HRMStrategies 2005, IHRIMs 25th Anniversary Conference in Reno kicks off with keynote speaker Howard Putnam, former CEO of Southwest Airlines. Mr. Putnam led the visioning process at Southwest and further developed the "fun" culture and excellent customer service that Southwest is still known for today. Southwest has been profitable in every quarter for over 25 years, a record unsurpassed by any airline.
Burlington, MA (HRMarketer/PRWeb) October 30, 2004 - Howard Putnam, former CEO of Southwest Airlines will be the opening keynote speaker at IHRIMs 25th Anniversary Conference & Exposition, May 2, 2005 in Reno, Nevada. With more than 25 years experience in the airline industry, Mr. Putnam is also a business and motivational speaker, author, consultant, commentator, and online mentor on leadership, customer service, change, transformation and ethics.
In 1978 he was recruited to become president and CEO of fledgling Southwest Airlines in Dallas, Texas. While at Southwest, Mr. Putnam and his team tripled the revenues and tripled profitability in three years. They also successfully guided Southwest through airline deregulation and Southwest was the first air carrier to order the Boeing 737-300, which later became the largest selling aircraft ever for Boeing. Mr. Putnam led the visioning process at Southwest as well as further developing the "fun" culture and excellent customer service that Southwest is still known for today. Southwest has been profitable in every quarter for over 25 years, a record unsurpassed by any airline.
He was recruited by the board of directors of Braniff International to come aboard as CEO and save and/or restructure the financially failing airline. He was the first airline CEO to successfully take a major carrier into, through and out of chapter 11. Harvard University wrote a case study on his experiences at Braniff, "The Ethics of Bankruptcy" as a model as to how to handle stakeholders in crisis.
Howard Putnam's ultimate objective is "bottom line improvement." He believes that cultures that place "people" as their #1 priority have the greatest long-term impact and success. Using that objective, in 1998 he co-founded and is chairman of Aircraft Interior Resources, a commercial airline seat refurbishment company in Houston. In March 2002 he joined Centerpost Corporation, the leading provider of automated communications solutions, as a strategic advisor. He is also a founding faculty member and advisory board member of www.Mentoru.com/Putnam, an online education and mentoring site. Mr. Putnam is the author of The Winds of Turbulence on leadership and ethics.
The IHRIM Reno conference, HRMStrategies 2005, will be a celebration of IHRIMs 25th anniversary. The conference begins on Saturday, April 30 with Professional Development Seminars, which will conclude on Sunday, May 1. Festivities begin Sunday evening with a welcome reception, and the conference officially opens with the Monday, May 2 keynote address by Mr. Putnam. There will be more than 50 educational sessions and an exposition featuring more than 100 exhibitors through Wednesday, May 4. For more information about the 25th anniversary event, visit http://www.ihrim.org/events/2005spring/index.asp.
About IHRIM
The International Association for Human Resource Information Management is approaching 25 years of service to the HR and IT professional community. Its mission is to be the leading global source of knowledge for the application of human resource information and technology to improve organizational effectiveness. For additional information about the association and its products and services, please visit www.ihrim.org.
This press release was distributed through eMediawire by Human Resources Marketer (HR Marketer: www.HRmarketer.com) on behalf of the company listed above.
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