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HFTP (Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) once again powered the annual HITEC conference, hosting over 5,900 attendees and 325 vendors, this year in Charlotte, NC. Attracting the who's who in hospitality technology, the sessions were aimed at spotlighting the human element in technology, especially AI (Artificial Intelligence). Ironic? Maybe...a bit, but very interesting! Here are top highlights....
Keynote: How to Overcome Any Barrier
The opening night keynote headliner was Dr. Bryan K. Williams. His charged-up presentation, “Be a Mountain Climber – Tips to Overcome Any Barrier” had the attendees repeating many of his key phrases. As a former hospitality industry professional having worked in 17 different positions, Bryan provided advise on service excellence and leadership effectiveness.
Dr. Williams Suggested 7 principles to follow:
I will greet their day with love.
I will persist until I succeed.
I am nature’s greatest miracle. (Keep in mind that nobody can be a better you, then you.)
I will live this day as it’s my last. (Earn the right to come back tomorrow.)
Today I will be master of my emotions. (Force your actions to control emotions.)
I will laugh at the world. (Train yourself to say 4 words until they become a habit, “This too shall pass.”)
I will ACT now!
Fun fact: Only 10% of people follow through and do what they say are going to do.
Dr. William’s mindset helped attendees effectively examine the personal and professional hurdles providing his principles helped focus the efforts to overcome obstacles found in one’s path.
Technology and the Human Touch
On Tuesday, following the Hall of Fame inductions, the keynote headliners were Anthony Melchiorri and Glenn Haussmann, hosts of the No Vacancy Live podcast. Their session, “Technology and the Human Touch: Shaping Hospitality’s Future” was an impressive hit with the audience! This session focused on the fact that technology changes over time, the expectations that each generation has changes over time, however, as we continue to advance with technology the hospitality industry will always be people centered and we need to remain focused on how we and continue to align the two.
Technology must meet 3 needs: (1) Comfort(2) Convenience(3) Efficiency (it must provide frictionless service)
Key Takeaways:
Adapt your tools. While AI is coming in full force, the experience still needs the human touch.
Be flexible & learn. What is considered unimaginable today will become the new standard tomorrow.
Efficiency is critical. Identify ways to maximize technology to efficiently personalize the service experience in unexpected ways.
AI Packs the Room!
There were over 50 Educational sessions with the primary focus on Artificial Intelligence. Monday’s focus on the conference is the educational sessions where the rooms were packed with standing room only!
Ira Vouk, Founder of Hospitality 2.0 Consulting, delivered an impressive productivity workshop presentation on the tools available to harness the power of ChatGPT. Ira commanded the stage of a packed room providing first-hand experience to the free tools available (i.e. ChatPDF, Midjourney, Perplexity) for use to enhance the prompts for better AI results.
Where are the Women? Mostly at HSMAI
On Wednesday afternoon there were two events that focused on the women in attendance; the Women in Hospitality Technology Meet-Up followed by the HFTP Women in Hospitality Technology Reception. By observation, the HITEC experience is more heavily composed of men. On the other side of the convention center, HSMAI hosts their annual Commercial Strategy Conference.
“It is like night and day on the HSMAI side of the convention center” whereby women are more heavily represented in Commercial Strategy compared to Technology and Finance."––Emily Penfold Dailey
Attendee Emily Penfold Dailey, noted, “it is like night and day on the HSMAI side of the convention center” whereby women are more heavily represented in Commercial Strategy compared to Technology and Finance." Perhaps, how to integrate these events more is something to think about for next year!
Student Support and Inclusion at HITEC
HFTP supports this conference by identifying 25 students from seven academic institutions to work the conference. As a global organization, students came all the way from Hong Kong to engage in this volunteer experience. I had the pleasure of accompanying my three FIU students on Sunday for their training, as the only professor. This impressive group had a chance to meet the HFTP board. Students were exposed to vendors, attendees and industry professionals as they provided staffing to work the information booth, registration, the Learning Lab, educations sessions (both in the meeting rooms and on stage), along with providing wayfinding in the facility.
Mark Your Calendar for HITEC 2025
Next year the HITEC and HSMAI conferences will be hosted in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 16-19, 2025. In addition to the adjacent conferences co-located this year, the ICHRIE (International Council of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education) association will also add their conference to the end of the week (June 18-20).
Final thought: As an attendee trying to connect and engage with many individuals in the hospitality space, I look forward to exploring collaboration opportunities for more cross engagement in 2025! Hope to see you in Indianapolis!
Suzanne Bagnera, Assistant Professor, The Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, Florida International University.