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Richard S. Kahn,
Kahn, formed the company following his departure as Editor and Associate Publisher of Travel Agent Magazine, a position he held for 15 years. He left Travel Agent Magazine in 1989 to devote his full energy to developing his own company. Prior to joining Travel Agent Magazine, Kahn was an editor at the prestigious Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. He began his journalism career in daily newspapers and radio news both in Kentucky. He continued his radio career in New York City with a series of “Travel Talk” shows on several major media stations. ______________________________________________________________________________ Loulu Lima, ______________________________________________________________________________ Sean Hennessey
Prior to forming his own company, Sean was a leading consultant and broker for more than 20 years. Sean began his career in daily operations with companies such as Marriott, Disney World, and numerous restaurants. Sean has degrees in Culinary Arts from Johnson & Wales and Hotel Administration from Cornell University. Sean is co-chair of the Lodging Industry Investment Council and serves of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants. He is active with the ITM Hospitality Fund, which provides free hotel rooms for needy families of patients traveling to New York City for critical medical care. A recognized expert, Sean has appeared on television shows such as CNN Headline News and MSNBC, and radio programs such as National Public Radio and Bloomberg News. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Barrons, The New York Times, and virtually all hotel trade journals. He has spoken at the major hotel industry investment conferences, as well as to such groups as the Council on Foreign Relations.Mr. Hennessey has written numerous articles on a variety of hotel topics and has contributed to three reference works published by the AH&LA. For more about Sean, visit www.lodginginvestors.com
______________________________________________________________________________ Damali Johnson
Damali Johnson is a graduate from The New York City College of Technology where she received her Bachelor of Science and Technology in Hospitality Management. She is also an active member of Hospitality Sales and Marketing International (HSMAI), for which she was President for the HSMAI Student Chapter of her Alma Mater. ______________________________________________________________________________
; Robin Flanz
Prior to his current tenure with Four Seasons, Robin was Director of Sales
with The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island. Before heading south, he served two
stints in sales and sales leadership roles with Swissotel and Raffles
Hotels in Boston and Washington, DC. His hospitality career also includes
operations and sales positions with Hyatt, Crowne Plaza, Sheraton and The
Iroquois Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI. Born in Dearborn, MI and a 1992 graduate of Michigan State University, Robin lives in Sparta, NJ, with his wife and their three children. He has served as co-chair on the board of the HSMAI Big Apple Chapter, and he volunteers with the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge NYC, offering free, temporary housing for cancer patients and their families who are undergoing treatment. ______________________________________________________________________________ Richard Yaeger
______________________________________________________________________________ Liz Gilbert
______________________________________________________________________________ Justin Kellerman
Lucille Yokell began her career at Hilton Hotels in New York City when international travel was just beginning to become an important source of hotel business. She chose to specialize in international tourism, hoping that it would lead to world peace. Following Hilton Hotels, she joined the Roosevelt Hotel, where she spent nine plus years as Director of Travel Industry Sales. It was at the Roosevelt that the creative side emerged. Being an independent hotel she worked hard to put The Roosevelt on the map of the international arena. Early on, Lucille realized the importance of working with many different countries to create a balanced and diverse customer base. Through tireless energy and working diligently Lucille was able to tap in to markets in all hemispheres. Always open to exploring new markets, Lucille learned cultural nuances that would fit well with the specific property she represented. She is famous for the words "we love people who sleep together!". After the Roosevelt Lucille created Lucille Yokell Enterprises, Ltd, which, in addition to providing consulting services to hotels, restaurants, attractions and destinations, offered specialty products to receptive operators. She specialized in everything except hotel rooms, providing FIT dining options, personal sightseeing by limousine, theatre tickets (she was the first person to sell theatre tickets with exact seat locations to overseas operators) and group dining for more than thirty restaurants. Along the way she earned her CHME (Certified Hospitality Marketing Executive) designation. Her paper on the burgeoning FIT market became a cover story for "Marketing Review". But the lure of the hotel business could not keep her from coming back "on property" where the real difference in the positive guest experience is created. So, following a long-term consulting assignment at what is now the Millennium United Nations Plaza Hotel, Lucille joined the Wellington on June 21, 2000...and the rest, as they say, is history. ______________________________________________________________________________
Consuela is the Travel Sales Account Manager USA TODAY with responsibility for sales and servicing newspaper amenity programs for hotels and hospitality related businesses. Her territory includes the five boroughs, Long Island, Westchester and Fairfield, Connecticut. She has been with USA TODAY for 19 years and in that time has worked with USA TODAY’s national office to create innovative newspaper amenity programs to meet the needs of the ever changing hospitality marketplace. She spearheads USA TODAY’s participation in the joint HSMAI Seminar Series held at USA TODAY’s Madison Avenue offices. Consuela’s aim as Director of the Membership Committee is to ensure that each member is welcomed and is an active participant in the Greater New York Chapter, taking advantage of all the benefits membership offers. Consuela is currently working on a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications Arts at St. John’s University. She resides with her husband and two of her three children in Queens Village, New York and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren. She is a native New Yorker whose interests include travel, reading, and rooting for The Yankees. ______________________________________________________________________________
Matthew Gomberg is the Housekeeping Manager for The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park and Chair of the HSMAI Greater New York Collegiate Relations Committee. Matt is a 2006 graduate of the New York University Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, & Sports Management. Receiving his NYU hotel degree after completing the Rockland Community College’s MTS Honors Program with an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts, Matt interned at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park gaining experience in Guest Relations, Hotel Operator (PBX), Restaurant Atelier reservations, Housekeeping, Business Center, Residential Concierge, Club Concierge, and Lobby Concierge. Soon after, he was hired as a Residential Concierge for the private residences at 50 Central Park South. During his time at NYU, he was an active club member in the student professional hospitality club, The Pineapple Society, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s Big Apple Chapter (HSMAI) as a representative of NYU for the Student Relations Committee. Matt is a previous recipient of numerous national scholarship awards including those awarded by HSMAI, American Express, and Ecolab. He has also served as a member of the Concierge Advisory Board at IN New York Magazine. ______________________________________________________________________________
A native New Yorker, Tom has been General Manager of the Hotel Beacon since 1990 and he just brought the hotel through a total renovation which was completed in December, 2008. Tom also serves as Adjunct Lecturer in the Hospitality Department of New York City Technical College in Brooklyn. Tom’s hotel career started in New York in 1971 at the Biltmore Hotel. In 1973, he moved to Loews Hotels with positions at the Regency, Loews Summit and Warwick hotels in both sales and operations. In 1981 he was transferred to the opening team of the Seattle Warwick as Executive Assistant Manager. After 5 years, Tom returned to the New York Warwick in 1986. Tom has served on the RSAA Membership Education Committee for numerous years and is a Past President of the HSMAI Greater New York Chapter.
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Richard S. Kahn is president of Kahn Travel Communications (KTCpr), an 18-year old marketing, public relations and publishing consulting company. But, he is more than just the president of the firm. He is an industry veteran, an advisor and consultant to many companies as well as other travel industry executives. He also is a publishing consultant, and a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and events. In the past 18 years, KTCpr has grown from a small consulting firm to a full-time staff of 10 with a list of more than 15 clients.
Sean Hennessey is the founder and chief executive officer of Lodging
Advisors, a firm dedicated to providing high-quality counseling services
to institutional investors, lenders, and other key players in the hotel
industry. Founded in 2004, clients include Marriott International, Host
Hotel & Resorts, Prudential Real Estate Investors, JP Morgan, iStar
Financial, National Park Service and others.
Damali Johnson has over 10 years of hospitality industry experience, beginning in restaurants, and then joining the hotel industry. In 2006, Damali joined CARINO Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, and since then, has performed vital coordination for the entire company. Prior to her role at CARINO, Damali has held a variety of hospitality industry positions at the World Renowned James Beard Foundation in New York City, Walt Disney World Resorts in Orlando, FL, and the Hotel Beacon in New York City. 
Robin Flanz is a Director of Marketing with Four Seasons Hotels and
Resorts. He leads a NYC-based sales and marketing team which represents
the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo. The resort,
which sits at the tip of the dramatic, six-mile long Papagayo Penisula, is
located on Costa Rica's north Pacific coast, just 23 miles from Liberia
International Airport in the province of Guanacaste.
www.fourseasons.com/costarica
After giving up his dream of a theater career, Richard joined the “circus” known as the Hospitality Industry. A native New Yorker, Richard began in food and beverage management for Holiday Motor Hotels in Harrisburg, PA. He returned to NYC and his time here has included the Omni Park Central, Milford Plaza, Holiday Inn Midtown, Wall Street District hotels as well as the South Street Seaport. Richard now does international sales for CTN Tours, a USA receptive operator selling conference management, ground services and hotels across North America to international corporate and leisure travel companies
Liz is the National Director, Travel Industry Sales for Entertainment Cruises. Entertainment Cruises is the nation’s leading entertainment and dining cruise company, operating the Spirit, Bateaux New York, Odyssey, Seadog, Mystic Blue, Elite Yacht Charters and Atlantica by Bateaux brands. 
Lucille Yokell, CHME
Consuela D. Hooblal
Matthew Gomberg
Thomas J. Travers