HFTP Announces 2024 HITEC North America Advisory Council

Austin, Texas — Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), producers of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC®) has assembled an expert group of industry professionals to serve on the advisory council for its upcoming North American event. HITEC is the largest and longest-running 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 2024 will take place from June 24–27 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina 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+, Chief Information Officer for Innvest Hotels.

I believe that HITEC’s education program is the cornerstone of innovation and progress in today's hospitality tech landscape, said 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:

• Co-Chair Katie Lee │ CIO| AKA Hotels + Hotel Residences
• Co-Chair McLean Xavier, CHTP+ | Chief Information Officer | 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 | VP 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 │ VP and CIO │ Aramark Destination
• Mark Gage, CHTP │ VP and Executive Director, IT │ Enchantment Group
• Nelson Garrido, CHTP+ │ SVP, IT │ Brookfield Properties
• Ron Hardin, CHTP │ Director, IT │ Sandestin Investments LLC
• Michael Lederman │ VP, IT │ The Leading Hotels of the World
• Sherry Marek │ Owner | Aiken Street
• Shannon McCallum | VP 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 │ VP 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

HITEC 2024 exhibit space is 74 percent reserved, with general sales open for the remaining space (sales@hftp.org). Registration and hotel reservations will open in January 2024. For more information about HFTP's events, visit www.hftp.org or contact the HFTP Meeting & Events Department at education@hftp.org.