Infor-SoftBrands was proud to sponsor HITEC again this year. The opening session on social media marketing with Randi Zuckerberg served as a great kickoff, with social media becoming more and more relevant to how we do business. Did you download the HITEC app to your smart phone while you were there?

HITEC is not only the biggest hotel technology event of the year, but also the biggest networking event— what better place to learn how to leverage social media more effectively. We used mobile and crowd sourcing to generate new ideas—an interesting concept. And we learned how to use various tools to keep guests and hoteliers engaged all year-round.

To keep the forum content fresh, we offered educational sessions covering hot topics in the hospitality industry today. Some sessions you just had to see and hear in person. But if you missed ours, here’s a recap:

• The Cloud Computing Panel—Javier Buzzalino discussed some relevant topics such as the benefits of multi-tiered architectures, the impact of multi-tenancy on scalability, and the impact that the NoSQL movement has for the cloud. The Q&A format with real-world examples seemed to resonate with the entire audience. I’m proud to share Glenn Gruber’s comment in his Tnooz article “…you couldn’t help but leave the presentation feeling impressed by the technical leadership of the Infor team and confident that they’re providing a true enterprise-class solution.”
• “Doing Business Your Way—For Profit”—David Purcell held an education session on why it’s important to remember that no matter what benefits technology can prove, we all need to be doing things that make more money. The session highlighted some new strategies for doing that and refreshed us on what we already know.

Each time I attend HITEC, I’m reminded that it is such a perfect gathering to see old  friends, catch up on what’s new, and build new relationships. I was so busy and talked to so many people that I nearly lost my voice—a small price to pay.

We hope you had a chance to stop by our booth. We staffed it with many product experts to show how our technology can help you realize profit and guest-service goals.  I hope to see you all next year.

Did you attend HITEC this year? What was your favorite part? Please leave your comments here.

Posted by Alan E. Young, Vice President, Global Marketing, Infor-SoftBrands