GLENN HAUSMANN craves the energy of a trip to Las Vegas. Though he's a native New Yorker, he finds the excitement of being in Sin City even more palpable. During his latest trip, Haussman took on the (not so) challenging task of enjoying the brand-new Palazzo resort during its opening-weekend celebration. He was forced to sip champagne while eating tasty creations from some of the world's top chefs. In this issue, he writes about this exciting new property—the model for an emerging trend of hotels so colossal they're called meta-resorts. Haussman is an adjunct professor at New York University, teaching consumer behavior and public relations, and writes about Las Vegas and the hospitality industry for a variety of notable publications. His report on the "Palazzo" for this issue. 
GEORGE DOOLEY joined Travel Agent this year after a 20-year stint with Travel Trade. He began his travel career as manager of press relations for ASTA and was a vice president of Doremus & Company (now OmniComGroup), handling travel and insurance accounts. He has also worked for Airbus, Hawker Siddeley Aviation, the National Air Carriers Association and World Airways. In 2001, ASTA named him Travel Journalist of the Year. In this issue, Dooley brings you both good and bad news, with stories on the difficulties in finding new agency personnel "Recruiting Staff For Your Agency" and recent developments that underscore the strength of the agency distribution channel "Purchases, Expansion Signal Faith in Agency Distribution System". 
MARK ROGERS, senior editor, recently attended the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Bangkok, where he met with tourism ministers from the 10 Southeast Asian member countries. During his downtime, Rogers had the pleasure of touring Potalai, a destination spa within the city borders that offers a restful interlude from frenetic and fast-paced Bangkok. Rogers covers Hawaii, the South Pacific and Asia, as well as California, where he is based. He updates you on the Big Island of Hawaii and recaps news from the ASEAN Tourism Forum. 
DAVID EISEN covers the cruise and hotel beats for Travel Agent. He just spent time with the president and CEO of MSC Cruises, USA, Rick Sasso (on the right, with Eisen), who is looking to build up the line's North America market. Next, Eisen takes a break from cruising and travels to Las Vegas for Carlson Companies' 70th anniversary Summit and World Gala. He'll be back in the cruising saddle in March, covering CLIA's cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale, followed by the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami. 
JOE PIKE is Travel Agent's associate editor covering the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Mexico and Central and South America. Pike attended Caribbean Marketplace on Paradise Island in mid-January and shares some news and interviews from the event in this issue. He is shown here (on rhe right) at Caribbean Marketplace with Gordon "Butch" Stewart, founder and CEO of Sandals International. 