Board of Advisors

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Experience * Integrity * Results

Board of Advisors

CLIFF EHRLICHCliff Ehrlich is a senior human resources executive with more than 40 years of experience managing large, diverse employee populations. Following 12 years with Monsanto Company, he joined Marriott International, becoming the company's top human resources executive in just five years. As Senior Vice President, Human Resources, he was responsible for 195,000 employees, the 16th largest workforce in the United States.

During Cliff's tenure, Marriott was identified as The Best Place to Work by Hispanic, Black Enterprise and Working Mother magazines. Marriott also received more than 100 local, regional and national awards for the employment of individuals with disabilities and for its work life programs.

Currently a principal in The Cabot Advisory Group, Cliff offers corporations assistance with human resources strategic planning, employee relations and aligning incentive systems with business goals. Cliff received a B.A. in Economics from Brown University, and earned his J.D. at Boston College Law School.

BRIAN EHRLICH

Principal of Lodging and Leisure Investment Advisors

www.LLIAdvisors.com

Brian has 17 years of diverse experience in hospitality real estate. From investment banking and brokerage to hotel investment principal, his full view of the market allows him to have a value added perspective on all transactions. His background encompasses significant experience in acquisitions, dispositions, management contract negotiations, financing, underwriting, market analysis, and asset management of full-service, select service and boutique hotels. As a result, he has wide-ranging contacts throughout the hotel real estate spectrum, including owners, operators, franchisors, lenders, specialty finance companies, brokers, servicers and receivers.

· Kimpton Hotels – Vice President Acquisitions and Development: Responsible for expanding the presence of company owned and managed hotels in the Western US. Negotiated and executed management contracts for newly developed hotels to be built in dynamic mixed used projects in Phoenix, Denver, San Diego, and Ontario.

· Kor Hotels – Vice President Acquisitions and Development: Purchased and converted award winning properties, The Tides Miami and Campton Place San Francisco, into Kor branded and managed hotels. Negotiated and executed the company’s first third party management contracts for properties in Washington DC and Vancouver, BC. Refinanced key hotels within the existing portfolio, including the 800- room Sheraton LAX and the 300- room Sheraton Delfina.

· Secured Capital – Vice President and Co Founder Hotel Investment Sales Practice –Evaluated and sold over $2 billion worth of hotel loans and properties, including Grand Wailea Resort in Maui, Snowbird Lodge in Utah, and hotel portfolios for Host Marriott, Thayer Lodging, and numerous financial institutions.

· Manor Care Hotels – Director/Analyst: Responsible for market analysis, underwriting, and board presentations for select service hotel acquisitions in the Mid Atlantic and Western US. Assisted on the closing of 11 properties that were converted to Choice Hotel brands.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his bride Christina and three daughters.

STEVE GILFUS

Steve co-founded CourseInfo LLC, which merged to form Blackboard Inc. in 1998. He is a noted designer and inventor and directed the development efforts around the product that is now core to the Blackboard platform. (U.S. Patent No. 6,988,138). In addition, he has authored numerous articles and white papers and was the primary author of the Educational Technology Framework – sometimes referred to as “the Gilfus Model of educational technology adoption”. He has presented and keynoted several leading global industry conferences and has lectured on teaching and learning on the Internet and the growing online learning marketplace at hundreds of academic institutions within the US, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, and Latin America.

Steve is also General Partner of TGC (The Gilfus Companies), a small private equity firm with investments in several internet start-up companies including Upsideover.com and Weddingwire.com.

Steve holds a B.S degree from Cornell University where he was an academic scholar. He is a member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Entrepreneurship @ Cornell and founder of the Cornell Entrepreneur Organization.

ED PROENZA Ed is Senior Vice President of Ensemble Hotel Partners, LLC, where he is responsible for asset management and hotel development. Ed utilizes his extensive marketing and hotel operations background to maximize results for owners and investors. As an executive member of the Long Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau, Ed is the Bureau's liaison with city officials on the development of tourism for the city of Long Beach. He also directs a hotel alliance committee working on union issues within the city of Long Beach and their impact on tourism. Before joining Ensemble, Ed was General Manager of the Long Beach Hilton Hotel & Executive Meeting Center. He also served as General Manager of the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Rockville, Maryland, where the owner, Thayer Lodging Group, named him General Manager of the Year. Ed spent nineteen years with Marriott International, including stints as General Manager of the Crystal City Marriott and the Durham Marriott. He was also corporate Director of Sales, Reservations, and Revenue Management for the Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands. He held numerous other operations and marketing positions in full-service hotels and was regional director of marketing for Courtyard by Marriott on the west coast. Ed graduated from Florida International University’s School of Hotel Management.