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Get to Know Our Speakers
Brad J. Anderson - Blueprint CreationBreakout Speaker | Track: Service Solutions & Innovative Ideas | Birds of a Feather: Sales & Service to Guest Personalities & Effective Delegation: Strategies for Lessening the Load for Leaders
Brad provides consulting services and presentation facilitation to many of the world’s largest hospitality and tourism related organizations. Since 2009, Brad Anderson and the team at Blueprint have built a worldwide fan club, using a distinctive, high-energy, and fun teaching style, showing tens of thousands of people how to increase their revenue and improve customer service. Prior to launching Blueprint Creation, Brad gained 15 years of experience in sales, human resources, and operations roles at Ritz-Carlton, Hilton, and the Trammell Crow Company-Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. He also spent nearly 8 years with Signature Worldwide as an International Account Manager, overseeing the development and delivery of customer service and sales training as well as providing consulting services for various international hospitality, restaurant, and spa clients. |
Bill Elliott, CAE - Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging AssociationBreakout Speaker | Track: Innovative Ideas | Wisconsin Room Tax: Lessons in Leadership
Bill Elliott has been the President and CEO of the Wisconsin Hotel & Lodging Association (WHLA) since 2020. In his role with WHLA, he was instrumental in securing $95 million in grant funding for hotel and lodging property owners affected by COVID-19 and played a key role in repealing Wisconsin’s outdated personal property tax laws. Bill is a registered lobbyist and a frequent speaker on topics including room tax. Bill is actively involved in professional organizations and serves on the board of the Tourism Federation of Wisconsin, the International Society of Hotel Associations, and the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives. |
Rico Louw, CHIA - STRBreakout Speaker | Track: Sales & Marketing | Charting Tomorrow's Waters: Lodging Industry Forecast for 2025 & Ocean of Opportunities: Leveraging Data-Driven Decision Making
Rico Louw, CHIA, joined STR in 2015 and worked with the Support & Account Management teams before joining the Sales team in July 2021. In his current Regional Sales Manager role, he’s responsible for growing STR’s business in the Central States, from Texas to the Dakotas. Rico works with all types of hospitality clients, including ownership groups, management companies, independent hotels, CVBs, and DMOs, and frequents lodging conferences nationwide as a featured speaker. |
Bob Sanders - NextGen Legal, S.C.Breakout Moderator | Track: Innovative Ideas | Navigating HR and Legal Tides for Hoteliers
After more than a decade in traditional “Big Law” firms, including leadership roles, Bob wanted to eliminate the obstacles he saw prevent clients from reaching out for proactive legal advice. Enter NextGen Legal, founded to offer clients the expertise of an AmLaw 100-experienced lawyer on demand, without the uncertainty of hourly billing. Rated a Rising Star by SuperLawyers (an accolade reserved for only 2.5% of attorneys in Wisconsin), Bob provides strategic legal advice and counsel to companies of all sizes, helping business leaders make confident, informed decisions. His expertise spans employment law, regulatory compliance, litigation, safety, corporate strategy, and risk mitigation. Bob excels in transforming complex legal challenges into clear, actionable business solutions, offering strategic guidance to leadership teams. |
Chirag Shah - American Hotel & Lodging AssociationGeneral Speaker | Legislative Luncheon
Chirag Shah is the Executive Vice President, Federal and Political Affairs & Counsel at the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He leads AHLA’s federal relations team, developing and executing advocacy strategy on Capitol Hill. Shah previously served as AHLA's senior vice president of federal affairs & policy counsel. An industry veteran, Shah has helped record significant victories on critical issues facing hoteliers throughout his career on workforce and labor relations, tax reform, relief from predatory litigation, championing human trafficking prevention, and securing economic stimulus in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Prior to joining AHLA, he served as from the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), where he served as vice president of government affairs and counsel for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). |
Dennis Winters - Department of Workforce DevelopmentBreakout Speaker | Track: Innovative Ideas | Exploring Wisconsin's Workforce and Economy: Trends, Challenges, and Oportunities
Dennis Winters is a nationally recognized expert on human resource challenges in the competitive global economic environment. Mr. Winters' areas of focus include regional and national macroeconomics, energy and labor markets, and economic impact analysis. He has been a consulting economist for over thirty years and has served as an advisor to private industry, government agencies, and elected local, state, and federal officials. His current titles are Chief Economist, Director of the Bureau of Workforce Information and Technical Support, and Labor Market Information Director for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. |
Kaliegh Wiese - Méldeen, LLC + Kaleigh Wiese, LLCBreakout Speaker | Track: Sales & Marketing | Turning Today's Travel Insights into Brand & Marketing Revenue
Kaleigh Wiese is an endless creator, problem solver, hospitality strategist & business consultant. As a career entrepreneur, she has dedicated her attention to helping businesses find their brand voice and attract the right eyes to their vision. After almost 20 years, Kaleigh is regarded as a hospitality visionary, and along with her ODE team, offers agency-level support in brand development, marketing, elevating guest experience, operational strategies and fractional CEO + CEO services. Through her work, she and her clients have been featured in The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Good Housekeeping, CNN, People, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Martha Stewart Weddings. |