RSS 2.0 Feed
Authors
Barry Thalden
Barry Thalden, AIA, NCARB, is a partner in Thalden-Boyd-Emery Architects, with 40 years experience in hotel and casino design. The firm has offices in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Tulsa and Phoenix. For more information, he can be reached at 1-800-THALDEN or bthalden@thalden.com.
Bob Kelly
Bob Kelly is president of Innovation Project Development, an owner representative entity based in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and an affiliate of the Innovation Group of Companies. Kelly’s background includes a 16-year career with various divisions of Harrah’s, where he was responsible for the design and development of gaming and hospitality projects throughout the world. He can be reached at 228-248-0088 or bkelly@innovationpd.com.
David Rittvo
David Rittvo is a senior financial analyst and the newly appointed director of the Innovation Group’s recently expanded food and beverage division. David offers 10 years experience with food and beverage operations throughout the globe. He can be reached at 407.702.6648 or via drittvo@theinnovationgroup.com.
David Schwartz
(www.dieiscast.com) is the director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV and the author of several books, including Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling and Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond.
Floss Barber
Floss Barber is CEO of Floss Barber, Inc., founded in 1989 to provide high-end interior design services to the gaming, hospitality, restaurant and corporate markets. Over the past 30 years, she has built a globally recognized firm that embodies both her essence and iconoclastic mindset. As a proven innovator in the hospitality and gaming industries, she was responsible for the implementation of the first card room in Florida, the first ecological hotel in the nation (before LEED Certification was available), and the first casino within the city limits of Philadelphia. Barber plays an active role in every project, providing input to the overall design direction and assuring successful project completion.
Greg Jones
Greg Jones was associate editor of Global Gaming Business magazine and managing editor of Casino Connection Nevada until September 2009.
Joe Witterschein
Joe Witterschein is the vice president of marketing for the Innovation Group (www.theinnovationgroup.com) and can be reached at joew@theinnovationgroup.com.
Johnathan Sparer
Jonathan S. Sparer, AIA, is a principal of YWS Architects Ltd. For more than 20 years, he worked for Marnell Corrao Associates, where he rose to vice president of architecture. He is a licensed architect in nine states, and a member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the American Institute of Architects.
Julie Brinkerhoff Jacobs
Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs is president and CFO of Lifescapes International. She has been with the firm since January 1982 and is responsible for sales, marketing, financial management and strategic planning. She is also a seasoned author and speaker on design and marketing related topics for the real estate industry (resort, residential, commercial/mixed use and entertainment sectors). She was also responsible for creating the concept direction for a residential project, the Monet Collection, which won local, regional and national awards from MIRM, MAME (NAHB) in 1990. Brinkerhoff-Jacobs is also involved on the advisory board for G2E Institute and G2E Expo and the Urban Land Institute.
Klaus Steinke & Jane Lee
Klaus M. Steinke has worked on a variety of hospitality, casino, commercial and other office projects, several of them exceeding $100 million in construction costs. His most recent project was the $300 million Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. His 27 years as a licensed architect has been both in the office and in the field. Steinke is a strategic partner of American Project Management, LLC.
Jane S. Lee is a managing partner and co-founder of American Project Management. She has 30 years of marketing, business development and management experience in the global financial, investor relations, design and construction industries. She is responsible for establishing and maintaining client relationships in casino, hospitality, Indian gaming, entertainment, international investor relations and financial markets.
Marjorie Preston
Marjorie Preston is a contributing editor of Global Gaming Business magazine and managing editor of Casino Connection Atlantic City.
Matt Sodl
Matt Sodl is managing director and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Innovation Capital, LLC, an investment banking firm focused on the gaming, leisure and hospitality segment. Innovation Capital provides expert merger and acquisition, corporate finance and capital raising, restructuring and valuation advisory services to middle market companies and Native American clients in the $20 million to $200 million range. Since its formation in 2004, Innovation Capital has been the most active middle market investment banking firm in the gaming segment, having completed 23 transactions and over $1.3 billion in aggregate transaction volume. Matt Sodl can be reached at msodl@innovation-capital.com.
Paul Heretakis
Paul Heretakis, RA, vice president of WESTAR Architects, has over 15 years of experience overseeing hospitality design and mixed-use master-planning projects throughout the world. WESTAR Architects is a key player in the hospitality design field and has worked with some of the largest gaming companies in the industry: Las Vegas Sands, MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, Trump Entertainment and others. His portfolio includes more than 1,000 casino, restaurant, retail and hotel projects. Heretakis can be contacted at pheretakis@wagnarchitects.com.
Roger Gros
Roger Gros is publisher of Casino Connection International, LLC. Global Gaming Business magazine, and Casino Connection Atlantic City are among the monthly publications Gros publishes. Prior to joining CCI, Gros was president of Inlet Communications, an independent consulting firm. He was vice president of Casino Journal Publishing Group from 1984-2000, and held virtually every editorial title during his tenure. Gros was editor of Casino Journal, the National Gaming Summary and the Atlantic City Insider, and was the founding editor of Casino Player magazine. He was a co-founder of the American Gaming Summit and the Southern Gaming Summit conferences and trade shows. He is the author of the best-selling book, How to Win at Casino Gambling (Carlton Books, 1995), now in its third edition. Gros was named “Businessman of the Year” for 1998 by the Greater Atlantic City Chamber of Commerce.
Tom Wucherer
Tom Wucherer, AIA, is principal and partner of Las Vegas-based YWS Architects, and specializes in the integrated design of hotel-resort, dining, gaming and retail projects. With experience in assorted aspects on the design and development of numerous world-class leisure facilities, Wucherer has worked with virtually every major Las Vegas-based gaming company during his career.