The third leg of the hotel conference triple-crown heads into Phoenix, spotlighting an industry at its absolute peak.
What started three years ago as a fledgling new hotel conference on the block has now blossomed into one of the three must-see confabs of the year for hotel executives.
The Lodging Conference, happening Sept. 17-20 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, is now a permanent fixture on the hotel conference circuit map, thanks to the hard work of conference chairman Morris Lasky, head of Lodging Unlimited in Chicago, and Harry Javer, head of The Conference Bureau in New York.
Following is a brief program guide to the three-and-a-half-day conference: Wednesday, Sept. 17 12:00 (noon) to 5:00 p.m. Early Registration
7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Opening Night Cocktail Party
Thursday, Sept. 18 7:00 a.m. Registration
8:00 a.m. Chairman's Opening Remarks General Session: Government Regulations, the Economy & Tax Reform
9:45 a.m. Mid-Morning Coffee Break
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 (Noon) Concurrent Think Tanks: Negotiating and Renegotiating Management Agreements Vacation Ownership Financing and Wall Street Reality Check: True Development Costs/New Brands Financing Hotel/ Motel Development Welcoming Minorities into the Franchise Community Gaming Estimating Lodging Revenues
12:00 (Noon) Buffet Luncheon
1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Concurrent Think Tanks: Interior Design: Functional and Budgetary Considerations Negotiating and Renegotiating Franchise Agreements Financing and the Commercial Bank Mezzanine and Other Financing Options Negotiating the Hotel Acquisition Agreement Real Estate and the Insurance Industry Underwriting & Closing Hotel Loans Institutional Investors' Perspective
3:45 to 5:15 General Session: What the Press has to Say
8:00 p.m. Cocktail Party
Friday, Sept. 19 7:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
8:30 to 10 a.m. Concurrent Think Tanks: Art of the Deal Impact Human Capital Investment for the 21st Century Renovation of Hotels Whether Open or Closed U.S. Hotel Companies Investing in Foreign Markets/Foreign Investors in the U.S. Opportunistic Investors Private and Public Equity Financing
10:00 Mid-Morning Coffee Break
10:45 to 12:15 Concurrent Think Tanks: REITs: Now and in the Future Financing and the Credit Company Native American Opportunities Hotel Mergers and Acquisitions: Individual and Corporate Asset and Portfolio Transactions Benefits of Entertainment/ Destination Markets in Hotel Industry Strategies for a Downturn Economic Cycle Rating Agency Perspective on Hotel Debt Securities
1:15 to 2:30 p.m. General Session: View from the Top
Saturday, Sept. 20 Golf and free recreation time