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EVENTS |
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On July 29, 2008, a beautiful summer night, 45 HVS New
York employees, family members and alumni joined forces
with 7,200 other participants from over 200 Long Island
companies to run and walk in the 3rd annual Marcum &
Kliegman Workplace Challenge. The "Challenge”
is held on a 3.5-mile course at Jones Beach State Park.
The evening began with a gathering of Long Island companies,
each staking out their land claim with a tent and a
banner. At 6:45, after some milling and mingling, the
runners and walkers lined up at the start line. The
Star Spangled Banner was sung and the start gun went
off. Granted, the course was a bit crowded with over
7,200 people on it, but the purpose of the event was
not to achieve a personal best. Rather, it was to raise
funds for two worthwhile causes.
One of the evening's beneficiaries was the Children's
Medical Fund, a nonprofit organization responsible for
raising the funds necessary to open the Schneider Children's
Hospital in 1983; the fund remains the hospital's largest
supporter. The second recipient was the nonprofit Long
Island Children's Museum, a learning laboratory that
inspires children through interdisciplinary, hands-on,
fun-filled experiences.
After the course was completed, we gathered again under
the stars and our tent and enjoyed a BBQ dinner compliments
of Steve Rushmore. This year, the organizers of the
event went "green". All of the participants received
a reusable goody bag made from broken-down beverage
bottles.
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HVS NY office associate Paul Soblik with Kaushik Vardharaja,
who is moving to the New Delhi office. |
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Roland de Milleret sits with HVS NY alum Linda Yang
and Senior Associate Parris Jordan. In the background
are alum Mark Owens with NY office member Bob Flapan. |
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HVS NEWS |
HVS was on the forefront of a worldwide green initiative
at the Democratic National Convention.
 Throughout
Greg Hartmann's 22-year tenure with HVS, he has always
had a propensity for entrepreneurship, whether it was
co-founding new HVS offices and divisions such as HVS
Dallas, Chicago or Mexico, F&B Consulting, Golf Services,
Capital Corp, and Eco Services or his own ventures such
as the Boulder Outlook Hotel or the Republic of Boulder
Restaurant. One of his ventures got National and International
attention when his company, Sustainable Cards, provided
70,000 wooden key cards to the City of Denver Host Committee
to be used by 91 separate hotels during the Democratic
National Convention in Denver in August. The cards are
made of wood from sustainably managed forests and are
biodegradable. The endeavor has set off a firestorm of
major network coverage and press opportunities (www.sustainablecards.com)
heralding the card as a "dynamic green initiative" and
a "revolution in the hotel industry". Because it occurred
at a political event, there have been several (blogging)
detractors claiming the "card does not work" and "here
is an example of the greenies, once again offering up
a bad solution". Everyone should be aware that the event
went spectacularly and only 4 of the 91 hotels had issues
using the cards.
It was an enormous accomplishment to distribute key cards
to 91 different hotels, all with their own lock systems,
card size and magnetic strip reading. Card problems at
the few hotels that had issues were related to the unique
attributes of their locks (even plastic cards did not
work in some of them) and had nothing to do with the use
of wood (which for the card is shaped and formed in the
same size as a typical key with the same magnetic strip
as a plastic card). In any event, most of the major chains
and a number of gift card retailers have shown enormous
interest in the card and are moving quickly to consider
changing from plastic to wood. In case you are wondering
how a small company like Sustainable Cards will be able
to manufacture and distribute cards in any large volume,
they have partnered with CPI Card Group of Denver, who
is one of the largest plastic card manufacturers in the
world. HVS Boulder's Brent Crawford secured the opportunity
with the DNC and managed the testing and distribution
of the cards while Lizzette Casarin created the web site
and coordinated the numerous press and print materials
for the event. Nearly a dozen other HVS Boulderites helped
deliver the cards to 91 hotels all in one afternoon. So
feel free to acknowledge to those you speak with that
HVS was on the forefront of this worldwide green initiative
and let's keep looking for opportunities to help the hotel
business and the environment all at the same time.
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ALUMNI NEWS |
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Gisle Sarheim, HVS New York alumni currently working for
the Feasibility & Investment Analysis Hilton International
team in London, and Lara Sarheim, who works for HVS London
are expecting a little baby boy in late November. Gisle
and Lara met at the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne and married
in Norway in July 2004. We wish them all the best in their
new adventure! |
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In August 2008, Laurent de Kousemaeker was appointed Senior
VP Development Latin America & Caribbean for Marriott
International based out of the headquarters in Washington
D.C. Previously, Laurent was Vice President in charge
of development for Spain and Portugal for Marriott International.
Before joining Marriott, Laurent worked with HVS for six
years. In 1999, Laurent joined the HVS London office,
and in 2002 he successfully opened and managed the HVS
Madrid office.
On a personal note, Laurent and his wife Paula just had
a second child, a baby daughter called Felicia who was
born on June 21st. Laurent and Paula also have a son,
Sascha, who is about to turn three. |
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Gerard Greene, CEO and partner of Yotel recently participated
in the Tri For Life inaugural triathlon in the United
Kingdom. The event was conceptualized to raise money
for several charities that help children who are terminally
ill and other worthwhile causes. Some of these charities
are Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity, Great Ormond
Street Hospital and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Gerard helped raise over £1700 to date! If you haven't
sponsored him yet, get online and make your donations
at
http://www.justgiving.com/gerardgreene.
On a mission to revolutionize the hotel industry and
save consumers from expensive and boring hotels, Gerard
gave up work after five years as a hotel analyst, sold
his home and joined forces with Simon Woodroffe, founder
of the YO! Group to develop YOTEL, "the world's most
radical hotel". Gerard's vision for YOTEL is to provide
a first class experience at an affordable price.
As a director at HVS International, Gerard has worked
on consultancy projects throughout Europe, the Middle
East and Asia advising groups such as Goldman Sachs
and Kingdom Holdings with brands from Four Seasons to
Express by Holiday Inn. Previously, Gerard worked at
an operational level for Hyatt International, Marriott
Hotels & Resorts and Conran Restaurants.
You may find him on his bicycle training for a triathlon,
scuba diving or even snooping around hotels, checking
out the competition.
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SEEK INFORMATION |
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Friends, it would be great
if you could share the
contact details of the
following alums or pass this
on so that we can reconnect
with them in our future
communications. |
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Amander Farrell |
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Nicole Tebout |
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Annette Pelser |
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Olivia Tebout |
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Anjali Poorswani |
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Ruth Waite |
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Danny Lin |
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Ryann Bartell |
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Julie Hochman |
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Samantha Perryman |
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Katherine Owen |
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Sophie Cutner |
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Kerstin Mogull |
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Tanja Wegmann |
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Lian Morgan |
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We appreciate your
help in keeping HVS alumni connected, and we welcome you
to share new information from your personal and professional
lives through the site. Please send your comments and
updates to
alumni@hvs.com. We value your feedback and look forward
to your assistance in connecting with HVS colleagues around
the globe!
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Copyright HVS 2008. All rights reserved. |
