They run some of the top hotels, restaurants and travel-related companies in the world. But for the 200-plus alumni of Cornell's School of Hotel Administration who will be among the guests at this year's Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) on campus April 6-9, nothing can compare with undergraduate memories of managing the "hotel for a weekend." That's when many first learned to succeed as a team member under pressure.

Still going strong in its 81st year, HEC is a much more daunting feat to pull off today than it was at its inception in the mid-1920s, when the Hotel School's first dean launched it to impress hospitality industry pioneers with Cornell students' managerial prowess. HEC is still student-run, but the focus is now educational -- with scholars gathering with practitioners from such firms as Marriott International, Au Bon Pain and Jet Blue Airways to discuss key issues challenging the industry today. All talks and panels are free and open to the public (see schedule at http://www.hotelezracornell.com).

Interspersed throughout HEC are an extravagant array of food and beverage events that are the icing on the triple chocolate layer cake, so to speak. Erica Killam '08, HEC executive chef, notes that ingredients for the weekend's delectables include, among other things, 150 lbs. of butter and 200 lbs. of chocolate. Students also manage the lodging experience of guests at the Statler Hotel on Cornell's campus, where everything HEC takes place. The mega-event requires an enormous amount of planning over the course of the year and enlists a hefty percentage of the school's students.

HEC is "a delicate blend of education, leisure and culinary events showcasing what hotelies can do," writes a student planner on this year's HEC blog -- a first. "Hotelies love to put on a show and to serve."

In keeping with this year's theme, "A New Era of Leadership," attendees will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the Hotel School's incoming dean, Michael Johnson, informally throughout the weekend and at his talk, "Competing in a Service Economy: The Future of the Hotel School," Saturday at 9:30 a.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium, Statler Hall.

"What's News? Three Media Leaders on Today's Consumer and the Business of Hospitality" is HEC's keynote panel topic, Friday, April 7, at 8:45 a.m. in Statler auditorium. Panelists include Nanch Novogrod, editor in chief of Travel & Leisure and editorial director of American Express Publishing; Maria Puetz-Willems, editor in chief of HospitalityInside.com; and Christina Binkley, senior special writer for The Wall Street Journal. Barbara Talbott, executive vice president for marketing at Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, will moderate.

There also are panels on hospitality development opportunities in Asia and equity research in lodging as well as presentations on findings by the Hotel School's Center for Hospitality Research.