Keynote Speakers:

ROBERT CRANDALL
During his 25-year tenure at American Airlines, Robert L. Crandall, former chairman and chief executive officer, was instrumental in introducing several changes, which revolutionized the travel industry. Crandall sponsored a project to modernize American's SABRE computer reservations system, thus laying the groundwork for what eventually became The SABRE Group, now a leading provider of computing and communications services for airlines throughout the world. Crandall created Super Saver fares, which introduced the concept of deep discounts for advance-purchase tickets. Subsequently, he led the development of the industry's first yield management system, a revenue-maximizing approach now used throughout the airline industry. He created AAdvantage, the industry's first frequent flyer program and launched an expansion program which more than tripled American's size. BusinessWeek, Industry Week, Aviation Week and Space Technology, Financial World and Air Transport World have all honored Crandall for his achievements.

PETER GUBER
Peter Guber, Founder and Chairman of Mandalay Entertainment, has led Sony Pictures as chairman and CEO, Columbia Pictures as president, Polygram as chairman and CEO, Casablanca Record and Filmworks as co-owner and co-chairman and Guber-Peters Entertainment Group as co-owner. He is among the most successful executives and entrepreneurs in the entertainment and communications industries. Films he personally produced or executive produced, including Rain Man, Batman, The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Gorillas in the Mist, The Witches of Eastwick, Missing and Flashdance, have resonated with audiences all over the world, earning over three billion dollars worldwide and garnering more than 50 Academy Award nominations. Peter’s new book, Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story has reached #1 on multiple best-seller lists.

Confirmed Speakers:

ROBERT ALEXANDER 
Robert Alexander’s involvement in the limousine business for the past 20 years has been diverse and rewarding.  Some highlights include: testifying on Capitol Hill regarding issues that affect all limousine operators; serving as past chairman of the Limousine 20 Group and The Success Group; being a founding member and past president of the Washington Metropolitan Limousine Association; and being interviewed on national television regarding various safety issues and the impact of fuel prices.  His company, launched in the basement of his parent’s house the summer following his college graduation, now has more than 100 vehicles and supports a worldwide network of business.

RICHARD AZZOLINO
Rich Azzolino began his full time association with Gateway Limousines in 1984 and spearheaded the company’s business plan, a plan of growth that has brought Gateway from a small local enterprise to today’s worldwide organization.  Additionally, he helped in the formation of the Northern California Limousine Association that focused on building rapport and a good working relationship with the San Francisco International Airport Land Operations Division and the California Public Utilities Commission.  He also was instrumental in the merger of the Southern California Livery Association and the Northern California Limousine Association to form the Greater California Livery Association (GCLA), which he now serves as a board member.  Azzolino is beginning his second consecutive three-year term on the NLA board of directors.

SHERI BARNES
Sheri Barnes and her husband Tom started their company, Avante Limousine & Transportation in West Lebanon, N.H., in February of 2007.  Because she is the 51% owner, Avante is a woman-owned business.  Since its founding, Avante has grown from a two-car operation to a seven-car operation and sales have increased steadily, reaching 30% more revenue in 2011 than achieved in 2010.  Avante’s primary market is Dartmouth College, the smallest of the Ivy League schools.

GARY BAUER
As a motivated high school student, Gary Bauer operated his own landscaping business during the day and transported his buddies at night in a Cadillac he bought for a few thousand dollars.  Today, with a fleet which exceeds 200 luxury vehicles, including state-of-the-art eco-luxury business shuttles, to black car celebrity and VIP services to the infamous San Francisco cable cars, Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation has emerged as one of the largest fleets in America. The business operates with well over 200 employees including 150 well-trained chauffeurs who transport 6,000 people each day to and from work and special occasions. 

MARY BEALL
Mary Beall is the co-owner and partners manager of First Class Executive Global in Phoenix, Ariz.  She has been in the chauffeured transportation Industry for six years.  She and her husband Barry began as a two-car operation working from home and are now an eight-car operation with worldwide reach.  Beall is a Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) in Arizona and has a back ground in sales stemming from 20 years as an auctioneer.

BRENT BELL
Brent Bell helped develop and maintains one of the largest transportation businesses in Nevada.  As president and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas-based, family-owned business, Whittlesea-Bell Transportation, Bell oversees a number of premier transportation companies, including Bell Trans, which comprises limousines, sedans and buses and is the largest single-city limousine company in the nation, Whittlesea Blue Cab Company, Henderson Taxi and Presidential Limousine.      The Whittlesea-Bell fleet is comprised of over 450 taxicabs, 227 limousines, 127 mini/shuttle buses, 40 SUVs, 40 sedans and five limo buses.

BOB BEUTEL 
Bob Beutel started ALLSTAR Transportation from the ground up and has grown the company from just one limousine to a diversified fleet of 34 vehicles.  With a staff of 55, ALLSTAR provides chauffeured transportation for the Detroit metro area as well as worldwide through it a network of affiliates.  Beutel served on the NLA Board of Directors from 2004 to 2010.

KRISTINA BOUWEIRI
Kristina Bouweiri is president, chief executive officer, and co-owner of the Washington, DC metropolitan area's largest limousine/shuttle service, Reston Limousine & Travel Service, Inc., nationally ranked 27th in size.  She is a well-known business leader in the Dulles Corridor area and was named one of the 50 most powerful and influential women in Washington by the Washington Business Journal.  Bouweiri also has been featured in business publications such as Washington SMARTCEO, Enterprising Women and Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation.

GARY BUFFO
Gary Buffo has owned and operated Pure Luxury Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past 21 years.  The company currently operates a fleet of over 60 vehicles including sedans, limos, vans, SUVs and buses.  Buffo is serving his first three-year term as a member of the NLA Board of Directors.

WAYNE BUSTLE
With a bachelor’s degree in finance, Wayne Bustle began his career with Merrill Lynch as a stockbroker.  He then became involved in the initial public offering (IPO) for the Fotomat Corporation and later worked for Fotomat itself.  Subsequently he earned his MBA from Pepperdine University and later held a series of senior management positions at Kirk Paper, a distribution company that served as “the middle man” between paper manufacturers and printers.  Following this, Bustle worked for several other organizations in mentoring and leadership roles.  His career has given him great insight into the issues that new companies face in getting themselves established and on the road to success. 

CATHERINE CHAULET
Catherine Chaulet, now senior vice president, has held management positions in the travel and service industry, since joining BostonCoach, a Fidelity Investments company in 2000.  She began her career by developing an expertise in sales and operations with added experience in customer service, technology and other functions that make a service business run successfully.  She now manages BostonCoach’s global affiliate network, their global client partnership division and is responsible for its events division: Best of Boston.  Chaulet received a degree in economics from University of Paris X Nanterre in Paris, and a MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management.

CHUCK COVINGTON
In 1998, Chuck Covington founded People’s Transit, a Michigan-based company that provides ground transportation services for airports, businesses and individuals.  As president and chief executive, he provides oversight and leadership for the entire company with focus on strategy, operational planning, business development, relationship management and start-up entity development. Prior to People’s Transit, Covington founded and operated a travel agency, People’s Travel, and worked as a buyer at Ford Motor Company.   He holds a B.S. degree in management from SUNY in Binghamton.

ROBERT CRESCENZO
Robert Crescenzo is vice president for safety & loss control at the Lancer Insurance Group which is headquartered in Long Beach, N.Y.  In this capacity he is responsible for coordinating the Lancer safety engineering program, marketing, and seminar preparation for commercial auto customers including chauffeured transportation companies.  Crescenzo has authored several articles for limousine industry publications and been quoted extensively in industry trade publications on the topics of safety, driver training and regulatory compliance.

SARA EASTWOOD-MCLEAN
Sara Eastwood-McLean was hired by Bobit Publishing Company (now Bobit Business Media) in 1991 and tasked to revamp the sales and marketing programs for LCT Magazine and the LCT Show.  Since then she has grown the “journal of record” publication to one that has been ranked among the company’s top three most profitable (of more than 20), reached a pinnacle of 3,800 attendees at the 2006 Las Vegas convocation and developed four additional profit centers including the LCT Leadership Summit, the LCT Eastern Conference, a products department that sells myriad business tools to the livery trade, and the management company of the National Limousine Association.

JOHN FERRARI
John Ferrari is the owner of AFC Transportation in Houston, Tex.  Celebrating his company’s 20th anniversary in January 2012, he launched his enterprise in 1992.  Two years later he diversified his fleet with one minibus and now has more than 100, the largest minibus fleet in the State of Texas.  AFC Transportation carries over 10,000 passengers each day and clocked over 5 million miles in 2010 with a total fleet of 190 vehicles.

DIANE FORGY
Diane Forgy, the owner of Overland Limousine Service in Kansas City, Mo., prompted her parents to start a limousine service when she was in high school.  After completing college and working outside of the company in commercial real estate, she returned to the family business in 1987, assumed the lead role in day-to-day operations in 1991 and took complete ownership in 1998.  Overland Limousine Service grew very rapidly during these years and now is established as the highest volume luxury limousine service in Kansas City.  Forgy has served as the president of the National Limousine Association for the past two years.

JEFF GREENE
Jeff Greene was president of the National Limousine Association in 2006 and 2007 and served on the board of directors for six years.  He is president of Greene Classic Limousines that he founded in 1988 and is a director of the Georgia Limousine Association.  Greene Classic Limousines was named “Operator of the Year” (large company category) by LCT in 2003.

DANIEL HERLING
Daniel Herling, a partner in the San Francisco law office of Keller and Heckman LLP, specializes in litigation.  His trial practice focuses on product liability, with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, commercial litigation, and antitrust.  This includes class actions, intellectual property litigation, patent infringement, and professional liability.  He represents companies in both state and federal courts throughout California and the United States.  He received his B.S. and J.D. at the University of Dayton.  Herling has been recognized as “Northern California Super Lawyer” by International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.

GEORGE JACOBS
George Jacobs built American Limousine into the largest limousine company in America in one city.  In 1998 he sold the company to Carey International, stayed on with them for seven years, briefly retired, and then returned with a vengeance, starting Windy City Limousine in 2006 and making LCT’s top 100 in his second year of operation.  This former four-time president of the NLA has bested the IRS, testified in front of Congress, and been LCT Operator of the Year as well as Entrepreneur of the Year. 

LARRY JACOBSON
Larry Jacobson is vice president of Financial Services, North America, for the Universal Music Group.  He oversees travel, accounts payable shared services, marketing and recording administration for all North American Recording Labels and Operating Companies.  He began his career at Universal Music Group in 1990 with MCA Records.  Prior to joining MCA, he was a professional disc jockey for both WBWB-FM and WTTS-FM in Indianapolis, where he also served as assistant music director.  Mr. Jacobson received his MBA from Pepperdine University and is currently a doctoral candidate in organizational leadership at Pepperdine University.

RICHARD KANE
Richard Kane is the president and chief executive officer of International Limousine Service in Washington, D.C., 2011 first vice president of the National Limousine Association and co-chair of the NLA Legislative Committee.  His company has a fleet of over 125 vehicles and a staff of 200 employees.  He served as president of the National Limousine Association in 2009.

SANDER KAPLAN
In 1986 Sander Kaplan borrowed $500 from his mother and founded A Candies Production.  Starting his venture as a mobile disc jockey service out of his college apartment at the University of Florida, he bought his first limo one year later when a bride-to-be asked Sander where she could find a limousine.  Kaplan replied,” I don’t own one, but I can buy one.  What color did you need?”  Today he operates a fleet of luxury vehicles and motor coaches.  He also has a co-ownership in nine Burger King Restaurants in Gainesville and North Central Florida.  In 2008 A Candies Production won the LCT “Operator of the Year” award.

MERYL KELSO
With a distant past as a delivery truck and cab driver, Meryl Kelso, owner of Dash Limousine and Sedan Service in San Mateo, Calif., more recently worked as a chauffeur for a large limousine service in San Francisco.  After three months of employment, she struck out to start her own company.  She has built Dash Limousine largely through word of mouth and a healthy dose of grit and determination. By continuing to drive when time permits, she has forged strong relationships with her clients as well as her affiliates – national and international.  Undoubtedly a help for the latter, Kelso has lived in France and speaks fluent French.

GREGORY MCDONALD
Gregory McDonald is a principal at Cornerstone Government affairs, the lobbying firm engaged by the National Limousine Association.  Prior to his current position, he worked as an attorney at a top-ranked law firm.  He started his professional career in the United States House of Representatives where he advised a senior Member of the House Appropriations Committee on a myriad of legislative issues.   He also has worked on congressional, gubernatorial and presidential races in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Colorado.  McDonald earned a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law after graduating from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a B.A. in History and Political Science.

KELLIE MCKINLEY
Kellie McKinley started her livery career as a chauffeur in 1996.  In 2009, she founded Seiji Limousine, the only female-owned operating company in Las Vegas.  She is a member of the National Limousine Association, the Better Business Bureau and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and has served on the NLA Show Committee, helping to design the International LCT Show education program, for the past two years.

CHARLIE MURRAY
Charlie Murray’s family-owned company is Total Luxury Limousine in Minneapolis, Minn.  The enterprise was founded by David Murray in 1987 and has grown since then, partially through acquisition of four other companies, to an organization with 40 vehicles that provides both corporate and retail services. 

DEENA PAPAGNI
Deena Papagni has been president of A Touch of Class Transportation, Inc. (dba Touch of Class Limousine Service) since 1989.  From a start-up with three limousines she has built the company into the largest limousine service in Central California.  She attributes this success to her education, which includes a B.A. in business and marketing and a M.B.A., a ferocious work ethic and a growing community.  She currently is in her second three-year term as a member of the NLA Board of Directors.

LOUIE PERRY
Louie Perry is a founder and vice president of Cornerstone Government Affairs, the Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm engaged by the National Limousine Association.  He brings more than 20 years of political experience to his role including several U.S. Congressional staff positions.  He manages a diverse portfolio of clients that include municipalities, corporations, conservation and wildlife organizations, health organizations, and a range of transportation interests.  Perry holds a B.A. from the University of Georgia.

GREG PRUITT
Greg Pruitt launched his limousine operation from home and has grown his company by reputation, acquisition and hard work into a recognized “go to” provider of chauffeured transportation in Oklahoma.   He was the winner of the 2008 Oklahoma City Business 40 Under 40 recognition and currently serves as president of CityRep, a regional professional theater group, board member of Friends of NW 10th, a neighborhood coalition of businesses, faith-based organizations and social service agencies, and director of the local entertainment and business district association.  He was elected to the NLA Board of Directors for the 2011-2014 term and serves as the co-chair of the NLA Nominating and Political Action Committees in addition to serving as a member of the NLA Show Committee.

KAREN PURVES
How do attendees describe Karen Purves?  “Refreshingly honest,” “relatable,” “contagiously enthusiastic,” “attention grabber and keeper,” “breath of fresh air” and a giver of “real answers to real life.”  Purves combines a bachelor’s degree in business, a master’s degree in environmental public policy and nearly 20 years working experience along with extensive training at “The Second City” to empower audiences to make a difference in the session and in their lives.  She guarantees her audience members will receive useful material, in an engaging way, and practical tools to implement immediately for success.

STEVE RAUCHER
Steve Raucher is the president of Las Vegas-based Proforma GPS.  He graduated from Rutgers University in 1985 with a degree in economics and a passion for business.  After working in the point-of-purchase business for several years, he moved to Las Vegas to take a sales position in the promotional merchandise industry in 1990.  Having gained experience in the industry and holding jobs in sales, marketing and management, Raucher launched Proforma GPS, a marketing solutions provider specializing in promotional merchandise and multimedia services, in 2001.

ERICH REINDL
Erich Reindl started his career in the livery industry as a chauffeur  in the early 90s.  After a few years, he, along with a co-worker, established their own company  Avanti Limousines in late 1996.  Eleven years ago they began transforming the enterprise from a leisure company to a corporate ground transportation service and changed the name to Avanti Transportation to reflect the new business model.  Today, Avanti Transportation is a full service ground transportation company with a fleet of 30+ vehicles and affiliates worldwide.

JOHN RODGERS
John Rodgers has been a Dale Carnegie® instructor since 1989 and has gained international recognition by Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc. as one of the top marketing associates and instructors in the world.  He is the franchise owner for JR Rodgers & Associates, Inc., the Dale Carnegie Training® sponsor in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Las Vegas.  Rodgers holds an undergraduate degree from Pennsylvania State University and a graduate degree from Shippensburg University.

JEFF ROSE
Jeff Rose is president and CEO of Attitude New York. He got his start in the industry driving yellow cabs in New York City while pursuing an acting career. After studying under Dav El “University” founder David Klein, he started his own company in 1986 with one car. Sensing that trends in the industry were going in a new direction, Jeff was among the first to ever launch a limousine service with a sedan instead of a stretch limousine. Today Attitude New York caters to New York’s most demanding clientele with 36 vehicles and a staff of 70. Rose is the president of the New York Limousine Association.

DAWSON RUTTER
Dawson Rutter, president and founder of Commonwealth Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation, started his limousine business with one car in 1982 and built it to a 20-car fleet during the following decade.  In 1998, he decided to build a larger business and developed a growth strategy and business model that has moved Commonwealth into the ranks of one of the largest chauffeured car enterprises in the U.S., now with offices in Boston and New York City, a 218-car fleet, hundreds of employees and a large affiliate network.

MATTHEW SILVER
Matt Silver is the founder and president of Ultimate Class Limousine located in Hicksville, N.Y.  He started the company in 1988 from the basement in his home and, since then, has grown the enterprise into a thriving company with a fleet that includes sedans, stretches, vans, mini-buses and coaches.  Silver is a board member of the Nassau Suffolk Limo Association and is also very active in many charitable organizations. 

SCOTT SOLOMBRINO
Scott Solombrino is the president and CEO of Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network, one of the world's largest privately held luxury chauffeured ground transportation companies.  In 1978 he founded the Massachusetts Limousine Owners Association and six years later helped start the National Limousine Association.  Since then he has served four consecutive terms as its president and many years (including the current one) as a member of its board.  Solombrino also is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Business Travel Association and was named president of the NBTA Allied Leadership Council in 2005.

RON SORCI
Ron Sorci is the chief financial officer of Aventura Worldwide Transportation, a 90-vehicle organization headquartered in Miami, and a past president of the National Limousine Association.  He launched his career in the ground transportation industry in 1969 when he worked for Fugazy International while attending college.  He became CFO of Fugazy in 1972 and, later that decade, fulfilled the same role for Carey International.  Subsequently he owned and operated his own company RPS Executive Limousines, Ltd.  After selling RPS in 1996, Sorci served as president of U.S. Transportation Systems, Inc. and then president of Precept Transportation before joining Aventura.

NINA TEN
Nina Ten, known as “The Card Lady,” is a relationship marketing specialist with over 20 years marketing and retail management experience and over 15 years hospitality industry experience.   She specializes in developing personalized and reliable follow-up systems for growing businesses to manage their relationship building, enhance their customer retention, and massively increase new referral business. Ten believes in "appreciation marketing" and teaches her clients to send out to GIVE...sending messages of appreciation, gratitude, and friendship to build rapport and create long lasting, top-of-mind awareness.

H.A. THOMPSON
H.A. Thompson had a 30-year career in broadcasting prior to opening Rose Chauffeured Transportation in 1985 with one car in his back yard and his two sons, Andy and Jeff, doing the "heavy lifting."   Now his company, which began as a retail and social provider, is in its 26th year and boasts 41 vehicles including 12 coaches.  The enterprise has come to focus on the corporate sector and has grown its bus business to one-third of total revenue production.  Rose Chauffeured Transportation was ranked #70 in the 2011 LCT "100 Largest Fleets" list.

ALAN WAXLER
Alan Waxler began his career in the travel industry in hospitality with a destination management company (DMC) in Las Vegas in 1990.  With a laser focus on transportation management, he obtained a bus operating certificate for the State of Nevada and brought the first Krystal limo bus to Las Vegas in 1998. He grew that business and utilized a fleet of limo buses to provide “meet and greet” airport arrivals and departures to the corporate meeting and incentive markets.  Alan Waxler Group (AWG) entered the motor coach business in 2004 and now has a fleet of 16 vehicles. AWG merged with Ambassador Limousine and Ritz Transportation in 2010 to form AWG Ambassador.  The combined fleet of all vehicle classifications stands at 154.

COURTNEY WEST
Courtney West graduated from the University of Richmond with his business partner and CFO Jeff Dausch.  Along with Mike Fortkort, the three owners built Chariots For Hire from a single limousine in 2002 to one of the largest full-service transportation companies in the Washington D.C. area.  Chariots For Hire currently employs over 150 people and has the most diverse fleet, ranging from sedans, limousines, limousine buses, shuttle buses, and motor coaches, in the region. 

SCOTT WOODRUFF
In 1996 Scott Woodruff learned that “Corporate America” was not his life direction.  He traded his car in for a stretch limousine and started down the entrepreneurial trail.  After 15 years, he and his wife Melissa own the largest chauffeured ground transportation company in Des Moines, Iowa.  His company Majestic Limo & Coach was included in LCT’s 100 Largest Fleet List for 2011.