Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals' (HFTP®) Vice President Tom Smith, CFO of the Westmoor Country Club, announced today the formation of a HITEC Executive Vendor Advisory Council. The council consists of members who were chosen through a lottery of executive vendors whose companies participated in HITEC 2010. The purpose of the HITEC Executive Vendor Advisory Council is to provide input and advice into education, trends and topics for industry wide White Papers. In addition, the council will act as a strategic “brain trust” for not only assisting HFTP with marketing HITEC, but also with the HITEC Advisory Council to develop educational topics for HITEC 2011.

"During HITEC 2010, the HITEC Advisory Council conducted several executive vendor focus groups. The input from this constituency was so valuable it was clear that HITEC would be well served by creating a forum to capture the knowledge and insights from the vendor community. The enthusiastic response from this group has resulted in the formation of the new HITEC Executive Vendor Advisory Council," said Cindy Estis Green, co-chair of the HITEC Advisory Council and CEO of The Estis Group.

Executive vendors who participated in the lottery agreed to volunteer both time and travel resources to assist HFTP with offering the latest in technology education and topics. However, the council will not be involved in HITEC logistics, show guidelines and site selection. Council members will not be product specific and will be taking a high-altitude view of the industry.

"As an organization, HFTP has been successful for almost 60 years primarily because of industry volunteers, such as this council," said Allison Morris, CHTP, Senior IT Manager for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. and 2011 HITEC Advisory Co-Chair. "We understand the importance vendors have in our industry and believe that expertise from our executive vendors is paramount to the continued success of HFTP and HITEC."

The new council consists of:
  • Cindy Estis Green, CEO of The Estis Group, 2011 HITEC Advisory Council Co-chair
  • Allison Morris, CHTP, Senior IT Manager for Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., 2011 HITEC Advisory Council Co-chair
  • Bruce Bensetler, President of Data Plus Hospitality Solutions
  • Tom Duke, CTO of iBAHN
  • Dan Fasik, VP of Hospitality for Symon Message Link
  • Jon Johnston, Vice President of Electric Mirror
  • Graham Martin, CEO of EnOcean Alliance
  • Terry McGowan, President of Datanamics Non Stop Networks
  • Bob Palloni, COO of Skyware Hospitality Solutions
  • Doug Schwartz, President of Innovation Technologies Worldwide
  • Jeff Venza, President and CEO of Venza Group
  • Frank Wolfe, CAE, CEO of HFTP
  • Jennifer Lee, Director of Marketing for HFTP

In addition to announcing the council, HFTP is also issuing a request for feedback on hospitality industry topics and trends. Everyone is welcome to provide feedback to HFTP Meetings & Events Department at [email protected]. Session topic ideas and speaker volunteers for HITEC 2011 can be suggested at .

HITEC, a service of HFTP, is the world's largest hospitality technology exposition and conference. It offers a one-stop shop for essential education, access to experts and hospitality technology vendors, networking with top leaders in the industry and the resources to find cost-effective ways to improve company bottom lines. HITEC 2011 is slated for June 20– 23 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.

For more information about the new Council, contact HFTP Director of Marketing Jennifer Lee at [email protected], (800) 646-4387 or +1 (512) 249-5333.

About HFTP

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in the EU and Middle East. 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. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues, and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com® and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org. For the latest news, visit the HFTP News page at news.hftp.org and the HFTP Connect blog at blog.hftp.org.

Katy Walterscheidt
Communications Specialist
+1 (512) 249-5333 (Ext 27)
HFTP

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