The video above is a live coverage of the meetup, for instructions on how to join in the metaverse click here .
Hospitality Net, together with Travel Singularity, Olimiant, and HFTP have teamed up to produce the first First Travel & Hospitality Gathering in the Metaverse.
Traveling Without Moving , how Web3, Metaverse(s), NFT, crypto, DAO, and blockchain are changing the industry. The Meta Meetup will break new boundaries within the hospitality industry as visionaries, technology solutions providers, and hoteliers begin to embrace this new virtual landscape of human interaction. The meetup will take place from 11 AM until 8 PM CET, May 20, 2022, in one of the world’s most iconic locations: The Trinità dei Monti steps in Rome, Italy. The Trinità dei Monti is best known for its position above the Spanish Steps, leading down to the famous Piazza di Spagna.
PROGRAM
Session 1 11:00 ~ Event introduction by Henri Roelings, Lorenzo Mari and Simone Puorto 11:10 ~ Speaker: Lennert De Jong, citizenM Hotels 11:15 ~ Speaker: Tony Loeb, Experience Hotel 11:20 ~ Speaker: Thomas Yung, My Hotel Reputation 11:25 ~ Speaker: Alexander Edström, Atomize 11:30 ~ Speaker: Antonio Picozzi, Takyon 11:35 ~ Speaker: Celia Regina Guimaraes 11:40 ~ Speaker: Rita Varga, RAIZUP 11:45 ~ Speaker: Sébastien Félix, Influence Society 11:45 - 12:00 ~ Open Talk 12:00 - 13:00 ~ Social gathering with the participants
Session 2 15:00 ~ Event introduction by Henri Roelings, Lorenzo Mari and Simone Puorto 15:10 ~ Speaker: Breandan May, Hotel Res Bot 15:15 ~ Speaker: Edoardo Colombo 15:20 ~ Speaker: Juanjo Rodriguez, The Hotels Network 15:25 ~ Speaker: Michael Robinson, Chainlink Labs 15:30 ~ Speaker: Stephen Burke, Robosize ME 15:35 ~ Speaker: Tracy Cosgrove 15:40 ~ Speaker: Jan Hejny, HotelTime Solutions 15:45 ~ Speaker: Roberto Garavaglia 15:45 - 16:00 ~ Open Talk 16:00 - 17:00 ~ Social gathering with the participants
Session 3 18:00 ~ Event introduction by Henri Roelings, Lorenzo Mari and Simone Puorto 18:10 ~ Speaker: Frank Wolfe, Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) 18:15 ~ Speaker: Fulvio Giannetti, Lybra 18:20 ~ Speaker: Aldair Borges, Mews Systems Ltd 18:25 ~ Speaker: Pablo Delgado, mirai.com 18:30 ~ Speaker: Zoltan Istvan 18:35 ~ Speaker: Mark Fancourt, TRAVHOTECH 18:40 ~ Speaker: Paula Marie Kilgarriff, Technological University Dublin 18:45 ~ Speaker: Daniel Craig, Reknown 18:50 - 19:00 Open Talk 19:00 - 20:00 ~ Final words & Social gathering with the participants
HOW TO ATTEND
Join in 3D — Requires a VR headset like the Oculus Meta Quest 2
Create a spatial.io user account - explained here
Build your avatar on spatial.io
Install/update the Spatial app if not already installed on your headset
Join the HN Meta Meetup space here — opens at 10 AM CEST
After joining, the meetup space will be available under Spaces in the Spatial app on your VR headset
Join in 2D — Desktop, laptop, or IOS/Android mobile device
Create a spatial.io user account - explained here
Build your avatar on spatial.io
Join the HN Meta Meetup space here — opens at 10 AM CEST
Broadcast only — Available on HN, Youtube, LinkedIn and Facebook
Watch on Hospitality Net
Watch on Youtube (coming soon)
Watch on LinkedIn (coming soon)
Watch on Facebook (coming soon)
Rita Jusztina Varga is the CEO of RaizUp, a recruitment agency and community supporting diverse talent in travel and hospitality. Rita also works as a business expansion consultant and certified intercultural trainer, facilitating programs and workshops focused on innovation, leadership and inclusion. With 20+ years in travel technology, including roles at organisations like D-EDGE, Infor, I bring expertise across digital transformation,...
Fascinated by the digital revolution, he tirelessly seeks ways to exploit it for the good of all. It is a pure hotel product, after hotel school and a master's degree in hotel management, he first worked for a hotel PMS publisher before buying and managing a hotel, with his wife Agnès.
Personalized marketing support for extraordinary hotels - Develop your reputation and your income directly through tailor-made digital experiences. We grow compelling stories for our clients through a creative and insights-driven approach of your digital marketing strategy: brand content, social media, online advertising and mobile-first web development.
Dynamic accomplished global professional with extensive experience in both academia and industry with subject matter expertise in technology, strategic account management, business development, marketing, event production, communications and branding in sectors of Digital Technology, Social Digital Retail, Fintech & Luxury Fashion in Europe & APAC Region Passionate about applied academia, global innovation, developing new business synergies and...
Pablo has spent more than 25 years helping hotels sell more and better through their direct channel and compete successfully with OTAs. At Mirai, he has worked at the intersection of hotel distribution, technology and commercial strategy, supporting both independent hotels and international chains.Today, he focuses on the next major shift in hotel distribution: AI.
Chainlink Labs is the leading provider of secure and reliable open-source blockchain oracle solutions, enhancing smart contracts by connecting them to a wide range of off-chain data sources and computations, such as asset prices, web APIs, IoT devices, payment systems, and more.
Brendan founded Hotel Res Bot because of his belief that hotels should no longer force staff to do boring, soul-sucking tasks like answering reservation requests. Hotel Res Bot makes hotel jobs more attractive by automating the annoying work.
Antonio Picozzi is an entrepreneur and innovator operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence, hospitality, and digital transformation. He is best known as the founder and driving force behind Takyon, the hospitality technology company that evolved into dAirect, a platform focused on helping hotels remain visible, discoverable, and commercially competitive in an era increasingly shaped by AI assistants and conversational interfaces.
HotelTime is a long-established independent software developer and provider of cutting-edge, yet affordable cloud-based systems to the hospitality industry. On the market in Europe for over 12 years, the software we first developed 14 years ago is now in use in over 500 hotels and restaurants across 10 countries.
We are here to change the hotel industry for the better! Soon the days of manual gut feeling guessing when setting the price of your hotel rooms will be gone. Atomize aims to be the world leader in Automatic Revenue Management, it’s a bold statement but our track record from previous ventures gives us the self esteem and obligation to aim for nothing less.
Daniel Craig is a former hotel general manager, author, and marketing executive. As the Founder & Chief Content Strategist of Reknown Marketing, he assists hospitality and tech companies worldwide with marketing strategy, brand communications, and content marketing. Daniel also serves as a fractional head of marketing, providing part-time or temporary leadership for companies without a CMO.
Fulvio Giannetti is the CEO of Lybra, an experienced Data Scientist and a Docent of Big Data Analytics Professionals at Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.
Born and raised in the mountains of northern Vermont, I developed a passion for the outdoors. I grew up to be a mountain junkie and a travel enthusiast, eager to explore new trails and scale new heights. This penchant for adventure shaped me into who I am today.
Simone Puorto is a techno-philosopher, consultant with over 25 years of international experience, and the prolific author of five best-selling books exploring the intersection of technology and the travel industry.
My journey in hospitality began well before the internet, but it was the digital revolution that truly shaped my path. In 1994, I founded HospitalityNet in the Netherlands, the first platform of its kind to bring B2B hospitality news online. Since then, I've helped launch projects such as WIWIH, PineappleSearch, and the HOTEL Yearbook. Along the way, I've had the opportunity to connect with inspiring people across the industry and...
Mark Fancourt is a globally recognized authority and a pioneering force in the convergence of business and technology within the hospitality and travel industries. Recognised as a Top 25 awardee by HSMAI, with an international career spanning three decades, Mark has consistently championed innovation and driven transformative change, positioning technology not merely as a tool, but as a strategic competitive advantage.
Juanjo Rodriguez is a digital and marketing entrepreneur and the Founder of technology company The Hotels Network, working with hotels around the world to increase their direct booking conversion rates. Coupled with his experience as Founder over 15 years ago of Duplex, a popular marketing agency in Spain, Juanjo is a leading authority on strategic digital marketing campaigns.
As Executive Board Member and Chief Executive Officer at Another Star (formerly citizenM), I draw on over 20 years of experience in hospitality technology, business strategy, and sales management. Collaborating with global teams, my focus lies in driving commercial success, optimizing guest journeys, and leveraging innovative solutions to redefine the hospitality industry.
Graduate of ETSU with a degree in Health Admin. & attended graduate school there in the Counseling Program. In 1992, awarded the Certified Association Executive Designation (CAE). In 2000, honored by Lodging Magazine by being included in the “75 Profiles in Leadership” edition, a who’s who of individuals in hospitality.
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in United Kingdom, Netherlands and Dubai. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders.
Founded in 1994 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, Hospitality Net is the #1 B2B portal for global hotel professionals and one of the longest-running independent hospitality B2B publications in the world. Hospitality Net acts as a neutral broker and publisher of hotel business information, built on a membership model for all stakeholders in the global hotel industry.
Travel Singularity is a consultancy firm for hotels and travel technology providers whose vision is to solve the growing need for connecting the dots between digital disruption and existing technology. Founded in 2017 as a partnership of educational consultants, the firm actively supports cooperation between biological and artificial staff and advocates for an open, collaborative, hyper-connected industry where humans can flourish and innovate,...
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