Everywhere you look, it seems, people are taking that ‘next big step’ in life. Last month, my son graduated from high school, which doesn’t seem possible. New chapters will now unfold for both of us, as he embarks on an adventure-filled college journey, and I (and my husband) acclimate to an empty nest.
Change is inevitable, whether in our personal or professional lives. And nowhere is change more evident than in technology; specifically, in the artificial intelligence wave. AI is growing so quickly, in fact, that we could fill this entire issue with content around it. It’s not a stretch to predict that we’ll be seeing more and more legal conversations about AI usage and content borrowing as well as concerns about privacy, copyright and false endorsement. (Are you following the Scarlett Johansson ChatGPT battle?)
Here at HU, we’ve been experimenting with AI and plan to share those initiatives with you soon. In the meantime, I highly recommend that you read the articles on AI in this issue—The Evolution of Marketing: From Personalization to Engaging AI Agents by business innovator Michael Goldrich and Navigating the AI Landscape in Hospitality, a legal perspective by attorney Erin Snodgrass.
Earlier this year, my colleagues and I were tasked with updating the magazine’s website. We were up against a daunting timeline; in my opinion, there’s never enough time for a project of such huge scope. Still, we managed to complete it in 90 days. And although we’re still working out a few kinks, I think you’ll agree that the new experience is much improved. We plan to highlight the website’s best features in our upcoming newsletters, and this year, we’re increasing our multimedia approach with a focus on social media.
This is our HITEC issue, and it includes a number of timely and interesting columns. Longtime contributor Michael Schubach opines on the recent news about the DOJ going after hoteliers for using tech to ‘collude’ without colluding (pg. 30). And in our feature story, Fran Worrall looks at sustainability initiatives and focuses on practical ways hotels can use sustainability to improve the bottom line (pg. 16). Also in this issue, Gregg Hopkins offers a fantastic summary of HU’s most recent Executive Vendor Summit, which was held in March (pg. 61). Speaking of HU conferences, this year’s CIO Summit is right around the corner, and we’ll be lighting up the town in Nashville!
Whatever new chapters await you this summer, we hope you’ll make HU part of your journey. We also hope to see you at HITEC in Charlotte. Please stop by and visit us at booth #4047.
