Publisher's Letter

When you look back at your life you know there are decisions that you are glad you made along with many you wish you hadn’t. Hopefully there were a lot more correct ones than those you regret. I have been publishing amongst many other things for 31 years now and would like to believe I made more correct decisions than wrong. When we launched Hospitality Upgrade, we decided to publish three times a year and that was definitely a correct decision. Each issue has high impact and truthfully it is fun to look back at things that have transpired in recent months. In this fall issue we get to look back at HITEC, the HSMAI Revenue Optimization Conference, and as you can see from the cover our largest gathering of technology leaders from around the world at our CIO Summit in Austin, Texas. There is amazing content in this issue, but I want to encourage you to read Jeffrey Parker’s review of the CIO Summit no matter how deep into technology you are. Jeff did a great job sharing his experience at our event. And it isn’t only about technology, but what hoteliers should be thinking about as we deal with so much change in the industry. I smiled as we recognized all the first-time attendees at the CIO Summit and it was a great feeling as we recognized four who had been attending for 15 years out of the 21 summits and welcomed Rajiv Castellino from Marcus Hotels and Resorts as our fifth 15-year CIO Summit attendee. It was a great moment. Jeff’s review is on page 52. Everybody attending thought it was a real treat to watch 1.5 million bats take off from under a bridge at sunset. That is a big thing to experience when you are visiting Austin. There are many pictures from the summit, HITEC, ROC and other events that start on page 122. I bet they will make you smile!
Is there any technology conversation in any industry that doesn’t include AI and ChatGPT? It was a hot topic at the CIO Summit but there are other technology changes that affect us all. Take a moment and read through our table of contents for this issue and especially our team’s deep look at the content in this issue on page 8. Fran Worrall has done a great job in our annual look at the technology advances and challenges the gaming world is experiencing. We extend a big thank you to Chris Eisnaugle from the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for a very interesting Q&A regarding the state of the industry. I remember being invited to the grand opening of The Cosmopolitan. We watched the clock countdown until the doors opened and the crowd ran in to be the first to play slot machines. We thank Chris for sharing his thoughts on the world of gaming.

I love doing the publishers letter for the fall issue. It is the one time you can look back at the year behind and then look forward to the year ahead. Like it or not, technology is never going to stop changing. How many times were we all concerned about the impact that was upcoming and then we got through it and the next year change was happening again. Remember going to the cloud? Now it is Artificial Intelligence. What is next? We often are thanked for our looking back and then looking ahead how technology changes will affect the hospitality industry. I think about all the people I have met over the years, become friends with and will stay friends with no matter where life takes us. There are so many I have met from both the hotel and vendor sides of the fence that share it is an impossible industry to ever leave. You can add me to that list. Thank you for your support of Hospitality Upgrade and your encouragement. It is amazing how your feedback, positive or not, motivates us. Change is coming and that is why we continue to thrive. We thank you for the great support. Lots more coming down the road!

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President & Publisher RICHARD SIEGEL
Rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

Senior Vice President, Managing Editor GENEVA RINEHART
Geneva@hospitalityupgrade.com
Twitter:@genevarinehart

Associate Publisher KIM DELANEY

Kim@hospitalityupgrade.com

Feature Editor FRAN WORRALL

Fran@hospitalityupgrade.com

Design & Editorial ELIZABETH VOGAN

Elizabeth@hospitalityupgrade.com

Special Section Design MELISSA MCCAWLEY

Special Thanks:

Fran Worrall, Melissa McCawley and Shannon Wilder

Contributors:

Fran Worrall, Lynn Goodendorf, John Bell, David Durko, Larry Birnbaum,Mark Hoare, Mark Haley, Natalie Oldfield, Caryl Helsel,

Jeffrey Parker, Larry and Adam Mogelonsky, Bob Gilbert, Kelly McGuire, Russell Evans, Kristi White, Jennifer Hill, Michael Goldrich

Stock photo credit: istock.com

Cover Design: Melissa McCawley

CIO Summit photos: Mesh Photography

HOSPITALITY UPGRADE is printed three times a year for and about the hospitality and foodservice industries. There is no charge for qualified subscribers within the United States and Canada. All international subscribers will be billed $30/year for postage and handling. Postage paid in Virginia. All contents submitted to this publication are believed to be accurate.

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