Boston MA (October 2, 2001) � Four senior hospitality executives have joined forces to offer �best practices� counsel to the industry. In a joint announcement on the formation of The Prism Partnership, Bill Watson, Gary Leopold, Mark Haley and Carol Bullock-Walter stated, �We formed The Prism Partnership to bridge strategy with core business competencies in marketing and sales, operations, technology and human resources for the hospitality industry.� 

As industry experts with extensive field experience � over 90 years of combined applied practice -- The Prism Partnership is positioned between the large, worldwide �brand� analysts and the small specialization shops. �We want to be known in this industry as the consultants who are outstanding at fusing thinking and doing� said Bill Watson, Managing Director of the firm. �We have deep expertise in the disciplines of branding, marketing, and technology which allows us to think more broadly for our client companies while at the same time we are known for our implementation capabilities.�
An affiliate of ISM, a recognized marketing communications leader in the industry, The Prism Partnership offers clients the unique synergy of knowledgeable senior executives backed by the infrastructure of a full-service marketing, advertising and interactive agency focused exclusively on issues in the hospitality, travel and tourism marketplace. 

The firm delivers custom-designed solutions in strategy development, strategic business issues, technology analysis and development, brand positioning and building, traditional and interactive marketing and sales, systems and operational analysis. Prism consultants also selectively accept executive recruiting engagements. Gary Leopold, CEO and President of ISM and a Prism Partner commented, �Together, we drive greater economic value for our clients because of the depth of our understanding of their business. Simply, we pull more levers for our clients through powerful thinking, better understanding and fresher creative ideas.�

The Prism Partnership includes:

Bill Watson, Managing Director, is an international business executive with over 30 years of management experience in the hotel, airline, and travel industries with a focus on strategic business issues, marketing and bridging technology with marketing and operations. He co-founded and was Chairman of THISCO and Vice Chairman of Pegasus Systems Inc., was COO and Executive Vice President for Best Western International, Inc., responsible for all worldwide operations, marketing, and information systems and was Vice President of Strategic Marketing for ITT Sheraton Corporation, responsible for worldwide rooms & reservations, marketing strategy and programs. He currently serves on the board of Micros-Fidelio Systems, TLX Inc an airline crew and hotel online management and logistics firm, and Passkey.com Inc a leading group management systems integration firm. For the last five years he has consulted internationally to many travel industry related companies. 

Gary Leopold, Partner, is President/CEO of ISM, a strategic marketing and communications firm specializing in hospitality, travel and tourism. Currently responsible for establishing top-level strategic direction and strategic planning, in his 16 years with ISM he has supplied a wide range of consulting and marketing services as advisor to leading travel and hospitality companies such as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton Hotels, The Islands of The Bahamas, Hong Kong Tourist Association and Massachusetts Port Authority.  Before joining ISM he was Corporate Director of Public Relations for Sonesta Hotels International. A Board member of the International HSMA, he is past president of HSMAI and Founder of HSMAI�s Golden Bell Public Relations Awards and Golden Click Web Awards.

Mark Haley, Principal Consultant, brings more than 20 years� experience in hospitality industry technology strategy development, needs analysis, implementation planning and particularly the integration of technology into hotel operations. Most recently, he was founder and President of HighTouch Technologies. Other experience includes Director of CRM for hsupply.com and Director of Property Technology at ITT Sheraton incorporating technology and operations experience at every level of the enterprise. He serves on the HITEC Advisory Council, is a member of the AH&LA Technology Committee and frequently writes for a broad range of industry publications. 

Carol Bullock-Walter, Principal Consultant, also brings more than two decades of experience in the hospitality industry to the partnership. Most recently, she served as Principal Consultant for The Hospitality Group and she was a Founding Partner of Directional Marketing. Her background as a consultant, hotel general manager, senior marketing and sales executive includes General Manager and Pre-opening Sales Director with a 4 star new-concept startup hotel and company, 7 years� marketing and sales consulting experience, 10 years� field experience with hotel companies including Omni Hotels and The Flatley Company. She holds an MBA from Simmons College Graduate School of Management. 

Headquartered in Boston, The Prism Partnership provides consulting services to the global hospitality, travel and tourism industry.  Its senior lodging and travel executives have with a cumulative 90 years of experience in hotel, travel and tourism sales and marketing, technology, operations, HR and management. The Prism Partnership is affiliated with Irma S. Mann, Strategic Marketing, Inc. (ISM) a $50M marketing and advertising firm that has been a specialist in hospitality, travel and tourism since 1984.