HFTP Connect – Hospitality Blog

New this year, the Outstanding HFTP Member Recognition program was developed to recognize HFTP’s hardworking members for their dedication and enthusiasm to the hospitality industry and society. Members were encouraged to nominate fellow HFTP members or student members who go the extra mile in the area of volunteerism.

HFTP is pleased to recognize Brian Binge, CHTP of the HFTP Rocky Mountain Chapter, serving members in Colorado, as a 2014 HFTP Outstanding Member Recognition recipient for going above and beyond in the area of volunteerism.

Brian Binge was nominated for his volunteer commitments as the current mission coordinator, past president and group leader for the all-volunteer, non-profit Summit County Rescue Group, one of the busiest search and rescue groups in North America.
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HFTP Connect is looking for hospitality professionals who would like to write original and educational posts about their HITEC 2014 experience for the blog.

HITEC 2014 is June 23 – 26 in Los Angeles, Calif.

See the information below for details on the opportunity and review posts from past HITEC Guest Bloggers:

HITEC Official Blogger Benefits:

HITEC Official Blogger Requirements:

Four blog posts related to HITEC, see Guidelines for acceptable posts:

If you’re interested, please send a brief description on why you would be a good guest blogger and a sample of writing to Sara Bailiff.

Deadline for submissions is Monday, April 21.

Disclaimer: As an association, HFTP may not endorse or promote a product or vendor. HFTP Connect is educational in nature and blog posts must not be sales-oriented. Products or vendors may only be mentioned in an educational format.

Over the past few years, the Certification Advisory Council (CAC) and the HFTP Board of Directors have been discussing the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP) Program. The question of how do we keep a technology certification relevant, is obviously one of the biggest questions we are faced with every time we meet.

As we all know, technology is evolving rapidly these days. The evolution and innovation of technology has also impacted the hospitality industry as well as the CHTP certification program. HFTP was aware that the CHTP exam was dated in some of the sub-section content areas that were tested on the exam. The study materials reflected this information as well. The perception of the CHTP program, from the industry’s point of view, is simply that the exam has some issues that needed to be addressed. HFTP is on a mission to fix these issues and the industry’s perception of the certification program as a whole. At our best efforts, HFTP has removed dated and subjective questions that were on the current CHTP exam.

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Are you still using the default password that came with your point of sale (POS) or payment system? Or, using 12345 or password1? If so, you need to change it right away to help protect card holder data. Passwords are one of the easiest ways for criminals to sneak in to access information if not updated from the default or, if passwords are too simple, it can also make it easy for data thieves to break in. And we all know the low hanging fruit always gets tapped first. Read More »

The recent data breaches at major retail outlets such as Target, Michaels Stores Inc. and Neiman Marcus brought this type of modern crime to the forefront in the minds of the consumer; and for us in the hospitality community, it really hit home when news surfaced of a breach at White Lodging properties throughout the United States. For those who were not able to keep up with the “screaming headlines’ about this incident, one thing that both consumers and credit card retailers were warned about is that there would be more to come … and obviously they have. I am going to also predict that there will be even more of these that we will hear about over the next few months from other types of businesses and organizations.  Regardless of the tens of millions of dollars industries spend to protect credit card data, criminals who try to steal this data are constantly attacking our information systems and eventually they get lucky — for a short time. As in these recent cases, they were shut down. Read More »

The faculty experts at the Kendall College School of Hospitality Management recently released its trends outlook for the hospitality industry for 2014. The hospitalitymanagement program is highly regarded in the Chicago for preparing students for careers in the hospitality industry. With the combined collaboration of the entire faculty from the hospitality program, they were able to come with this infographic that provides a lot of insight into the top trends within the hospitality industry for the upcoming year. I’ve highlighted some of the more interesting findings below: Read More »

Ranking highly on TripAdvisor’s Popularity Index, a rating system based on quantity, quality and recency of customer reviews, is the best way to draw new customers to your hotel. Knowing that responding to reviews can entice others to write their own, the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin jumped 26 spots to become the highest rated hotel in the city. But how exactly did it happen? Read More »

We’re excited that our 61^st Annual Convention & Tradeshow is right around the corner! The Education Advisory Council and our own staff have gone to great lengths to make this a great event. With the new-themed education this year, attendees can make the convention work for them by picking and choosing what areas of their career they want to learn more about. Although, the meeting is filled with classroom education, nowadays not all of the learning takes place inside the classroom. The convention offers many opportunities for attendees a chance to really connect and discuss the industry with other attendees while offering a little fun for you as well.

First-time Attendee Orientation
For those joining us for the first time this event is just for you. Hear from attendees who attend the convention year after year to learn how to navigate the conference and get the most out of your time in Dallas. Read More »

HFTP Connect will feature posts throughout the week of the 2013 Annual Convention & Tradeshow provided from the aspect of the official guest blogger, Tony Llanos. Find out more about Tony below and keep watch during the week for his insights as a convention insider. Look for the Official Blogger image in the daily newsletter. Read More »

One of the many benefits offered as part of being an HFTP member is access to the ProLinks Webinar Archives. Here members can select from a long list of hot topics offering over 75 hours of education.

Not able to join us at a face-to-face meeting? Or are the regular scheduled webinars offered at an inconvenient time for your individual schedule? HFTP members can access ALL webinars HFTP has ever offered whenever and wherever works for them.

How do I get to the Archives? Simply visit www.hftp.org then log-in. Visit the Webinars page and look for the HFTP ProLinks Webinar Archive link at the bottom of the page. Current HFTP members will find an an entire list of recordings and accompanying handouts to choose from.

With topics ranging from PCI Compliance to Club Technology Issues – members can seek out the topic that is on their radar and watch these quick one hour sessions.

There are even opportunities to see various perspectives on certain “hotter” topics which may have been offered one or more times during the creation of ProLinks Webinars. Read More »