Welcome to the 16th Annual Leadership 100 Conference
The 16th Annual Leadership 100 Conference convened February 1-4, 2007 at the newly renovated Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Florida. The hotel underwent a seven-year $70 million addition and room renovation, which included a 51,000 squarefoot spa and new beach pavilion.
All 450 guestrooms and suites were upgraded to include 32-inch LCD flat panel television, designer bedding, twin-sized sleeper chairs in rooms with king beds and mahogany wood entryways.
“The renovation has not only enhanced the refined ambiance of The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, but has also maintained the resort’s position as a leader in the luxury hotel business,” said Ed Staros, Vice President and Managing Director.
The five-star, five-diamond hotel, also called the Naples Beach Resort is located on the white sands of Southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast. Spa services include more than 40 spa treatments and body therapies, including nutrition and fitness with onsite personal training, with a focus on wellness. There is a steam room, sauna, aqua lounge and outdoor mineral pool and a spa café that offers spa cuisine and cooking classes.
Only three miles way, accessible by hotel shuttle, is the 295-room Ritz Carlton Golf Resort with two 18-hole signature Greg Norman golf courses. Together, The Ritz-Carlton Resorts of Naples offer 11 distinctive dining experiences, from classic to casual Caribbean.
CONFERENCE HUGE SUCCESS SOUNDS THEME OF HOPE
The Leadership 100 16th Annual Conference, February 1-4, 2007, drew some 450 participants with programs befitting its theme of “The Heritage of Hope”, opening with a stirring address by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America on the history of the Orthodox Church.
Other speakers included the world renowned cardiologist, Dr. Peter C. Gazes, who spoke on Heart Attach Survival, the New York Times columnist Jane Brody, who spoke on Health and Wellness, the prominent scholar, Prof. Speros Vryonis, who related to a rapt audience the mid-twentieth century Turkish pogrom of Greeks in Asia Minor, psychiatrist Dr. Susan Deakins and psychologist Dr. Marjorie Moyar who brought a message of hope in the Forum on Health titled “Recovery for Living”, and who and a Business John P. Calamos, well-know head of Calamos Asset Management who spoke of a promising US economy in the Business Forum.
The program concluded with a Grand Banquet, with attendance swelling to 500 to hear the former Mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, gave the keynote address and praised the values of Orthodoxy and Hellenism in receiving the Archbishop Iakovos leadership 100 Award for Excellence, the first time the prestigious award was given to someone outside the Greek American Community.
Prior to the programs, Chairman George D. Behrakis of Lowell, MA presided at meetings of the Executive Committee and Board of Trustees. The Board reelected some 13 of its 45 members, as well as three members of its 15-member Executive Committee, and elected George Tsandikos of the Archdiocesan District of New York to the one existing vacancy on the Board.