When hotel operators hear about this, one of their first questions is about security. How can they trust their sensitive data is secure when it’s somewhere “out there”?

Obviously, any computer system connected to the Internet is at risk of intrusion. But it’s usually safer to trust security to a large vendor whose reputation depends upon being reliable and safe. These organizations are – or should be – funding the personnel and equipment needed to keep systems safe against viruses, malware, intrusions and other security threats.

Another concern is what happens if the Internet connection goes down. It’s always a good idea to maintain a secondary connection that can kick in should something happen to the primary line. The advantage with a cloud-based system is that this can be as simple as a card plugged into a laptop that connects to the cellular network or even – in an emergency – borrowing a nearby WiFi signal (with permission, of course). It’s always easier to find some way to connect to an off-site server that’s still up than it is to resuscitate your own system if it goes down, especially at night or on the weekends.

Once users get past these hurdles, they start seeing all the new opportunities for customized guest experiences. Imagine having a large group or convention coming to your hotel. With a cloud-based solution, you can take a laptop and set up a dedicated check-in station just for those guests. The group feels special because they have their own queue and the front desk is still available for regular check in.

This model can also be extended should the conference itself be at a different location, like a convention center. With an Internet-connected laptop – or even an iPhone and card reader – your staff could check in guests at the conference, with any changes instantly available back at the hotel’s front desk.

Of course, the bottom line is always the bottom line. In our experience, the difference between a bad PMS and a good PMS can easily be a 2.5 percent revenue increase. By integrating into other systems – including Point of Sale (POS), key management, phone/call accounting and entertainment rental – a well-functioning cloud-based system can boost efficiency, increase RevPAR and help improve the overall guest experience.

Ric Leutwyler is president of SkyTouch Technology, offering cloud-based technology products to help more than 5,500 hoteliers improve their efficiency and profitability. Learn more at skytouchtechnology.com.

In no particular order:

Patty O’Brien
Central Reservations Manager
Grand Casinos

As the call center manager for one of Minnesota’s favorite gaming destinations she is always on the lookout for technology and programs that will increase effectiveness and efficiency. At the Grand Casinos, they like to stay on the cutting edge of technology, but the day-to-day routine does not always offer the opportunities to learn what is the latest and greatest. While blogging for HITEC 2013, Patty seeks to find the next technology that will enhance guest services and will also bring a local perspective.

Warren Markwart
Principle
MK2 Hospitality

Warren is a seasoned international hospitality professional with over 30 years of experience in all aspects of hospitality operations and corporate brand headquarters. He is currently principle of an international hotel consulting practice in Toronto, Canada. His international perspective and experience as a past HITEC Advisory Council member is certain to offer an exciting insight into HITEC 2013.

Brad More
Co-founder and President
Atri Leo

Returning as a guest blogger for 2013 is Brad More, a former Naval Aviator who stumbled into hospitality technology and found a home. He is co-founder and president of Atri Leo, a new company focused on the practical application of technology to hospitality. In 2012 Brad gave us insight on the great networking and the various vendor interactions he experienced at HITEC. Don’t forget to follow Brad on Twitter@brmore.

Neil Foster
Consultant
Tech-Tonic Hospitality Solutions

A global hospitality technologist since 1997, Neil has held regional leadership roles with Fairmont, Starwood and Silverbirch (operating Marriott, Hilton and Carlson flagged properties) hotel groups in North America, rounded his knowledge of industry-standard technologies in Asia-Pacific as a regional consultant with MICROS Fidelio, and currently serves as an IT consultant to the hotel industry. Neil has over 13 years of association with HFTP and looks forward to sharing his knowledge on stakeholder perspectives as they relate to hospitality technology.

Look for this symbol on HFTP Connect to show you that the blogger is an official blogger of HITEC 2013.

Please note:

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

As we lead up to HITEC 2013 in June, HFTP Connect will be talking to our keynote speakers about their expertise and how it relates to thehospitality industry through the Ask the Experts column.

An Expert View on the Monetary Revolution

David Wolman is a contributing editor at Wired. He has also written for such publications as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Outside, Newsweek, Discover, Forbes, New Scientist and Salon, and his work appeared in Best American Science Writing 2009. A former Fulbright journalism fellow in Japan and graduate of Stanford University’s journalism program, he now lives in Portland, Ore. where he received a 2011 Oregon Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship. David has written three books since 2005 with the latest being The End of Money, published by Da Capo Press in February 2012.

Q: What technology has had the most impact on the monetary revolution and why?

A: Mobile. But that’s just shorthand for something much larger. It’s social media. It’s mobile money. It’s mobile banking. It’s new payment tools. At the core, what makes mobile so powerful is anywhere connectivity, and what that means as far as where and how we engage in the formal (and informal) economy, and in turn the impact on our financial lives. Keep in mind, though, that we are only talking about tools. Software and gadgets don’t carry out revolutions. People do, by way of behavior changes that are often enabled or made easier by those tools.

Q: In what ways do you think the monetary revolution will effect the hospitality industry?

A: As someone who travels a lot, it’s all about seamlessness and clear value propositions. It’s convenient to be able to put all kinds of on-property charges on my credit card, and likewise to score a few extra miles with my preferred airline for each night spent in the hotel. But none of this is very new. Where are the digital commercial connections to other businesses in the area — a sort of payments or coupons equivalent of leaflets in the lobby advertising local attractions and restaurants? And don’t tell me you’ve got this dizzying spread of QR codes I should scan, because that doesn’t exactly look seamless, and the value proposition is, literally, impossible to decipher right then and there. I also think so-called social commerce could be huge for the hospitality industry, but I’ll explain more in person.

Q: How did you initially become involved in the monetary revolution?

A: Again, we’ll cover some of this ground in my talk, but as is often the case for a writer — or at least, this one — the whole thing started very small. I started wondering about the role of small change in the economy and the cost to produce the stuff. Then it snowballed. And then it wouldn’t stop. It still hasn’t.

Q: What is the biggest advantage for customers utilizing a Digital Wallet? Are there disadvantages businesses should prepare for?

A: I would argue that neither the idea nor the practice of having a digital wallet has really taken hold — yet. There are signs, of course, and even services deploying that very lingo, whether it’s a wallet for your Bitcoin or a Google Wallet on your phone. But what we’re really talking about is a slew of money- and payment-related apps. The advantages are myriad. Convenience, avoiding the liabilities of cash, discounts, loyalty program benefits and more. Disadvantages include security concerns and, for some, budgeting and spending hangups, especially if they don’t have clear systems in place to keep track of their funds. This is why, of course, issuers of gift cards love them so much. They enjoy the float while you forget that you have $55 “on” this card, $110 in that account, $37 on that other card, and so on.

Q: What kind of security concerns should consumers be aware of?

A: As the CFO of the Royal Canadian Mint reminded me a few months ago: No monetary system is perfectly secure. There will always be some degree of counterfeiting or hacking. “The key is the security measures employed to mitigate it.” There is the three-week power outage concern, of course. But other than that, I think the keys are, unsurprisingly, robust digital security, and, more generally, striving to understand the different liabilities of various payment or e-money options and determining which one makes sense to deploy when.

Q: Last, what will my money look like in 20 years? Will I still be carrying cash in a wallet?

A: I like that you reached for the number 20. When doing book readings and speeches, I’m quick to tell people that it would be silly to think that cash will be gone in the next four to five years. But 14-15 years? It will probably still be hanging around, although certainly more marginalized. Twenty years out? Who can reasonably say? Look at where technology has come in the last 20 years. What we can reasonably say, I think, is that there will be a rainbow of new payment, banking and even currency options available to us 20 years from now, and we will be accessing and using those accounts on our phones, or devices that once went by the descriptor “phone.” Or by way of interactive video screens sewn on the inside of our eyelids. Kidding!

David Wolman is the Keynote Speaker on Tuesday, June 25 at HITEC 2013 in Minneapolis, Minn. Learn more about his upcoming session here>.

Much has been said lately about hotel room security and the technology used to keep our guests safe and secure while under our care. The topic’s been on the news, posted online, argued about in court, and in at least one case, has the potential to become a national security issue. So, as my first in a regular monthly series column, I decided to do a bit of research and find out how hotel room security compares to typical security at a guest’s home?

I went online to find out that the average time it takes to pick a home lock is between 5 and 30 seconds which I thought was pretty fast! Anyone with a credit card that will work can buy a nice set of lock picks that vary from $5 to $300 USD. Although one website insisted that I agreed not to use them in an illegal manner. Further research uncovered  something called a “bump” key that you can either make (via YouTube Video with over 2 million views) or is easily purchased online that will allegedly open about 90 percent of home locks. With statistics like this, a home lock does not seem to be very useful.

During my career, I have probably spent between 3,000 and 5,000 nights sleeping in hotel rooms. Typically, there are security personnel on duty, cameras, emergency lighting and quite a few other factors in place that make me feel quite secure. While I have never had a dangerous experience in a hotel, I have had my home burglarized. So for me, I feel as secure at hotels as I do at my house.

As members of the hospitality industry, our goal is to offer a great experience.  We advertise great food, service, comfortable accommodations, value and cutting edge technology. Our competitive edge also requires us to work harder because it sets us apart from the “home” experience.  Another resource that we can provide our guests is a subtle reminder that hotels are primarily public places and that they should exercise some caution.  Incorporating statements via staff training such as having the bellman mention to use the security latch when inside the room or reminding them to keep their room number confidential are great ways to help keep your property safe.

Technology is a great tool to have but it still takes a human touch to maximize it…at least so far!

Frank Wolfe, CAE is the CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and an inductee into the International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. He often speaks on hospitality technology through the GUESTROOM 20X program. Follow him on  Twitter @frankwolfe.

Original article was featured in the February issue of the Hotel Management Magazine. Reprinted from the Hotel Management Managzine with permission from http://www.hotelmanagement.net.

As we lead up to HITEC 2013 in June, HFTP Connect will be talking to our keynote speakers about their expertise and how it relates to the hospitality industry through the Ask the Experts column.

An Expert View on Cybersecurity and the Hospitality Industry

Theresa Payton is one of America’s most respected authorities on Internet security, net crime, fraud mitigation and technology implementation. As White House Chief Information Officer from 2006 to 2008 — the first woman ever to hold that position — she administered the information technology enterprise for the President and 3,000 staff members. Prior to working in federal government, Payton held executive roles in banking technology at Bank of America and Wells Fargo. As founder of Fortalice, LLC, a security, risk, and fraud consulting company, she now lends her expertise to organizations large and small, helping them improve their information technology systems against emerging, amorphous cyber threats.

Q:  How is Internet security changing?

Consumers and business professionals alike should focus on the fact that Internet security will always be changing. Every new technology that we adopt becomes tomorrow’s targets for cybercriminals. Tools to block out the bad or only let in the good traffic are not enough. Combatting Internet threats requires a comprehensive approach, some of these components include: understanding your data architecture, knowing your vendors, sharing information within your peer group about cybercrime, developing relationships with law enforcement, implementing tools, updating processes to protect your digital assets and educating employees, contractors and suppliers on what you require them to do in order to safeguard your organization.

Q: What are three security areas that the hospitality industry should be paying attention to?

The challenge with security is that it is not just an “IT problem.” Your technology team is the enabler of safer technologies, but the security program must start at the top in the C-Suite. A great place for executives to read about data breach trends is the 2013 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report.

For the hospitality industry, the three areas they should focus on are:

1.   Point-of-sale systems — They are a favorite target of cybercriminals by sending spyware to POS, doing smash-and-grabs of POS or installing skimmers. Did you know that on the most targeted industries list for data breaches, retailers and restaurants ranked 2nd?

2.  Social media platforms — The hack of celebrity accounts, Burger King and the news accounts of many organization, including AP, should provide a cautionary tale for the hospitality industry. Who manages your social media accounts? What precautions do you have in place around shared accounts and passwords?

3.  Social engineering attacks on your employees — Social engineering attacks on companies were four times greater than last year. The social engineering allows cybercriminals to steal credentials and run around your network undetected and/or allows them to inject malicious software into your network giving them a back door into your systems to steal your data.

Q: What led you from banking to the White House to fraud and security?

When you deliver banking solutions that serve the bank’s customers you are giving them quick, easy access to their money while also enabling the bank to deepen that relationship. While enabling this relationship there is a third party that wants to break in between the bank and the client — cybercriminals.

Having to balance both, enabling the business side while protecting it from the bad guys, helped prepare me for the role at the White House. After leaving the White House, I felt that the country had invested time to train me on the global threats. In return, I needed to pay back my country for all its done for me by dedicating the rest of my professional career to assisting organizations in combatting cybercrime threats.

Q: What are the benefits and drawbacks to having an online identity?

Over time, whether you actively manage it or not, you are developing an online identity or Internet persona. Public records, meeting minutes, visitor logs and more are being published online. Even if you never visited the Internet, something about you has been digitized and placed online. Like it or not, you have an online identity. Sometimes the image is positive, professional and accurate. However, sometimes the way things are categorized on the Internet, an image highlights one aspect of our lives above others, painting a true, yet out of context picture of who you really are.

You have to put in the time to find out what is being written about you and what images of you are flashing across the world. Have you been stripped bare by your own online revelations that you thought were set to “private” or over-exposed by someone you thought was a friend? You can’t understand or modify the world’s perception of you until you’ve done some online sleuthing. Having a positive online identity can assist you during a job search or making new friends. It allows you to showcase your positive qualities.

Q: What can CIOs do to get the message out about security within their company?

Some of the most effective CIOs engage the C-suite to help them understand that security is not a “tech” or “compliance” problem. Security is a team sport. The best way to get the company involved and engaged is to focus on the individual first. If you can show them how to protect their loved ones and themselves from cybercrime, you will engage their mind and heart in the security conversation.

Once you have protected them at home, they will become corporate security ambassadors. It’s a different way to look at this problem. I have seen companies successfully transform their security posture by starting at the individual level. Another tip is to stop making it a doom and gloom exercise, let the newspapers do that. Play Internet safety games, have contests and highlight good behaviors. Make the message one of camaraderie and fun; after all, if you are successful you will be able to thwart the bad guys.

And who doesn’t love a team effort where you stop bad guys?

Theresa Payton is the Opening Keynote Speaker at HITEC 2013 in Minneapolis, Minn. on Monday, June 24. Learn more about her upcoming session here>.

HFTP Past President Fred Beck at the 2011 Annual Convention

On Tuesday, April 30, 2013, the hospitality industry and HFTP shined a bit less brightly. Our 1998-1999 HFTP Global Past President, Fred Beck, CHAE after fighting a valiant fight, succumbed to cancer. For those lucky enough to know Fred personally, my guess is that your life was enhanced by being around him. For those of you who are active in HFTP and enjoy what we are today, your membership is enhanced because of his service.

Fred joined HFTP (then the National Association of Hospitality Accountants) as a very young man. During his 40 years of HFTP membership, he served on many committees, task forces, office moves, and even governed during the then contentious name change to our current HFTP. These were very turbulent times in our association history and as Global Past President Wendy Zurstadt, CPA, CHAE said, “Fred was always the voice of reason.”

When I first became CEO, Fred was on the Executive Committee. It was a time of great change during his five year term. In just a few short years, HFTP grew by about 30 percent, changed its name from the International Association of Hospitality Accountants (IAHA) to HFTP, moved our headquarters, changed our association management system from an old IBM System 36 to a Windows based product and started our first web site, which made us one of the first associations in the world to adapt the World Wide Web as a mechanism for communicating with its membership. I will never forget the board of directors meeting where we debated the issue of purchasing Internet access for all of our chapters and building a web site. One of our directors banged his fist on the table and said, “We cannot do that!  This Internet thing is just a fad and a waste of money!”  Fred, who was not presiding, very diplomatically proceeded to convince the Board that this was a strategic decision that he was convinced we needed to make. And we did! You can actually still see that web site here.

Fred was always very well dressed and distinguished looking. During his presidency, HFTP was first starting to expand globally. Fred and I traveled to Nice, France to attend a competing hospitality technology conference (which has since gone out of business). During the visit, one of our colleagues became very ill with stomach flu, so Fred volunteered to venture out with me to visit a French speaking pharmacy for some medication. Of course, neither of us spoke a bit of French and I still laugh when I think about distinguished Fred miming being sick to his stomach and making funny sounds with several French women giggling behind the register… who then spoke perfect English to us.

Fred was always dedicated to HFTP, but he was also dedicated to his family. During his presidency we would make appointments to talk about HFTP business. Normally, these would be at 9:00 p.m. at night. Why? Because he went home from work, had dinner with his family and then did his volunteer work.

People who know me in the industry know that I love HFTP and will either retire or get “asked to leave.” With that said, I did almost quit once…

HFTP Past President Fred Beck at the 2011 Annual Convention

Luckily for me, it was during Fred’s term.  In addition to being my boss, Fred was also a great mentor. My issue, which was really more of a young ego thing than a problem, was still considered very carefully by Fred. We talked over a week’s time and of course, his mentoring brought me to my senses.

At HFTP’s 2011 Annual Convention in Atlanta, Fred and I were talking about some of the things that had happened and all the success that the association has had due to our members’ good efforts. During that conversation, he kindly thanked me for allowing him the chance to convince me to stay with HFTP.  Of course, it is me who owed him the great debt, but Fred was too much of a gentleman to ever broach that topic!

Michael Horrocks, CHAE, another Global Past President, who if I remember correctly was Fred’s original member sponsor, is the one who notified me via e-mail that Fred had passed away. I know that both of us needed the technology and more than a few minutes to think about what Fred meant to us… it was such a sad moment. During my professional career to date, I have only had a few other moments like today and they are always painful when you lose someone whom you care about. To name a couple, one was when our beloved HFTP Global Past President Terri Rubin Bartello passed away and another was when my fellow Paragon Award winner Stephen Doherty, CHAE, CHTP passed.

Upon reflection, I think that Global Past President Agnes DeFranco, CHAE said it best when talking about Fred, “Heaven gained another angel yesterday who is now watching over his loved ones.” Fred passed away as a loved, respected and admired father. He touched many people in a positive manner and made a difference in the world. What more could a person want to accomplish?

Because of my Christian Faith, I believe that good people like Fred, Terri and Stephen go to heaven. Knowing Fred, he is smiling down upon us and trying his best to help Terri and Stephen organize all of the hospitality finance and technology professionals up there into the HFTP-Heavenly Chapter. May they all rest in peace.

Details regarding the memorial service for Fred Beck are below. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to www.youcaring.com/beck

Saturday, May 4 at 4:00 p.m.

Johns Creek Baptist Church Chapel

6910 McGinnis Ferry Rd

Alpharetta, GA 30005

Reception immediately following

Frank Wolfe, CAE is the CEO of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and an inductee into the International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame. He has been with HFTP since March 1991. Follow him on Twitter @frankwolfe.

HITEC 2013 is just a couple of months away and there is already a ton of buzz surrounding this year’s show. If you have not registered, I suggest you do so before May 20th to save yourself or your employer some money.

If you are trying to justify your attendance and time away from the office, keep in mind the following reasons HITEC 2013 is not to be missed.

In no particular order:

1.High-profile Keynote Speakers

Once again, HFTP has managed to secure some pretty impressive keynote speakers for HITEC 2013. These speakers will knock your socks off with the level of expertise they have to share on the trending topics:

• Cyber-security Solutions — From the Firing Lines to a Fireside Chat: CIO to CIO with Theresa Payton, former Whitehouse CIO.
• The Monetary Revolution — The End of Money with author David Wolman and Wired magazine contributing editor.
• Hospitality IT — Meet the Techs: CIOs Discuss Today’s IT Challenges, moderated by Scot Campbell, vice president and CIO of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.

2. The City by Nature

By attending HITEC 2013, you will have a chance to immerse yourself in a truly unique city. A city that has managed to rack up over 40 different accolades so far this year. A city known not only for its natural surroundings, but also for the good eats, great shopping and a vibrant urban scene.

With all that Minneapolis has to offer, it’s no wonder that Travel + Leisure magazine named it one of the Hottest Travel Destinations of 2013.

So, if you are attending HITEC and interested in enjoying the city, pack a comfortable pair of shoes and check out the list of 150 things to do. I am sure you will find time for one or two.

3.TechTours

Returning to HITEC 2013 is the opportunity for attendees to get a pre-show, hands-on experience with some of the technologies and solutions found on the show floor. This year’s TechTour categories include: WiFi/High Speed Internet Access, Mobility, IPTV, PMS/POS and Security. Remember, you must have a full registration to participate in this top-notch educational opportunity.

4.TechTalks

Have innovative idea you would like to share on technology trends such as, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), High-Speed Internet Access, Online Marketing, Business Intelligence, Future, Technology Architecture or Mobility? Take some time to check out the NEW TechTalks, live from the HITEC expo floor. Don’t feel like speaking? That’s ok, these free flowing conversations are open to all attendees, stop by and hear what others have to say.

5.Fun & Games

It is true that HITEC is packed with a stellar education program and un-paralleled hospitality technology showcase. But, there are also other activities that keep attendees coming back year after year. The fun and games!

With the host city known as the City by Nature, it seemed only appropriate that this year’s opening party theme be Party by Nature. Who can say no to excellent local cuisine, food, and breathtaking Minneapolis views? All of this and the chance to network with fellow attendees can be found at the Nicollet Island Pavilion situated on the grand Mississippi River.

Participate in the chance to win cool prizes with the HITEC 2013 ScanVenger Hunt. Attendees will be led on a hunt to find QR codes scattered throughout the expo and education halls. Scan the codes and answer the questions for the chance to win. You could leave HITEC 2013 not only with a wealth of industry knowledge but also a great prize.

Although specific requirements will vary, all professionals are increasingly expected to develop their digital competencies and have a working knowledge of each of the four big technology trends: Social (social media and other social technologies), Mobile (smart phones and tablets), Analytics (including big data) and Cloud computing (both for proprietary systems and software as a service (SaaS)).

The required digital competencies fall into six main areas:

• Concepts: Ideas unique to the Digital Era or that take on new meaning in the Digital Era
• Tools: Specific enabling technologies or applications of technology
• Platforms: Environments in which multiple social technologies are leveraged for specific purposes
• Skills: Capabilities unique to the Digital Era or that take on new meaning in the Digital Era
• Tactics: Specific means of leveraging digital technologies to achieve goals and objectives
• Management: Issues and challenges related to the development of digital technology strategies and plans including governance, risk, and human capital considerations

In addition to meeting new competency requirements, professionals increasingly have to provide the same level of care and attention to their identities in cyberspace as they do to their presence and reputation in the physical world, especially when they are looking for their next career opportunity. Considerations include:

• Establishing and managing their digital professional brand
• Defining personal and professional boundaries and protecting their privacy
• Leveraging digital tools and technology to achieve goals
• Bridging the physical and digital worlds

The upshot of all the new requirements and expectations are that people have to start thinking about themselves in new ways. For HFTP members in particular, that means that in addition to considering yourselves finance and technology professionals, you must also think about yourselves as members of The Denovati (day-no-VAH-tee).  Denovati is translated roughly as follows:

• DE = Digital Era
• NOV = short for novani, the Latin term for colonists, immigrants, new residents…
• ATI = those who seek knowledge and/or are in the know

Put another way, The Denovati are Digital Era explorers, pathfinders and immigrants who seek to understand and effectively leverage new social and digital technologies.

On April 25, 2013, I will be presenting an HFTP webinar on the most important issues that professionals need to consider to enhance their career and job search success in the Digital Era. I hope you’ll join us to learn more.

In the meantime, you can learn more about The Denovati at www.denovati.com.

Courtney Shelton Hunt, PhD is the Founder and Principal of The Denovati Group, which enhances the success of individuals and organizations in the Digital Era through research, thought leadership and guidance, consulting and training services, and a professional community that fosters communication and collaboration.

Spoonbridge and Cherry, Minneapolis

Bookmark this post. Right now.

You’ll need it. With a visit to Minneapolis soon, you’ll need to know these five things about us.

1) You Like Technology? So Do We.

You’re a technology professional. We use technology.

Coincidence?

No, and that was a good ice breaker.

But, you should know this; we’re trend-setters in the tech game, and we are one of America’s techiest cities. The reason? We were one of the first cities to adopt WiFi AND the Geek Squad was founded here.

Even the grandparents here have Facebook accounts.

2) The Hottest Culinary Scene in the U.S.

Chew on this (pun absolutely intended): Travel and Leisure named 15 destinations across the world you HAVE to visit in 2013. There was only one city in America on that list.

Minneapolis.

It was there with Puerto Rico. Costa Rica. Italy. The Philippines. Nepal.

Why? Because our culinary scene is just that dominant.

Four-star menus made from locally-grown ingredients? We’ve got that.

James Beard Award-winning chefs? We’ve got that.

Food styles ranging from Germany all the way to the “hot zone?” We’ve got that too.

Minneapolis is a culinary powerhouse. Bring your fanciest eating bib.

3) We’re “City by Nature” For a Reason

We like the outdoors. A lot.

In no other city can you leave your hotel room, walk a couple blocks and hop in a kayak to conquer the Mississippi River.

We’ve got a lot of accolades for fittest city, best bike city, most walkable city, etc. What you should know, though, is that there are a lot of options.

Rent a bike and cruise our breathtaking trails.

Catch a baseball game in the home of the 2014 MLB All-Star Game.

Take a walk around our beautiful lakes.

Whatever you want to do outside, we’ve got it. Just pack some comfy athletic shoes.

Unless…..

4) TAX-FREE SHOPPING!

You could just BUY some shoes here. We’re home to tax-free shopping on all apparel and accessories.

Tax. Free. Two opposite words that, together, make your bank account smile and your neighbor’s closet scream with envy.

And, really, could there be a better place to get more bang for your buck? We’ve got the largest mall in America (so cleverly named the Mall of America), one of the best shopping streets in the nation and an extremely diverse range of fashion trends.

Clean out the closet before you get here. You’ll definitely be leaving with some new threads. It’d be crazy NOT to.

5) We Can Be a Bit Dramatic at Times

Not in the “ex-boyfriend/girlfriend in college who just wants to talk” sense of dramatic, either.

We’ve got a great theatre scene. We’re second only to NYC in theatre seats per capita.

You can catch Broadway hits here.

You can see a show at the oldest sketch comedy theatre in the nation (it’s where Al Franken wrote before Saturday Night Live).

You even see high-profile dance here.

The city is a stage. Come stand in the spotlight.

Sean Bestor is the copywriter and web editor for the Meet Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Association.

HITEC 2013 is June 24 – 27 in Minneapolis, Minn.

See the information below for details on the opportunity and review posts from HITEC 2012 Guest Bloggers:

HITEC Official Blogger Benefits:

HITEC Official Blogger Requirements:

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

Deadline for submissions is Monday, May 6th.

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.

Q: What was the motivation behind the redesign and was there a goal in mind?

A: The motivation was our outdated site and the hassle of going to an outside company to make even the smallest updates. We wanted to control this process ourselves. Now our chapter leadership can update and maintain the new site ourselves very easily and at no cost! We also wanted a fresher, more dynamic and user-friendly look that was more representative of our chapter.
Our ultimate goal — to have a web site that would allow us to keep our membership informed on all chapter activities and to serve as a resource for them.

Q: What were the challenges if any?

A: There really were not any challenges. We used the GoDaddy® web site builder which really made the task fairly simple. The GoDaddy support team was very helpful and always there if we had any questions. We were able to put the site together without any knowledge of HTML programming.

Q: What is some advice you would give to other chapters who want to revamp their site?

A: First, with either the help of your board or a committee, you must decide what you want your site to look like, what pages should be included and make a site plan before beginning the design process. Next, look at a web site development tool like GoDaddy and others that may offer many affordable ways to build and easily maintain a web site.

Q: What are some reasons having a chapter web site is so important?

A: It’s a great way to share information about chapter activities and provide a resource for your membership. Pretty much everything we are doing as a chapter is located on our site.

Q: What are your strategies for maintaining the new site going forward?

A: Keep it fresh with current information such as, upcoming meetings and events, program announcements and recent pictures in our gallery. This effort will include training our chapter leaders on how to make updates.

Jay and the staff at HFTP Global encourage chapter leaders to visit the HFTP Charlotte-Blue Ridge Chapter web site and consider making the effort to keep members and chapters current.

To learn more about the HFTP chapters, charting a chapter and chapter web sites please visit the HFTP web site or contact HFTP’s Chapter Relations Manager, Fritz Johnson.

Jay Williams is the director of marketing and sales at Clear Sky Software, Inc.

The following information provides a glimpse of the data provided in the 2012 survey.

• Staffing — Most clubs employed between two and five employees in their accounting department while their hotel counterparts averaged between three and 10 employees. When it comes to the IT department, 33 percent of those responding to the survey indicated that they do not have any dedicated IT staff located at their property.
• Job Responsibilities — Departments supervised varied depending on the industry. Most club respondents supervised the following departments:  accounting/finance (85.1 percent), administrative/office staff (40.2 percent), human resources (54.6 percent), and technology (54.6 percent). Those working at lodging properties were more focused and spent most of their time overseeing the accounting/finance department (65.9 percent) and technology department (43.9 percent).
• Hours Worked per Week — The greatest responses came from those in the lodging and club segments. When these segments are compared, those working at hotels averaged 54 hours worked per week while their club counterparts only averaged 48 hours per week.

Collecting Data

The 2012 survey was first distributed via email on January 23, 2012 to the HFTP membership and 2,830 nonmembers affiliated with HFTP.  After the initial distribution, 200 individuals responded to the survey. In an effort to increase the number of responses the survey was shortened and redistributed on April 26, 2012. This distribution added 79 completed surveys, providing a total of 279 completed surveys.

Traditionally, this survey was only distributed to members of HFTP with the intent to create a profile of the typical HFTP member. Over time, members indicated that not only would they like compensation information about their position, but also others on their staff. For this reason the survey was expanded in 2000 from simply a profile of the HFTP membership over to the HFTP Compensation & Benefits Survey that we know today. The HFTP Research Institute has data from HFTP Compensation & Benefits Surveys dating back to 2000 which allows for data comparisons and trends analysis.

HFTP members received a complimentary copy of the report as a special issue of The Bottomline magazine, available in print or online. If you are interested in getting a copy of the report contact the HFTP Publications Department.

Tanya Venegas is the director at the HFTP Research Institute at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. Please contact Tanya (TVenegas@Central.UH.EDU) for any questions regarding this survey or other industry related research.

Business Tax Extenders

The Act extended many business tax credits and other provisions. Notably, it extended through 2013:

Other business provisions extended through 2013, and in some cases modified, are:

• Temporary minimum low income tax credit rate for non-federally subsidized new buildings.
• Work opportunity tax credit.
• Fifteen-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant buildings and improvements, and retail improvements.
• Regulated investment company qualified investment entity treatment under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA).
• Look-through treatment of payments between related controlled foreign corporations under foreign personal holding company rules.
• Temporary exclusion of 100% of gain on certain small business stock.
• Basis adjustment to stock of S-Corporations making charitable contributions of property.
• Reduction in S-Corporation recognition period for built-in gains tax.
• Empowerment Zone tax incentives.
• Tax-exempt financing for New York Liberty Zone.

New Taxes

In addition to the various provisions discussed above, some new taxes also took effect on January 1, 2013 as a result of 2010’s health care reform legislation as follows:

Medicare Tax Paid on high-income taxpayers — Medicare wages paid in excess of newly established thresholds are subject to an extra 0.9% Medicare tax that will only be withheld from employees’ wages. Employers will not pay the extra tax. The employee portion of the tax, normally 1.45% of covered wages, is increased by 0.9% on wages that exceed a threshold amount. The additional tax is imposed on the combined wages of both the taxpayer and the taxpayer’s spouse, in the case of a joint return.

The threshold amount is $250,000 in the case of a joint return or $125,000 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return, and $200,000 in all other cases. For self-employed taxpayers, the same additional hospital insurance tax applies to the tax on self-employment income in excess of the threshold amount.

Flexible Spending Arrangements
Effective for cafeteria plan years beginning after December 31, 2012, the maximum amount of salary reduction contribution that an employee may elect to have made to a flexible spending arrangement in any plan year is $2,500.

Mayur T. Dalal, is the chief executive officer at The Legacy Planning Group Inc. Mr. Dalal has been advising ultrahigh-net-worth families for more than 20 years, and is a specialist in wealth coaching and multigenerational estate planning. www.thefamilycfo.org

Q: What was surprising to you about your service as president?
A: “I don’t know that I would say it surprised me – but the amazing reputation HFTP has not only in the United States, but around the world. I had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong, London, Switzerland and Australia in my year as president and everyone I met was eager to tell me about their interactions with our association and what it has meant to them. It was especially interesting when I was able to introduce HFTP to individuals for the first time, to see how excited they were to get involved, whether it was through membership or establishing a partnership with us.”

Q: How will your involvement in HFTP continue to take form?
A: “I will continue to be involved at all levels of HFTP. I love to attend my local chapter meetings as well as assist my local chapter board when needed. I want to continue to work with the student chapters, and my hope is to establish new chapters around the country. I will continue my work with the Global Hospitality Accounting System Users Guide (GHASUG) project. This is a project that is going to be seen by all as a trailblazer in our industry. The collaboration we are already seeing with companies around the world is proof this project is needed.”

Q: What does the association and its members have to look forward to?
A: “HFTP just celebrated its 60^th anniversary and it is getting better with each passing year. We are increasing our footprint globally by adding an office in India that will be able to provide services “real time” for our members in that part of the world. HFTP continues to partner with allied associations to increase the benefits available to our membership as well as those of the partnering association. Our educational events are continuing to grow and in doing so we are able to secure top notch speakers for our events. HFTP will continue to be the source and resource for the hospitality finance and technology professions. We are the one place individuals can come to find what they need whether it be education, certifications and a network of other professionals and friends that share a common interest.”

Q: What were the biggest accomplishment(s) that HFTP was able to achieve during your year as president?
A: “I believe our biggest accomplishment during my year as president was starting the GHASUG. We have talked about a project like this for as long as I have been on the board, and to see it come to life is something I will cherish. Traveling to Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne and working with the team of students that started the research was an amazing opportunity. HFTP is going to provide a document to our industry that is far reaching and so needed.”

Q: What is your favorite memory during your presidency?
A: “I had an amazing opportunity to meet with our members around the world and to discuss face to face their needs and how HFTP can meet them. The best part — was they were not afraid to tell me what they wanted and what they needed. Lastly, working with the staff of HFTP in Austin. We do great things because of all of them!”

Lisa Funk, CHAE is the corporate controller for The Dow Hotel Company and the HFTP Immediate Past President.

The hospitality management industry can be divided into several subcategories. Food and beverage managers handle food service operations for hotels, restaurants and other establishments that serve meals to the public, for instance. Hotel, casino and spa managers oversee matters related to budget/finances, customer service, inventory logistics and marketing/sales that affect their respective establishments. Travel and tourism managers handle booking, budgeting and other logistical concerns for cruises, tour groups and travel agencies. Event planners help customers plan weddings, fundraisers, theatrical productions and other large-scale gatherings. Finally, human resources managers oversee staff training, employee relations and other inter-company matters for hotels, casinos, spas and other hospitality-related establishments. Wages and salaries vary between these subcategories. Food and beverage managers typically earn an annual salary between $29,000 and $68,000, while casino managers can earn as much as $339,000 per year.

Industry Growth
According to the 2012 Manpower Employment Outlook Survey, the field of “Leisure & Hospitality” is expected to grow by 15 percent by January 2013 – four percentage points ahead of the net employment average. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, hospitality management is considered a “high growth industry,” with 17-percent projected wage and salary employment growth between 2004 and 2014.

The industry is not without its challenges, however. Employee recruitment and retention is one of the most notable. The hospitality industry has recently faced a shortage of skilled workers to fill desirable positions, and the sector’s somewhat negative image (stemming from a high number of low-wage jobs with little chance of advancement) has led to high turnover rates throughout the industry. Relatively high unemployment rates are another concern. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in the hospitality sector averaged 9.85 percent between July and October 2012. In addition, the average employee in this industry earned roughly $13.37 per hour during this same period.

Education
According to Chron.com, individuals who wish to enter the hospitality industry should have a certain set of relevant skills. In addition to “soft skills” such as effective communication and customer service, career hopefuls should be proficient at operating computers and managing technology-based systems. Other desired skills are specific to the type of hiring establishment. Hotel employees should understand the importance of safety and security measures, for example, while casino employees must have a working knowledge of applicable gaming laws; similarly, restaurant employees should follow government-mandated regulations pertaining to food preparation, service and storage.

If one wishes to successfully advance in the hospitality industry, a master’s degree in business management may prove very effective. Many MBA programs expose students to finance/accounting, human resources, information systems and other facets of management that are valuable to hospitality employers, and certain programs educate students in matters pertaining to a specific sub-sector (such as hotel or restaurant management). Advanced college degrees are also considered preferable to in-house training programs offered by many hospitality-oriented companies.

“The hospitality industry as a whole lacks consistency and portability in training models and skill certifications,” notes the U.S. Department of Labor. “Many employers provide internal training programs for entry-level workers, which makes it difficult to monitor the content of training and the skills acquired.” MBA degrees, in many cases, allow employees to bypass these programs and advance without earning in-house certification. These credentials are also much more universal.

Today’s applicants are encouraged to practice effective job-seeking strategies in order to land a desirable position within the hospitality industry. First, applicants should proactively search for positions by networking with co-workers and other hospitality employees, consulting employment web sites, and keeping an eye on specific industry trends. Job seekers would also be wise to build a strong resume highlighting skills that are not only relevant to the hospitality industry as a whole, but also to the niche sector they wish to pursue (hotels, restaurants, casinos, etc.) Finally, applicants should focus their search on establishments with a good track record for employee advancement and satisfaction.

The hospitality industry is expected to grow considerably in coming years, and many skilled employees — especially those with an advanced degree in hospitality management — will greatly benefit from this growth. While the industry has long been regarded as a low-paying field for young people, experts say hospitality management and services will be a promising career choice for MBA graduates in the coming years.

Sophia Foster is a writer and researcher for MastersDegreeOnline.org. Feel free to check out more of her writing!

My Twitter Takeaways from Orlando

This past year at the Annual Convention in Orlando, the council did a superb job with the theme and the three keynote speakers, Shawn Achor, author of the “Happiness Advantage,” Ross Shafer’s “Nobody Moved Your Cheese,” and Amanda Gore’s, “Wake Up to What Really Matters at Work and Home.” As a guest blogger, my challenge was to remember everything I could so I could relay it in a post. When I attend convention I get caught up in the message, especially with the keynote speakers; so I don’t usually take notes because I’m afraid I’m going to miss part of the message. Instead, I decided to tweet my thoughts and what I learned throughout the entire conference, in particular, the keynote speakers. It was challenging, but also a great way for me to “take notes,” and pose questions to the followers.

Below are a few tweets I’d like you to read. You can comment and tell me who you think said it. I’m sure you’ll figure out the theme that was running throughout the convention. For more tweets, you can always follow me on Twitter and go back to see what I believed was thought provoking from each keynote speaker and other speakers at the convention.

“Number one thing people want, to be recognized and acknowledged.”

“Focus on what you want to change, become aware of the fears that drive you. Repeat the new behavior, celebrate, acknowledge.”

“Do you research your competitor?”

“Think big, believe in yourself, take risks, embrace competition, take action, and follow your instincts.”

“Are you a conventional thinker or do you think outside the box?”

So, are you ready for the 2013 convention? Do you really want to miss all the fun and thought provoking, mind bending information you can possibly take, all in one place? Start planning to attend one of HFTP’s educational programs today — either the Club and Hotel Controllers Conference this June in Minneapolis or the Annual Convention & Tradeshow this October in Dallas.

And don’t forget you can still help the Education Advisory Council plan the program by submitting your presentation proposals. The deadlines are coming very soon!

Club and Hotel Controllers Conference, Deadline: December 31, 2012

Annual Convention & Tradeshow, Deadline: February 28, 2013

Contact: Linnet Basset
Meetings & Events Manager
+1 (512) 220-4018
Linnet.Baskett@hftp.org

Sharon Litchfield, CHAE is the controller at TPC Prestancia Association in Sarasota, Fla. Follow her on Twitter @slitchfield

The content published in this section was provided by HFTP Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

The whole trip was an eye-opening experience for me, and any of my preconceived notions of what Shanghai and China were going to be like were quickly thrown out. Instead I discovered a clean and vibrant locale with a lot to offer.

A Bit of Tourism

Upon arrival in Shanghai from Beijing via the High Speed Railway, I was awed by the cleanliness of the station and the city. Luckily, I was able to spend my first day being a bit of a tourist. I had an opportunity to visit and experience the wonderful old town streets and shops – quickly getting a hang of local bargaining practices (never pay more than thirty percent of the asking price– including the walking away trick).

One concern for me before heading east was what I was going to eat. I am a strict Hindu Vegetarian, and was not sure that it would be so easy to find pure vegetarian meals. However, I quickly discovered this was a nonissue. In China, there are many Buddhist followers who also have a vegetarian diet, thus there were plenty of vegetarian restaurants to choose from.

What was funny was, when I first read the menu at such a restaurant, there were categories for Chicken, Pork, Steak, Fish, etc. – which was slightly confusing. When I asked the server how these menu items qualified as “vegetarian,” it was explained to me that all these foods were made from soybean with the different products’ textures mimicking the listed meats. In the end I decided to stick with what I knew, eating delicious vegetable and tofu meals.

AHTEC 2.0@FHC China

Of course I did not travel all this way to be a tourist (although that wouldn’t have been bad). I was there to attend AHTEC 2.0. The next day I went to the Shanghai New Convention and Exhibition Center where AHTEC was hosted with the China Food Show. The crowd was overwhelming and it took me 30 minutes to get into this huge place, needing to ask five people where the registration counter was.

Even though I got there an hour early, I barely made it to the AHTEC conference room by 10 a.m., where Terence Ronson opened the conference with a bang. The room was packed, with no extra seats available – easily surpassing the attendance from the previous year (and going beyond the planners’ expectations).

The planners did a great job with accommodating for the bilingual audience – Mandarin and English speakers. We each had headsets that were used to listen to the translations of the presentations. So for me, it was no problem to understand what was being said by the Chinese speakers, and vice versa for the Chinese attendees who were able to understand the English speaking presenters (like me). Really we were all able to communicate with each other easily through translators and it was quite fun.

Once I looked past the novelty (for me) of being in China, I have to say the program itself was tremendous. The speakers were the best in their field, and the line-up was likely why the conference was a sellout. The topics were current and each speaker did justice to the topic they presented.

The conference offered a two-day program. Some of the topics included cloud computing, a China and Asia Pacific hotel market analysis, a global trends discussion panel(which I participated in), international technology standards, working with Chinese developers, a CIO/CTO panel (which I participated in) and much more. I would recommend visiting the conference page to review the full line-up.

In addition to the educational component, I enjoyed meeting hospitality professionals from the region. This was especially easy to do at the scheduled receptions, where I met with a number of industry leaders from China, as well as with educators who were very much interested in what HFTP does. I am working with the HFTP Global office to initiate the formation of  a student chapter at Beijing University.

On top of all this, HFTP also had a booth on the show floor of FHC China. HFTP’s very own Director of Meetings and

Special Events, Steven Stout, CAE, represented our association, handing out information on HFTP and explaining how the attendees could join. He was ably assisted by a young woman from Shanghai, who translated for him. This was quite a  help, for I amusingly watched him smile and go blank when he was  approached by a local who would engage with him in Chinese.

Finally on the last day, we were invited by the China Hospitality Technology Alliance, an organization that promotes technology companies and brings them in front of buyers, for a wonderful dinner at a restaurant that was in a building that looked like an English castle.

In a nutshell HFTP is well received and respected in China with our partners who we collaborate with. This kind of event is new and everyone was very happy that we were able to bring all the colleagues and peers together to one location where they exchanged knowledge and were able to network with each other. Isn’t HFTP about creating opportunities in education, networking, sharing and learning from each other? We did accomplish that mission.

I invited all the attendees to come and join us at HITEC 2013 in Minneapolis and also offered them to become HFTP members. I can say for sure we will see some of them at HITEC this coming year.

R.P. Rama,  CHA, CHTP, CHAE  was recently installed as Global President of Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP). Rama is also vice president and CTO/CIO of JHM Hotels in Greenville, S.C. Rama has been a member of HFTP since 1991, and has previously served on the HFTP Global board.

And the financial impact of noise is substantial. Hotels offer guests rebates and other discounts as conciliatory measures. Properties suffer from reduced return business and can quickly acquire a poor reputation through word-of-mouth and online reviews.

But trying to remedy noise issues has proven challenging for many properties, likely due to a misunderstanding of the mechanics of acoustics.

Being in the acoustics field, I have a very good idea of what’s at the root of the majority of hotel noise problems. To better illustrate it to hoteliers, I started travelling with a sound level meter. What this tool allows me to demonstrate is that the ambient level in the majority of guest rooms is simply too low (28 to 35 decibels). In this ‘pin drop’ environment, guests are easily disturbed by even low volume noises because they perceive them as loud in comparison to the otherwise almost silent conditions.

Many commercial offices suffer from the same issue, but the difference is that, in hotels, the problem continues to affect people during the night. Even while we’re sleeping (or trying to), we’re not immune to intermittent noises that cause large changes in volume. Again, it’s not the volume of these noises, but rather the change from baseline to peak levels that’s disruptive – what we call ‘dynamic range.’ That’s why many people can fall asleep on an airplane (a loud, but consistent sound), but are kept tossing and turning by a dripping faucet.

Traditional approaches to addressing hotel noise haven’t been successful because they seek to make guest rooms even quieter. While lowering the amount of noise produced (e.g. quiet floors) and increasing the acoustical isolation provided by walls, windows and doors decrease peak volumes, these strategies also reduce the overall ambient level, making any remaining (unavoidable) noises even more noticeable.

A new approach is needed – one that helps to replenish and control the background sound level. Sound masking achieves this goal by using a loudspeaker to introduce a comfortable, engineered sound into the room. Guests can adjust the masking’s volume according to preference, covering or reducing the noise from adjoining rooms, corridors, elevators, mechanical systems, ice machines, traffic and bars. Feedback from guests staying at properties featuring this technology has been overwhelmingly positive. Most compare the sound to softly blowing air and perceive it as a great amenity.

In the end, having 85 percent of noise complaints go unreported or unresolved seems unacceptable in a service industry. And, as with any problem, understanding its root cause is key to implementing the right solution.

I’ll be presenting an HFTP webinar on hotel noise on November 29. I hope you’ll join us to learn more about the sources of noise and solutions you can implement in your hotel. If you’d like more information on acoustics and sound masking in the meantime, check out my blog: www.soundmaskingblog.com

Niklas Moeller is vice president of K.R. Moeller Associates Ltd. He is an acoustical expert who has worked on thousands of sound masking solutions including hotels such as the Tribeca Grand Hotel (NYC), the Ritz Carlton (Charlotte), and the Springhill Suites (Sacramento).

It’s a Wrap!

The 60th anniversary HFTP Annual Convention & Tradeshow is now history. My IPad is loaded with my top 36 “words of wisdom.” These are the statements that left a lasting impression on me. I would like to share them with you (in no particular order). Feel free to add to the list!

Social Media, One voice with an echo, it is time to listen to it — Philip Newman and Robert Salmore

When people love you they give you more money — Ross Shafer

Escape the cult of the average — Shawn Achor

Creativity comes from random meetings and spontaneous communication — Ross Shafer

Happiness remains a choice – how can we make it more of a reality? — Shawn Archor

Women rule the world — Ross Shafer

Dump the dogs … even if you have always done them — Michael Padden

Success is your own fault — Ross Shafer

Retention is the key — Kevin Foley, James Hankowski and James Reilly

If you don’t like change you are going to hate extinction — Ross Shafer

Build on small successes — Michael Padden

FARC – Focus, Awareness, Repeat, Celebrate — Amanda Gore

Vision is the most critical element. All of the interruptions are preventing us from thinking clearly — Michael Padden

99 percent of the top Harvard Grads don’t graduate in the top 1 perecent of their class — Shawn Achor

Discounting is over. Quality and value win market share. — Ross Shafer

Change the lens through which you view the world. — Shawn Achor

Unconventional thinkers often spot the unmet need — Ross Schafer

Build a social media presence and manage it! — Bill Boothe

Sell the extended warranty. It is free money with no product — Ross Shafer

The dirty dozen, don’t make your decisions based on these people — Michael Padden

Exploit your employee’s talents — Ross Schafer

Take your “Gratitude Glasses” to your next staff meeting — Amanda Gore

Challenge yourself to be world class — Ross Schafer

25 percent of people are permanently dishonest. 50 percent of people are honest or dishonest, given the opportunity they swing. It is up to you to keep them honest. — Carl Weldon

Don’t try to outsmart the culture — Ross Shafer

Know yourself, manage yourself, manage your relationships — Amanda Gore

Think big, believe in yourself, follow your instincts, learn to take risks, get out of your box, embrace competition, take action and get things done — Michael Padden

Define the value of membership — Philip Newman and Robert Salmore

Stick to your commitments — show credibility — Michael Padden

If you do the same thing for 21 days in a row it becomes a permanent habit. — Shawn Achor

Get your graphs working, don’t just load data. — Carl Weldon

Is your club web site smart phone enabled? — Bill Boothe

Look at who you are hiring, they are a reflection of your company — Ross Shafer

Smiling is contagious — Shawn Achor

Your legacy remains long after you are gone. A legacy that is a standard of loving is permanent. A legacy that is a standard of living is temporary. — Ross Shafer

Ta Da! — Amanda Gore

Jane Schmitz, CHAE is the controller for the Shannopin Country Club in Pittsburgh, Penn. She has a bachelors in Computer Science from Iowa State University. After 17 years as the controller of an architectrual firm, she decided to move into the hospitality industry and accepted the position at Shannopin Country Club in October of 2010. Immediatley she became a member of HFTP and just recently earned her CHAE.

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

Now comes the toughest part of any conference . . . keeping your new ideas alive.

I am proud to be a part of the HFTP community. In more than 20 years of attending professional conferences, I have witnessed the biggest commitment to learning at our Annual Conference. In other organizations and industries, the lightest attended sessions of any conference are the early morning sessions before the day’s main speaker. Yet, I consistently saw packed rooms for our 7:00 a.m. sessions. That’s no small feat judging from how many people networked deep into the previous night.

Since we have each committed so much time to attendance and note taking, it is time to summarize and keep things fresh. Schedule time to run through your notes. Make an action list of things to implement or try before your next chapter meeting.

Remember that it is best to share what you learn. If new ideas only benefit yourself, then there is untapped potential for your company or organization. Many of the highlighted speakers have materials that you can take back and show to your managers or Executive Committee.

• Shawn Achor spoke to us about how happiness can lead to increased productivity. You can share a shorter version of his session available online.
• Ross Shafer challenged us to look at other industries for ideas and gave fun examples of customer service, good and bad. You can download a free electronic copy of his book Are You Relevant? by subscribing to his free newsletter .
• Handouts from several breakout sessions can be found on the HFTP web site.

Get your money’s worth! Share what you learned with your own team!

John Grigas, CHAE is the controller at the Madison Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wis.

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

If you were there and missed the first Keynote, Shawn Achor’s “The Happiness Advantage,” or if you could not make the convention, check out his TED Talk on the same topic. It is not the same without the presenter and that is why we encourage members to make every effort to attend conventions, but it will be worth your while seeing it. We know these years are tough, but start planning for next year.

Topping the first Keynote session, in my view, was the second Keynote, “Nobody Moved Your Cheese,” presented by Ross Shafer. Unlike the book “Who Moved My Cheese,” the facts and delivery by the presenter was a “WOW!”

In conclusion, Frank Wolfe and the entire Austin staff do a wonderful job for this organization in preparing for and managing such outstanding conventions. I have not done any surveys, but I doubt there are any organizations that can boast the job equal to or better than what we get for our money. I am and will always be grateful to HFTP.

Joe Hylton, CHAE is the director of finance for the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He has been an HFTP member for 47 years.

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

This years’ experience was no different for me, and it made me proud that three members of my chapter, the Florida Manasota Chapter, were able to attend and experience it as well. The Leadership Summit Advisory Council is always challenged to surpass the previous year’s Summit in content, quality and fun. And every year they surprise me, they actually do it! That’s why I keep coming back, even after 14 years, because they always find a way to present great Leadership education. The program is not only designed to help us make our chapters stronger, but make ourselves stronger as well.

The Leadership Summit is always relevant and especially this year with so many rookies joining as HFTP chapter leaders. And, let’s not forget our veterans: Leaders in their chapters, who want to share their “nuggets” of wisdom. When you combine rookies and veterans in joint sessions, it makes you realize that we’re one big family, and in my humble opinion we’re all “diamonds.” As a matter of fact, this year’s theme was “Diamonds in the Rough: Mining, Refining and Polishing Leaders,” and the workshops were, as always, fun and informative.

Veterans and rookies alike learned how to mine for the “diamonds in the rough” in their own chapters. Once identified, we were advised to mentor them to become great leaders within our own chapters. What many people will recognize, is how this is also relevant in our professional and personal lives. We were taught how to find individuals to “mine, cut and polish” and assist them to becoming the “diamond” within themselves.

Is there any better feeling than mentoring someone to their greatest potential and helping realize their own goals and dreams?

I know when I joined many, many years ago, we had about 25 chapter members, with 10–15 really active members. It was always the same board members, no one volunteered to be on the board or on a committee, and quite honestly, we struggled. Every year I gleaned more and more information from not only what the Leadership Summit program taught me; but more importantly, from what other Leadership attendees brought. The attendees shared their experiences, frustrations and solutions.

Today, our Manasota Chapter is 75 strong and has great leaders on our board. As Immediate Past President, I’ll be mining for future leaders for our chapter in the years to come.

As our new HFTP Global President, R.P. Rama, CHA, CHAE, CHTP said, “We are the resource for others; it’s our duty to share and assist each other.” Listening to our past and present leaders is an inspiration, that’s what’s so amazing about our leaders. You know that they want you to be as successful as they are, and know you can be.

So I ask again, “what are you waiting for?” Make your commitment today to get more involved with your chapter. Pick a board member who can be your mentor and will assist you to be that next great leader of your chapter and in your own professional and personal life. Be sure to put Dallas 2013 on your calendar and I’ll see you there!

Sharon Litchfield, CHAE is the controller at TPC Prestancia Association in Sarasota, Fla. Follow her on Twitter @slitchfield

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

How many times have you gone to a conference and had mariachis greet you at the door as you filed in for the morning’s keynote speaker? The photo above is how we were welcomed on day one.

I snapped a photo of the performers and posted it to Twitter before the first keynote, Shawn Achor, even made it to the stage to begin his presentation.

No one will dispute the value of our professional networks. One of the main reasons people attend conferences is to meet other like-minded people and interact with them face-to-face. With the prevalence of social networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, the virtual contacts that we make are becoming more commonplace and more relevant.

Steven Stout, CAE (@stevenjs), HFTP’s Director of Meetings and Events, gave a brilliant presentation at the Leadership Summit about Twitter. I would campaign to have a video of his presentation on the HFTP web site as a resource to everyone. (Completely off topic, Steven used Prezi for his presentation. I stopped using PowerPoint earlier this year in favor of Prezi and love it. Check it out at www.prezi.com.)

Before every single presentation this week, the room hosts told us we could connect on Twitter using the hashtag #ACHFTP. I don’t use Twitter, but I dusted off the account I had created several years ago and decided to tweet throughout the convention.

I can’t tell you how invaluable it has been to be connected to Twitter throughout this convention. Have you ever gone to a conference that has breakout sessions and you are torn between two or even three sessions that you want to go to? Thanks to Twitter, I was able to “hear” what was going on in the other sessions and take away the high points and helpful bits of information from the tweets my fellow attendees were posting.

A few examples:
@slitchfield posted “#ACHFTP clubs that benchmark will learn what they should really focus on, not the free peanuts.”
@johngrigas posted: “I have a copy of the Story Musgrave powerpoint file, in case anyone wants a copy … #ACHFTP”
@funklm #ACHFTP “Is your property/club still doing a budget or have you switched to a rolling forecast? This is a question being discussed.”

Even with record attendance of 869, I saw less than a dozen attendees who tweeted on a regular basis throughout the convention. This is surprising to me, considering we are a technology organization. If someone told you there was a budgeting software that you could download for free that would greatly enhance your budgeting process, would you just dismiss it? Probably not. I would urge everyone to take advantage of this resource.

Twitter can be a powerful business tool that won’t eat up a lot of your valuable time.

The really great thing about all of this is that YOU can still access all of those tweets about the convention. Sign up for Twitter (it’s free!) and search for “#ACHFTP”. You’ll be able to read all the tweets that people posted about the convention.

Joe Young is the staff accountant at the Wexford Plantation Homeowners Association in Hilton Head, S.C. Follow him on Twitter @joejoeyoung

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

Pay or Play?

I started my second day listening to the Thursday Keynote’s, Shawn Achor’s, excellent presentation on how concentrating on the positives improves your career success. I ended the day wondering how I was going to apply his principles to dealing with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act after attending the government update session with Brad Steele.

Every club, hotel and business in America with over 50 full time employees has a very difficult decision ahead of them. To Pay or to Play? Do we pay the fines and not offer employee health insurance, or do we offer employee health insurance and pay the fines? Yes, there are fines in both of those options, it is not a typo.

First, we need to determine how many FTEs we will have on staff for the year in hopes that we can slide in under the 50 by aggressively monitoring employee schedules. Does anyone remember when 40 hours was considered full time? I do. Unfortunately, the government does not. They have decided that full time is 30 hours for four weeks a month. That pushes a whole new group of employees into my FTE count. Some of these employees are seasonal employees here during the summer months. They work over 30 hours a week so they are now a full time employee.

Next, if we don’t slide in under 50 or are borderline, we do the financials. From a truly financial perspective it is simple. We “Pay” and we never have to deal with in-house health insurance again. We will be charged $2,000 per full time employee. However, we do not have to pay for the first 30 employees. Simple math says that if we have 100 FTEs, our budget for health insurance next year will be $140,000.

However, if we want to keep our competitive edge in employee hiring and retention and decide to “Play” it is a whole new ball game. Offering employee health insurance not only means that we will pay our share of their premiums, it also means that we will pay a $3,000 fine for each employee who does not accept our insurance and purchases it on the exchange. We will have to make sure that the employee’s premium is less than 9.5 percent of W-2 income. So, if we have any employees making minimum wage and only working 120 hours a month, the employee contribution for health insurance cannot exceed $82.65. So, doing the math, if single health insurance coverage costs $400 a month and we have 100 employees, our annual budget for health care will be $380,820.

Trying to get the board of directors to approve spending an extra $240,820 annually on health care may be a little tough. Looks like Washington has set us up to “PAY.”

Jane Schmitz, CHAE is the controller for the Shannopin Country Club in Pittsburgh, Penn. She has a bachelors in Computer Science from Iowa State University. After 17 years as the controller of an architectrual firm, she decided to move into the hospitality industry and accepted the position at Shannopin Country Club in October of 2010. Immediatley she became a member of HFTP and just recently earned her CHAE.

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.

Borrowing the theme of this year’s Leadership Summit, this week has been a diamond mine. You see mostly rough rock, but if you dig into the sessions, you’ll find jewels of information. Here are some of the gems that have been valuable to me so far:

“Work with confidence and you can get anywhere in the world,” Steve Stout, CAE, Director of Meetings and Special Events for HFTP in a Social Media seminar

Although he was talking about how he was able to gain backstage access to a Melissa Etheridge concert, the quote holds true with moving boldly through life. This also recalls a statement that Past President Tom Smith, CHAE said earlier in the week: “don’t sell yourself short.” You have what it takes to contribute and make things happen.

“When you’re climbing Mt. Everest your gloves DO NOT blow away. Get in the game!” – Story Musgrave, speaker at the Leadership Summit

It’s all about focus on the desired outcome and keeping your attention engaged in what is important. Story is a farm boy and a mechanic, and he suggests that these fundamental qualities served him well in his career as an inventor, surgeon and NASA astronaut. This applies to all of us, whatever we are doing . . . keep your head in the game and you will accomplish your desired outcome.

“Video on Demand is dead.” – Darrin Pinkham, CHTP, a panelist in a Technology Track session.

We have seen in our own properties, and it’s discouraging to think about the long-term contracts many of us have with interactive television services. Much of the present and all of the future seems to be with the streaming online services like Hulu and HBO GO. Darrin’s point is that guests want their own content, when they want it. Which means that you better have robust bandwidth available and the ability to connect to the room television in future years.

“Don’t look at trends, look at the needs of your business.” – Brian Garavuso, another panelist in the Technology Track session.

It’s easy to get dazzled by the latest bells and whistles, but that won’t necessarily drive your business. Instead, look at the profile of your own guests to see what they would value. Something as simple as accessible power outlets might be more valuable to them than automatically dimming lights.

John Grigas, CHAE is the controller at the Madison Concourse Hotel in Madison, Wis.

The content published in this section was provided by HITEC Guest Bloggers. The information is the view/opinions of the Guest Bloggers and not of HFTP, nor of any person or organization affiliated or doing business with HFTP.