FFP 2008 Istanbul: 10-12 MARCH: Presenter Bios

	FFP PRESENTERS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:


Co-Chairman	Roger Williams, Managing Partner, Consulting, Airline Information
	Roger has developed groundbreaking concepts for (loyalty) currency management and in 2004 co-founded the "FFP" brand of conferences and publications. Formerly Chairman of the 120-airline member ISMC organization and system manager for loyalty and alliances at Air Jamaica, Roger has solid senior management airline experience complemented by a 10-year progression of airline roles in: operations, customer service, sales, network planning, and marketing. Roger holds degrees in International Relations and Intelligence from Florida International University and the University of Salford in the United Kingdom.




Co-Chairman	Ravindra Bhagwanani, Managing Director, Global Flight
	Ravindra has uniquely positioned Global Flight to assist airlines and their customers alike by offering both management-related services to airlines in the FFP/CRM field and unique Frequent Flyer services to travellers. He is one of the leading experts today in airline frequent flyer programs. His encyclopedic knowledge of airline loyalty is often consulted by the world's 'best practise' airline FFPs and the media. Ravindra is a co-founder of the "FFP" brand of conferences and serves as Editor-in-Chief for FFP Online co-produced with Airline Information and Airline Business.



Presenter	Rick Schifter, Partner, TGP Capital
	Rick Schifter has been a partner at TPG Capital (formerly Texas Pacific Group) since 1994. Prior to joining TPG, Mr. Schifter was a partner at the law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in bankruptcy law and corporate restructuring and represented Air Partners in connection with the acquisition of Continental Airlines in 1993. Mr. Schifter joined Arnold & Porter in 1979 and was a partner from 1986 through 1994. Mr. Schifter is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1978. He received a B.A. with distinction from George Washington University in 1975. Mr. Schifter currently serves on the Boards of Directors of LPL Investment Holdings, Inc., Bristol Group, LPL Holdings Inc., Ariel Reinsurance Company Ltd, The Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Washington Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, YouthINC., (Improving Non-profits for Children), and The EcoEnterprise Fund of the Nature Conservancy. Mr. Schifter also served on the Boards of Directors of Ryanair, PLC from 1996 through 2003, America West Holdings from 1994 to 2005 and US Airways Group from 2005 to 2006.




Presenter	Cara Whitley, VP - Customer Loyalty, Global Partnerships & International Marketing, Hilton Hotels Corporation
	Cara Whitley has served as vice president – customer loyalty, global partnerships and international marketing for Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) since 2004. She is responsible for developing and implementing key CRM initiatives, managing global partners, strategizing segmented offers and differentiation for international members, marketing customer loyalty initiatives globally and developing training materials for frontline team members. From 2002 to 2004, Whitley was director, international marketing - customer loyalty for HHC, assuming responsibility for global marketing and loyalty activities for international hotels in the U.K., Europe/Africa, Nordic, Middle East/Asia Pacific and the Americas. From 2000 to 2002, Whitley served as director – North America Marketing for customer loyalty, HHC, at which time she played a key role in the strategic integration of Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Hotels and Homewood Suites by Hilton into the Hilton HHonors program immediately following the acquisition of Promus Hotel Corporation by Hilton Hotels Corporation. Prior to that, Whitley served in managerial marketing positions for the company’s guest reward program. Prior to joining Hilton Hotels Corporation, Whitely served in marketing positions for Copper Mountain Resort; Lord, Dentsu and Partners; Grey Advertising; Stein Robaire Helm; and U.S. Recreational Ski Association. Whitley earned a bachelor of science, communication degree from the University of Miami. She resides in Los Angeles.




Presenter	Ayla Damé, Director of Customer Services, Middle East Airlines
	Ayla is responsible for formulating and developing the Loyalty Strategy of Middle East Airlines (MEA), Lebanon’s national carrier. Her unique approach resulted in Cedar Miles becoming a “Lovebrand” in Lebanon and abroad in key MEA markets. Mrs. Damé also played a key role in the development of MEA’s restructuring plan in her former Advisor position at MEA from 1998 to 2000. Prior to MEA, Mrs. Damé had joined Air Canada’s Head Office after her MBA in Montreal where she held positions in Aeroplan and International Alliances. Born in Beirut in 1966, Ayla graduated in 1989 with a BSc. In Computer Sciences from the American University in Paris, France, then with an M.B.A. from Concordia University in Montreal in 1991. As brand guardian for the airline, she takes great pride in MEA’s major turnaround and Customer Centric approach. Her biggest challenge now is to continue surpassing MEA customers’ expectations every day.




Presenter	Catharina Eklöf, Affinity & Co-branding, MasterCard Europe
	Catharina Eklöf holds a MBA from Uppsala University in Sweden. She started her career in Statoil, a Norwegian integrated oil and gas company, which is one of the world’s largest sellers of crude oil. With Statoil she held the positions of Divisional controller and regional area manager for the retail network of petrol stations in Sweden, where she introduced category management as well as sales optimization. Catharina then moved to the airline industry, to Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) one of the founding members of Star Alliance where she held positions as Director of product development Intercontinental Product Partners, Country Manager Belgium and Luxembourg and Director of Commercial strategies. Her engagements ranged from SAS product strategy development, leading the global team of Star Alliance product development to being responsible for trends and consumer insights projects. Catharina last mission with SAS was as Director Commercial strategies where she developed SAS global market, brand and target customer strategy. Catharina joined MasterCard in February 2007 and is responsible for Co-brand business development with Airline partners in Europe. In this role she initiates development of co-brand programs with banks and commercial partners. Working with partners in giving strategic advise on value proposition definition, distribution strategy and financial partner model.




Presenter	Felix Cruz, Vice President Marketing Support, Philippine Airlines
	Felix Cruz is responsible for formulating and implementing the objectives, policies and strategies of the Marketing Support Department, which covers the different areas of Customer Relations, Advertising and Promotions, Product Research and Development, Product Loyalty Marketing Programs, and Customer Relations. Prior to his promotion as Vice-President of Marketing, he held the position of Regional Vice-President of the Middle East Region taking charge of the marketing and sales functions including airport and finance operations of the region. Furthermore, as head of PAL’s External Affairs Department, he was a member of the negotiating team of the Philippine Panel for air services negotiations with various countries. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) in the Philippines and sits in various government and private committees involved in Philippine tourism promotion. He recently assumed the position of President of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) on October 27, 2007.




Presenter	Giancarlo Taliente, Senior Director Revenue Management, Copa Airlines
	Giancarlo Taliente is an 11 year veteran of the Airline industry. He started his career in Latin Sales for Continental Airlines but quickly moved to Latin Pricing and then Revenue Management. At the beginning of 2001, he was chosen to lead Continental affiliate, Copa Airlines’ Pricing, CRC and Revenue Management departments; and was soon after given responsibilities for Distribution Planning and Agency Incentive Programs. During his time at Copa, Giancarlo implemented modern Revenue Management theories and practice which resulted in an average yearly growth in yield of over 3%. In 2007 Copa moved to O&D (Origin and Destination) Revenue Management to continue increasing the contribution to the bottom line. On the personal side, Giancarlo has a Masters Degree in International Management from Thunderbird, The Garvin School of Management, a MBA from the University of Houston and a BBA from Baylor University. He has spoken at IATA’s Pricing and Revenue Management conference as well as the Airline Business / UATP conference. He is married with two daughters and resides in Panama City, Panama.




Panelist	Thomas Gesing, Director & Head of Customer Care, Miles & More
	With more than 14.5 Mio members worldwide Miles & More is Europe’s leading frequent flyer program of Lufthansa and its eight fully integrated Airline Partners. Thomas organization steers and manages the worldwide Miles & More Service- and Fulfillment Centers that handle Customer Care issues related to the Frequent Flyer Program (e.g. customer feedback management, rules and regulations, ticketing and account management) His team is responsible for a worldwide Miles & More service concept, which includes the communication of program features and handling advices via a web based online application as well as product development and IT-implementation for automated Miles & More services for LH and its Partner Airlines (Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, LOT, Adria Airways, Air Dolomiti, Air One and Croatia Airlines). Furthermore Thomas is responsible for quality assurance, fraud prevention and exception handling. Thomas is educated in technical and business administration.




Panelist	Vicky Elliot, Director of Marketing Services, Global Hotel Alliance
	British born Vicky Elliot graduated from Hosta Hotel & Tourism School in Switzerland in 1992 from where she was recruited directly by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. During her 14 year tenure with Hyatt, Vicky worked in hotels in London and Paris in Food & Beverage and Rooms management followed by various corporate marketing roles in their Europe, Africa and Middle East divisional office including marketing analytics, loyalty and partnership marketing and marketing communications. Vicky joined Global Hotel Alliance in August 2007 in her current position as Director of Marketing Services.




Panelist	Matt Vaccarella, Director of Loyalty Marketing, Three October
	Matt Vaccarella is a travel rewards specialist in Asia, where he has developed and launched profitable loyalty programs for the travel and hospitality industries. His first foray into Asia was in Seoul, Korea, where he nurtured Asiana Airlines' fledging frequent flyer program, as well as developed and launched Magic Miles, Asia’s first frequent flyer program for kids. Matt was one of the early pioneers in the fledging loyalty marketing industry in Singapore in the mid-90s. He and his agency team developed and launched KrisFlyer, the award winning frequent flyer program of Singapore Airlines. He also led the launch of Starwood Preferred Guest Program in Asia and created tactical marketing campaigns for OAG, Federal Express and Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts. Beyond the travel and hospitality industries, he has worked on diverse MNC and FMCG accounts in Shanghai, Beijing and Jakarta. More recently, Matt was working closely with Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Airways to maximize the potential of their respective frequent flyer programs. Based in Singapore, Matt travels constantly throughout Asia. An avid collector, he has one of the most comprehensive collections of frequent flyer and hotel rewards membership cards and memorabilia




Presenter	Craig Landry, Vice President Member Products & Services, Aeroplan
	Craig leads a member centric organization with overall commercial responsibility for the member value proposition. Key areas of responsibility include product design and innovation, product management, membership development, segment management, reward products and supplier chain management, and profitability/cost management. Prior to Aeroplan, Craig joined Air Canada in 1994 and held a variety of positions within Marketing. As a Pricing and Revenue Management specialist, Craig provided leadership to many projects at the airline, including the launch of Star Alliance, the integration of Canadian Airlines, and the launches of Tango and Zip. Craig joined Aeroplan in 2003 as Director, Reward Management, later holding the positions of Vice President, Rewards and Vice President, Marketing. Since his arrival at Aeroplan, Craig has led several corporate initiatives, such as ClassicPlus Flight Rewards and the introduction of many new reward product lines, including car, hotel, vacation, merchandise, gift cards and unique experiential rewards. Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Craig holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Arts, both from McGill University.




Presenter	Nathalie McCaughey, Phd Scholar, Monash University
	Nathalie-Chantal McCaughey is currently undertaking her PhD in Economics at Monash University (Melbourne, Australia). Her PhD research lies in the fields of applied microeconomics and industrial organisation, with a focus on the valuation of frequent flier programs and their impact on competition in the global aviation industry. She is an assistant lecturer in third year subjects such as ‘Competition and Regulation’ and ‘International Economics’ at Monash University and lectured ‘International Economics’ at third year level at Deakin University (Melbourne-Australia). She has an honours degree in economics from Monash University and is an academically certified interpreter in Spanish and French, which she studied in Heidelberg, Germany.




Presenter	Julien Fournier, CRM Manager, Rezidor Hotel Group
	Julien Fournier joined The Rezidor Hotel Group in 2003 to launch and develop the goldpoints plusSM loyalty programme and other CRM activities. He holds an MBA in Hospitality Management from Cornell ESSEC IMHI, and is the co-author of the academic CD-ROM ‘CRM in the Hospitality Industry’ now distributed by ECCH since 2006.




Presenter	Jim Dominey, Director, Marketing Programs, Choice Hotels International
	As part of the Consumer Marketing team at Choice Hotels International, Jim oversees the corporation's relationships with airline partners, designs and executes national promotions, contributes to the success of a six million member loyalty program and manages the Choice Hotels Gift Card. He has been with Choice for 10 years, originally starting in the Canadian headquarters in Toronto before moving to the global headquarters in Maryland in 2000. His concentration has been on loyalty, promotions and partner relationships throughout this period. Prior to joining Choice, Jim ran his own marketing and communications consultancy for clients in a range of verticals, including travel, publishing, photographic, telecom and computers.




Panelist	Lesley Lindberg, Marketing Director, Hertz Europe
	Lesley Lindberg is based at Hertz Rent-a-Car European headquarters in London. She has over 15 years International Sales and Marketing experience in the Travel Industry. In her current role at Hertz, she has responsibility for the brand, product development, customer loyalty and experience. As well as all communications via Hertz and partnership channels. Prior to joining Hertz Lesley spent a number of years with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Moving from their UK operation to their headquarters in Amsterdam where she held senior marketing posts including Global Communications, Loyalty Management and CRM. Lesley is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.




Panelist	Sanjay Thapar, Vice President, Business Development, International Partnerships - Travel Industries, American Express
	Based in Singapore, Sanjay is responsible for all new Travel Industry Co-brand, distribution and Membership Rewards partnerships within American Express’ proprietary Consumer Card business outside of the United States. Sanjay joined American Express in 1991, starting his career in India on the acquiring side of the card business, in a variety of market roles including Head of the merchant business for India and Area Countries, moving to Hong Kong and then to Singapore in regional strategy development roles . He joined the International Partnerships team in 2002 as Director, Business Development for all co-brand and distribution partnerships in the Asia Pacific region. Over the past 6 years, Sanjay has played a major role in signing and developing a number of leading co-brand and distribution partnerships across multiple geographic markets. Prior to joining American Express, Sanjay spent nearly 10 years working with a major Indian business conglomerate across multiple lines of business – consumer edible oils , textiles and heavy chemicals – and disciplines including marketing, product management, sales management, business development and general management. Sanjay holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from FMS, Delhi University, and a B Tech in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.




Panelist	Phil Gunter, General Manager of Velocity Rewards, Virgin Blue
	Phil Gunter is the General Manager of the award winning Velocity Rewards loyalty program of Virgin Blue. In the two years he has been with Velocity the program, it has grown considerably including the introduction of tiering, the extension of any seat redemption to international partners, over 20 new partners and almost 1 million additional members. Originally from the UK Phil previously worked at British Airways with roles in Finance and Marketing. It was here whilst working on the BA Executive Club that his love of loyalty began. Phil moved to Australia in 1998 and worked in Financial Services with roles in Marketing, Product, Strategy and Loyalty at American Express and two major Australian banks, before joining Virgin Blue in 2006.




Panelist	Dan McKone, Partner, L.E.K. Consulting
	Dan McKone is a Partner in L.E.K.’s Aviation practice and has been with the firm’s Boston office since 1995. He is a leader in Airline investment analysis and value-based marketing. Specifically, he has advised a wide variety of global airline clients on topics of growth and business transformation. Dan has directed nearly 200 major consulting engagements spanning mergers & acquisitions, new concept development, pricing strategy, market positioning, organizational design and new business launches. He originally comes from a Finance background and holds degrees from Dartmouth and The Wharton School.




Panelist	Alan Lias, Head of Loyalty & Business Development, Virgin Atlantic
	Alan started his career at American Express as a marketing graduate and spent 9 years in various credit card marketing and product management roles Alan then spent the next 5 years in the energy business first as Head of Marketing and Customer Services at Elf then as Managing Director of Beacon Gas, a JV between BP/Amoco and Seeboard/EDF In January 2000 Alan joined the Canadian marketing services agency, Mosaic, as MD of its direct sales division, Mosaic Sales Solutions offering UK brands outsourced sales and marketing customer acquisition and customer management solutions, including pay for performance services Before joining Virgin Atlantic, Alan worked as a management consultant leading new commercial ventures for telecommunications, energy and financial services clients Alan joined Virgin Atlantic as Head of Loyalty and Business Development in September 2004 and is responsible for Flying Club, strategic partnerships, credit card, business development including ancillary sales and brand alliances.




Panelist	Angelo Impoco, Citibank EMEA Cards Service Quality & Loyalty,
	Responsible for managing the customer experience throughout Citi’s EMEA Cards franchise in an increasingly competitive sector where service is becoming a key differentiator. Previous to his current position, Angelo was responsible for Business & Product Development at Citi EMEA Cards. Prior to joining Citi, Angelo worked for 11 years in the Airline industry at Continental Airlines in the U.S. throughout a number of areas (customer service, finance, alliances, and loyalty marketing) and at Air Europa in Spain where initially he was Director of Loyalty Marketing & Corporate Development responsible for the launch and positioning of the Fidelitas frequent flyer program, balancing the internal dilemma between revenue management and marketing regarding FFP displacement and liability, while at the same time responsible for advancing Air Europa into the alliance world. Thereafter he became the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the Globalia Corporation (holding company of Air Europa, Oasis Hotels, Century 21 Spain, Halcón Viajes, amongst other companies) conjointly as VP at Air Europa responsible for the integration into SkyTeam as an Associate member and merging Fidelitas into FlyingBlue as a Tri-Branded program (AF/KL/UX) in the Spanish market. Born and raised in the U.S., Angelo currently resides and works in Madrid, Spain, he is married and has a 1 year old daughter.




Panelist	Robert W. Mann, Jr., R.W. Mann & Company
	Bob is an independent airline industry analyst and consultant, founder and principal of R.W. Mann & Company, Inc.. His firm specializes in the identification, development and implementation of structural improvements to industry productivity, business processes, distribution and profitability. Bob has the distinction of having developed, managed and actually operated the FFP of many of his employers and consulting clients, programs including AAdvantage, WorldPass, FFB, OnePass, FlightFund, Frecuenta, Asiana Club, LatinPass, Mileage Club, Voyager, Mileage Plan, and Diamond Club. In addition, he has authored numerous articles on a wide range of topical industry issues ranging from loyalty to fuel hedging to fleet planning to schedule de-peaking to ATC improvements.




Panelist	Lars Meyer-Waarden, Toulouse University
	Lars Meyer-Waarden (Ph.D., University of Pau, France) is an associate professor in the Department of Management and Cognition Sciences, University Toulouse III Paul Sabatier (France). He also is affiliated with the Customer Marketing Research Group (http://meyer-waarden.com). In 2003, his doctoral thesis was awarded the best Ph.D. prize by both the French management and direct marketing associations. He also was educated at the University of Lille, where he obtained an MBA in Marketing and Direct Marketing. Prior to joining the University of Toulouse, he worked for many years as a marketing manager within the L’ORÉAL Group.




Presenter	Richard Albert, Vice President/Head, International Partnerships, American Express
	Based in London, Richard is responsible for all new and existing co-brand, distribution and rewards partnerships within American Express’ proprietary Consumer Card business outside of the United States. Richard joined American Express in 1999 as Director of Travel Agency Relationships for Europe in the Global Commercial Card division, before moving over to International Consumer Card Services in 2001. Over the past 7 years, Richard has played a major role in building the company’s International Partnerships business, signing and developing a number of leading co-brand and distribution partnerships across multiple geographic markets and industry sectors, including airlines. Prior to joining American Express, Richard spent nearly 10 years in the oil industry with Texaco, based in New York, Bratislava, Brussels, London and Zagreb. Throughout this period, he held a variety of roles in the areas of strategy, sales management, business development and general management, predominantly covering the markets of Central/Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Richard originally hails from Boston and holds a BSc in Business Administration from Bryant University, an MBA in International Management from Boston College and has studied at the ICADE School of Business in Madrid.