The Industry’s Vision of Tomorrow’s Hospitality

Marie Ozanne is an Assistant Professor of Food and Beverage Management at the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University. She earned a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, and an MBA from ESSEC Business School, France.

Professor Ozanne’s research focuses on consumer behavior in social media and in response to new technologies. She is particularly interested in studying how the online and virtual worlds affect consumers’ brand perception, consumption, choice, and well-being. Her ongoing work examines how sharing food photos on social media affects consumption enjoyment and how artificial intelligence recommendations affect food and beverage choices. By doing so, Professor Ozanne aspires to help both consumers and companies gain knowledge and trust in their online consumer/brand relationship.

Prior to graduate school, Professor Ozanne worked for several years in the hospitality industry in the U.K., Spain, France, and Canada. Her most recent industry work consisted of developing cooking schools across southern Europe for the Weber Grilling Company. She has also been an operational marketing manager for more than 100 restaurants in France. At the Hotel School, Professor Ozanne teaches “introduction to Food Service Management – HADM 1360.”

Michele Sarkisian is an expert in aligning stakeholder objectives with corporate priorities. As a senior executive with $100M P+L responsibility at Maritz, a privately held sales and marketing services company, Ms. Sarkisian worked with leaders in diverse industries. Growth results ranged from double-digit market share improvement for a CPG client to expanding consumer loyalty membership for a hospitality client from domestic U.S. to more than 100 million members in over 200 countries. Ms. Sarkisian consulted C-suite leaders in financial services, retail, hospitality, consumer products, telecommunications, transportation, business services, and utilities. Her laser focus on growing and improving client business in profitable, measurable, and sustainable ways also achieved impressive margins for Maritz.

Ms. Sarkisian led P3 Advisors from 2013 to 2018, building on her reputation for delivering results. She consulted corporations, agencies, and startups on go-to-market, growth, and differentiation strategies and tactics. Results included opening profitable channels of distribution for a marketing services client, increasing market share in a declining market for a CPG client, integrating merged company cultures, and successfully focusing a startup on ideal targets for quick scale and improved valuation. Ms. Sarkisian’s ties to academia as well as top research and VC firms keep her current on innovation and emerging trends in the marketplace. Business leaders value her ability to fully assess situations and offer options worth considering, often including transformational recommendations.

Today, Ms. Sarkisian invests in innovative companies through Avenger Capital, Thayer Ventures, and individually. She serves on the boards of three private companies — Brandmovers, Healthy Dining, and Revelry Group — as well as on startup advisory boards such for Cooleaf, Hotel Communications Network, and Purple Cloud Technologies. Ms. Sarkisian served for four years on the board of Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research and has been a Fellow at Cornell’s CHR for the past four years. She also serves on the board of HINRI (High-Impact Network of Responsible Innovators). Ms. Sarkisian has been active in anti-trafficking for over a decade, serving on the Advisory Boards of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) and BEST (Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking), both organizations focused on advising businesses on what they can do to reduce human trafficking risk in their areas of influence. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) as well as a frequent guest lecturer at Emory University and speaker/panelist with JD Power, Cornell’s Innovation Network, The Loyalty Roundtable, and the Incentive Research Foundation. Ms. Sarkisian has earned numerous achievement awards through work and philanthropy and enjoys connecting people and companies within her large network.

Randy Garutti is the CEO of Shake Shack, a critically acclaimed, modern-day “roadside” burger stand known for its community gathering experience, commitment to taking care of its team, premium ingredients, and enthusiastic following around the world.

Mr. Garutti has led Shake Shack, born in 2001 as a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park, through significant expansion, growing to more than 200 locations worldwide in 13 countries and 27 U.S. states. In 2015, he took Shake Shack through its IPO. Today, Mr. Garutti leads with the principles of enlightened hospitality and continues to focus on performance, excellence, profitability, and fostering Shake Shack as one of the world’s most beloved brands.

Prior to Shake Shack, Mr. Garutti served as Director of Operations at Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, overseeing the operations for all USHG restaurants before moving to Shake Shack full time in 2007. In addition, Mr. Garutti served as General Manager of numerous acclaimed restaurants, including Union Square Café and Tabla in NYC, Canlis in Seattle, and Chart House Restaurants in Aspen and Maui.

A graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Mr. Garutti was named one of Crain’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2016 and in 2017 was included on Nation’s Restaurant News’ annual Power List. He serves on the boards of Square, Inc. and the Columbus Avenue BID.

With a passion for pioneering innovative approaches to hospitality design, Ron Swidler identifies new strategic growth initiatives for The Gettys Group family of companies. A collaborative and innovative thinker, he has shaped hundreds of hotels, resorts, and brand initiatives over his more than three decades with The Gettys Group.

In 2003, Mr. Swidler was key in establishing The Hotel of Tomorrow® Project, an industry-leading think tank that brought together more than 100 companies to envision the future of hospitality. He is currently leading a new phase of this project, aimed at addressing the needs that have arisen for hospitality in 2020. Mr. Swidler’s vision also led to the founding of Gettys ONE, its interior design group dedicated to branded hotels, as well as Gettys branding group, where he led brand creation and strategic thinking projects for boutique properties, large industry events, and international brands.

Mr. Swidler is a frequent speaker at industry events and has been quoted in numerous publications for his hospitality, design, and branding insights. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. Mr. Swidler is affiliated with the Hospitality Advisory Council at DePaul University, School of Hospitality Leadership and also serves as an adjunct professor at Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France; EM Lyon in Paris; Haaga Helia University in Helsinki, Finland; and Breda University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands.