by Rachel Humphrey
NEW YORK, N.Y. – Hospitality industry conferences allow hoteliers, brands, and suppliers to come together to network, to learn, and to take stock of where the industry is and where it is heading. When the former owners of The Hotel Experience (HX) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) first started discussing partnering to put on HX: The Hotel Experience, we saw a fantastic opportunity to reimagine what one of the oldest and largest trade shows in the hospitality industry and what we could offer its attendees.
As Emerald Expositions purchased the show and our discussions continued, we knew immediately that this partnership would allow us to tap into one of AAHOA’s signature offerings—education and professional development—and bring a new component to HX, specifically networking receptions, one of the most valuable components of every AAHOA event. It also provided the opportunity for AAHOA to offer a second national conference annually and draw off the energy of our annual Convention & Trade Show, the largest for owners in the hospitality industry.
Going into this partnership, I was familiar with HX and what it offered to the hospitality industry. But I wondered, given the long list of trade shows (both big and small), what separates the can’t miss shows from the others? What offerings make attending a show worth the time and expense?
We needed to establish how this collaboration would revitalize and reimagine this conference. Given HX’s storied history and the fact that it co-locates with BDNY, we concluded that building out new educational programs across a series of tracks, adding a young professional hoteliers networking event, and encouraging more hoteliers to attend would bring real value to the experience. This approach could take the conference to another level, and give attendees yet another reason to travel to New York City.
As our team worked with the team at Emerald to plan and structure the conference, the branding, HX: The Hotel Experience Powered by AAHOA, captured precisely how we envisioned the reimagining of this mainstay of hospitality industry trade shows. We wanted to ensure that past attendees understood that this was a rethinking of what we could offer together and not an overhaul or relaunch of the conference.
We also sought to attract new conferencegoers who would be interested in HX’s traditional offerings but perhaps needed a little more to take the plunge and register. We brought in industry leaders for the 24 educational sessions and focused on six core content areas. This allowed us to ensure that there was something for everyone without sacrificing quality.
We saw a great rise in attendance for these sessions, thus confirming what we knew; no matter where you are in your career, continual learning is an essential part of everyone’s business plan. AAHOA’s commitment to empowering young professional hoteliers inspired the creation of HX’s first-ever young professionals networking event. By bringing together the next generation of hotel owners and industry partners, we sought to jumpstart some of the most important conversations and connections that could lead to the next big thing in hospitality.
AAHOA’s commitment to young professionals is evident in everything we do, and we know the HX show is the ideal place to make sure the next generation of this industry is learning, spending time on the show floor, and networking. The buzz at the reception that night was palpable, and we have received so many communications already from people returning next year and others who plan to join for the first time.
Walking into the Javits Center and seeing the Powered by AAHOA logo, we knew instantly we had created something special with Emerald. This partnership allows two industry leaders in trade shows and professional development to bring new and exciting opportunities to the entire industry, at a time of the year when we can celebrate the year that is closing and anticipate the year right around the corner.
We are already looking forward to (and planning for) Nov. 8-9, 2020, when we will do it all again. See you in 2020 at HX: The Hotel Experience Powered by AAHOA.
Rachel Humprey is COO and vice president of Franchise Relations, Asian American Hotel Owners Association.