Westin South Coast Plaza

Francis Ford Coppola will appear Friday at a fund-raising luncheon at the Westin South Coast Plaza, 686 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. A private reception to meet the director is at 11 a.m. The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $125 for the reception and $75 for lunch, which includes two tickets to the performances. Proceeds will benefit the arts school. Information: (562) 596-2975.

* Marian Burba has been promoted to controller of the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa. She had been chief accountant and assistant controller before her new appointment.

Aoki Corp., a large Japanese developer that owns Westin Hotels & Resorts, said Monday that it has agreed to sell a large portion of the lodging chain to a Mexican conglomerate for $708 million. The sale marks another retrenchment for a Japanese multinational and is at least a partial reflection of global economics.

Rise and Shine: The Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel is reaching out for the bed-and-breakfast crowd. The hotel is offering packages that include a full breakfast and room for two at $104. Besides being next to the mall and Orange County Performing Arts Center, the hotel is offering use of the opulent Spa at South Coast Plaza for $10 to its guests.

About 30 boys learned Monday how difficult it can be to operate a major hotel. The boys were spending a day with their parents for "Take Our Sons to Work Day" at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel, learning everything from how to fill out a job application to pitching the perfect pizza. "We got the idea from 'Take Our Daughters to Work Day,"' a national event that celebrated its second anniversary earlier this year, said Wayne Bodington, the hotel's general manager.