Lees Associates was founded by John Lees in 1981 in the belief that clients were better served by architects and design consultancies who harness the impact of design in its fullest commercial, social and environmental contexts. It is a sentiment which has since steadily come of age, in the process helping Lees Associates to successfully develop relationships with a hugely diverse mix of companies and individuals and to work with them resolving issues of Design, management and marketing, of human and technical resources and of quality of life, through the application of design. Even in the early days, Lees Associates was unusual among young practices in working with a great many blue chip companies across financial, industrial, commercial, hotel, leisure, retail and residential sectors. Many of these clients chose to entrust Lees Associates with long term master planning or with their flagship projects and they came back to the practice time after time - testimony to Lees' ability to think originally, to honour commitments and to a pragmatic financial perspective, which ensures that cost and programme are considered at every stage of the construction process without in any way compromising the aesthetic quality of the project.

Organised and hosted by Insignia Hotel Partners, BHN and Hotel & Motel Management, the IHIF has become the largest annual gathering for the European hotel investment community, with over 1,000 delegates from more than 50 countries attending the 2003 Forum last March. Delegates included the top decision-makers from many areas of the hotel investment and finance industries. For more information visit www.berlinconference.com.

Kevin Heilbronner is the US Editor for wiredhotelier.com and hospitalitynet.org, providing streaming multimedia-content for these websites. Based outside of Washington DC, Heilbronner has worked with Hsyndicate to conduct interviews at several hospitality trade shows in the US and Europe over the last couple of years. His column and content are featured in the Hospitality Net weekly newsletter. A familiar voice in Washington, DC, Heilbronner is the stadium announcer for the NBA's Washington Wizards, WNBA's Washington Mystics and WUSA's Washington Freedom. He resides in Centreville, VA and can be reached via email: Kevin@hsyndicate.com.