IHG
Company: IHG, Atlanta, GA USA
Company Description: IHG, an international hotel company with 4,400+ hotels in 100 countries, operates seven hotel brands: -InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites and Priority Club Loyalty Program.. IHG’s goal and strategy is to make its brands the first choice for guests and owners by creating Great Hotels Guests Love.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Employee of the Year
Nomination Title: Lo Li, Software Development Manager
Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated employee during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):
Lo Li is known throughout IHG and the hospitality industry as a rising star with
a deep desire to master new business concepts and new technologies which provide
her with opportunities for new innovations and a passion in mentoring and
fostering the next generation of technologists.
Lo Li began her career at IHG as a program analyst. Through her dedication,
technical knowledge, work ethic, and leadership skills, Lo proved to be an
invaluable team member and has been promoted multiple times over the years.
Currently, Lo is the Manager of Application Development and Integration where
she manages a global team of over 20 people including full time employees,
contractors, and offshore resources and leads the development and maintenance of
the award winning, industry leading PERFORMSM Revenue Management System.
The success of the system would not be what it is today if it not were for Lo
Li. She led the development team from the initial planning stages all the way
through implementation and rollout. She worked closely with business partners to
keep communication open and to ensure business and technical alignment. Through
Lo’s leadership, PERFORMSM received two industry recognitions at the end of 2009
- winning the TAG Excalibur Award and honored as a finalist in the ComputerWorld
Enterprise Intelligence Awards.
In addition to leading multi-million dollar initiatives, she also maintains the
system and identifies cost savings. She spearheaded the evaluation of the
current revenue management system, which at the time was requiring an upgrade.
Through her research and analysis, she located the true source of the problem
and created initiatives to resolve the issues, which eliminated the need for the
potentially expensive upgrade.
Lo Li is not only a leader at IHG, but also within the hospitality industry. Lo
is a sought-after speaker and participant at conferences. She represented IHG in
the Revenue Management & Price Optimization Conference where she discussed how
different companies have achieved Price Optimization and how IHG accomplished
this in an automated fashion faster than anybody else.
Lo Li presented IHG’s PERFORMSM with Price Optimization module at the IBM iLog
Conference. IHG was the only presenter invited to participate in a research and
development session on innovation of Price Optimization with the IBM teams.
Most recently, Lo served on an open panel discussion at a Women in Technology
forum on creating business and IT partnerships that produce real results. The
sold-out event was a huge success and received extremely high scores in how well
informed they were on the topic and sharing tips with the audience.
Lo Li also serves as a mentor and role model to women especially women in
technology. She actively volunteers and organizes events to provide women in
technology information and training opportunities to enhance their careers.
Even as busy as she is she always makes time to assist, advise, motivate, and
educate team members, women and men. She uses her own personal and professional
experiences to connect and to inspire others to make and achieve their own
goals.
List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:
http://www.mywit.org/manage-your-career/wit-forums/forum-topic-schedule/8
https://www-950.ibm.com/events/wwe/grp/grp004.nsf/v16_agenda?openform
&seminar=75C2H8ES&locale=en_US
http://www.revenuemanagementconference.com/past-conferences/2009
-conference/index.php
Provide a brief biography of the nominated employee (up to 100 words):
Lo Li, Applications Development and Integration Manager at InterContinental
Hotels Group. She is responsible for the deployment and oversight of IHG’s
PERFORMSM Revenue Management Software Development globally across over 3,500
hotels and serves as a liaison with internal and external business clients. Lo
Li was recognized as the 2009 IHG Global Technologist of the Year.
Lo Li actively participates in several organizations - Technology Association of
Georgia (TAG), Women in Technology (WIT), IHG’s Engaging Women in Technology
(eWIT) and is an Assistant Professor at University of Phoenix. Lo is currently
pursuing her PhD with a focus on Emerging Technologies.