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Keynote Speakers 
Doug Bippert
Vice President of Business Acceleration
The Coca-Cola Company
Doug Bippert is Vice President of Business Acceleration for The Coca-Cola Company's Global Juice Center. He is responsible for building advantaged system capabilities, new technologies, and strategic partnerships to accelerate the growth of Coke's Global Juice business. He is currently leading projects to transform Coke's global juice business and apply advanced analytics to complex areas of their business.
Most recently, Mr. Bippert was Vice President of Minute Maid Asia where he tripled The Coca-Cola Company's juice business in 4 years with the launch of Minute Maid Pulpy, one of Coke's most successful new product launches. Pulpy is projected to be one of Coke's next billion case products. As Operations Controller for The Minute Maid Company, Mr. Bippert used network optimization tools to optimize US operations, resulting in significant annual savings and improved speed to market. This concept was reapplied to other Coke businesses, where it lead to improved operational performance.
Mr. Bippert holds BBAs in Accounting and Management and is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas.
In his spare time, he enjoys hunting, fishing and playing baseball in Men’s Sr. Leagues. He lives with his wife, two sons, and daughter in Marietta, Ga.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Simultaneously Maximizing Consumer Value and Company Profit from Beginning to End
9-9:45 a.m.
Robert G. Cross
Chairman and CEO
Revenue Analytics
Author, Revenue Management: Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination
Robert G. Cross, chairman and CEO of Revenue Analytics, is widely recognized as the foremost expert in the field of Revenue Management. Mr. Cross guides Revenue Analytics’ strategic vision and provides a wealth of industry expertise. He is actively involved in client work, and his leadership has been instrumental in helping develop industry leading Revenue Management capabilities for his clients, including General Motors and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Called the "Guru of Revenue" by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cross also founded Talus Solutions Inc., a company credited with creating billions of dollars in value for clients such as ABC, Delta Air Lines, Marriott International, Ford Motor Co. and UPS. Talus was acquired by Manugistics Group Inc. in December 2000 for $366 million.
Mr. Cross wrote The New York Times business bestseller, Revenue Management: Hard Core Tactics for Market Domination (Broadway Books 1997). The book has been published in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese.
Mr. Cross served as a Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Rebounding Tips: The Best (and Worst) Practices in Pricing and Revenue Management
9:45-10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop A: Principles for Revenue Management and Price Optimization Success
9 a.m. to Noon
John Peyton
Senior Vice President of Operations, NAD
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
John Peyton joined Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 1999.
Currently, Mr. Peyton leads Hotel Operations for over 500 hotels in the North America Division of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. He is responsible for five regional teams that support Starwood’s Westin, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, St. Regis, W, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, aloft and Element brands. In addition to leading the regional operations teams, Mr. Peyton is responsible for the centralized functions that support Revenue Management, IT, Food and Beverage, Six Sigma, Rooms, Engineering, and Housekeeping.
Before assuming his current role in April 2008, Mr. Peyton spent four years in Starwood’s Brand and Marketing division, where he led the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program, Partnership Marketing, and CRM. He also led the global brand teams for Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Four Points by Sheraton, aloft and Element.
In 2001, Mr. Peyton led Starwood in its launch of Six Sigma, becoming the first company in the hospitality industry to adopt Six Sigma as a way to improve business processes and drive innovative change.
Mr. Peyton came to Starwood after a ten year career with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in both their Accounting and Consulting practices. At PwC, he specialized in process improvement and organization design. Clients included P&G, Delta Airlines, Pitney Bowes, AlliedSignal, Pratt & Whitney, and Prudential Insurance.
Mr. Peyton holds an MBA in Accounting and Marketing from New York University and a Bachelors degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Mobilizing Global Resources to Transform the Revenue Management Discipline
4-4:45 p.m.
Panel Speakers
Amit Aggarwal
Vice President, Revenue Strategy
Clear Channel Radio
Amit Aggarwal, Vice President, Revenue Strategy at Clear Channel Radio is responsible for development of overall Revenue Management capabilities. He also oversees a team of seven Directors who manage the operational RM aspects for 83 regional markets in the United States.
Prior to Clear Channel Radio, Mr. Aggarwal was at Starwood Hotels and Resorts, where he was Senior Director, Revenue Management Analytics and Strategy. While there, he was responsible for driving both revenue and market share as well as working on new pricing strategies for Starwood’s global portfolio of 900 hotels. Before holding this position at Starwood, Mr. Aggarwal helped set up the CRM practice for the company leading the business development of some of their proprietary software.
Mr. Aggarwal began his career with Priceline.com where he was in the Revenue Development Group. At Priceline, he developed various revenue enhancing strategies key of which was the conceptualization and implementation of a dynamic margin engine which assigned pricing margins based on real time demand and behavioral purchase patterns of customers.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Balancing Offense and Defense –Exploring the Art & Science of Revenue Growth
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Krishna Arangode
Manager, US Region Order to Cash
Johnson & Johnson
Krishna Arangode has worked in the area of supply and demand planning since 1997. Currently he is the Business Process Owner for Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems. In this role, he has defined and harmonized regional business processes to support development and implementation of innovative supply chain solutions in the area of order management, logistics, distribution and transportation of medical devices across 10 franchises in the US Region. In order to ensure a successful regional transformation of the supply chain process, Mr. Arangode developed and implemented the regional data, reporting and metrics strategy, including creation, validation, and alignment on regional metrics package and metrics hierarchy.
From 1997 to 2006, Mr. Arangode served as Portfolio Analyst and Project Director for JDA Software’s Pricing and Revenue Management Division. While at JDA, he was responsible for the development of groundbreaking demand forecasting and Revenue Management solutions for numerous clients including Circuit City, Eurostar, Ford, Limited Brands, Mahou-San Miguel Breweries, Marriott International, Sears, Somerfield, and Suntory.
Mr. Arangode received his undergraduate degree from Indian Institute of Technology. He holds a MS in Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Balancing Offense and Defense –Exploring the Art & Science of Revenue Growth
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Molham Aref is CEO of Predictix, a provider of an integrated software-as-a-service suite of solutions that help retailers and brands make better planning, assortment, pricing, forecasting, and replenishment decisions. He has spent the last 18 years developing, bringing to market, and implementing enterprise-grade analytic, predictive, optimization and simulation solutions for the demand chain, supply chain, and Revenue Management across various industries including retail, wireless, and financial services.
At Predictix, Mr. Aref has combined the latest advances in technology and optimization science with a keen understanding of business processes to develop solutions that enhance decision-making while allowing business judgment to inform decisions. This approach has proven to overcome the traditional limitations of purely science-driven solutions, which focus on producing an end result and largely ignore the role of process, the end user, and business judgment in enterprise decision-making. The Predictix approach also improves user adoption, another weakness of science-driven solutions, and thus ensures that solutions actually, rather than theoretically, deliver value.
Mr. Aref holds a Bachelor's degree in computer engineering, a Master's degree in electrical engineering, and a Master’s degree in computer science, all from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Balancing Offense and Defense –Exploring the Art & Science of Revenue Growth
2:15-3:30 p.m.
David Baran
Vice President, Marketing Strategy
Time Warner Cable
David Baran joined Time Warner Cable in 2007 as Vice President of Marketing Strategy where he is responsible for leading the development and implementation of a pricing capability across the company. In this role, he is building a team, creating the analytic frameworks & tools, developing pricing strategies, and establishing the pricing governance. In addition to pricing, he also leads a team that develops marketing strategies for video, internet, and phone products.
Before assuming his current role, Mr. Baran spent 5 years at Cadbury Schweppes Beverage Division. There he created a Revenue Management function while developing an integrated portfolio strategy for its 50+ beverage brands.
For 10 years prior to Cadbury, Mr. Baran was a strategy consultant and served as a key strategic advisor, both domestically and internationally, to the top management teams of such global leaders as PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, Dell Computer, General Motors, and Goodyear. He played a significant role developing and implementing growth strategies, unlocking value in underperforming businesses, and restructuring organizations.
Mr. Baran received a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Playing to Win --Educating Senior Management and Converting Skeptics
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Matt Busch
Director of Global Pricing Strategy
InterContinental Hotels Group
Matt Busch currently serves as Director of Global Pricing Strategy for IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group). IHG has more than 4,300 hotels worldwide including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo®, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites® and Candlewood Suites®. In this role, he is responsible for pricing strategy and implementation across all regions, brands, market segments and distribution channels. He is currently spearheading the development and deployment of IHG’s industry leading pricing capability.
Before assuming his current role, Mr. Busch was responsible for global Revenue Management integration where he developed, tested and implemented Revenue Management and pricing strategies, tools and training programs. In that time, he developed an innovative tool to analyze contract profitability that delivered up to $500,000 increased profit per account and jointly led the testing and implementation of retail pricing reforms that delivered 2%-3% incremental revenue uplift for the company. Mr. Busch has 15 years of diverse experience in the hospitality industry, ranging from restaurant and front office operations to executive roles as the Director of Revenue Management for the InterContinental Sydney.
Mr. Busch holds a B.B.A. in Hotel Management from Southern Cross University (Australia) and is currently studying at Cornell towards his Certificate in Hotel Real Estate Investments and Asset Management. In his spare time, he is an aspiring entrepreneur with residential real estate interests across Atlanta.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Playing to Win --Educating Senior Management and Converting Skeptics
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Dax Cross
President
Revenue Analytics
Dax Cross serves as the President of Revenue Analytics. In this role, he guides the firm’s day-to-day operations, manages key client relationships and leads consulting engagements. His consulting work with the firm includes leading Revenue Discovery projects that identified more than $300 million in revenue opportunities. In addition, Mr. Cross has led Revenue Recovery engagements for Fortune 500 clients to enhance demand forecasting capabilities, design processes and tools to build Demand-Based Pricing programs, develop Price Optimization Capabilities and create an organizational framework for Revenue Management practices.
Mr. Cross has lectured on Revenue Management, forecasting and Price Optimization at Revenue Management conferences, hotel industry conferences, and at Emory University’s Goizueta School of Business. Prior to joining Revenue Analytics, he was an attorney at King & Spalding LLP.
Mr. Cross holds a J.D. from the University of Georgia, where he graduated summa cum laude and ranked first in a class of 225, and a B.A. from Davidson College
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Keeping Score --Measuring and Proving Success
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Bill Dudziak
Director of Pricing Analytics
The Home Depot
Bill Dudziak is the Director of Pricing Analytics for The Home Depot. He and his team have developed numerous measurement techniques to determine consumer response to various inputs, including price. In addition, his team recommends pricing actions to drive the company's strategic plan.
Before joining The Home Depot, Mr. Dudziak started the Decision Sciences team at BlueLinx. In addition to the development of the Pricing platform, he and his team worked on Inventory Management, Scheduling and Routing systems. Prior to BlueLinx, Mr. Dudziak worked for both International Paper and Georgia Pacific in a variety of mill, analysis and management positions.
Mr. Dudziak is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University earning a BS in Civil Engineering and Economics and a MS in Civil Engineering. In addition, he is a graduate of Georgia Institute of Technology earning a MBA. Mr. Dudziak is a frequent speaker at various Pricing conferences.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Playing to Win --Educating Senior Management and Converting Skeptics
11a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Jack Easdale
Corporate Director of Revenue Management
Gaylord Hotels and Resorts
Jack Easdale is the Corporate Director of Revenue Management for Gaylord Hotels and Resorts. The brand recently opened the new 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort in Washington DC. This complements Gaylord’s existing three properties in Nashville (Opryland), Orlando (Palms), and Dallas (Texan). The addition brings the portfolio to 8,000 rooms and over 2 million square feet of meeting space. Mr. Easdale has served in numerous Revenue Management roles in his fifteen year career in hospitality.
Mr. Easdale has his B.A. from the University of Western Ontario and his B.COMM from the University of Guelph with a focus in Hotel and Food Administration. Additionally, he has a MBA from Vanderbilt University and serves on the Board of Directors for HSMAI.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Mark Ferguson
Conference Co-chair
Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mark Ferguson is the Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management and the Gregory J. Owens Associate Professor of Operations Management at Georgia Tech’s College of Management. He received his Ph.D. in business administration, with a concentration in operations management from Duke University in 2001. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.
Dr. Ferguson's research interests involve many areas of pricing and Revenue Management. He is the coordinator for the focused research area on dynamic pricing and Revenue Management at Georgia Tech and teaches an M.B.A. course on the topic.
He received best paper awards from the Production and Operations Management Society in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Several of his research projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. Ferguson served as a manufacturing engineer and inventory manager with IBM for five years.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop D: Introduction to the Science of Revenue Management and Price Analytics
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Phil Haan
Executive Vice President (Retired)
Northwest Airlines
Phil Haan is a 25-year veteran of the airline industry having served in a wide variety of leadership roles at American Airlines and Northwest Airlines. He has an extensive background in the development of Revenue Management systems and processes. In numerous roles, Mr. Haan has applied these capabilities to customer segmentation strategies and to tailoring business streams, e.g., market intelligence; product development; pricing; demand generation; distribution development; and customer care.
Mr. Haan has lead corporate, agency, telephone reservation and online sales functions both domestically and internationally. Additionally, he was involved from the "ground floor" in developing and eventually co-chairing the innovative joint venture between KLM and Northwest.
Mr. Haan is currently consulting for Delta Air Lines on the integration of information technology as part of the merger between Delta and Northwest.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Keeping Score --Measuring and Proving Success
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Sharon Hormby
Senior Director, Total Yield Systems
Marriott International
Sharon Hormby, Senior Director, Total Yield Systems at Marriott International, is a marketing and systems professional who has spent 24 years bridging the gap between technology and business. A pioneer in the field of Revenue Management, Ms. Hormby is currently leading a team of business, technology and operations research associates who are building innovative solutions to manage the total assets of Marriott hotels. These solutions are used by revenue analysts, sales managers and hotel leaders throughout Marriott’s portfolio. In addition, she oversees several analytical tools in wide use and the analysis of benefits versus business case for the new systems.
Ms. Hormby has a BA in French/Linguistics from Clark University, a BS in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Playing to Win --Educating Senior Management and Converting Skeptics
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Jim Perry
Director of North American Pricing and Programs
AGCO Corporation
As Director of North American Pricing and Programs at AGCO Corporation (a global manufacturer of agricultural equipment), Jim Perry leads the region’s pricing activity including market evaluation, competitive analysis, and the development of pricing strategies for all product families. During his 12 months at AGCO, he has established a new pricing organization, improved product margins through Price Optimization, and helped achieve profitable growth through managing special pricing requests.
Prior to joining AGCO in September 2008, Mr. Perry worked for 21 years in increasingly responsible positions at Chrysler. His recent positions included four years as Senior Manager of U.S. Pricing, where he directed multi-functional teams in developing net pricing strategies for all Chrysler vehicles. He also spent several years leading the financial activity of Chrysler’s International Operations, including three years in Stuttgart, Germany. In this role, Mr. Perry focused on pricing and financial planning and conducted financial reviews for all product, distribution, and marketing initiatives.
Mr. Perry holds a B.S. in Accounting and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Brigham Young University.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Sheryl Richards
Senior Director of Pricing & Revenue Management
Amtrak
Sheryl Richards is Senior Director of Pricing and Revenue Management at Amtrak, National Railroad Passenger Corporation. This responsibility includes all pricing and Revenue Management strategies, revenue and ridership impact analysis, and decision support systems and tools. In March, 2006 Ms. Richards joined Amtrak with the immediate goal of successfully implementing Revenue Management practices throughout the Northeast Corridor. In the first six months of Revenue Management implementation, Amtrak realized 7% revenue benefit on the Northeast Corridor. Other projects undertaken to improve pricing and Revenue Management performance include restructuring the pricing and Revenue Management organizations, upgrading the pricing system, development and implementation of a Revenue Management Alert application and decision support tools, and introduction of a passenger rail spill analysis for capacity management.
Prior to joining Amtrak, Ms. Richards was a Senior Management Consultant at Sabre Technologies where she provided subject matter expertise to airlines in the area of pricing and Revenue Management strategy, tactics, and organizations. Additionally Ms. Richards spent 25 years at US Airways where over the course of her career she was responsible for restructuring and managing negotiated corporate and leisure contract pricing and managing the Revenue Management demand strategies, with her last responsibility as Director of International Pricing and Revenue Management. While at US Airways she established a new integrated International pricing and demand forecasting unit.
Ms. Richards holds a BS in Business Administration from High Point University in North Carolina.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Playing to Win --Educating Senior Management and Converting Skeptics
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Mark Rudel
Marketing Director, Revenue Management
UPS
Mark Rudel, Marketing Director, Revenue Management for UPS is responsible for global pricing optimization and decision support including a new marketing channel aimed at small customer acquisition through authorized Resellers of UPS small package services. Mr. Rudel joined UPS in 1993 and has held a variety of management positions in Pricing and Marketing including Yield Manager, Southeast Region Marketing Manager and Director of New Product Evaluation. Prior to UPS, he spent over 8 years with Continental Airlines in various management positions including Director of Market Economics and Director of Pricing, 2 years with USAir as Director of Economic Planning and 2 years as Director of Air/Sea with Renaissance Cruises in Ft. Lauderdale.
Mr. Rudel holds a B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a MBA from Indiana University.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Doug Santoni
Senior Vice President of Revenue Management
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Doug Santoni is the Senior Vice President of Revenue Management for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., a global cruise vacation company that operates Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisieres de France. The company has a combined total of 38 ships in service and six under construction.
Mr. Santoni joined Royal Caribbean in 1997 and now leads the organizations responsible for the company's Revenue Management and deployment decisions, as well as air/sea. He and his team manage pricing for three cruise brands (Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity, and Azamara), with annual ticket revenues in excess of $3 billion (USD). Before taking on his role leading the Revenue Management function, he served as RCL’s Director of Business Solutions, an internal consulting role focused on operational and cost efficiencies in several areas of the company.
Prior to Royal Caribbean, Mr. Santoni held management positions with American Airlines in Dallas and in Los Angeles, and with Electronic Data Systems (EDS). At American Airlines, he held roles in corporate Operations Research, domestic and international pricing and yield management, and Sales. At EDS, he worked in a project-oriented role supporting customers in the Travel and Transportation business both in North America and in Australia.
Mr. Santoni holds an undergraduate degree in Operations Research and two Master's degrees from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. A native of Baltimore, he resides in Miami.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Keeping Score --Measuring and Proving Success
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Steve Sieracki
Vice President, Product Marketing
Shaw Industries
Steve Sieracki started his career with Shaw Industries in 1990 in the award-winning Shaw Sales Training Program. From 1991 to 2001, he aggressively worked his way up through the company’s sales organization as a Territory Manager, District Manager, and Regional Manager for the growing flooring company. After achieving Shaw’s coveted Regional District Manager of the Year award in 1994 and 1995, Mr. Sieracki successfully continued on, reorganizing the sales team as a Regional Manager in Chicago from 2000 – 2002.
In 2002, Mr. Sieracki returned to Shaw’s home base of Dalton, Ga. for the challenging position of Vice President of Sales and Service for the company’s Home Depot Division. In this position, he earned his proudest accomplishment as he grew the department from 25 employees with $50 million in sales to 135 employees with $135 million in sales. Today, Mr. Sieracki serves as Shaw’s Vice President of Product Marketing. In this role, he has transformed the method in which Shaw delivers products to market and services the company’s vast customer base.
Mr. Sieracki holds a BS in Business with a major in Marketing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, running, golf, and watching his children participate in sports.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Balancing Offense and Defense –Exploring the Art & Science of Revenue Growth
2:15-3:30 p.m.
Robert D. Smith
Director of Corporate Pricing
Eastman Chemical Company
Robert D. Smith is the Director of Corporate Pricing for Eastman Chemical Company. He also serves as the leader of Eastman Chemical's Pricing Council, a cross-business and functional team dedicated to improving margin performance and pricing processes. Since joining Eastman in 1978, Mr. Smith has served in a variety of roles, including manufacturing, research & development, purchasing, licensing, corporate development, and business management.
Mr. Smith received a BS degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Tennessee. He is a member of the Professional Pricing Society (PPS), and has been a presenter at PPS, the Vendavo User Summit, and the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM). He coauthored with Dr. George Cressman the article “Share Wars,” which was published in Marketing Management and the Journal of Professional Pricing, was a contributor to the book Value Merchants, by James Anderson, Nirmalya Kumar, and James Narus, and has been quoted in various articles on pricing.
A native of Hendersonville, NC, Mr. Smith and his wife, Lorrie, live in Johnson City, Tennessee, and have two children, Natalie and Reid. Locally, he serves as a Ruling Elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church, and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Providence Academy, a classical Christian school.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Breakout Speakers
Greg Creel
Senior Director, Strategic Pricing
Equifax
Greg Creel is Senior Director of Strategic Pricing at Equifax. He is responsible for developing global pricing strategy, creating innovative analytics / modeling for new product development, and providing consultative pricing support across various business segments within Equifax. He is currently leading projects to maximize the revenue synergies of a recent Equifax acquisition and to apply price optimization analytics within that business unit. Mr. Creel joined Equifax 3 years ago to help create and build a new Strategic Pricing function within the organization.
Before assuming his current role, Mr. Creel spent 10 years at Delta Air Lines, where he led teams in Pricing and Revenue Management, Network Planning, Alliances, and Corporate Strategy. In his last role at Delta, he was responsible for optimizing pricing and seat inventory allocation strategies in domestic U.S. and International markets which accounted for over $7 billion in annual revenue.
Mr. Creel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Discplined Pricing in the Face of Uncertainty
1:30-2:15 pm
Bill Kotrba
Director, Revenue Management & Network Planning
Delta Cargo
Bill Kotrba currently serves as Director of Revenue Management and Network Planning for Delta Cargo. Mr. Kotrba studied Revenue Management in the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University where he received his MBA. Immediately upon graduating in 1997, he joined the International Revenue Management group at Northwest Airlines.
In 2007, with 10 years experience and various roles in both pricing and Revenue Management, Mr. Kotrba was recruited to bring passenger-side tools and techniques to Northwest Cargo as Managing Director, Network Management. Last October, Delta and Northwest made aviation history in a merger that created the world's largest airline with service to 379 destinations in 66 countries, more than 6,000 daily departures and more than 170 million customers served annually. Mr. Kotrba is now head of Revenue Management and Network Planning for Delta Cargo.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside the Box -- A Pricing and Revenue Management Journey from B2C to B2B
1:30-2:15 pm
Workshop Instructors
Michael Bentley
Director of Revenue Management Strategy
Revenue Analytics
As Director of Revenue Management Strategy for Revenue Analytics, Michael Bentley leads engagements and consults with clients on Revenue Management strategy, analytics, and business process issues. During his tenure, he has managed strategic and tactical engagements for clients developing new capabilities to improve pricing and Revenue Management and to measure forecast accuracy and pricing performance.
Prior to joining Revenue Analytics, Mr. Bentley was Director of Analytics in InterContinental Hotels Group’s Global Revenue Management organization. In this role, he led a variety of initiatives to enhance the forecasting and optimization capabilities of IHG’s pricing and Revenue Management systems. Prior to IHG, Mr. Bentley spent over eight years with Delta Air Lines providing business analysis and strategy in a variety of areas including International Pricing, e-Commerce Revenue Management, and Network Development.
Mr. Bentley holds a B.B.A. in Finance from Georgia State University.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop E: Pricing Power: Accelerating through the Curve
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Tudor Bodea
Operations Research Analyst
InterContinental Hotels Group
Dr. Tudor Bodea, Operations Research Analyst at the InterContinental Hotels Group, is responsible for designing, developing and operating large scale Revenue Management and Price Optimization systems. Dr. Bodea’s talent to understand business needs, craft technical solutions and deliver appropriate decision support systems makes his work uniquely valuable.
Dr. Bodea earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, with an emphasis on transportation, statistics and optimization. He also holds an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Transportation from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Dr. Bodea is a contributor to R, an open source language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. He is also Six Sigma certified.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Open Source Analytics: Fact or Fiction
9 a.m. to Noon
Robert G. Cross
Chairman and CEO
Revenue Analytics
Author, Revenue Management: Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination
Robert G. Cross, chairman and CEO of Revenue Analytics, is widely recognized as the foremost expert in the field of Revenue Management. Mr. Cross guides Revenue Analytics’ strategic vision and provides a wealth of industry expertise. He is actively involved in client work, and his leadership has been instrumental in helping develop industry leading Revenue Management capabilities for his clients, including General Motors and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Called the "Guru of Revenue" by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cross also founded Talus Solutions Inc., a company credited with creating billions of dollars in value for clients such as ABC, Delta Air Lines, Marriott International, Ford Motor Co. and UPS. Talus was acquired by Manugistics Group Inc. in December 2000 for $366 million.
Mr. Cross wrote The New York Times business bestseller, Revenue Management: Hard Core Tactics for Market Domination (Broadway Books 1997). The book has been published in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese.
Mr. Cross served as a Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Rebounding Tips: The Best (and Worst) Practices in Pricing and Revenue Management
9:45-10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop A: Principles for Revenue Management and Price Optimization Success
9 a.m. to Noon
Zach Cross
Vice President, Revenue Management Strategy
Revenue Analytics
Zach Cross serves as Revenue Analytics' Vice President, Revenue Management Strategy. In this role, he advises clients and leads engagements on Revenue Management strategy and business process issues.
His work with the firm includes managing engagements ranging from initial Revenue Diagnostic projects to a Revenue Recovery project, where he lead the design of a Revenue Management organization and capability for a multibillion dollar division of a Fortune 50 auto manufacturer. In addition, Mr. Cross has helped clients measure Price responsiveness, improve Pricing and discounting strategies and execution processes, and develop performance measurement tools.
Mr. Cross lectured on Revenue Management and Pricing Performance Measurement at the 3rd Annual Revenue Management and Price Optimization Conference. He joined the company from Revenue Technologies, a leading provider of Pricing and Revenue Management software solutions. At Revenue Technologies, he provided Fortune 500 companies with business process reengineering consulting services as well as software implementation and configuration best practices.
Mr. Cross holds a B.B.A. with a double major in Marketing and Entrepreneurship from the University of Miami.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop E: Pricing Power: Accelerating through the Curve
1:30-4:30 p.m.
Mark Ferguson
Conference Co-chair
Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mark Ferguson is the Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management and the Gregory J. Owens Associate Professor of Operations Management at Georgia Tech’s College of Management. He received his Ph.D. in business administration, with a concentration in operations management from Duke University in 2001. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.
Dr. Ferguson's research interests involve many areas of pricing and Revenue Management. He is the coordinator for the focused research area on dynamic pricing and Revenue Management at Georgia Tech and teaches an M.B.A. course on the topic.
He received best paper awards from the Production and Operations Management Society in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Several of his research projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. Ferguson served as a manufacturing engineer and inventory manager with IBM for five years.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop D: Introduction to the Science of Revenue Management and Price Analytics
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Laurie Garrow
Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Professor Laurie Garrow’s research addresses the development and application of advanced models of travel demand that integrate discrete choice, econometric, and market research methods to enhance understanding of travel behavior. Dr. Garrow earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at Northwestern University, with an emphasis on travel demand modeling and airline passenger behavior. Her dissertation won first prize in the 2004 Aviation Applications Section of Institute for the Operations Research and Management Science and honorable mention in the 2004 Eric Pas dissertation competition sponsored by the International Association of Travel Behavior Research. Dr. Garrow is author of the text Discrete Choice Modeling and Air Travel Demand: Theory and Applications.
Dr. Garrow serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management and Transportation Research Part B. Dr. Garrow has five years of industry experience, including four years as an analyst in the Research and Development Revenue Management Group of United Airlines and one year as an analyst in the Customer Science Unit of Mercer Management Consulting.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop C: Advanced Revenue Management Research Topics at Georgia Tech
9 a.m. to Noon
Jon Higbie
Chief Scientist
Revenue Analytics
Dr. Jon Higbie, Chief Scientist of Revenue Analytics, is a leading expert in the science of Revenue Management. He has helped some of the world’s leading companies increase revenue and profit through the application of sophisticated pricing, forecasting and Revenue Management techniques.
Dr. Higbie is particularly known for his innovative work in the hospitality and advertising industries. He has been recognized for his contributions to the science of group Revenue Management, real-time Price Management, and large-scale network management for companies such as ABC Television Network, Ford Motor Company, Marriott International, and Delta Air Lines.
Prior to joining Revenue Analytics, Dr. Higbie served as Chief Scientist for JDA Software, Inc., where he led one of the world’s premier operations research organizations focused on Revenue Management.
Dr. Higbie also served on the faculty of the College of Management at Georgia Tech. He holds a Ph.D. in Management Science and Information Technology from The University of Georgia, and a B.A. in Physics from Wittenberg University.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop F: Does My Forecast Really Suck? Measuring Forecast Accuracy as a Sustainable Process
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Dev Koushik
Manager, Revenue Management Modeling
InterContinental Hotels Group
Dev Koushik, Manager, Revenue Management Modeling, at InterContinental Hotels Group, has more than 10 years of experience in the field of Pricing and Revenue Management in the travel and transportation industry. He has led several successful initiatives to enhance the Pricing and Revenue Management capabilities of IHG’s revenue systems. Prior to joining IHG, Mr. Koushik served as a Scientist in PROS Pricing and Revenue Management Division. In this role, he was involved in designing innovative Pricing and Revenue Management solutions for airlines and car rental companies.
Mr. Koushik earned his Masters in Industrial Engineering at University of Florida, with an emphasis in Operations Research and Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, Madras.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Open Source Analytics: Fact or Fiction
9 a.m. to Noon
Seonah Lee
Operations Research Consultant
Revenue Analytics
Seonah Lee is an Operations Research Consultant for Revenue Analytics whose expertise is in optimization and management science. She has more than 10 years of experience in the field of Revenue Management in various industries including airline, telecom and hospitality. Some of her works include developing market response models, Price Optimization and Revenue Management systems for global hotel chains and airlines. Prior to joining Revenue Analytics, Ms. Lee worked as a Management Science Researcher for Korea Telecom and Northwest Airlines.
Ms. Lee earned a MS in Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently a PhD candidate in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology where she is focusing on hospitality Revenue Management.
Session Featuring This Speaker
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop F: Does My Forecast Really Suck? Measuring Forecast Accuracy as a Sustainable Process
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Hosts
Robert G. Cross
Chairman and CEO
Revenue Analytics
Author, Revenue Management: Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination
Robert G. Cross, chairman and CEO of Revenue Analytics, is widely recognized as the foremost expert in the field of Revenue Management. Mr. Cross guides Revenue Analytics’ strategic vision and provides a wealth of industry expertise. He is actively involved in client work, and his leadership has been instrumental in helping develop industry leading Revenue Management capabilities for his clients, including General Motors and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Called the "Guru of Revenue" by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cross also founded Talus Solutions Inc., a company credited with creating billions of dollars in value for clients such as ABC, Delta Air Lines, Marriott International, Ford Motor Co. and UPS. Talus was acquired by Manugistics Group Inc. in December 2000 for $366 million.
Mr. Cross wrote The New York Times business bestseller, Revenue Management: Hard Core Tactics for Market Domination (Broadway Books 1997). The book has been published in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese.
Mr. Cross served as a Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Rebounding Tips: The Best (and Worst) Practices in Pricing and Revenue Management
9:45 to 10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop A: Principles for Revenue Management and Price Optimization Success
9 a.m. to Noon
Mark Ferguson
Conference Co-chair
Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
Mark Ferguson is the Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology and Management and the Gregory J. Owens Associate Professor of Operations Management at Georgia Tech’s College of Management. He received his Ph.D. in business administration, with a concentration in operations management from Duke University in 2001. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech and an M.S. in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.
Dr. Ferguson's research interests involve many areas of pricing and Revenue Management. He is the coordinator for the focused research area on dynamic pricing and Revenue Management at Georgia Tech and teaches an M.B.A. course on the topic.
He received best paper awards from the Production and Operations Management Society in 2005, 2006, and 2008. Several of his research projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. Ferguson served as a manufacturing engineer and inventory manager with IBM for five years.
Sessions Featuring This Speaker
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009
Inside Out and Outside In – Winning Negotiated Deals at the Highest Margin
11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009
Workshop D: Introduction to the Science of Revenue Management and Price Analytics
1:30–4:30 p.m.
Steve Salbu
Dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair
College of Management
Georgia Institute of Technology
Steve Salbu, College of Management dean and Stephen P. Zelnak Jr. Chair, holds the inaugural Gourlay Visiting Professorship in Business Ethics at Trinity College and the Melbourne Business School. Previously, he served as associate dean for graduate programs at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and Bobbie and Coulter R. Sublett Centennial Professor and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the McCombs School.
Professor Salbu has been visiting professor at a number of U.S. business schools, including the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and Indiana University. More recently, he has taught extensively at international business schools and law schools, including London Business School, IMADEC University in Vienna, ITSEM in Mexico City (joint EMBA program with the University of Texas), and the University of Melbourne Law School (as Honorary Senior Fellow).
He holds a B.A. in psychology from Hofstra University, an M.A. in liberal studies from Datmouth College, a J.D. from the College of William and Mary; and a M.A. and Ph.D. in organization and strategy from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Professor Salbu is past editor-in-chief of the American Business Law Journal, and is on the editorial board of Business Ethics Quarterly. His research interests include cyberlaw, bribery and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, contract law, joint ventures, FDA regulation, and insider trading.