CHICAGO, March 7, 2005 – Hotel Technology Next Generation
(HTNG) today announced its new Board of Directors and Officers, who
will take office on April 1, 2005. HTNG’s Board of Directors is
elected from among its hotel members.

The new officer and director slate is as follows:
Director & President
– Nick Price, CTO, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Director & Vice President
– Barry Shuler, Senior VP & CTO, Marriott
International
Director, Secretary &
Treasurer – Jane Durment, CIO, The Marcus Corporation
Director – Robert
Bansfield, AVP-Information Technology, Hyatt Hotels
Corporation
Director – Glenn Bonner,
CIO & Corporate VP, MGM Mirage
Director – Francis
Joseph “Joe” Durocher, SVP & CIO, Outrigger & OHANA
Hotels & Resorts
Director – Michael Hwu,
VP Information Services, Four Seasons Hotels &
Resorts
Director – Bryan Steele,
Director of IT, Thistle Hotels
Gebhard F. Rainer, outgoing President of HTNG, and Vice President of
Hotel Finance and Technology for Hyatt International Corporation, said
“I regret that my changing job responsibilities make it impossible for
me to continue in my present role with HTNG. But I could
not be leaving the organization in better hands than with Nick
Price. Nick has been one of the key driving forces in the
creation of HTNG and in moving our industry forward. Hyatt
remains committed to the success of HTNG, and I am very pleased that my
counterpart from Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Bob Bansfield, was elected
to the board and will be able to continue to represent the strategic
interests of Hyatt.”
Rainer, together with Mark Hedley, Executive Vice President and CIO at
Wyndham International, and Shannon Knox, Vice President Technology at
Destination Hotels & Resorts, will retire from the HTNG board as
the result of changes in their responsibilities at their respective
companies.
Commenting on the changes, Douglas Rice, Executive Director of HTNG,
said “We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to our entire initial board
of directors, and especially to our founding President and Vice President, Gebhard Rainer and Mark Hedley, for their role in
establishing HTNG as a credible industry organization. The
original founders knew that HTNG would not succeed unless it was
adopted by and owned by the hotel community. The initial board members invested
extensive time and energy in something that was at the time nothing
more than a good idea, and by doing so they created today’s HTNG.
Gebhard Rainer and Mark Hedley played absolutely critical roles in that
process. I know the Board joins me in expressing our sincere
appreciation for their effort and support over the past two years.”
Under HTNG’s by-laws, the Board consists of between eight and ten hotel
company members. At this year’s election, the Board decided to
elect nine directors, including the eight listed above. A ninth
director, who was Chief Information Officer at a major hotel company,
was also elected at the January 29 board meeting. However, that
nominee subsequently left his employer to take a position with a
technology provider, and consequently became ineligible to take
office. HTNG hotel members who are interested in applying for the
resulting board vacancy should contact the Executive Director of HTNG
at exec.director@htng.org.
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