Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), producers of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) has assembled a group of industry professionals to serve on the advisory council for its upcoming North American event.
HITEC 2024 will take place from June 24–27 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, N.C., USA.
Members of the HITEC Advisory Council are selected by HFTP leadership for their experience and expertise. The roster updates annually and the 2024 HITEC North America Advisory Council will determine the education program for Charlotte. Leading the group are co-chairs: Katie Lee, chief information officer for AKA Hotels + Hotel Residences and McLean Xavier, CHTP+, vice president of technology for Innvest Hotels.
“I believe that HITEC’s education program is the cornerstone of innovation and progress in today's hospitality tech landscape,” says Xavier. “Embracing diverse viewpoints isn't just a choice, it's our cornerstone to fostering innovation and an imperative. Broadening our educational outreach with a public call for presentations is not only a celebration of that diversity but an investment in the potential of collective growth.”
The Advisory Council will kick off its program planning with a topic development meeting in January 2024. Based on the topics they identify as priority at this initial meeting, the council will continue to work over the following months to fine-tune sessions and select expert speakers to present the information. New this year is a public call for HITEC Charlotte session proposals—the council will consider these submissions, selecting unique industry-specific presentations to help flesh out the event’s noteworthy education offerings to ensure a comprehensive solution-based program. The deadline for proposal submissions is January 10, 2024.
The 2024 HITEC North America Advisory Council includes:
chair Katie Lee │ CIO| AKA Hotels + Hotel Residences
chair McLean Xavier, CHTP+ | vice president of Technology | Innvest Hotels
Ajay Aluri, Ph.D. │ founding director, WVU HIT Lab and associate professor │ West Virginia University
Zach Black | vice president | Spire Hospitality
Mike Blake | vice president of IT| Kemper Sports
Art Burger, CHAE+ │ principal │ Art Burger Consulting
Andrew Buwalda, CHAE │ general manager of IT, Finance and Operations │ Deerhurst Resort
Scot Campbell, CHTP │ CTO Concerts, North America │ LiveNation
Neil Foster, CHTP, MBA | advisor | Growth Advisors International Network (GAIN)
Roger Franke │ vice president and CIO │ Aramark Destination
Mark Gage, CHTP │ vice president and executive director, IT │ Enchantment Group
Nelson Garrido, CHTP+ │ SVP, IT │ Brookfield Properties
Ron Hardin, CHTP │ director, IT │ Sandestin Investments LLC
Michael Lederman │ vice president, IT │ The Leading Hotels of the World
Sherry Marek │ owner | Aiken Street
Shannon McCallum | vice president of hotel operations | Resorts World Las Vegas
Keryn McNamara │SVP, Hotel Technology │ Aimbridge Hospitality
Christine Moffett | CIO, Technology and Innovation | Kessler Collection
Harikrishna (HK) Patel | board director and OTA committee chair | AAHOA
Neal Patel, CHO, CHIA │ managing partner │ Blue Chip Hotels and immediate past chair │ AAHOA
Henri Roelings │ founder and CEO │ Hospitality Net
Matt Schwartz │ CTO │ Sage Hospitality Group
Prakash Shukla │ managing partner │ Wayfare VC
Rich Siegel │ president and publisher │ Hospitality Upgrade
Jason Smith │ vice president of marketing and communications │ HSMAI
Tariq Valani │ SVP of IT, Middle East, Africa, India & Turkey │ ACCOR
Ira Vouk │ author/industry consultant │ Hospitality 2.0
Lyle Worthington, CHTP │ CEO │ Worthington Tech
HFTP liaison Millicent Athanos │ staff vice president – administration & USALI │ HFTP
HFTP liaison Alison Lockett │ education coordinator │ HFTP
HFTP liaison Frank Wolfe, CAE │ CEO │ HFTP
HFTP liaison Bryan Wood │ chief learning and events officer │ HFTP
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