Event Moderators and Chairmen

• Warren Lieberman, President, Veritec Solutions
• Steve Pinchuk, Founder and CEO, Profit Optimization Strategies

11am - 12.00pm Hear Forecasts and Predictions From Industry Leaders for the Year Ahead

The past twelve months has seen extraordinary change on account of global economic difficulty. In this opening session, we ask the industry forerunners to tell us what to expect for the future in the Revenue Management field:

• Current conditions in each respective market- Hotels, Airlines, OTA's, Tour Operators, Rentals, Cruise Lines and Destination Resorts. How do we work together to get ahead of the curve? What future projections can our panel of experts offer so you can invest ahead of the game?
• How are oil and fuel prices affecting cruise companies and airlines? With a price of around 1.47 to the barrel, is this directly impacting customer ticket pricing? What are the panel's opinions on forecasting with this volatile fuel inflation?
• Discover how you can adapt and update your RM strategy to profit from the current and future economic climate
• Understand the current economic reality - is talk of recovery premature for the North American Travel industry?
• Analyze how some brands have managed to weather the downturn and achieve robust performance over the last year
• Which characteristics within RM have eroded with the downturn and which have become more prevalent?
• Hear expert advice on forecasting for low volume transactions

• Chinmai Sharma, Vice President Revenue Management, Wyndham Worldwide Hotels and Resorts
• Greg Cross, SVP of Revenue Management,Hyatt Hotels and Resorts

12pm - 12.30pm Understand Segmented Segmentation

• The word “Segmentation” seems to be used very loosely, and often misunderstood. Gain fresh insight into how advanced segmentation techniques can revolutionize and enhance your sales and marketing effectiveness
• Develop an effective RM strategy which understands which segments have greatest demand and profit potential
• Know how, when and where each segment books
• Hear about the latest trends for tracking segmentation

• Warren Lieberman, President, Veritec Solutions

Networking Lunch Break

2pm - 3.15pm Learn Best Practice Discounting to Sustain Rate Integrity

• What are the proposed discounting best practices for 2010 and onwards? Hear from our top execs on how they plan to move forward
• When is the best time to discount?
• How do you own the upswing and fix the mess made by too much discounting?
• Learn how to stall demand for discounting and revert price stability. Hear from your peers to speed up room and seat recovery and maintain stable rates; discover how to make your travel products more price inelastic
• How can you maintain rate integrity in B2B transactions?
• Should B2B companies indulge in B2C pricing to respond to high price elasticity?
• Bridge the gap: understand how to re-shift revenue reliance from third party sites to your direct site to capture a higher percentage of direct net revenue
• The up-to-date pros and the cons of the direct channel versus the OTA channels
• How best to avoid discounting in the first place? Shouldn't that be part of the discounting strategy?
• Discover how the experts define rate integrity. Is it achieved across distribution channels, or by best price guarantee?

• Chris Anderson, Assistant Professor, Cornell University
• Kurien Jacob, SVP Revenue and Distribution, Highgate Hotels
• Jake Stein, Strategic Accounts Director, Expedia
• Shirley Tafoya, President North America, Travelzoo
• Bill Kotrba, Senior Director Industry Strategy, JDA Software[panel only]

Networking Break

3.45pm - 4.30pm Profit With Mergers and Acquisitions - An Alternative Distribution Choice

Companies all over the US are embracing collaborations or partnerships with other travel organisations. What are the potential benefits? In this unique presentation, we hear a joint presentation from Midwest and Frontier who merged earlier this year. Hear about the following aspects involved with a partnership like this:

• What are the technical problems with a company merger?
• Is it impossible to integrate codeshare and mapping from two different RM and Distribution systems?
• Which new revenue management options does a joint corporation venture offer?
• Does collaboration between two brands offer better authority to avoid the OTA hold over pricing?

• Melissa Skluzacek, Director - Pricing & Revenue Management, Midwest Airlines
• Brad Hauert, Manager, Forecasting & Operations Research, Frontier Airlines

4.30pm - 5.30pm Capitalize on Packaging and Ancillary Revenues

• YOU may not be packaging/bundling your product - but SOMEONE is. Why aren't you?
• Get up-to-speed on forthcoming legislations for ancillary revenues
• What are you trying to accomplish via packaging? Value or ease of shopping, or both?
• Don't let the drive for ancillary revenue damage your brand or stop a booking
• Ancillary Revenues from all perspectives- it's no longer just the airlines who are packaging deals with add-on options. Hear from leading “ancillary revenue“ initiatives from across the board: airlines, hotels, resorts and cruise companies.
• What sells? Most importantly, what sells on-site? What are the best approaches to providing value and flexibility to guests without creating operational and system headaches?
• What are the actual figures and statistics for ancillary revenues? Are companies making more money from ancillary products or is the trend bucking and reverting back to closed-deal solid packages?
• How do distribution and RM systems deal with complex unbundling packages?

• Doug Hesley, Corporate Director of Revenue Management, Norwegian Cruise Lines
• More speakers to be announced shortly

Day 2

11am - 12.15pm Behavioral Economics: Integrating RM with CRM and Marketing Initiatives to Maximise Your Revenue Margins

• Understand why a holistic approach to customer behavior is now essential for the future of travel revenue management and total customer value
• Close the divide between RM and Customer Loyalty- Think like a traveller, not like a Revenue person - and take insights into how emotional behavior can help produce more revenue
• Gain perspective on behavioral economics from leading CRM and Marketing Individuals
• Comprehend consumer behavioral triggers and reactions and learn how you can change customer behavioral patterns through tracking
• Learn how companies have successfully integrated RM with the Marketing Department
• Flip the coin- Discover what every Marketer needs to know about Revenue Management

• Claudia Infante, Manager Hotel Systems, Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos
• Natasa Christodoulidou, Professor, University of California
• Linda Hatfield, VP Product Management and Marketing, IDeaS - A SAS COMPANY

Networking Lunch Break

1.45pm - 3.15pm View From The Other Side - Engage With Travel Agents and OTA's

• With GDS Biasing, advertizing, override commissions, special rates and a variety of tactics used to gain market share in the travel agency segment- what really works? Who do they listen to and why?
• Hear our panel of top travel agency leaders share their opinions regarding what works and what drives the agency to book your hotel, airline or package deal over others

• Jeff Roy, Director of Air Revenue Management, Collette Vacations
• Meredith Hanrahan, CMO, Cheapflights.com
• Timothy Mullens, President, Apple Vacations
• [Panel Only- For Debate] Sameer Mehra, Regional Vice President - Revenue & Distribution, Highgate Hotels

Networking Lunch Break

3.45pm - 4.45pm Stay Ahead of the Curve with Cutting Edge RM Tactics

• There has been a significant shift in the job role of the RM across all our travel and hospitality industries. Being an analyst is no longer enough, you have to be THE company strategist. Hear from some of the best in business on how their job role has changed over the last twelve months, and why
• How do you find, train and retain talented Revenue Managers?

• Sheryl Freedman, Director, International Revenue Management / Talent Development, Marriott International
• Sheila Cosgrove, CHRM | Director, Operations and Planning - Americas Revenue Management & Hanni Janman, Director of Revenue Management Services, InterContinental Hotel Group

3.45pm - 4.45pm Profitable Technology for the New RM Manager [combined with previous session]

• Discover the latest RM technology options to hit the market. Which products are the best fit for the “new” Revenue Manager? Harness the power of tomorrows technology today for unprecedented results
• Utilize best practice CRM, PMS and CRS technologies to directly drive revenue

• Dr. Peter Belobaba, Principal Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Roundup and Closing Debate [time allowing]

Conference conclusion from our event moderators to include:

• 10 things a Revenue Manager should do to stay ahead of the game and boost profits
• How can you stay at the cutting edge of RM if you are an independent hotel or retailer?

• Warren Lieberman, President, Veritec Solutions
• Steve Pinchuk, Founder and CEO, Profit Optimization Strategies