security and the revision of the CGEIT certification contents.

Ray is responsible for managing Amadeus’ Hotel IT account management and sales activities for the Americas, focusing on strategic businesses initiatives including partnership, growth, strategic consulting, and program enhancements. Ray’s experience in the travel industry spans 30 years, including 12 years with Continental Airlines in various senior management capacities, developing and managing airport operations programs across the U.S. and Canada. Ray also spent 10 years with American Express, providing critical account management support and consulting to the largest enterprise corporate customers with their corporate travel, corporate card and purchasing card solutions.

Jim Peterson is Senior Vice President, Information Resources, Technology Strategy and Enterprise Architecture for Marriott International, Inc. In this role, Jim provides strategic leadership in the establishment of and adherence to a comprehensive strategy and framework and approach to the development of our information technology based products and services to support all of Marriott International's businesses. Working both as an independent consultant and a corporate technology executive, Jim has led the development of information technology plans, systems and processes to meet the strategic, global business objectives of large corporations including Georgia-Pacific, Pillsbury/Grand Met's U.S. and European based businesses, Target Corporation, Tyco International and Fortune 100 level multi-national companies. He is a former partner and CPA for Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers). Jim is a graduate of St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Business Administration.

Nick Price
CEO, NetSys Technology
HTNG Executive Advisor

Nick Price is CEO of NetSys Technology a software development and technology consulting company focussing on the hospitality and travel sectors. Prior to starting NetSys in mid-2011, Nick worked for twelve years as Chief Information and Technology Officer at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group where he was instrumental in moving the hotel industry’s technology focus from the front desk to the guest room. Nick is an inductee in the HFTP (Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) Hall of Fame, a co-founder and past-president of HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation) and a board member of Swisscom Hospitality Services. Nick, a UK national, is a global traveller and has lived in Hong Kong since 1995.

Kevin Quinlivan is in the newly created position of Chief Information Officer of Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue and 55,000 employees, it is one of the largest privately held companies in the world. Quinlivan has responsibility for information systems, infrastructure services, information technology (IT), project and relationship management, operations support and information security and oversees Delaware North’s IT Department of more than 50 professionals. He came to Delaware North with global IT experience from companies such as Digital Equipment Corporation, Quantum Corporation, Schick Wilkinson Sword, where he served as Vice President/Chief Information Officer, and Norwegian Cruise Line, where he was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. He is a graduate of Worcester State College with a master’s degree in computer science.

Douglas Rice is a founder of Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG), and became its first permanent Executive Director in September 2004, and assumed his current position in January 2007.  He reports to HTNG's board of directors.  His prior experience includes ten years as President of Stratus Management Group, Inc., a leading consulting firm focusing on hotel technology, marketing, and operational issues; eight years as managing consultant and Vice President at The Graycon Group, Inc. (predecessor company to TravelCLICK); four years in various market management positions at United Airlines; and six years as senior economist and consultant at Data Resources, Inc., and Wharton Econometrics (both now part of GlobalInsight).  Douglas earned his Bachelors degree with highest distinction in Economics and distinction in Mathematics at Dartmouth College.  He earned his Masters in Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he was awarded top honors as a George F. Baker Scholar.

Bill Rosenberg
Senior Manager, Electronic Interfaces, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

Bill Rosenberg has worked at Starwood in Denver for over 8 years responsible for technology ranging from kiosk and mobile solutions to electronic data interfaces using the latest HTNG web services. He also plays are major role in the architecture and development of Starwood’s Property Management System, LightSpeed. Bill has been involved in many HTNG workgroups such as Protocol and Message Transport, Co-Chair of the Guest and Room Status Messaging, Co-Chair of the Folio Transport and plays a role in the Intelligent Guest Room workgroup. Prior to joining Starwood, Bill has worked in the telecommunications and financial data field in New York.

Markus Satterfield
Vice President, Chief Technology & Security Officer, Hilton Worldwide
Board of Directors, HTNG

Markus Satterfield is Vice President, Chief Technology & Security Officer for Hilton Worldwide. He was named to this position in December 2010. Mr. Satterfield is responsible for globally developing and managing the technology strategic planning, enterprise architecture, enterprise software management, corporate systems, security and compliance for Hilton Worldwide. Prior to joining Hilton Worldwide, since 1998, Mr. Satterfield had served as Senior Vice President, Office of the CTO for Equifax from 2004 to 2010, providing leadership for global technology strategic planning, enterprise architecture, security and governance, research and development, enterprise software management and technology communication. His prior experience included enterprise architecture for GTE/Verizon, IT management at MCI, where he was instrumental in delivering programs like "Friends and Family" and IT architecture consulting for various clients including the National Security Agency and the Departments of Labor, State and Agriculture. Mr. Satterfield is a Computer Science graduate of University of Maryland.

Auden Schendler is Vice President of Sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company. He worked previously in corporate sustainability at Rocky Mountain Institute. Auden has been a trailer insulator, burger flipper, ambulance medic, Outward Bound instructor, high school math and English teacher, freelance writer, and Forest Service goose nest island builder. An avid outdoorsman, Auden has climbed Denali, North America’s highest peak, and kayaked the Grand Canyon in winter. His writing has been published in Harvard Business Review, the L.A. Times, Slate, Scientific American Earth 3.0, and Salon.com, and his work has been covered in Outside, Fast Company, Travel and Leisure and Businessweek. In 2006, Auden was named a global warming innovator by Time magazine. He has also been named a Wirth Chair “Pioneer of the New Energy Economy” by the University of Colorado, a “Climate Saver” by the EPA, and an E-chievement award winner by the radio show E-town. Auden has testified to congress on the impacts of climate change and speaks widely on sustainability. His book Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution was called “an antidote to greenwash” by NASA’s James Hansen. He lives in Basalt, Colorado with his wife Ellen and their children Willa and Elias--who call him a "stupid global warming guy.”

Neil Schubert
Vice President, IT Strategy - Marriott International
Americas Co-Chair, HTNG Infrastructure & Device Forum

Neil plays a major role in the determination of which technologies and applications will be used in Marriott beyond the traditional 3-year planning horizon. Neil joined Marriott's Information Resources (IR) division in 1996 after eight years with Renaissance Hotels. Neil is a 25 year Hospitality technology industry professional. He has held a variety of roles in IT leadership, application development, network and operations support. Marriott International, Inc., is a leading worldwide hospitality company with over 2,700 operating units in the US and 64 other countries and territories. Marriott's lodging business includes hotels and vacation ownership (timeshare) resorts operated and franchised under the Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, and Marriott Vacation Club International brands. The company is headquartered in Washington, DC and has approximately 128,000 associates.

Mr. Simpson joined VideoPropulsion in 2007 and serves as Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Broadcast Gateways Division in Saratoga, CA. Mr. Simpson provides leadership in technology direction, strategic partnerships, and business development. Mr. Simpson spent a total of 10 years at On Command Corporation with his final position being Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Other positions at On Command included Senior Vice President Engineering & Operations and Vice President Operations. Prior to On Command Corporation, Mr. Simpson founded a company focused on Home gateway technology and served on the Texas Technology Council - Governor George Bush's initiative to develop technology companies in Texas. Earlier Mr. Simpson served as Division Manager of Electrospace Systems, Inc. (a $450M Military Electronics Manufacturing subsidiary of Chrysler Corporation) with responsibilities for operations, engineering and business development. Mr. Simpson holds a BS Industrial Engineering from Texas Tech University. Mr. Simpson is active in Silicon Valley area High School USFirst Robotics programs serving as Chairman and Mentor for several local teams.

Morris Sim is Co-Founder and CEO of Circos Brand Karma, the leading full-service business solution that protects the value and cultivates the potential of brands. Hoteliers around the world use Brand Karma to increase conversion and distribution, as well as to operationally improve guest satisfaction and loyalty. Founded in 2006, Circos has offices in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Passionate about technology and marketing, Morris has been identifying and applying innovative trends to improve business performance for the last 20 years. As a Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft, Morris developed communities and social networks from 2002-2005 to improve Microsoft’s brand perceptions and market share worldwide. Prior to that, he served as the Chief Technology Officer of PoloRalphLauren.com, the first ecommerce site from a major design/retail shop, now a thriving and profitable business with more than 1M customers per year. His career began at Microsoft, where he was responsible for designing end-user features and launching Microsoft Access 1.0, the first mass market Windows database program. Morris is a graduate of Stanford University.

Bryan is the founder and Managing Director of Jireh-Tek Limited, an IT consultancy established in February 2006 with a strong focus on the hospitality sector. He has 20 years of international IT and business experience gained in a number of sectors: FMCG, Speciality Chemicals, Internet and Hospitality. Bryan is a Director of the Hospitality Professionals Association and chairs HOPA’s IT Committee. He was the first European member of the Hotel Technology Next Generation Board and continues to work with the Board as an Executive Advisor. He is actively involved with HTNG’s Integration and Device Forum in which he has chaired a number of workgroups specifying standard industry solutions. Bryan was a founding member of the Micros Fidelio Opera User Group, which he chaired from 2002 to 2006. Bryan was the Director of IT from 2002 to 2006 at Thistle & Guoman Hotels, where he had responsibility for all Information and Communication Technology. Before joining Thistle Hotels, he was the European IT Director of CMGI Inc. which incubated a number of .com companies. Prior to that, he held a number of senior IT and engineering management roles within Unilever plc over a 19 year period.

David Straitiff is responsible for product strategy at Enseo, a leading provider of Digital Media Controllers which are used in more than two million hotel rooms, digital signage systems and stadiums worldwide. Enseo products sell in the form of Set Top Boxes, Set Back Boxes, and Integrated Media Players. Prior to joining Enseo, he served as CTO of Lorica Solutions, a hospitality industry converged network provider. David has several technology start-ups under his belt and brings over 25 years experience in the computer and telecommunications industries. As a member since 2005 of the Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) Infrastructure and Device Forum and its predecessor, he has help define standards for the interoperability of in-room devices serving as Co-Chairman of the Device Control Integration Workgroup. During his tenure in hospitality, he has become an evangelist for converged networks leading the design and installation of a number of properties that incorporate IPTV, telephony and data on a single IP network. David also helped define the Marriott International Clearsky Network design leading the development of the first certified solution and pilot property deployment.

With more than 30 years of experience in the wireless and telecommunications industry, Mr. Vest directs all aspects of the ExteNet’s business development policies, objectives and key initiatives related to in-building antenna system networks. His background includes expertise in engineering, design, and deployment of wireless access and transport networks for domestic and international markets, as well as business development, merger and acquisition successes in the wireless industry. Prior to joining ExteNet, Mr. Vest was President and founder of Wireless Inside, focused on designing, building, and owning Indoor Commercial Wireless Networks. Mr. Vest holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Methodist University and is a member of the IEEE Communications Society.

Yvette Vincent has over 25 years in the IT industry with the past 15 at Delaware North Companies Inc., a privately held international hospitality management company.  She has responsibility for IT management of applications and data architectures for CRES, PMS, Catering, POS, ERP and other hotel systems.  Yvette is working on several integration opportunities that span DNC wide technologies to meet business needs related to guest service, revenue enhancement, and productivity.  She previously co-chaired the HTNG property web services work-group and is now co-chair of the Software Forum, Hosted Payment Capture Systems Workgroup, and Secure Payments Framework Workgrou.  Prior to joining DNC, Yvette was responsible for custom systems at National Fuel Gas and a privately owned medical company.  She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY with a marketing focused MBA.  Yvette lives in Western New York with her husband and two children, and still ballroom dances and cycles when time permits.

Richard E. Wagner is currently Director, Emerging Technologies for Marriott International, Inc. In this position, he is responsible for the evaluation and recommendation of emerging communication technologies that could be deployed at all of the Marriott Hotel Brands. Prior to joining Marriott, Mr. Wagner held similar network management positions for an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and a Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). He also spent five years as a Messaging Integration Consultant working on Fortune 500 accounts for Digital Equipment Corporation, and held management positions in software development for Citicorp and Mitre Corporation. Mr. Wagner holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MSEE in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Cathy Zatloukal is the founder of 5thGenWireless, strategic investment planning for everything wireless. She specializes in investigation of new wireless technologies, and provides evaluation and advice to senior management in long-term planning for premise based wireless networks. Her area of focus includes new technologies such as femtocells, HSPA+/LTE and WiFi. Ms. Zatloukal formerly was CEO of MobileAccess (acquired by Corning in March 2011), an in-building cellular solution provider. In this role, she worked with leading hospitals, hotels, and universities as well as the carrier community to map out new cost effective solutions and business models for premise based wireless networks. Previously she was the General Manager with Hughes Network Systems working on the conceptualization and development of converged picocell solution for enterprises. Prior to Hughes Network Systems, she was Executive Director of Product Management for Lucent responsible for the development and launch of CDMA switching and RAN product lines. Ms Zatloukal’s focus is working with an enterprise to assess the impact of the Mobile Internet 3.0 on their business today and going forward. Factoring the changes created by the Mobile Internet 3.0 transition into a comprehensive infrastructure investment strategy for broadband across multiple access networks. Ms Zatloukal holds a BS in Mathematics from Marshall University. She is a member of the Hotel Technology Next Generation. She is also the recipient of 2 US patents.

Michael Zetterlund
CTO R&D - Nordic Choice Hotels
European Co-Chair, Infrastructure and Device Forum

Michael Zetterlund has 15 years of IT experience working with various customers in primarily the offshore and hospitality business before joining Choice Hotels Scandinavia (now Nordic Choice Hotels) in 2000. He is currently working as CTO R&D and is responsible for developing and integrating new products. Current projects overseen by Michael are Energy Zones (interfaced HVAC systems managed by Cenium PMS , including a unique 7-day prognosis for maximum efficiency), Check in/out kiosks, RFID based in-house micro payment and Microsoft Surface based “virtual concierge”. Nordic Choice Hotels currently operates 165+ hotels in Scandinavia, Finland and the Baltics ranging from bed & breakfast to five star resorts.