Keynote Speakers for HITEC 2016 Announced

Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®), producer of the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC^sm), has added three technology industry heavyweights to this year's education program. Jer Thorpe, co-founder of the Office for Creative Research; Josh Linkner, two-time New York Times bestselling author and founder and former CEO/chairman of ePrize; and Johnny Earl, founder of Johnny Cupcakes are set to present at HITEC's keynote sessions.

Opening keynote, Jer Thorpe, will take the HITEC stage on Monday, June 20, 2016. Thorpe teaches in New York University's ITP program and has been a vocal advocate around data, ethics and privacy. His keynote, "Making Data More Human," will explore his data visualization projects to help audiences put abstract data into a human context. Thorp will guide attendees in understanding the human side of data and how that can lead to innovation and effective change. Thorp will also teach attendees how adding meaning and narrative to huge amounts of data can help people take control of the information that surrounds them, and revolutionize the way data is utilized.

On Tuesday, June 21, Josh Linkner will present "Entrepreneurial Fire: Think and Act Like a Startup (Even If You're Not)." As the founder and former CEO of the world's largest interactive promotion agency, Linkner believes it is better to innovate and disrupt one's organization before competition does. In this session, the two-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Obama Champion of Change award recipient will decode entrepreneurial DNA to help leaders of any size organization to harness the ferocity of entrepreneurial thinking in order to embrace the creativity, grit and vision of a startup and channel the approach to drive growth, innovation, efficiency and customer delight.

Presenting as HITEC's closing keynote on Thursday, June 23, branding and marketing guru Johnny Earle, aka Johnny Cupcakes, will delve into "Viral Business: Inspiring Customer Loyalty." From selling his t-shirt brand from the trunk of a rusty car to owning a now global, multi-million dollar business where customers sleep outside his stores for first access, America's number one young entrepreneur by Business Week is no stranger to customer loyalty. Earle will educate attendees on how to create a wave of loyalty and obsession through the power of social media and experiential branding.

HITEC 2016 will be held June 20-23 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, La. USA. For information on how to register for HITEC, please visit www.hitec.org. Questions can be directed to [email protected]. 

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.

Jessica Blankenship
Public Relations Manager
HFTP