2011 NEWH Leadership conference held in January

Orlando, Florida (Hospitality Business News)—Roughly 200 hospitality professionals attended the recent 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 Breitnebach;

magazine’s Owners Roundtable, where attendees speed-networked 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-theground-up Adobo 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 and David Mahood of Olive Designs were honored with the NEWH Award of Excellence for their dedication and service to the organization. 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.Hospitality Design (HD)