Monday February 25 - Tuesday February 26 - Wednesday February 27

Agenda at a Glance

Monday February 25 - Tuesday February 26 - Wednesday February 27

7:45am - 9:30pm

Registration Open

Grand Foyer

8:00am - 9:00am

Continental Breakfast

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

            Sponsored by:

9:00am - 9:15am

Welcome Remarks

Grand Ballroom III

Speaker:  Barry L. Shuler, Senior VP & CTO, Marriott International and CIO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; and President, HTNG

9:15am - 10:30am

Thought Leadership Program

The CIO Agenda: Learning from the Consumer

Grand Ballroom III

What can the hospitality business learn from leading CIOs, from disruptive innovators in other industries, and most importantly, from the consumer? This one-hour interactive session will provide an in-depth look inside the minds of leading CIOs, and at how innovative companies are leveraging IT for business advantage in a hyper-competitive, consumer-driven global marketplace. Some specific topics to be covered include "How The CIO Role is Changing," "Channeling Disruptive Innovation," "Web 2.0 and the Consumer," "Leveraging Commodity IT Services," and "I've Checked In... Now Just Show Me How The Thermostat Works!"

Speaker:  Dave Margulius, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Insight

10:30am - 11:10am

Coffee Break

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

      Sponsored by:

11:10am - 11:35am

HTNG Annual Meeting

Grand Ballroom III

The official annual meeting of HTNG, with a summary annual report to the members.

Presiding:  Barry L. Shuler, Senior VP & CTO, Marriott International and CIO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; and President, HTNG

Speaker:  Douglas Rice, Executive Vice President & CEO, HTNG

11:35am - 12:05pm

Workgroup Update:  Architecture

Grand Ballroom III

Members of the Architecture Workgroup will update their progress in developing an industry architecture for hospitality.

Speakers: 

Stephen Burke, Vice President-Product Management, Knowcross Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (workgroup chair)

Bill Peer, Director, Enterprise Architecture, InterContinental Hotels Group

12:05pm - 12:30pm

Workgroup Update:  Property/Distribution Solution

Grand Ballroom III

Members of the Property/Distribution Solution Workgroup will report on the "version 2.0" specification that will underpin the HTNG 2008A certification version.

Speakers: 

Lew J. Harasymiw, Esq., Director of Interface Solutions, SynXis (Co-Chair, Message Definition Team)

Francesca Pasetti, Senior Product Manager for Interfaces, Trust International Hotel Reservation Services GmbH (Co-Chair, Message Definition Team)

12:30pm - 2:00pm

Lunch

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

            Sponsored by:

1:15pm - 1:45pm

Optional Prearranged Private Meetings

Grand Foyer

2:00pm - 3:00pm

Thought Leadership Program

Joint Deployment, Service and Support Models:  Hotel in a Box

Grand Ballroom III

Opening one new hotel every day, IT organization of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) faces a complex challenge of integrating systems from multiple vendors to support increasingly technology-dependent brand standards, while creating owner-attractive TCO programs. The company needed an easily repeatable process for deployment efficiency and long-term support, and asked IBM to expand its existing relationship of PMS deployment and network provisioning to deliver and support a "Hotel in a Box." Under this concept, owners sign fewer contracts and get core technology services (PMS, PBX, network, HSIA, call accounting, voice messaging, door locks, etc.) managed by a single vendor. This session, organized by IHG in collaboration with IBM and vendors participating in the managed services, will explore the opportunity, benefits, and challenges of this ground-breaking approach.

Speakers: 

Gustaaf Schrils, VP Hotel Technology and Services, InterContinental Hotels Group

Raul Arce, VP Transportation & Hospitality, IBM Corporation

3:00pm - 3:40pm

Break

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit area Open

          Sponsored by:

3:40pm - 3:50pm

Workgroup Briefing:  Payment Systems & Data Security

Grand Ballroom III

Members of the newest HTNG workgroup will outline the goals and objectives identified at their kickoff meeting in January.

Speaker: 

Alan Lubitz, Chief Information Officer, Planet Payment (workgroup chair)

3:50pm - 4:10pm

Leadership Awards

Grand Ballroom III

HTNG will recognize the workgroup members voted on by their colleagues as having contributed the most to their workgroup's progress and success in 2007.

4:10pm -5:10pm

Thought Leadership Program

The Changing Face of Data Protection

Grand Ballroom III

Data protection can be seen as a potential minefield for companies which operate on a world wide basis.  Businesses with global headquarters in the United States can find aspects of the European legislation, such as the prohibitions on transborder data flows or the different rules for marketing by different methods, present a confusing picture.  In this session the basis of the EU laws, their application and the practical steps required by those in the hotel industry will be reviewed and explored in a non-legalistic and approachable way. 

Speaker:

Rosemary Jay, Partner, Outsourcing, Technology & Commercial Group, Pinsent Masons, and National Head of Information Law

Grand Ballroom I & II

Grand Foyer

6:30pm - 7:30pm

Cocktail Reception

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

            Sponsored by:

7:30pm - 9:30pm

Networking Dinner

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

                            Sponsored by:

8:00am - 5:00pm

Registration Open

Grand Foyer

8:00am - 9:00am

Continental Breakfast

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

          
Sponsored by:

Grand Foyer

9:00am - 10:15am

Thought Leadership Program

Converged Networks:  Now We're Doing More than Just Talking

Grand Ballroom III

Over the past few years, converged networks have been on the minds and even the drawing boards of many hotelier CIOs and CTOs. But there are many ways to design, implement and operate them. This session will review what Marriott International has done with key industry partners to implement converged networks, A cornerstone of this work is a concept called "LAN Service Provider," or LSP – a one-stop shop for the hotelier for design, installation, and operation of a converged network.  Within just the past month, two new Marriott properties have opened up in North America that are both models for next generation network strategies at Marriott.  The Renaissance Boston Waterfront hotel, a managed, full service hotel, is Marriott's pilot hotel for their project "Clear Sky", a service and support model for a utility network model.  Also opened this month is the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel, a franchise property operated by PCH Hotels & Resorts.  This project is a full triple play network of voice, video and data.  Lastly, Marriott's primary supplier of converged network services for Asia Pacific, Maginet, will also be present on this panel, and Marriott's Asia Pacific region has been leading the charge for guest facing IP triple play services at Marriott. Although there are disparate vendors and solutions, the challenges and opportunities are surprisingly similar.  Experts from Marriott, PCH Hotels, and key participating vendors will hold you spellbound with the stories of their challenges and learnings as Marriott and their partners strive for converged network services.

Speakers:

Edward Goldman, VP IT Strategy, Marriott International

Dale Lay, Sales Director, AT&T Application Services

Thomas Pullen, VP of IP Video-on-Demand, Guest-Tek

Gregory Rutledge, EVP & Head of Engineering, inter-Touch Pte. Ltd.

Neil Schubert, VP IT Strategy, Marriott International

Barry Shuler, Senior VP & CTO, Marriott International

David Straitiff, CTO, Lorica Solutions

Richard Wagner, Director of Network Architecture & Planning, Marriott International

Scott Watts, Corporate Director of Information Technology, PCH Hotels and Resorts, Inc.

Workgroup Briefing:  Distribution Content Management

Grand Ballroom III

A member of the workgroup will report on the nearly completed specification for publishing and subscribing to rich media content within distribution channels.

Speaker:

Victor Vargas, Director of Product Management, AltiusPAR

10:25am - 11:05am

Coffee Break

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

   Sponsored by:

11:05am - 11:30am

Certification Update

Grand Ballroom III

An overview of the HTNG certification program, progress in the last year, and future directions.  This session will review the meaning of certification for both buyers and sellers of technology products; will provide an overview of HTNG product specifications currently available for certification and those planned for 2008; will explain how a buyer can determine whether two certified products will “plug and play” nicely; and will discuss HTNG’s future directions for certification vis-à-vis industry requirements and existing standards bodies.

Speaker: 

Douglas Rice, EVP & CEO, HTNG

11:30am - 12:30pm

Thought Leadership Program

Unified Communications

Grand Ballroom III

Unified Communications delivers a rich, intuitive, and seamless platform that enhances productivity and collaboration by streamlining how people communicate both at work and in their leisure time.  A Unified Communications platform spans such diverse modalities of communications as e-mail, voicemail and unified messaging; presence and instant messaging; audio, video, and web conferencing; and voice.  In addition, a Unified Communications platform also provides devices to manage these modalities and make it a seamless user experience across the enterprise and property, enabling such diverse groups as employees and property guests. Key focus areas include providing unified communications with enterprise grade availability, reliability, and security. The goal of Unified Communications is to enable customers to replace complex and conflicting “silo” systems with a single, unified communications platform that leverages their existing data and telecommunications infrastructure.

Speaker: 

Eric Swift, Senior Director, Unified Communication Group, Microsoft Corporation

12:30pm - 1:50pm

Lunch

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

   Sponsored by:

1:15pm - 1:45pm

Prearranged Optional Private Meetings

Grand Foyer

1:50pm - 3:15pm

Workgroup Update: Property Web Services

Grand Ballroom III

Members of the Property Web Services Workgroup will report on efforts including back office integration, digital signage, guest self service, identity compliance, open data exchange, single guest itinerary, and the HTNG web services framework - many of which will be included in the 2008A certification specification.

Speakers: 

Yvette Vincent, Director of Applications, Delaware North Companies, Inc. (workgroup co-chair)

Brian Alessi, eBusiness Analyst, Delaware North Companies, Inc.

T. Paul Armstrong, Executive VP & CTO, MICROS Systems, Inc.

Brigitte Diem-Guy, General Manager, SpaSoft, PAR Springer-Miller Systems

Bill Euler, President, PAS

Sophie Grigg, Vice President, Advanced Product Technologies, Par Springer-Miller Systems (team chair, Protocol & Message Architecture)

Markus Leibundgut, Chief Technology Officer, MenuLogic

Neil Schubert, Vice President, IT Strategy, Marriott International

3:15pm - 3:45pm

Break

Grand Ballroom I & II - Exhibit Area Open

3:45pm - 4:45pm

Workgroup Briefing:  In-Room Technology

Grand Ballroom III

Members of the largest HTNG workgroup will review progress on next-generation telephony, media content, application and device integration, in-room guest controls, and infrastructure

Speakers: 

Monika Nerger, Vice President - The Americas, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (co-chair)

Neil Schubert, Vice President, IT Strategy, Marriott International (co-chair)

Chris Farrar, President, Percipia Networks (chair, IP Telephony team)

Greg Pasetta, COO, Tangerine Global (chair, Media Content team)

David Straitiff, CTO, Lorica Solutions (chair, In-Room Guest Controls team)

Bryan Steele, Consultant to eTV Interactive (chair, Applications & Device Integration team)

Richard Wagner, Director of Network Architecture & Planning, Marriott International (chair, Infrastructure team)

4:45pm - 5:00pm

Closing Remarks

Grand Ballroom III

A final opportunity for questions, a brief overview of upcoming HTNG initiatives, and concluding remarks.

Speakers:

Barry Shuler, Senior VP & CTO, Marriott International; CIO, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; and President, HTNG

Douglas Rice, Executive VP & CEO, HTNG

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