Hospitality Design - November/December 2010 - 28

from the show director

southern hospitality

Since this is the ﬁrst of regular monthly letters from me to keep you updated on the progress of our tradeshows, I thought it might be a good idea to tell you a little about myself. I have had the pleasure of being the group show director for HD Expo and HD Boutique for four amazing years and in all my history of working tradeshows, I never have met such wonderful people and experienced such a depth of genuine passion for the industry we all serve: hospitality. You make my job so much more fun, so thank you. I am what the world calls an ex-pat. Born and raised in Bahrain, I got a taste for desert living and sunshine from an early age. I am British, but please don’t hold that against me, and please don’t ask me if my accent is from Boston. It’s most deﬁnitely not, although I do love that town. I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel quite a lot in my younger days, and have to say that Singapore is probably my favorite place in the world with all its beauty, culture, and cleanliness. The Rafﬂes Hotel there was such a great historical place when I visited as a child; it was a little sad to go back 18 years ago (when I was old enough to drink) only to discover that the famed Singapore Sling drinks were now produced through a soda fountain machine. Progress is not always a good thing! Even though I have traveled quite a bit, there is always so much more to see and experience. Perhaps I will get the chance when my kids get a bit older. I have two girls: Jessica is 15 and all she wants in life is her driver’s license, and Sophie is 13 and all she wants is to shop. I do not particularly care for driving or shopping, but am certainly blessed to have the girls in my life. I would like to extend a huge thank you to you all for supporting our events and publication. Without you, we would not be able to get up and do something we love each and every day. The tradeshows are really coming together for 2011 and we have some exciting new things to share with you in the coming months, so stay tuned and check out our website for more information. Best,

Hospitality Design Exposition & Conference (HD Expo) May 18 - 20, 2011 Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas www.hdexpo.com

Hospitality Design Boutique Exposition & Conference (HD Boutique) September 13 - 14, 2011 Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami www.hdboutique.com

Contact us: 1145 Sanctuary Parkway, Suite 355 Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 770.291.5400 LIZ SOMMERVILLE Group Show Director 770.291.5456 Elizabeth.Sommerville@nielsen.com JEFF BROWN Sales Manager 770.291.5435 Jeff.Brown@nielsen.com CECE LOFT Account Executive, East Coast 770.291.5433 Cece.Loft@nielsen.com BRENT PAYNE Sales Associate, West Coast 770.291.5604 Brent.Payne@nielsen.com FRANCES WONG Marketing Manager 770.291.5513 Frances.Wong@nielsen.com RACHEL LONG Conference/Editorial Director 813.251.4441 Rachel.Long@nielsen.com KARA KOBRZYCKI Conference Director 770.291.5424 Kara.Kobrzycki@nielsen.com DERRICK NELLOMS Operations Manager 770.291.5452 Derrick.Nelloms@nielsen.com

Liz Sommerville Group Show Director Elizabeth.Sommerville@nielsen.com

hospitalitydesign

www.hospitalitydesign.com

http://www.hdexpo.com http://www.hdboutique.com http://www.hospitalitydesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - November/December 2010