The Preston Robert Tisch Center

Life in the Luxe League
How Luxury GMs Successfully Strategize Their Professional Paths

Lalia Rach, Tisch Center divisional dean and HVS International chair, moderates an open-ended discussion featuring a panel of distinguished luxury hotel executives, who answer students' questions on the hospitality industry and what it is like to work as a hotel manager.

Panelists include: Eric O. Long, general manager, The Waldorf=Astoria & The Waldorf Towers; Offer Nissenbaum, managing director, Peninsula Beverly Hills; Dominique Piquemal, managing director, The LONDON NYC; and Mary Lou Pollack, general manager, The Alex. Moderated by Lalia Rach, divisional dean and HVS International chair of NYU’s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management, the event was held at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Monday, March 31, 2008.  The discussion was part of the Tisch Center’s annual Stephen W. Brener Distinguished Lecture Series in Hospitality Management.

2007–2008 STEPHEN W. BRENER
DISTINGUISHED LECTURERS

MODERATOR

Dr. Lalia Rach is recognized internationally for her work in defining tourism, hotel management and sports business as recognized fields of study. Her research areas include groundbreaking studies on the female business traveler, generational marketing and leadership and strategy. Currently, she is conducting a study on retention and the affluent consumer. In 2007 she was recognized by Travel Weekly as one of the 33 most influential people in the global tourism industry and by Hospitality Marketing and Sales International as one of the top 25 minds in marketing and sales.

PANELISTS

Eric O. Long began his career as a hospitality executive in hotel and restaurant management with positions as Director in Catering, Purchasing, Banquets and Meeting Services, and moving into Resident Manager positions. Beginning at the Omaha Hilton, his background includes tenures with The Palmer House Hilton, Fontainebleau Hilton Resort and Spa, Hilton at Walt Disney World Village, and the Chicago Hiltonand Towers – reopening this landmark hotel as one of the premier group hotels in the USA. He now leads one of the world’s most legendary and historic hotels, The Waldorf=Astoria, a Hilton Hotel.

Offer Nissenbaum has held positions in upscale hotels for more than twenty years. He joined the Doral Tuscany Hotel in New York – now a W Hotel – in 1986, and then moved to Miami as Resident Manager and then General Manager of the Doral Saturnia International Spa Resort. In 1997 Mr. Nissenbaum became the resident manager of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. He was Regional Vice President of Operations for nine facilities of Omni Hotels prior to his position with the five-star and five-diamond Peninsula Beverly Hills.

Dominique Piquemal began his formal hotel experience as Director of Banquets and Special Services for the Peninsula Beverly Hills. He then joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ Luxury Collection in La Jolla as the Food and Beverage Director. After moving to the University of Southern California to become Director of Retail, he rejoined Starwood, moving east to become Hotel Manager with the Westin Copley Plaza in Boston, then to the Four Seasons in Houston, before joining Blackstone and LXR in New York at The LONDON NYC.

Mary Lou Pollack began her career as a Sales Manager for the Halloran House (now the Marriott East in New York). She then joined UK based Greenall Whitley, plc as Vice President of Sales. Ms. Pollack held a variety of positions within Prime Hospitality Corp., including Regional Vice President of Marketing for several portfolios of full service hotels in major USA cities. Before joining The Alex, she most recently was Vice President of Sales for Prime, in charge of sales for more than 200 USA hotels.