September 7, 2022 (Austin, Texas) — Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), producers of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) has put together an expert group of industry professionals to serve on the advisory council for its upcoming North American event. HITEC is the largest and oldest nonprofit event of its kind hosting 300+ exhibiting companies and a thoughtfully designed education program with over 50 education sessions. In its five plus decades, HITEC has become a respected, must-attend event for the industry. HITEC 2023 will take place from June 26–29 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Members of the HITEC Advisory Council are selected by HFTP leadership for their experience and expertise. The roster updates annually and the 2023 HITEC North America Advisory Council will determine the education program for Toronto. Leading the group are co-chairs: Shannon McCallum, Vice President of Hotel Operations for Resort World Las Vegas and Steve D’Erasmo, CHTP+, Director of Property Technology Services, Hotel Systems for Hilton Worldwide.
“HITEC has had a strong commitment to bettering the industry through education,” said D’Erasmo. “This year’s Advisory Council draws upon a diverse group of experts and practitioners. Our challenge is to look at the needs of our industry through each member’s unique perspective, consider the educational needs of all attendees; seasoned and less experienced, and to develop a comprehensive curriculum that fosters learning at all levels.”
“There has been an acceleration of innovation in hospitality that has changed the way we service our guests and supports the need for efficiency in our business,” said McCallum. “As we prepare for HITEC 2023, it is more important than ever to share these new trends and ensure that we explore perspectives of both operators and technology professionals to offer a pertinent and valuable curriculum at the conference. I feel strongly the unique perspectives of the knowledgeable individuals on 2023 HITEC Council will bring fresh ideas to the educational sessions and broaden the appeal for all HITEC attendees.”
The Advisory Council will kick off its program planning with a topic-development meeting in January 2023. 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 the sessions and select expert speakers to present the information.
The 2023 HITEC North America Advisory Council includes:
- Chair Shannon McCallum │ Vice President, Hotel Operations │ Resort World Las Vegas
- Chair Steve D’Erasmo, CHTP+ │ Director, Property Technology Services, Hotel Systems │ Hilton Worldwide
- Ajay Aluri │ Founding Director, WVU HIT Lab and Associate Professor │ West Virginia University
- Jonilda Bahja │ Ph.D. Student, Business IT │ Virginia Tech
- James Barton │ Group Head of Business Transformation, Hotels │ Merlin Entertainments / LEGOLAND Resorts
- Art Burger, CHAE+ │ Principal │ Art Burger Consulting
- Andrew Buwalda, CHAE │ CFO │ Hotel Association of Canada
- Scot Campbell, CHTP │ CTO Concerts, North America │ LiveNation
- Danny Dang │ Director, Hospitality Technology │ Canucks Sports & Entertainment | Toptable Group
- Hannah DeMaio │ Vice President, Brand Strategy │ Women Leading Travel & Hospitality and Women in Retail Leadership Circle NAPCO Media
- Roger Franke │ VP and CIO │ Aramark Destination
- Mark Gage, CHT │ Vice President and Executive Director, IT │ Enchantment Group
- Nelson Garrido, CHTP │ Senior Vice President, IT │ Brookfield Properties
- Ron Hardin, CHTP │ Director, IT │ Sandestin Investments LLC
- Amie Holm │ Director of Finance and Administration │ Atlanta Country Club
- Michael Lederman │ Vice President, IT │ The Leading Hotels of the World
- Sherry Marek │ Former Director │ HFTP Global Board
- Keryn McNamara │ Senior Vice President, Hotel Technology │ Aimbridge Hospitality
- Joshua Morgan, CHTP │ Director of Technology │ Horizon Hospitality
- Mark Pate, CHAE, CHTP, MBA │ Assistant Controller and IT Director │ Highpointe Hotel Corporation
- Mayur Patel │ Managing Partner │ Prosper Hospitality
- Neal Patel, CHO, CHIA │ AAHOA Chair and Managing Partner │ Blue Chip Hotels
- Henri Roelings │ Founder and CEO │ Hsyndicate
- Matt Schwartz │ CTO │ Sage Hospitality Group
- Prakash Shukla │ Managing Partner │ Wayfare Vc
- Rich Siegel │ President and Publisher │ Hospitalty Upgrade
- Jason Smith │ Vice President, Marketing Communications │ HSMAI
- Tariq Valani │ Senior Vice President, IT │ Middle East, Africa, India & Turkey │ ACCOR
- Ira Vouk │ Author/Industry Consultant │ Hospitality 2.0
- Lyle Worthington, CHTP │ CEO │ Worthington Tech
- McLean Xavier, CHTP+ │ Vice President, Technology │ Innvest Hotels
- HFTP Liaison Millicent Athanos │ Staff Vice President – Administration & USALI │ HFTP
- HFTP Liaison Alison Lockett │ Education Coordinator │ HFTP
- HFTP Liaison Frank Wolfe │ CEO │ HFTP
- HFTP Liaison Bryan Wood │ Chief Learning and Events Officer │ HFTP
HITEC 2023 exhibit space is 83 percent reserved, with general sales open for the remaining space (sales@hftp.org). Registration and hotel reservations will open in January 2023. For more information about HFTP’s events, visit www.hftp.org or contact the HFTP Meetings & Special Events Department at education@hftp.org.
