Announcement

LOS ANGELES - The City of Los Angeles has been selected to host one of the most important transatlantic business development and networking events of the year, the annual conference of the British American Business Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced today. “The United Kingdom is one of our strongest allies both politically and economically, and we share many of the same concerns over the global issues that will be addressed by this conference,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “There is a tremendous amount of synergy between the United Kingdom and Los Angeles.”

The two-day conference called FUTURE NOW will bring together prominent business leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States to discuss how the digital revolution is changing the entertainment and new media industries, joint efforts to combat climate change, the outlook for renewable resources and homeland security. The conference will be held May 17-18 at the Marina Del Rey Marriott Hotel.

“LA is the creative capital of the United States, and the UK also is a world leader in entertainment, communications and emerging media,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “We are both on the cutting edge of alternative energy research and are engaged in numerous joint initiatives to combat climate change. This conference will provide a platform for key business leaders and decision-makers on these issues to examine the present and chart the future.” Among the speakers at the BABC 2007 conference (organized by the BABC LA) will be Timothy J. Leiweke, President and CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), one of the world's leading presenters of sports and entertainment programming, as well as the developer and operator of such prestigious venues as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles and the Millennium Dome in London.

Attendees also will meet visionaries such as Sean Moriarty, President and CEO of Ticketmaster; Colin Callender, President of HBO Films International; Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group; and Doug Perlman, President of IMG Media, a global sports, entertainment and media company. British Consul General Robert Peirce will speak, as well as energy and environmental experts from ARUP, British Petroleum, Southern California Edison and several prestigious universities and research centers in Southern California.

“The opportunity to meet and network with people of this caliber in the business world is unique,” said Paul J. Wright, Esq., international attorney and President of the BABC Los Angeles. “The structure of FUTURE NOW allows for the exchange of ideas, in-depth conversations and even private meetings with our speakers for the appropriate people. It should appeal to anyone who is seriously interested in doing business with these high profile companies and organizations. The selection of Los Angeles as the site of the BABC 2007 conference is an important recognition of the leading role Los Angeles plays in today’s global economy.”

Last August, Tony Blair met with the Mayor and other prominent political, business and community leaders from Los Angeles, the first trip ever to the city by a sitting British Prime Minister. Just eight weeks later, Villaraigosa took his first overseas trip as mayor to the United Kingdom, where he addressed the shared concern of climate change. And in October, the First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell came to Southern California – another first - to reinforce business links, as well as joint scientific and educational programs.

“There is certainly a strong trend of cooperation and working together that has developed between Los Angeles and the United Kingdom,” Wright said. “The goal of our organization, and certainly of this conference, is to strengthen those ties by fostering personal and business relationships between the key people involved.”

For more information on the BABC 2007 conference, visit www.babc2007.com