Industry Veteran Dave Berkus
Joins Consulting Firm As Partner

Los Angeles, California: — Hospitality technology veteran and HFTP Hall of Fame member, Dave Berkus, has joined Les Spielman's Hospitality Automation Consultants as partner, the newly formed partnership announced today.

Hospitality Automation Consultants has been an active force in providing services and advice to the industry for twenty five years, serving many of North America's and the world's chains and management companies, specializing in telecom and information technology issues, integration, vendor selection and project management. With the addition of Berkus as partner, the firm now boasts deep knowledge in technology marketing, business process management, central reservations and GDS issues, and advanced property systems technology development and deployment.

Berkus, an active angel investor and valued coach to managers and entrepreneurs in many areas of technology, is credited with many "firsts" in hospitality technology, including creation of the industry's first multi-property management systems, first menu analysis links between POS and back office systems, first wireless check-in systems and first cellular phones linked to hotel guest room extensions. He is also credited with designing and creating the first property-based yield management system using artificial intelligence, and has been called the "father of open systems" in the industry, having been the first to force vendors to adopt UNIX and the PC in an age of proprietary systems and terminal-based workstations.

Berkus was founder and CEO of Computerized Lodging Systems (CLS) and of Hotelware Corporation, and currently is Chairman of LeisureLink, a GDS for leisure reservations management, and is a board member of IP3 Networks, creator of wireless gateways for hotel Internet access. He is co-author of "Better Than Money", a book addressing best practices in the use of limited resources in growing the technology-based enterprise and in managing complex projects.

As consultant to AremiSoft, Berkus introduced the company into the United States. Later as consultant to Sulcus Hospitality Technologies and to Rio Systems, Inc., Berkus helped engineer the acquisition of Sulcus by Eltrax and Eltrax by AremiSoft, then the acquisition of Rio Systems by AremiSoft (now SoftBrands). In the back office systems world, Berkus consulted to and negotiated the sale of Unisolve to Great Plains Software (now Microsoft). He has consulted with a number of the industry's technology firms regarding marketing, strategic planning for growth, technology renewal and market expansion.

He is author of fifteen books on entrepreneurism including the BERKONOMICS series. His weekly emails and blogs are distributed to one hundred thousand CxOs and entrepreneurs. His TEDx talk is available on YouTube, and he tours the world giving keynotes to entrepreneurs, hoteliers, and angel-VC investors on best practices.  His TV show, "The Berkus Report," is carried over TWC and other affiliated cable channels.  He was named "Tech Leader of the Year" by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and "Director of the Year" by the Forum for Corporate Directors.

 Spielman has consulted to many of the industry's chains and management companies over the past twenty five years, specializing in issues of technology selection, vendor management and telecom re-engineering. He is a long time member of the Society of Telecommunications Consultants, serving on its board of directors for two successive elected terms.

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