85.7 F
San Fernando
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Financial Issues

FINANCIAL ISSUES TO BE SPOTLIGHTED AT VICA BUSINESS FORECAST CONFERENCE AND ANNUAL MEETING, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 by Laurie Golden George Vradenburg, III, senior vice president and general counsel of America Online, Inc., State Treasurer Matt Fong and Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan will be the keynote speakers at the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) Ninth Annual Business Forecast Conference and the 47th Annual Meeting and Luncheon on Friday, November 14th. At the VICA luncheon meeting, Mayor Riordan will give his “State of the Valley” address. George Vradenburg, III, who was named senior vice president and general counsel of America Online, Inc., and a member of the office of the chairman in March 1997, will be the keynote luncheon speaker. Mr. Vradenburg has extensive transactional, litigation and regulatory expertise in various sectors of the entertainment industry. He was at the vanguard of two broadcast networks, as senior vice president and general counsel at CBS, Inc., and executive vice president at Fox, Inc., during critical periods of the industry from 1980 to 1995, and is a frequent speaker on technical, trade and social issues of communications and entertainment. Mr. Vradenburg represented the motion picture industry in the December 1993 GATT negotiations in Geneva and has testified before congress on industry matters. He received his BA from Oberlin College and his JD from Harvard Law School. California State Treasurer Matt Fong will be the Keynote Breakfast Speaker for the conference. His discussion will focus on the economic health of the state and the prospectus for L.A. County. The breakfast meeting will then be followed by three industry workshops on Real Estate, Electric Deregulation and Entertainment Technology. Randy Hoffman, president of Magellan Systems Corp., will moderate the VICA panel on the Real Estate Forecast. Participants include John Cushman, III, president and CEO of Cushman Reality Corp.; Jerry Katell, president af Katell Properties; and Larry Kosmont, CRE principal of Kosmont & Associates. Daniel W. Douglass, an L.A. attorney who specializes in energy law issues and was formerly with Southern California Edison, will moderate the second workshop on the “Electric Deregulation Impact on Business.” Speakers include S. David Freeman, general manager of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, George Miner, director of Public Policy and director of Corporate Communications for Pacific Enterprises; and Barry Sedik, manager of Economic and Business Development at Southern California Edison. Ellen Fitzmaurice, co-chair of the VICA telecommunications and Technology Committee and founder- principal of MindWorx, will moderate the third workshop on Entertainment Technology. Workshop participants include Greg A. Granello, president and CEO of EDS Digital Studios, Inc., who will cover the topic of emerging technologies in post- production and digital- content entertainment; Paul Rioux, president of Universal Studios New Media Group who will discuss innovations in the interactive sector; and Mackenzie Waggaman, executive producer of MEDIALAB Studio L.A., who will be speaking on virtual technology and “motion capture animation.” The Grand Sponsor for the VICA Business Forecast Conference, Annual Meeting and Luncheon is the Los Angeles Times, Valley Edition. The co-sponsors are Imperial Bank, Kaiser Permanente, Magellan Systems Corp., and Time Warner Communications. Grant Thornton, LLP, is sponsoring the VICA Breakfast Meeting with State Treasurer Matt Fong; Lockheed Martin, the “Real Estate Forecast” panel; DWP, SCE and The Gas Company, the workshop on the “Electric Deregulation Impact on Business”; and Pacific Bell, the panel on “Entertainment Technology.” Robert J. Pearlman, a Client Service Partner and partner-in-charge of the Manufacturing and Distribution Industries Services Group in the Southern California offices of Grant Thornton LLP, is the Chairman of the VICA Business Forecast Conference. The event is scheduled to last from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Warner Center Marriott Hotel, 21850 Oxnard Street, Woodland Hills. Registration begins at 7:00 a.m. More than 600 civic and business leaders are expected to attend the event. The cost of the conference is $95 per person, and includes breakfast, lunch, parking, all event seminars and access to more than 50 VICA member exhibits. Luncheon only, $60: for reservations, call (818)888-2228/ Laurie Golden contributed this article on behalf of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, a nonprofit and nonpartisan business advocacy organization founded in 1949. The mission of VICA is to encourage the economic vitality and growth of the greater San Fernando Valley region and to define, advocate and promote the agenda of the area’s business commnity.

Previous article
Next article

Featured Articles

Related Articles