CHICAGO (July 3, 2007) – Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) announced the election of two new board members.  Thomas R. Peck Jr., Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for MGM MIRAGE, and Todd N. Thompson, Chief Information Officer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., were elected at the June 29 board meeting, filling two vacancies and restoring the board to its maximum size of ten senior hotel technology executives.  

“We are delighted to gain the experience, perspective and commitment of these two exceptional individuals,” said Barry Shuler, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of Marriott International, Inc., who also serves as the current President of HTNG.  “Tom Peck and Todd Thompson both bring important perspectives from a wide range of technology leadership positions spanning several industries, as well as travel and hospitality.  We have also seen their commitment to active involvement by their companies in various HTNG efforts, which is critical to our success.”

Commenting on his appointment, Tom Peck said “MGM MIRAGE is committed to using standards-based technology wherever we can.  HTNG is the key organization in the hospitality industry that is driving the adoption of existing standards and helping to create new ones.  I look forward to helping HTNG accomplish its mission of simplifying the integration, deployment, and management of the technologies that we need.”

Peck joined MGM MIRAGE as CIO in March 2006, following eight years at the General Electric Company (GE), most recently as Executive Vice President and CIO for NBC Universal’s global entertainment business, encompassing Television, Universal Pictures, Home Video, Studio Operations, and Theme Parks and Resorts.  He is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, has graduated from several of GE’s executive training programs, and is a published author.

Todd Thompson, based in suburban New York City, joined Starwood as CIO in late 2006.  Todd has 25 years of experience in technology, including system development and implementation, program management, business process reengineering, and IT executive management.  Most recently, he served as CIO of JetBlue, a company that has been widely recognized as a technology innovator in the airline industry.

“We need our technology vendors to work better together if they are going to meet Starwood’s needs, and HTNG is playing an important role in that process,” said Thompson.  “At the same time, as an industry we need to communicate with a common voice about technology to our hotel owners, to ensure that the building design and capital budgeting process incorporate critical elements for deploying and managing next-generation technologies.  I believe that HTNG has the vision to carry this mission forward, and will involve key people in the Starwood technology organization in HTNG’s efforts to benefit our guests, associates, and owners.”

HTNG’s board of directors consists exclusively of hotel company executives with senior level technology responsibility, representing a wide range of large, midsized, and small hotel companies operating in every market segment and every geographic region of the world.  Current board members include:

• Barry Shuler, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Marriott International (President)

• Robert Bansfield, Vice President – Information Technology, Hyatt Hotels Corporation (Vice President)

• Jane Durment, Chief Information Officer, The Marcus Corporation (Secretary/Treasurer)

• Jack Braman, Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Information Technology, The Las Vegas Sands Corporation (The Venetian)

• Jeffrey Edwards, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Global Revenue Services, Wyndham Hotel Group

• Fraser Hickox, General Manager, Research & Technology, The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels Limited (The Peninsula Group)

• Thomas Peck, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, MGM MIRAGE

• Gustaaf Schrils, Vice President, Hotel Technology & Services, InterContinental Hotels Group

• Todd Thompson, Chief Information Officer, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

• Wibecke Vinke, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Kempinski Hotels S.A.

About Hotel Technology Next Generation

The premier technology solutions association in the hospitality industry, HTNG is a self-funded, non-profit organization with members from hotel and hospitality companies, technology vendors to hospitality, and other industry members including consultants, media, and academic experts.  HTNG’s members participate in focused workgroups to bring to market open solution sets addressing specific business problems.   HTNG fosters the selection and adoption of existing open standards.  Where necessary, it also develops new open standards to meet the needs of the global hospitality industry.

Membership in HTNG is open to hotel and hospitality companies, technology vendors to hospitality, consultants, academics, press and others.   Currently nearly 400 corporate and individual members from across this spectrum, including most of the world’s leading hotel companies and technology vendors, are active HTNG participants.  Workgroup proceedings, drafts, and specifications are published for all HTNG members as soon as they are created, encouraging rapid and broad adoption.  Specifications are released to the public domain when the workgroup has completed its work, typically after no more than 18 months.  For more information, visit www.htng.org.