Hospitality Upgrade Magazine has announced that registration is open for its 19th Annual Executive Vendor Summit (EVS) and will be held at the Curtis Hotel in Denver, Colo., on March 26-28, 2024. The Executive Vendor Summit is a unique invitation-only industry event that brings together senior technology executives from the hospitality industry for learning, thought leadership and networking.

The 2024 agenda will include many popular sessions of previous events, including the CIO panel. This year’s CIO panelists include Andrew Arthurs of Aimbridge Hospitality, Scott Strickland with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Gustaaf Schrils with Omni Hotels, McLean Xavier with INNVest Hotels, and Christine Moffett with The Kessler Collection. More EVS sessions are planned to include sessions on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, with strategic and legal considerations.

For the first time this year, Hospitality Upgrade is bringing together a panel of companies and investors interested in the hotel technology sector. This panel will speak to how investors identify markets of opportunity in travel and hospitality technology, how they evaluate firms in industry markets and determine whether to invest. Panelists include Shawn McGowan, Equality Asset Management; Zach Plener, Jonas Hospitality; and James Filsinger, Ponterra Business Advisors.

This year’s pre-conference activity is inspired by an attendee favorite activity from the CIO Summit Seattle in 2018. Attendees, alongside Sage Hospitality, will embark on a walking tour of Denver's renowned Sage restaurants to gather "must-have" ingredients for a thrilling cooking competition. Teams, guided by chefs, will then face off in a laughter-filled competition to create a feast worthy of the coveted top prize.  The full EVS agenda is available on our site.

In an industry based on competition as much as partnerships, the Executive Vendor Summit offers vendor executives a rare combination of networking, social events and program content in a relaxed atmosphere, with no customers and no selling. “More than 60 CEOs were among the near 100 in attendance, including senior VPs and consultants. EVS has always been designed to bring the technology vendors, both big and small, together where partnerships are formed and doors are opened for each other. We expect to have many first-time attendees there again this year,” said Hospitality Upgrade CEO and Publisher Rich Siegel. “EVS is for the vendor community, but it’s amazing how many hoteliers want to join us this year. This event allows attendees to develop and foster critical relationships with their peers, as well as focus on both challenges and opportunities in the industry.”

Hospitality Upgrade is continuing its partnership with Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) for this year’s event and program. "The nice thing is we leave our egos at the door, we’re all there to learn from each other and advance the industry forward, which is fantastic. We now have some key partnerships that were forged at the Vendor Summit, and they wouldn't have happened without it," said Allan Nelson, CEO of For-Sight.

Past attendees include many of the leading industry companies, such as Oracle, Agilysys, Aruba, DISH, Infor, Maestro PMS, ResortSuite, Jonas Hospitality and Springer-Miller Systems. Those interested in attending this year’s event should email Kim Delaney at Kim@hospitalityupgrade.com; or visit https://www.hospitalityupgrade.com/vendor-summit/summary. Frequently asked questions can be found online at the EVS FAQ page.

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The Curtis

The Curtis, the host hotel of the 2024 EVS, is located in the center of downtown Denver's Theater District, just a block from the Colorado Convention Center. The Curtis is self-proclaimed to be “INCLUSIVE, CHEEKY, UNEXPECTED, PLAYFUL, CLEVER, ECCENTRIC - a unique place to stay in Denver where life is colorful and experience is anything but ordinary.”

About the Executive Vendor Summit

Since the launch of the first Executive Vendor Summit in 2005, the event continues to provide a unique mixture of learning, leadership and networking to the highest-level executives from the solution provider community. The annual meeting, which is held in various cities around the country, is a highpoint for many industry technology leaders, some of whom have attended for 10 years or more. At EVS, there are no customers and no selling, so that attendees can focus on peer-to-peer interaction. For more information, visit www.VendorSummit.com.