The North American Conference, Texas is a must-attend for hoteliers

HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation), an organization that drives change in hospitality technology is organizing The North American Conference. The conference is scheduled for four days from Monday, February 23 through Thursday, February 26, 2015 at the ultra-luxurious Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, USA.

The HTNG North American Conference is organized for hospitality technologists who will attend the conference from different parts of the world and genres to connect, interact and learn about the latest technology advancements. The conference will be useful for hoteliers to form smart decisions for infrastructure, guest-room technologies, front desk and distribution system.

The attendees will get the opportunity to meet the high-level corporate hospitality technology buyers, build relationships with the hospitality’s top technology personnel, discuss technology with industry experts’ and vendors, interact with technology partners and above all gain exposure by supporting HTNG.

Last year, The HTNG North American Conference was attended by many people from across the globe. The conference witnessed the who’s who of the hospitality industry and was graced by senior-level management like CEO, COO, CIO, CTO and VP.

Important seminars this year

The sessions to be held on the first two days (February 23-24) will be technology related and these will be pivotal for the smaller hotels. Attendees will be shown presentations on the latest technologies from 2014 during the revamped technology innovation competition. Followed by this will be a joint forum meeting held by Software, Infrastructure and Device Forum. Topics that are related to forums as well as the latest trends in the hotel industry will be covered. The session will conclude with an ‘open town hall’ discussion.

On the day 1 of Tech Day, watch out for the PBX: The Stampede to the Cloud conference which will talk about the efficient communication systems of PBX or EPABX. The session will highlight the benefits of moving the in-room phone systems to the cloud. The session will be conducted by Keith Konicki, National Sales-Hospitality, ComNet Communications LLC, Ron Tarro, Vice President, Hospitality Solutions, Broadsoft and Dan Wood, Director Technology Planning – Global Voice Technology, Hilton Worldwide.

The sessions held on the last two days (February 25-26) will be strategy driven intended for broader hospitality audience. The sessions will be general and the conference will conclude with Hotel IT Leaders’ Roundtable for the senior-level executives. The participants (up to two per company) of the roundtable will hold discussions on their preferred topics.

On the day 1 of Strategy Day, watch out for Next Generation Travel Technology Conference which will be conducted by Terry Jones, Chairman of Wayblazer and Managing Principal of ON Inc. Terry is the founder of Travelocity and founding chairman of Kayak.com. He will talk about cognitive computing, next generation computers, that help understand natural language, context and concepts. The attendees will learn about cognitive computing and its application to travel.

There will be another interesting session held on the Day 1 of Strategy Day – Do Central Reservation Systems have a future? There has been a lot of speculation around the third party CRS systems and big hotel chains are looking to replace their age-old CRS systems. Online distributors are investing in PMS companies and big brand hotels are serving guests with the new-age CRS platform. Four industry experts, namely, John Burns, President, Hospitality Technology Consulting, Mark Haley & Mark Hoare, Partners, The Prism Partnership and Jon Inge, President, Jon Inge & Associates will discuss their views on the central reservation systems. It will be an interesting seminar to participate and learn more about the changing hotel distribution landscape.

On Day 2 of Strategy Day, Max Rayner, Partner, Hudson Crossing will talk about Brands, OTAs and Search: A World of Technology Disruption. The session will highlight the brands, third party sites and search sites that are controlling the audience today. The session will focus on how hotel technologists should serve their audience during this rapidly advancing phase.

HTNG conferences houses senior industry professionals and provides information and expert opinions on the latest technological advancements. The conference will save you ample time and expenses spent on research of the right products, thereby, helping you make smart decisions. Do make it a point to attend the conference. For registration, log on to www.htng.org/america.