FutureWatch Agenda

Speaker Biographies

FutureWatch presentation

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Speaker Biographies

Peter S. Greenberg
Travel Editor, NBC's "Today Show"
Author, The Travel Detective Series

Graham Atkinson
Senior Vice President Worldwide Sales and Alliances
United Airlines

Mr. Atkinson is responsible for all worldwide sales, reservations and alliances activities for United Airlines. Prior to assuming his current position, he led both the International and Marketing organizations at United. Mr. Atkinson joined United in 1991 as general manager – United Kingdom. In 1995 he was named vice president – Atlantic Division. Prior to joining United in 1991, Mr. Atkinson held a variety of marketing and management positions with British Caledonian Airways, British Airways and Aviareps. He holds a bachelor's degree in business studies from the Ealing School of Business in London. Atkinson also serves as chairman of the Star Alliance Management Board.

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John E. Buchanan, Jr.
Director
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Mr. Buchanan is the new director of the Fine Arts Museums, responsible for overseeing both the new de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor. For the past 11 years, Mr. Buchanan has served as executive director of the Portland Art Museum. Previously, Mr. Buchanan served as director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, TN, and the executive director of the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, IL. He has also served as the Museum Assessment Program (MAP) coordinator for the American Association of Museums and the coordinator of Museum Development for the State of Tennessee at the Tennessee State Museum.

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Thomas E. Callahan, CPA, CRE, MAI
Chief Executive Officer, West Coast
PKF Consulting

Mr. Callahan is a recognized authority on the hospitality and real estate industries, for which he has conducted numerous economic, financial, management and valuation studies. As a member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI), he has appraised the market value of all types of income-producing properties, including hotels, restaurants, resorts, ski facilities, golf courses, and other commercial properties. He has conducted Market and Economic feasibility studies for hotels and resorts in the United States, Europe, the Pacific, and Asia, including master-plan studies for multi-use real estate projects in the U.S., Singapore, and the Republic of China. Mr. Callahan is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is regularly quoted in industry publications and in the general press.

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Kevin Considine
Vice President, Merchant Marketing
Visa USA

Kevin Considine is responsible for the development of marketing strategies and plans designed to drive Visa business with key merchant partners and industry segments. Previously, he managed critical Visa marketing relationships with top U.S. member financial institutions such as Bank of America and U.S. Bank. In this role, he created joint yearly marketing strategies and plans, managed custom co-brand marketing programs, and led numerous portfolio management initiatives. With more than 11 years of experience in financial services marketing, Mr. Considine brings in-depth industry expertise and insight to Visa USA. Prior to joining Visa in 2001, he spent six years leading several marketing strategy teams at American Express in their Establishment Services division.

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Steve Eimer,
Vice President of Development
Westfield Corporation

Steve Eimer joined the Westfield Group in the spring of 2004 as vice president of development. In this role, he has spearheaded the $440 million redevelopment of one of San Francisco’s landmark mixed-use projects, the new Westfield San Francisco Centre. Anchored by Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s and boasting exquisite historical architecture, this iconic development is expected to attract 25 million visitors and generate $600 million in sales annually. With more than 30 years in the real estate industry, Mr. Eimer is experienced in the development of large scale, premium projects entailing sensitive political, developmental, and environmental issues. His management experience includes project planning and entitlement; design and construction; leasing and marketing; and property acquisition and disposition. He has honed his development skills across a broad spectrum of projects including mixed-use projects, urban re-use/redevelopment, large scale land planning and development, and strategic asset management.

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Dr. Cathy A. Enz, Ph.D.
Lewis G. Schaeneman, Jr. Professor Of Innovation
& Dynamic Management
Associate Dean for Industry Research & Affairs
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration

Dr. Enz has been on the faculty at Cornell since 1990, and previously was on the faculty of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She has published more than 70 journal articles, book chapters, and three books in the areas of strategic management and strategic human resources. Her research interests include competitive dynamics, innovation and change management, and human resource investment strategies. Prior to her academic activities, Dr. Enz held several industry positions including strategy development analyst in the office of corporate research for a large insurance organization, and operations manager responsible for Midwestern United States customer service and logistics in the dietary food service division of a large U.S. health care corporation.

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Kirk Kinsell
Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer,
The Americas
InterContinental Hotels Group

Mr. Kinsell is responsible for unit growth across all brands including franchise, management contracts and real estate development activities sponsored on behalf of InterContinental Hotels. From 1988 to 1995 Mr. Kinsell served as senior vice president of franchise for Holiday Inn Worldwide, a predecessor of InterContinental Hotels Group. In that capacity he led the launch of Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Select and Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts brands. In 2003, Mr. Kinsell led the launch of Hotel Indigo for the group. Most recently, Mr. Kinsell served as president and CEO of Micell Technologies Inc. Under his leadership, Micell Technologies was recognized as the 2001 Entrepreneurial Company of the Year for North Carolina.

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John A. Marks
President and CEO
San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau

Mr. Marks has been president and CEO of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau since 1987. He is a past national chairman of the Travel Industry Association of America and its Foundation. He was a founding member of the California Tourism Commission, and is past president of the California Travel Industry Association. He served as chairman of the International Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus, was vice-chairman of the American Society of Association Executives and served on the Board of the Professional Convention Management Association Foundation. He is currently co-chair of the US/Japan Tourism Export Expansion Initiative.

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Rick Swig
President
RSBA & Associates

Mr. Swig operates RSBA & Associates, which was founded in 1986. Since that time, he has provided advisory services to major hotel operating companies, as well as owners of individual hotels and portfolios. Along with his asset management and consultancy work associated with RSBA & Associates, he has also been an investor in hotels since 1989, including, currently, the Harvest Inn in Napa Valley, the Hotel Pacific in Monterey, and the Holiday Inn in Emeryville. His background also includes a career with Fairmont Hotels, where he was the vice president and managing director of the Fairmont Hotel Management Company. He is the 2005-2006 Chairman of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors.

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