Hotel Industry Leaders Dinner held at Hy's

Jason Cheskes, Didier Oboeuf, Philippe Gadbois, Mark Hope, Tony Pollard

Earlier this month during the Hotel Association of Canada conference, about 35 hotel industry leaders from coast to coast, gathered for a dinner at Hy's Steakhouse in Toronto. The dinner was organized by Jason Cheskes, president of Above the Line Solutions and sponsored by Serta, CES, Encore Draperies, LG and Ecolab.

"Once again it was great to share a dinner with so many esteemed colleagues from across the country," said Tony Pollard, president and CEO of HAC. "Jason has put together a fantastic group and event which all are happy to be a part of."

Cheskes explained the origin of the dinner to CLN. "Several years ago at one of the HAC conference receptions, I was asked by a few national hotel suppliers to put together a dinner that evening. I went around the room, made some inquiries and realized that there really was not an organized dinner for such a great bunch of people."

What started off as an impromptu dinner attended by some industry people who didn't have prior plans, has now grown into an annual social gathering of key leaders from across the country.  Attendance is by invitation and limited to a small number of vendors, which sponsor and co-host the event.

A second dining event connected to the Canadian Hotel Investment Conference (CHIC) has been growing over the past two years as well.

This year's dinner was sponsored by the three original sponsors, Serta, Ecolab and LG Electronics, plus two new sponsor additions, both headquartered in Quebec, Encore Draperies and CES.