Hands-on Workshops Will Highlight the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit

The Cornell Hospitality Research Summit (CHRS) will present a series of workshops that offer first-hand demonstrations of analytical tools posted by the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) at the School of Hotel Administration. Scheduled for October 8 and 9, 2012, the CHRS will present over 90 research-based presentations, as well as the workshops. Registration is still open for the CHRS. The tools are all posted on the CHR site for download and use at no charge.

"This is a great innovation for CHRS participants, because they will be able to work directly with the analysts and the experts who developed the tools," said Professor Rohit Verma, conference chair. "I cannot think of another conference that allows this kind of in-depth experience on our web-based tools, which is made possible because we have the Binenkorb Computer Lab here in the School of Hotel Administration."

Details on the workshops are found in the CHRS program. They are as follows:

• Drive Profits with Customer Analytics. Sponsored by Accenture, a CHR senior partner, this workshop will delve into the potential for customer analytics to drive revenues and profitability in the hospitality industry. Participants will learn how to apply customer analytics within the hospitality industry and in other leading consumer industries and about best practices for the implementation of analytics capabilities. Session leaders are Umar Riaz, Managing Director, Accenture; Julio Hernandez, Global Lead for Consumer Analytics, Accenture; and Kelly McGuire, Executive Director, Hospitality and Travel Global Practice, SAS.
• Hotel Industry Transaction Indices. This workshop will demonstrate the newly developed Cornell hotel price indices and provide perspectives on hotel industry sales. Led by Crocker Liu, the Robert A. Beck Professor of Hospitality Financial Management, one of the developers of the Cornell Real Estate Market Indices, the workshop will feature industry perspectives from Jeff Dallas, SVP of development, Wyndham Hotel Group.
• Hotel Valuation Tool. This workshop provides an overview of the recently launched version three of the Hotel Valuation Software, with direct demonstrations of the tool's applications. This workshop is presented by Jan deRoos, HVS Professor of Hotel Finance and Real Estate. DeRoos, an associate professor at the School of Hotel Administration, co-developed this tool with Steven Rushmore, president and founder of HVS. This session also will demonstrate the new Hotel Reservation Pricing Tool, developed by Assistant Professor Peng (Peter) Liu.
• Restaurant Simulation Tools. Professor Gary Thompson will demonstrate three restaurant-related tools that he has created: the Restaurant Table Simulator, the Restaurant Table Mix Optimizer, and the Wine Cellar Management Tool. The restaurant tools allow managers to determine the most effective way to set up a restaurant's seating and table mix, and the wine management tool assists in the management of a wine bottle portfolio.

About the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit
Designed as a unique environment that matches participation of industry and university, the Cornell Hospitality Research Summit is scheduled for October 8-9, 2012, on the beautiful Cornell campus in Ithaca, NY. The CHRS was developed at the suggestion of the advisory board of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research, to create a forum for the exchange of actionable ideas and strategies for the hospitality industry and related businesses.

The CHRS Title Sponsor is The Leading Hotels of the World; Platinum Sponsor is HotelNewsNow.com, a division of STR; Gold Sponsors are Deloitte, Hilton Worldwide, HVS, IDeaS, J.D. Power and Associates, LRP Publications, PKF Hospitality Research, Proskauer, SAS, STR, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, and Wyndham Hotel Group. Media Sponsors are Cleverdis, eCornell, Hotel Business, HotelExecutive.com, Hotel Online, HSyndicate, and Travel Weekly.

For details on the agendas, presenters, and accommodations, please visit us at http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/events/chrs/