Download - Micros

Meet the Speakers
28
Patricia Brennan - Rydges Hotels & Resorts
Patricia completed a business degree in Hospitality
Management at the University of Queensland in 1990. She
began her career working for Sheraton Hotels in Australia
and the UK in rooms division positions, and subsequently
joined MICROS–Fidelio Australia installing Fidelio PMS
versions 5 and 6. After two years with MICROS-Fidelio
Patricia returned to hotel operations and, in 1999, joined
Rydges Hotels and Resorts, an Australian based company
owned by Amalgamated Holdings Limited, to assist with
the implementation of the Fidelio Technologies Central
Reservations System (FTCRS) and the roll-out of Fidelio
version 7 PMS to their hotels. In 2004 Rydges launched a
new website using OWS as the booking engine to provide
accurate availability and rates from FTCRS and to deliver
reservations seamlessly to the hotels’ PMS. In early 2006
Patricia managed the migration from FTCRS to ORS/
OCIS. In the following year she was appointed as General
Manager for Rydges IT and began the roll-out of OPERA PMS,
upgrading 25 hotels from version 7 in the fi rst 12 months.
Rydges recently introduced new brands to the market being
QT Hotels and Art Series Hotels. Patricia now manages the
IT requirements for 44 hotels, most of which are in Australia
and New Zealand and all of which use MICROS solutions for
PMS, POS and Sales and Catering. Under her management,
the centralised ORS/OCIS/OWS solution has expanded to
include OBI data marts, SFA, MyStayManager and interfaces
to MyFidelio for GDS and the channel manager SiteMinder.
John Burns - Hospitality
Technology Consulting
Identifi ed by Lodging Magazine as one of the ten hospitality
experts changing the travel industry, John Burns established
Hospitality Technology Consulting to assist hotels and other
travel companies deal successfully with the increasingly
complex world of electronic travel distribution.
Burns, an AH&LA Certifi ed Hotel Administrator (CHA), a
member of the Global Board of Directors of Hospitality
Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), is a past
Board Member of the Hotel Electronic Distribution
Network Association (HEDNA) and past chairperson
of that organization’s Technology Committee and its
Applications Committee. In 2002 he received HEDNA’s
Outstanding Contributor Award for his support of the
association’s activities over the past decade. Burns is a
co-founder of Hotel Technology–Next Generation (HTNG).
Burns has authored three training programs for HEDNA
as well as numerous articles for hotel and travel industry
publications - some now used as course materials by the
Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. He speaks
frequently to hotel management, hotel school, technology,
and travel industry audiences across the globe. Burns and his
wife/business partner (Judy) reside in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Karin Boraston - Scandic Hotels
Karin Boraston is Director Operational Development within
Scandic Hotels and is responsible for the development
and implementation of operational business processes
and services within Scandic as well as the owner of Project
Management offi ce within the company. Previously in
charge of Scandic’s 2 largest development projects in the
last 10 years, the implementation of an OPERA central
solution with GDS connectivity and web platform in
2007-8 and the implementation of a centralized OPERA
PMS platform (including S&C and SFA), including the
roll-out of an e-learning LMS platform in 2009-11. Prior to
this, Karin was responsible for Distribution and Revenue
Management in Nordic region for Hilton & Scandic hotels.
Jeff Caldwell - Entertainer
A “very, very funny” comedian, says David Letterman, Jeff
Caldwell is one of America’s brightest standups, delivering
smart, funny jokes on topics from the daily news to the
daily grind, twisting humor out of surprising places.
Jeff has had multiple appearances on The Late Show
with David Letterman, The Late Late Show with Craig
Ferguson and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. His sharp
innovative humor has won him guest spots on MSNBC
and CNBC talk shows and tour performances with Jon
Stewart. Jeff continues to make appearances on late-night
television, national news and political TV talk shows.
With his clean, cerebral wit, Jeff is a favored performer
and host to Fortune 500 and Hi-Tech companies
such as Discovery Channel, Toyota, Symantec, The
Smithsonian Institute, and Samsung to name a few.
He has a rare talent for energizing audiences while
maintaining a sophisticated, professional tone.
Dean Carman – Bertucci’s Corporation
Dean Carman is the Vice President & Corporate Controller of
Bertucci’s Corporation, a 90+ unit chain of Italian restaurants
that operate under the Bertucci’s name. In his current role,
Dean is responsible for all areas of accounting and fi nance,
as well as overseeing the IT department. Prior to working at
Bertucci’s, Dean was an Audit Manager at Deloitte & Touche
LLP where he worked in the fi rm’s consumer business
and health sciences practices. A licensed CPA, Dean lives
in Arlington, MA with his wife Carrie and two children.