Rainmaker Leads Revenue Management Panel at GA Tech Conference
Rainmaker hosts Harrah’s, MGM MIRAGE, Archstone-Smith execs for Revenue Management thought lead
ATLANTA, GA, October 8, 2007. The Rainmaker Group, the world leader in automated revenue management software and services to the multi-family housing and other industries for total property profitability, hosted a thought leadership panel of top revenue management executives from Harrah's Entertainment, MGM MIRAGE and Archstone-Smith at the recent Revenue Management and Pricing Optimization Conference held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Attendees at the standing-room-only event participated in a discussion of how companies in the volatile Las Vegas gaming hotel market employ advanced analytics to optimize revenue. Rainmaker is speaking at a second leadership panel at the EyeforTravel Revenue Management (RM) Conference October 9 - 10 in Las Vegas.
Bruce Barfield, president of The Rainmaker Group, said, "Harrah's and MGM MIRAGE are the top casino hotel companies in Las Vegas. Listening to executives from both chains freely discuss the use of analytics and demand metrics and how they balance technology with human judgment to optimize revenue growth and retain customer loyalty, was an education for all of us." Harrah's and MGM MIRAGE both use Rainmaker's revolution SM Product Suite of Revenue Management modules to optimize guest profitability for the entire casino hotel enterprise.
Harrah's Director, Revenue Management - Western Division, Colleen Birch, noted that Harrah's centrally coordinates room pricing for eight Las Vegas casino hotels to ensure maximum revenue from cross-selling and applies an integrated rate strategy throughout its portfolio. MGM MIRAGE's VP of Revenue Management, Tim Coleman added that his company monitors demand continuously and frequently changes rates for all the room-types at all its hotels three or more times daily. Panelists noted that RM is becoming increasingly technology driven. Annie Laurie McCulloh, AVP of Pricing and Revenue Management for Archstone-Smith, one of the country's largest multi-family housing operators with over 85,000 units, also participated on the RM panel to compare revenue management and pricing practices in the apartment industry to those in hospitality.
Rainmaker's Executive Vice President, Tom Walker, will participate in a blue-ribbon leadership panel at the coming EyeforTravel Revenue Management and Travel Conference. His panel will focus on how hotel and travel operators can balance the large amount of data needed to analyze demand and optimize pricing with factors that promote guest loyalty and repeat business. Walker received his MBA from UCLA, is a guest lecturer at Cornell University and other institutions and has extensive experience in the travel industry.
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