With ABFF's registration at a midtown hotel, panels on 18th Street and screenings on 23rd Street, the disparate locations never seemed to give the festival a cohesive feel--a sense of community.
Less than 48 hours later, Mr. Romney's campaign held an elaborate "policy round table" fund-raiser at a Washington hotel, featuring panel discussions run by lobbyists and former cabinet officials or members of Congress.
The Bay's trendy strip of boutiques and restaurants has two new arrivals, Jolyon's hotel (see panel, right) with a cracking chill-out zone of a bar/restaurant downstairs called Bar Cwtch, and just opposite, the Wales Millennium Centre, a new arts centre opening next Friday.
The only thing guests may miss is the swimming pool, which has been repurposed as an insulated reservoir storing 80,000 litres of water heated by the hotel's solar panels.
Some conference speakers have pledged not to attend a convention at the hotel, a few panels have already been canceled, and there has been talk of demonstrations by people inside and outside the group.
At Crewe railway station about 500 passengers were evacuated and taken to a nearby hotel after roof panels fell on to overhead lines and caused a fire, leaving trains stranded outside the station.
The convention pretty much took over the entire hotel with its panels, parties, and gaming tournaments, and a few events overflowed into the neighboring mall.
Several months ago, he put his expertise to work as the moderator of a panel on hotel financing at an industry conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix.
As attendees filed into the hotel ballroom for a panel on private equity, in the background played capitalism-themed songs – "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "If I Had a Million Dollars" among them.
You can also check out the complete, Spanish-language video of my SAHIC panel on hotel technology and social media trends, on YouTube (and I've also covered some touristy stuff in host city Lima, Peru on my travel blog, LatinFlyer.com).
