Registration, Housing Help, Mobile App Help Desk Open

Attendees and exhibitors can pick up their badge during this time. Pre-registered attendees/exhibitors be sure to bring your QR code with you either on your smart-phone or a printed copy. Also, please bring a form of identification to retrieve your registration. For those that wish to register on-site, you will also be able to do so during this time.  The HITEC Housing and HITEC Mobile App Help Desk will also be open during this time.

Digital Den Open

Take a break to relax, check email, print your boarding pass, charge your device, or watch the live streaming of the Keynotes and General Session, in the Digital Den.

Sponsored by CNN

About HFTP Information Desk

Attendees are invited to stop by and learn more about HFTP, the association that produces HITEC.

Beverage Service

Enjoy a refreshing beverage before you settle in for the education sessions.

Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame Induction

General Session: Technology and the Power of the C-Suite 

The Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame Induction will take place, followed by the General Session.

How will technology drive the hospitality business over the next three to five years? This panel of C-level executives from brands, ownership groups and tech companies will debate the future of emerging technology trends, funding for IT development and the nature of competition in a digital marketplace. From guest experience to business infrastructure, will hoteliers move outside of their core businesses to transform traditional brand models? Or will third parties in the travel sector evolve to dominate the booking and stay experience for hotel guests? Exploring the wide gap in valuation multiples of public companies in travel, the panel will discuss the limits of loyalty, the power of data, the new economics in customer acquisition and how technology investments may play a role in establishing the winners in a dynamic new environment.

This session is sponsored by BluePrint RF.

Moderator: Michael Levie, CHTP, is COO at citizenM

Cindy Estis Green is Co-Founder & CEO at Kalibri Labs, LLC
Barry Goldstein is EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Wyndham
Ash Kapur is Sr. Vice President Hotel Asset Management & Chief Revenue Officer at Starwood Capital Group
Mark Carrier is President, BF Saul (owner/operator) and Chair of AH&LA

Exhibit Hall Open

Join HFTP for opening day of the largest tradeshow in the world dedicated exclusively to hospitality technology. See hundreds of booths and companies all catering to the hospitality industry, and look out for the emerging technologies that are being introduced to the marketplace. This is THE place to see the new "toys in the store." 

HFTP Booth and Member Lounge

Located inside the Exhibit Hall, HFTP Members are invited to take a break, network and visit with friends and colleagues, in the HFTP Member Lounge. Enjoy refreshments, delicious snacks, discover HFTP resources, take certification practice exams, renew your HFTP membership, and much more. 

HFTP Helps

Help local nonprofit Compudopt provide technology access and education to underserved youth on the HITEC Helps putting green. Tickets are required and may be purchased at the HITEC Registration desk or HFTP Booth. All proceeds collected will be donated to Compudopt. 

Exhibitor Tutorial: AI in Hospitality: Practical Uses versus Science Fiction

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies — such as machine learning, voice activation, chatbots, facial recognition, virtual reality and robotics — drive innovation in a range of industries. How will this emerging trend help hospitality enterprises transform the guest experience? This session will make it real with insights from Oracle Hospitality research on AI and examples of machine learning and data science in action.

Joshua Anderson is principal sales consultant at Oracle Hospitality.
Sundar Swaminathan is director, hotel solutions marketing at Oracle Hospitality.

Tech Talks

VENZA: Dear Guest, I regret to inform you that we’ve suffered a data breach …
Daniel Johnson is Partner/Co-Founder with VENZA

E Ink Corporation: I Can't Believe it's Not Paper
Jonathan Margalit is Sr. Business Development Manager with E Ink Corporation

Spectrum Enterprise: How Hosted Communications can improve staff productivity and guest experience.
Robert Massimilian is Senior Voice Product Marketing Manager with Spectrum Enterprise

Mindtree: Demystifying the Personalization Puzzle
Adnan Saulat is GM-Travel, Transportation & Hospitality business with Mindtree

Technology Showcase: Hotel Marketer’s Guide to Personalization at Scale

How do you personalize marketing for the millions? With the vast amount of data we produce online, guests now expect hotels to anticipate their needs and desires. These powerful data points could be a hotel marketer's dream come true if consolidated in a way that was actionable and privacy law compliant. In this session, you’ll learn how to enable automated, predictive and relevant guest engagement across the entire traveler life-cycle. Get hands-on advice from experts in hospitality and digital marketing facing this challenge in the era of AI and GDPR, plus best practices from hotels delivering personalization at scale.

Tim Sullivan: Speaker and panelist
Michael Bennett: Moderator
John McAuliffe: Panelist
Jenna Villalobos: Panelist

Exhibitor Tutorial: Taking your Brand to the Top with OTT and Fiber 

Are you doing everything to create a homelike environment for your guests and make their stay more enjoyable? Fiber internet is becoming the keystone to transform guest’s experience and enhance satisfaction and brand loyalty. In this session you will learn how fiber internet and OTT streaming technologies help to create a personalized guest experience and establish brand differentiation. 

Raj Mukherji is vice president of product and vertical marketing at Spectrum Enterprise.
Ankur Sheth is CEO of Moviebeam.

Exhibitor Tutorial: Marketing and Commerce Practices to Drive Revenue

How does your resort use system connectivity and automation to improve marketing, outreach and lifecycle messaging efforts? What kind of guest experience does your resort provide during the reservation process? In a technology-driven world, it is critical that customers get one-to-one interaction, that potential guests get an intuitive and enjoyable booking experience, and that your operations team has efficient and effective tools in hand. Attend Inntopia’s session to learn about best practices to drive guest engagement and advanced reservations revenue.

Tyler Mumley is VP of sales with Inntopia.
Bill Kushubar is VP of sales with Inntopia.

Exhibitor Tutorial: Payments Paralysis: How to Modernize Payments

The lodging industry has often used technology to woo guests and create a memorable experience, but when it comes to payments, there has been little change over the years. Now, with the proliferation of mobile devices among consumers and businesses alike, the way payments are accepted is changing. Attend this session to learn how even small technology investments can move your hotel to a more modern payments environment, while still maintaining secure, reliable payment acceptance.

Eric Liebman is vice president, head of product strategy—travel and entertainment at Elavon.

Exhibitor Tutorial: Creating the Ultimate Guest Experience Platform

Every hotel works tirelessly to recognize and enhance the guest experience at their hotels. It is one the last remaining advantages hoteliers have over the OTA’s and other disruptors in the hospitality space. You own the guest the minute they step foot in the hotel. How you manage their guest experience can make or break your brand. In this session, we will investigate how the IRECKONU Platform can be used to create a unique and engaging guest experience platform that can grow and scale with your hotel.

Robert Dawson is Consultant, with IRECKONU.

Tech Talks

JANUS Displays: Where and When to Deploy Digital Signage
Mike Sousa is Senior Product Manager with JANUS Displays

Beekeeper: Engage Multi-Lingual Employees Without Emails Using Hospitality’s Most Innovative Technology
Connie Rheams is Global Head of Hospitality Sales with Beekeeper

Decypher Technologies: What You Need to Know About Cellular & Public Safety Antenna Systems
Farr Shepherd is President with Decypher Technologies

Evolve Controls: New Guest-Facing In-Room Controls Technology
John Swain is Director of Product Management with Evolve Controls

Exhibitor Tutorial: Use ACH to Save Thousands and Enhance PCI Compliance

Are you tired of outrageous credit card fees? On average, companies are charged a 2.9% processing fee for every credit card transaction collected. If your company collects $100,000 in credit card payments, that means that $2,900 is going directly to the credit card companies. Thankfully, there is a more cost-effective (and even more secure) way to process these payments. Learn more about how Sertifi customers are using ACH to save thousands of dollars, enhance PCI compliance and provide their guests with the convenience they expect.

John Stojka is cofounder of Sertifi.

Beverage Service

Enjoy a refreshing beverage before you settle in for the education sessions.

About HFTP Information Desk

Attendees are invited to stop by and learn more about HFTP, the association that produces HITEC.

Concurrent Session: Emerging Technologies - The New, New Things

Technology is advancing at a faster pace than ever before, and this is changing both the expectations of patrons as well as the way in which the hospitality industry conducts its business. Almost every trend that surrounds hospitality and technology will revolve around making data more accessible, integrated and useful. Discover emerging, big data technologies and how it will evolve to better serve the hospitality industry and its guests.

This session is sponsored by Martello.

Moderator: Amir Amidi is managing partner with Plug and Play.
Christina Heggie is an investment principal with JetBlue Technology Ventures.
Raj Singh is founder of GoMoment.

Concurrent Session: Guest Facing Technology

Guest facing technology is rapidly evolving and it can often be a gargantuan task for properties to be on the forefront of the latest products and services available. How does a property balance what to provide and what to enable? Discover voice activation and the future of apps, and learn how to integrate new guest facing technology into your property to offer guests a seamless journey. Leave the session knowing how innovations are being embraced by guests and how technology is becoming an important differentiator.

This session is sponsored by Zingle.

Moderator: Ted Horner is owner at E. Horner & Associates Pty Ltd., a member of the HITEC Houston Advisory Council and an inductee to the HFTP International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. 
Andrew Arthurs is SVP and CIO at Two Roads Hospitality.
Thomas Fanger is vice president of mutimedia at MGM Resorts International.
David Heckaman is vice president of technology development at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
Nicolas Mercier is practice lead, hospitality & travel at Samsung Electronics.

Concurrent Session: How Do You Integrate New Technology Into Legacy Systems?

A legacy system integration project needs to take a number of factors into account. There are both cost and competitive challenges in maintaining legacy systems. When integrating new technology, the key is to fit the integration type to the particular business need that underlies the project. Learn challenges and strategies to prepare for an upgrade to your organization's legacy system.

This session is sponsored by Amadeus.

Amitava Chatterjee is a director at Deloitte Digital and a member of the HITEC Houston Advisory Council.
Siva Kantamneni is principal/partner, travel hospitality and leisure at Deloitte Digital.

Concurrent Session: Ethics 1

Do you know how to make sure your business is on the path toward the moral high ground? Where are the boundaries between personal and professional ethics? Does your organization have guidelines for determining what is ethical behavior? What are the potential consequences of unethical thinking or decisions? Ethics is a broad and complex subject covering moral principles that govern a person's behavior or conducting of an activity. Ethics in business is applied to decisions or problems that need to be solved in the business environment. Get an overview and history of ethical thinking, with lessons and/or examples of how to apply and incorporate ethical thinking when making business decisions.

Moderator: Donna Hale is owner of FEH Consulting, LLC. a member of the HITEC Houston Advisory Council.
Josh Bergen, CHAE, CHTP is controller at Venza.
Todd Wood is vice president of technology for Mandarin Oriental.
Kevin Yarnell is select account manager at Cisco.

Technology Showcase: Internet of Things (IoT) — The Connected World of Visibility and Big Data

Get an overview of how indoor location solutions can help ensure guest and employee safety, while improving operational efficiency, productivity and asset management. See how using loT and the benefits of a connected world enhance the guest experience while exceeding their expectations.

Rom Eizenberg is director, Bluvision Sales with ASSA Abloy.