HITEC 2023: From the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Modern Hotelier #38: HITEC 2023: From the Hockey Hall of Fame === David Millili: Welcome to the second season of The Modern. Hotelier, the fastest growing hospitality podcast. Both hosts were named Top 100 most Powerful People in Hospitality and voted fourth most popular podcast by the International Hospitality Institute. Each episode will get to know an industry expert and we'll discuss the latest trends in hospitality to help you. The Modern Hotelier. So here we are, high Tech 2023, the Hockey Hall of Fame. Um, we're excited about all the guests we're gonna interview tonight, so let's talk about what we're gonna do Steve Carran: tonight. Absolutely. And Gain is hosting this event here at the Hockey Hall of Fame and your party of game. Can you tell us more about this event and, you know, kind of how it all came David Millili: together? Yeah, well this was really, you know, so Michael Cohen, who's, you know, local. Really had the, the brain, the idea that, hey, let's have this at the Hockey Hall of Fame. We're gonna be in Toronto. Uh, this is only a second time that the North American High Tech has been outside of the US. And we gathered sponsors, we gathered great people. And you know, so far, you know, we've, we've had a great event. Steve Carran: Absolutely. And I mean, high Tech has been so fun and we've been going to it for years. Yeah, I've been going since 2017. You've been going since 1904. Um, yep. Tell us kind of how you have seen, I wanna know like why you keep coming back and I'll say the same, but like what's unique about High Tech? David Millili: Well, first of all, the horse that I rode to, the first high tech I went to was a great horse, but we'll get into that another time. So High Tech is just a place where, you know, you get, um, it's really cool cuz you get hotels that come here. Yeah. You get vendors, so you have your partnership relationships and it becomes a community of people over time that, you know, you look forward to that one time a year where you're all getting together and you know that you're gonna see them on the trade show floor, you're gonna see them at lunch, you're gonna see them at the opening reception, there's gonna be parties. And it's where you build those relationships. And you know, I think high tech sometimes can be a little more. Partnership driven, then the actual, you know, vendor client side. Yeah. But still hotels come here and they enjoy it and they get to see all the new technology that's out there. Steve Carran: Absolutely. And just walking the trade show. Yeah. And seeing the variety technology, variety of technology is, yeah. Awesome. And the people that you meet here, all hospitality folks, which love to chat, love to get to know people and build those relationships. So it's one of the most welcoming communities I think I've ever been a part of. Yep. Um, and it's just always a pleasure to go. And I think one of the things that it follows is we talked to Neil Foster earlier and Yep. How he is as a human being and just kind of, he's, I feel like almost a definition of hospitality. Just like a very hospitable person. And the show just seems to follow his lead. David Millili: Yeah. So as you go to more and more high techs, it becomes the cheers of trade shows. Yeah. Everybody knows your name. You walk down an aisle, you see people, you hug them. And we're an industry where, you know, And, you know, it might sound funny, but you know, I see you. I haven't seen you in a couple months. We're gonna hug each other. We got absolutely, we got grown men hugging each other, like happy to see each other. We have a great time. But it's this kind of, uh, community of people that just have known each other have worked together. There's people here that you've worked in different companies with, um, you respect them. Uh, I'm of the mindset that you should know who your competitors are, respect them. Meet with them, get in front of them, talk to them, and this gives you that opportunity that there's not very many events, this size of nature, that you can do that in North America. All right, Steve Carran: today we have on Nick Horgan. Nick, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Thank Nick Horgan: you so much. Well, first off, I'm extremely excited to be here with Gain and the team in the Hockey Hall of Fame. So I played hockey very early on in my life. Never quite made it pro. Yeah. I thought maybe I should have, but I guess high school was as high as it went for me. Um, so thank you to the game team for getting me into the Hall of Fame and I guess that's as close as I'm gonna get to the Steve Carran: Stanley Cup. What position did you play? I Nick Horgan: was a left wing and center. I like Center Moore. You're a Steve Carran: score, right? Exactly. Got it. Very cool. So how many high techs have you been Nick Horgan: to? This is number 25 for me. Steve Carran: Wow. How so? What makes you keep coming back? Nick Horgan: The energy of the show. Yeah. And it's the relationships and the people and Sure. And really it is the older I've gotten, which I now, I guess at 25 high techs, I have to admit that I am actually old now and I'll live with that part of it. But it really is the, the team does such a good job of getting the right people in hospitality here. And I know this year there were some concerns and challenges with another show at the same time. But what I'll say is it's been extremely successful for me so far, and. The right people have been here, so I'm really excited about this and even more excited about this event that, yeah, David Millili and Michael C. Cohen pulled together and the gain team at the Hockey Hall of Fame, I think you can probably see behind me there's a great turnout of right, really the who's who in hospitality. So, I like to just ride on the coattails of people like David and be here, so, so thank you for that, David. Yeah, problem. I David Millili: really do appreciate it. I gotta get some new coattails. I know. So tell us what you're doing now. What are you doing now? So I Nick Horgan: am the Chief Commercial Officer of a Maze Insights. Okay. Which is a new startup company that had a very strong headstart. So our C E O Jamie job. Yep. Had been doing reporting for about 25 years. And Mike Kenny, who is our Chief Product Officer, they founded the company and they had a great deal of momentum before I joined, right. With Ford Blakely. So they were on just really a very strong start to a fantastic company. And then I made an investment as well as a couple of other people. Oh great. Who made an investment and since that time we grew from, Around 300 hotels to about 1800 hotels on the product. Wow. Which we're extremely excited about. We did announce here at the show our relationship with Abridge. Yeah. And they've just been really a phenomenal partner to David Millili: That's great. Spend some time with, so I haven't been to 25 High Techs, but I've close I think 23. Um. This high tech, have you seen anything? Sometimes I get like a little frustrated when I see like phone systems and stuff like that and not enough robotics. Is there anything you, you've seen as you walked around today that you were kinda like, wow, that's kind of cool? Nick Horgan: Sure. So I, I personally do get excited about the robotics, right? But the thing that really blew me away that I'm excited, that I get a chance to do tomorrow is the, the hologram. Right. So making myself a hologram is, that's really cool. Not an experience I thought I would be able to do. Yeah. And seeing it in person, how strong that was. And Michael had told me about it before. Right. But actually seeing the hologram Yeah. Was impressive to me. And so he did promise that I'll get a chance. To cool. Be a hologram. So that's gonna be a new experience for me. So hopeful. That's awesome. Hopefully that Steve Carran: will happen. That's great. I was walking past the hologram today and I revoke was doing a handstand in the hologram and she had a whole group around. Everybody's taking pictures of it. It's the nice, one of the coolest exhibits that hightech this year. So I'm Nick Horgan: very bummed to have missed that. I guess the only thing that could have made. An awesome game event. Better is we could have been, you know, live streaming with another hall of fame somewhere else on that. Exactly. But there's always next year, David. Yeah. We're so not throwing shade on your unbelievable David Millili: event, but we are working on it. We are in the works for 2024. We're, we're, we're. Planning. Just so it's clear Nick Horgan: though, I would like to be invited as me myself, not just the hologram version of me. So let, let's not let my family, cuz I would love to be with my beautiful wife and family, but don't let her know that it's an option for me to just, you got it. Hologram into high tech. Cause I would David Millili: like, like to, we'll, we'll put the hologram at your house so she thinks you're home. Who can be here? That's even better. Lets go with that. Let's go work on that. I'm sure the technology will evolve. I appreciate Sure. This episode. Yeah, exactly. We just wanna Sure. This we Steve Carran: will. What's your favorite thing you've done in Toronto? Obviously this is top of the one of on the top of the list besides top, but besides this, have you gone to any great dinners or done anything that you really liked or you're looking forward to it? It's, it's hard for Nick Horgan: me to top this. Yeah. But really it's get, my older brother is also in the industry, Lee Hogan and the two of us got a picture together with the Stanley Cup. Oh wow. And so my favorite thing has not actually happened yet, and it really is going to be sending the tech. To my mom. Wow. Yeah. Of both of us here at High Tech together. That's awesome. With, that's with the Stanley Cup. That's, yeah, it's, I've been to a Super Bowl before and I've seen the Super Bowl trophy, but I grew up a hockey fan, so seeing this one is absolutely key. That's awesome. And I know my mom, who's also a big hockey fan, I know how happy it's going to make her. That's awesome. When she sees her two sons with the Stanley Cup. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Sadly, we didn't get it by winning it, but you know what, who's being here with gain is as, as close as can be, the Boston Bruins. David Millili: Okay. All right. Well you've, we've won some recently, so you're good. They, they have, I mean, me personally, not Oh, personally. Okay. Oh, shoot. But Nick Horgan: suit, I am extremely, I have a lot of friends in Las Vegas. Yeah. So Las Vegas Golden Knights, that was really cool. Yeah. Winning the Stanley Cup, it, it really is good. And seeing what Las Vegas as a city has done. Yep. So I have a lot of friends in that market. That's cool. And it's been really good to see that. City comeback so well from the pandemic that it really does make me happy. We went to a Taylor Swift concert in Las Vegas while um, n c basketball was going on, and that's the one city I think, where you can have two massive events at the same time. Right. And the city doesn't David Millili: miss a beat. Yeah, that's awesome. A hundred percent. All right, well thank you so much for the time, Nick. We appreciate it, Nick Horgan: buddy. I so appreciate being here and thank you very much. Steve Carran: You got it. Thanks. Thanks a lot, Nick. Take care. All right, so welcome. Thanks for coming on. Why don't you tell us your name, where you're from. And where do Nick Horgan: you work? Parul Suri: Sure. Um, my name is Paru. It's pronounced as Paru and not Peru. Um, and I'm from California. I work for Placemaker. Okay. Um, it's a real estate and a hospitality amalgamation. Um, so we basically convert multifamily assets, um, into hotels. Steve Carran: Very cool. Very cool. And is this your first high tech or have you been to a few? It is my second high tech. Your Nick Horgan: second high tech Uhhuh. What Steve Carran: are your thoughts so far? Parul Suri: I really love coming to High Tech. So my first was last year and I really thought that, you know, all right, it's gonna be okay. It mainly came for H S M A I uhhuh and I got a pass through high tech, right? So I was like, I'm just gonna go ahead and attend it. And then I met so many of our partners and I met so many other partners who I connected with and I just see so much more value. Sure. So I had to come back this year again and uh, again, I found new partners that I would wanna work with because I just feel that hospitality is a space. That is doing really well, but we don't have the ability to build all tech in-house. Right. And we should take advantage of all the tech that's Steve Carran: being built. Absolutely. David Millili: Absolutely. Do you have, like what if someone was to ask you, why do you go to High Tech? Do you have, like, I know you gave a little bit there, but did you have like one reason why you would tell someone like, you need to come to High Tech, it moves around, it's in Orlando, it's in la, Toronto, but why should somebody come to Hightech? I think Parul Suri: the reason that people should come to high Tech is for the fact that hospitality needs to evolve. Yeah. At least I can say that from my, my experience, that hospitality needs to evolve. We need to be more technologically advanced. That's what our guests want, but we can't build everything in house. Right. And we need to leverage everything that others are doing much better, and they, because they have the expertise in that and, and basically integrate all of that into one system and give it back Amanda Glover: to Steve Carran: our guests. So, have you done anything in Toronto besides the hockey Hall of fame that you've really enjoyed or have you eaten anywhere that's spectacular? You know, Parul Suri: I've been to two places last night. I go to school, um, I'm doing my MBA and one of my, uh, classmates stays here, but I don't know the name of those places. Okay. But it was a very nice, um, French restaurant. And then this was, Uh, it was a hotel with a rooftop. Um huh. But on the 44th floor. And that was really good for drinks too. You Steve Carran: can't go wrong with a rooftop there. You can so roll. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. David Millili: That's great. So we hope you have a great tomorrow. Thank you. We know that you're, you're here at High Tech, but you're also doing HS M a i, the Rock. Yep. Conference and, uh, we don't know, we don't know if this was your first podcast, but hopefully it'll be one of many. Sure. You did a great job and we really appreciate it having you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you Steve Carran: very much. Great. Thanks so much. Well welcome. Thank you for joining us. Why don't you introduce yourself, your name, where you're from, and uh, what Nick Horgan: company you're with. So, uh, Rory Rory Power: Power. Uh, my company is Enterprise Ireland. We're the trade development agency of the Irish government. Um, I'm from Ireland originally, but based in New York. I've been managing our team there for the last five Steve Carran: years. Awesome, awesome. So is this your first high Rory Power: tech? In my second high tech. Your second high tech? So I was in Orlando last year and, um, happy to return this year. So what do David Millili: you think, so you've been to two high techs now. This is your second. Why do you think it's important? I'm assuming you'll do your third, the third one in, in, in Charlotte next year. Why do you think it's important to come to this event? Rory Power: Interestingly, with Enterprise Ireland, we, we cover a lot of different market sectors. Yeah. The travel hospitality is, o is only one of what we do. But, um, and I've been doing that for, for eight years now with the agency. High Tech is unlike any other event that I've been to in terms of the collegiality of, of the audience that come to it. Right. The quality of that audience. Yep. And. And interesting, I think the sincerity of that audience, people come to high tech to meet partners and to do business. Right. Um, we have a number of our clients exhibiting at the show, and they've even said like, the, the, the quality of the people that are coming by. It's not like other trade shows where there's a stream of people all day long, right. And you're trying to filter through. But everybody that came onto their stands today, you know, wanted to talk about business was interesting in hearing about the product. And for me, I don't see that at any other show. Right. In any other sector. That's important. David Millili: Yeah. I, yeah, it's hugely Rory Power: important, but it's, it's, it's a real feather in the cap for high tech as well. Yeah. Steve Carran: It's great. Absolutely. So I know we're only on, I guess, the first day of the trade show, second day of the conference. Have you done anything fun in Toronto yet that, uh, you've had a blast doing? I guess Rory Power: I, I haven't done an awful lot of thi stuff in Toronto. Strangely is my second time in Toronto in three weeks. Uh, last time I brought the, the bad weather with me as well. Uh, yeah, you did. I did. And I, and I, and I brought it back on Sunday, which is the only thing I brought brought, because I didn't bring a suitcase. I'm still waiting for that to arrive. Oh, no. Uh, but thanks to my air tag, I can see it's squarely on the apron at, uh, at Newark, so I know it's safe. Yeah, David Millili: yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So with this being your second high tech, walking around today, was there anything that you saw today that you. Kind of were like, wow, that's a pretty cool company or product or something you weren't expecting to see. Rory Power: So I, I think a lot of it we've seen before, but I think there's iterations and tweaks of it. I mean, you, you can't ignore the hologram on the on, on the way Right. Once you walk. That's just, that's just super impressive. Um, kind of makes me fear for a lot of our jobs at some point. Uh, in terms of the, the, the way it works, it's, uh, I thought that was quite cool. I think the robotics, um, is really interesting and, and there's been different iterations of that over the years, and I've seen it live in hotels. But it's really exciting to see how they move around the floor and interact around people. Uh, for myself, if I think about the Irish companies that are exhibiting here, uh, people like Halo sos, they're really standing out in what's a very competitive market, uh, for them. P three on the, on the bucking engines, right? Yeah. They're, uh, they're drawing great attention. They've recently gone live with Omni Hotels, which is Wow. Which is, which is a big, big deal, a great achievement for them here in the us. And, and that's bringing on to, to, to other things. They a part, they're now an Oracle partner as well. Yeah. So for me, I'm enjoying seeing their success. Uh, other clients include Stobby, so that's, uh, that's AI chat. Uh, for, for hotel websites. Uh, prompt payments are here as well. So they're, they're working with Freedom Pay, uh, partner Freedom and Pay. I'm working with Oracle now as well. Uh, so we have, we have Irish companies from across the spectrum, uh, interacting well, and that's, that's kind of what I enjoy seeing. On the wider space. It's hard not to get, be impressed by Yeah, by just the, the depth of companies and I mean, the, the whole is full of cool, cool things as well. That's great. Uh, from the LG and Samsung screens to, yeah. To, to all, all the little bits, but really the whole spectrum is covered and it's David Millili: great to see that. Yeah. So last question is, you're a sponsor here tonight at this fabulous event. We're very happy with the turnout. How are you feeling? Oh, I'm Rory Power: feeling great. Really enjoyed the event. Um, our sponsorship tonight actually came from, Came from a fortuitous connection at High Tech last year. Yeah. In Toronto. It was an accidental conversation by, um, at a coffee machine. Yeah. Uh, and then I ultimately ended up chatting with yourself, Dave and I, with Michael, and we, we've had a great relationship since. So couldn't have been happier to sponsor the event tonight. For me, actually, as part of the sponsorship team, uh, it's fantastic to be able to turn up at an event. That's been organized and Right. Yeah. David Millili: Turnkey, you know, Rory Power: absolutely. Our local team here, we were checking in with me today saying, what do you need us to do? What can we do? Turn up, enjoy it and talk to people. And, and that's, it's been great to be able to do that, but a super event and couldn't, couldn't argue, uh, with the quality of peoples Glad you've been able to get here David Millili: tonight. It's fantastic. Of it's great. I appreciate it. Have a great, have a great Wednesday and we appreciate you stopping by David. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. Cheers. Steve Carran: All right. And now we have on Tara Win Perry. Tara, tell us a little bit about yourself. Tara Wynne-Parry: Well, it's my first podcast ever. Wow. Welcome. So I'm nervous, uh, but uh, yeah, I work at a company called Sensible Weather. Cool. I live in the Bay Area. That's my first high tech slash hsma I and first time to Toronto. Steve Carran: Very cool. What's your first impression of High Tech so Tara Wynne-Parry: far? Well, I actually haven't been accepted into High Tech yet cuz I have a ticket to H S M A I. Okay. But I'm working on it. But so far, generally conference. Great. Lots of awesome hoteliers, uh, lots of great tech companies and generally a great David Millili: vibe. So tell us what made you decide, um, I've seen you before, like ILC events. What made you decide to come to hsm, a Iraq here in Toronto? Tara Wynne-Parry: Well, I've been to a couple of other events where met you and you and everyone said like high tech's the one to come to. So my company we're. Kind of newer on the scene. Yep. Uh, so we decided to go and we got tickets to H S M A I and High Tech and just see which one, you know, works for us and, you know, vibe it out for the next year. Steve Carran: Cool. Great. That's good. What's your first impression of Toronto? Beautiful. Tara Wynne-Parry: Yeah. Gorgeous. Saw the r the lake. Um, beautiful sunset. Uh, everyone had a lot of trouble getting here. Yeah. I don't know if you've heard myself included. So I've learned that there's not a ton of flights here all the time. But other than that great vibrant where I live, it's very sleepy. So yeah, it's cool to see people out. Like it's cool when I arrive home, I worry if my flight gets in after nine 30, I'm like, there's gonna be nowhere to eat. Everything's gonna be closed. So here, like there's so much going on and yeah, you know, people out. I was like, which night is it? It's Tuesday and everyone's out. So yeah, it was good. That's good. David Millili: So give us, um, I'm familiar with their company. I know, like you said, you're starting out, you're new. So why should hotels work with sensible weather? Tara Wynne-Parry: First of all, we're a cl a climate tech company. Yep. We sell a product that's, uh, weather protection. Yep. So, uh, guests have the opportunity to add it onto their stay. And every day that it rains during their vacation, uh, we reimburse the guest. So, wow. The hotel keeps their money. Guest has confidence booking that. If you know peace of mind that if the weather doesn't, uh, go their way, They can get a little bit of money back. Uh, we also offer a rev share to our partners, and there's no cost to work with us. So, uh, we've been told it's a no-brainer. Got it. Uh, not my words, but yeah. I mean, the weather is at one factor you can't control. So give guests the options to protect their trip, um, and offer an enhanced guest experience that they'll get reimbursed while they're there and maybe put that money into, uh, A massage. Yep. Or just go straight to the bar and be like, Woohoo, I've got extra money in my, my pocket today was free. So, yeah. And also we're easy to work with. We've got a number of integrations with some great partners. Um, CDs, rev Rays is one of them. Uh, we also have other ways to work with us that are less technical, so why not David Millili: try it? That's great. Well, you did great for your first podcast. Thank you. Well, we hope you have a very successful second day at H S M A I. Rock and Hightech. Thank you. And thank you for being here. Tara Wynne-Parry: Thank you so much. And hopefully a second podcast, David Millili: maybe one day. Yeah. You might own coming up. This is, this is kinda, this is like your, uh, teaser reel where you're getting people to like get a show interest in getting you Yeah. On their podcast. That's right. That's right. Steve Carran: That's right. That's all whole good. All right. Well thank you. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. All right, so now we have a face that's familiar to the podcast. Yes. Andre from Howwell Connects. Andre Smith: Welcome back to the show. Lovely meeting you guys here in person. Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you for Steve Carran: having us again. You bet. You bet. So is this your first high Andre Smith: tech? Yes. First high tech. First time Toronto. First time Canada. So what are your first impressions, uh, about high tech or everything? Canada, everything. Well, Toronto is very good. We went out to have a good drink, uh, last day and the day before, and the day there before. So it was pretty good. Uh, high tech also Amazing. Yeah. Um, we got a lot of positive feedback about our technology. People have our US on our short list. On their short list, so that's good. So they went to visit our booth and, uh, yeah, they really liked it. Steve Carran: I mentioned it earlier, but I revoked, came to Booth and was doing handstands and Yeah. In the hologram. Yeah. But your booth has just been, it seems like it's been busy all day. Andre Smith: It was busy all day, but it was also because we had those sessions Yeah. With all this industry expert and they brought all those people together. Uh, so it was a great way to just, uh, demoing or show what our technology is about. Yeah. And um, yeah, like I said, it was, uh, it was crazy today. Steve Carran: Awesome. Awesome. David Millili: Yeah. So you're here at High Tech. We think it's been a great event tonight here at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Yeah. What's, any events coming up? Yeah. What's next for your company? What, are there any, uh, announcements? Any new coming? Yeah, they're Andre Smith: gonna be some big announcements. Okay. Um, but I will leave them, uh, no, that's fine. The blank right now. But yeah, we're doing some great pilots with some great companies, some great chains. All with different use cases, which will probably get out there in the next couple of months. Great. Yeah. Um, yeah, and I can only foresee world success in the future for David Millili: us. Well, like Steve said, you, you're, you're a repeat guest now. We wish you all this success in the world. We hope you have a great. Wednesday and we're happy that you're here and we hope we see you in Charlotte next year Andre Smith: at that high. Same to you. And, uh, looking forward to the next meeting, guys. Yeah, that it sounds good. Thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much, Andrea. Good Steve Carran: luck. Thanks. All right. And now we have on Marnix Exactly. The other co-founder of Hollow Can iex. How are you doing David Millili: buddy? Thank you for having Marnix Lock: me. St. Uh, Steven and uh, David. I'm, uh, doing great. David Millili: Great. Good, good, great Steve Carran: city. How's High Tech going so far? We're day two. What's been your favorite part so far? Marnix Lock: The favorite part is having a great conversation and great reactions of the, of the, of the, all the people and the attendees over here. Yeah. Yeah, Steve Carran: yeah, yeah, absolutely. It seems like you guys have kind of been almost a talk of high tech. Was that the intention going into this? You guys had the booth with Frank, you have the other Hollow Connect at your booth. People are talking about you like, Marnix Lock: oh, it's all planned. It's Michael Cohen: all planned. Yeah. That's, I mean, no, no, of course. Marnix Lock: It's great. Uh, that, that, that people speak of, uh, of our technology and of our company. So, uh, grateful, very grateful of, uh, of, uh, how it's been accepted. David Millili: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. For us, I think for Steve and I, I've been to 23 high Techs. Yeah. So I probably got another 10 before I pass away. But anyway. Um, you know, the, to see the holograms was really cool. It was like, like so high tech is supposed to be high tech, you think like this is, yep. Was there anything that you saw that you thought like, wow, that's kind of cool, or anything that you saw that you're like, wow, that's really low tech. Why is it here? So, Marnix Lock: to be honest, uh, I was a lot of going back and forth between the two holograms that we have. So I didn't have the chance really to go into the field and check other technology. So, Um, just speaking for ourselves, hopefully one of the higher technologies and high tech technologies at High Tech. David Millili: So, final question. So have you done, is this your first time to Toronto? Yeah, first Marnix Lock: time Toronto. First time Canada. Then of course, and first time at High Tech David Millili: also. Have you done anything cool outside of high tech that you really enjoyed or that you liked about the city? Um, yeah, just Marnix Lock: walking around in the city that is very, it's a very beautiful city and hopefully after high tech we can go to, uh, Niagara Falls. Oh, cool. Just to being a little bit touristic. Uh, but afterwards we go, uh, back to the Nellis again. Okay. And back David Millili: to work. Yeah. Great. Yeah. Well, you guys are super busy. We appreciate you stopping by. We wish you all the success. Thank you very much. Tomorrow kill it cuz tomorrow's the day cuz Thursday will not be a good day. Sorry to break that to you, but whatever you can get tomorrow, get cuz Thursday. Yeah, we will do, we will. Thursday is not a good day. Um, I'm a little bit of a, have an opinion on that, but anyway, but we appreciate you guys and again, we, we wish you all the success. Thank you. Marnix Lock: Thank you very much for having us. And, uh, Again, David Millili: we appreciate it. We appreciate it. Appreciate it, man. Thank you, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Steve Carran: Welcome to The. Modern. Hotelier. Thanks for stopping out by. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell people David Millili: where you're from. Michael O'Donnell: Hi, I'm Michael O'Donnell. I'm the chairman and CEO of Relay Robotics. Hello, a California based robotics company, focus on hotel delivery. That's really why we're here and why we're excited to be David Millili: at High Tech. Awesome. Steve Carran: So I'm assuming this isn't your first high tech. It's actually my second Michael Cohen: high tech. Your second Michael O'Donnell: high tech. I just started last year and we went to High Tech Orlando, but we really wanted to be here this year cuz we're debuting a new robot relay, two twice as big, a 10 gallon payload, accessories, all the things that hotels want. So really excited to debut here at High Tech David Millili: and here at the Hall of Fame. Awesome. Right. So I'm sure you know, obviously every company has competition. Why is it that here we are, we're at a hospitality. The biggest hospitality, north American hospitality trade show, and there's labor shortage, there's issues, but yet I don't see any other companies here that are really doing what you guys do. But why do you think that is? I mean, a Michael O'Donnell: couple things. Well, I think you, you see a lot of robots in Asia Yeah. And, uh, from China and elsewhere. And I think some of the hotels here in North America are a little uncomfortable bringing in robots from that. Right. Those parts of the world with some of the security considerations. Um, because these robots who talk to your hotel, they're, they ride on your wifi network. Yeah. Off on your phone system. Sometimes even your payment systems. So the fact that we've got a US made robot, I think makes more people comfortable. Right. Having said that, we anticipate seeing more and more, more robots coming in the market. We have to move quickly. We think we're innovating better than anyone else. Right. And we're excited to be here, but robots are the future for mo many of these roles. Many of the workers who left during the, the pandemic Right. Are not coming back to hospitality. Also, this huge, huge push on immigration where a lot of politicians are really anti-immigrant who was doing those hotel jobs and housekeeping. A hundred percent. Yeah. And belman delivery. So you've got this in balance, so, and the technology's gotten a lot better. Yeah. We now can, a robot can go from the front desk all the way to a, a guest room on the 16th floor. Riding the elevators autonomously. And the technology is very reliable and safe. And, and lastly, if you ask a guest, would you rather have us bring, uh, up your food and beverage with a human or a robot? Bring the robot. It doesn't have c o v, I don't have to tip them. So, and the, and the other, the, the social media benefits of a robot. It's really interesting. All these converging David Millili: in one. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Yeah. And are there types of hotels that you think should really be looking into robots? Yeah. Michael Cohen: Well, Michael O'Donnell: definitely hotels where you have a limited staff. So you only have one person working the front desk right at night and you get a phone call at 11 o'clock. Hey, can you bring some towels up to room 1303? Does the person shut the front door and lock it? Do they leave the front desk unoccupied or do you send the robot? So that's a perfect example. But we've also seen some of the higher end hotels, like even a Mandarin Oriental, right? Or the Boca Raton, which is a five star hotel. So, They love to have the robot there for the guest experience. Yeah. To mingle with guests in the lobby or to make delivery. So it's really a cross section of brands that are choosing the robot. Are you David Millili: robots, are you the robots in the Dream Hotel or No, we are the dream Michael O'Donnell: Hollywood. Yeah. Yeah. Has two of our robots. David Millili: Yeah. Yeah. We, we had Judy on and it was fantastic. They're a Michael O'Donnell: wonderful new brand. They were recently acquired by Hyatt, correct? Yeah. And uh, it has a lot of personality and they've been a pioneer and. And showcasing some of this technology and the guests love it. David Millili: That's great. So one thing Steve Carran: I've heard about robots is the one thing they can't do yet is make the bed. Are we gonna see that soon? Michael O'Donnell: I think that's harder than you think. Believe it. Because cleaning David Millili: is harder than I can't make the bed. That's right. I How damn robots gonna do. It's no. So Michael O'Donnell: right now we're focused on being, making a delivery just outside the guest room and not going into a guest room. Yeah. It can be a bit of a war zone when you open that door. Oh, absolutely. But we think we can help the housekeepers. More and more with supplies, with towels, with linens, and so we'll do that. We've explored vacuuming. That's definitely interesting. You see vacuuming robots in the home market, correct? Yeah. So that, that's something we'd consider as well as maybe even the back of the house, having robots that are even larger to transport luggage or other items. So we've got a lot of technology in the relay robot. There's, uh, close to 50 million of r and d invested. So we can take it a number of ways. This year we're gonna focus on getting our relay to, into as many hotels in North America as possible. Absolutely. David Millili: That's right. Absolutely. Steve Carran: You just need to put one of those portable vacuums, like a Bissell on top of 'em. Yes. So they clean as they go. I David Millili: think we've had it Exactly. Michael O'Donnell: We've done prototypes with Bissell. We're really interested in in doing that, but we think there's such a huge market for delivery, right? Absolutely. 35,000 plus hotels. Yeah. We have a long David Millili: way to go. So last question. We've interviewed some fantastic people here tonight. This has been a fantastic event. You're a sponsor. How, how's the night been for you? Michael O'Donnell: Oh, it's been wonderful. I mean, we, we saw a lot of these customers and prospects and partners right on the show floor, but to come in a historic venue like this, right? Yeah. Being around these championship trophies, it's really inspiring and, and a chance for people to kind of let their hair down, have some fun. We've got our robot here showing that off. So it's just been a wonderful evening. David Millili: Great. Well thank you and have a great uh, Wednesday at Hightech. We will. Thank you guys. Thanks so much. Bye. Thank you. Appreciate it man. All Steve Carran: right. All right. Well, thank you for stopping by coming on the Modern Hotelier podcast. Thanks. No. Why don't you introduce yourself. Tell us where you're from and what company you're with. I'm Pascal Petit: Pascal. I'm a French boy. Okay. And happy to be in Canada for a few days, you know? Yeah. I'll joined the English side of Canada. Oh yeah, I was gonna say, have you had, uh, yeah, it's the first time here. You know, I know the French side, but I've never met it to the English side. Steve Carran: Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. So is this your first high tech? Second Pascal Petit: high tech? How many high high tech? It's my first high tech. You. I'm like, I'm a fresh, uh, fresh baby. Born on high tech. What's your first impression? Cool. You know, it's a cool show. Very friendly. Like, uh, it's almost like a family mindset. It is. It's like a lot of people have, like, you know, I've been almost like tattoos by companies that they've been working for like, for many, many years. And feel like, you know, like you're almost like a, a serenity type of gathering. David Millili: So, you know, this, we, we have a lot of friends in common that are within your company. You've built a great team. I mean, you've got great people. I mean, I've, I've worked with the people that you have and Amy what, so tell us about thinking, like, what's, what's like the next big thing for you? Yeah. As you move into the us I, I wouldn't say Pascal Petit: that, but something I wanted to highlight David before. Uh, last week I come to the number, you know, we're still a startup. Yeah. We're still a tiny company and I come to the number Bill Muench: of years Pascal Petit: of hospitality experience we've gathered in the company huge. And it's over 250 years. Bill Muench: Oh my goodness. In the Pascal Petit: company. And we're still a startup, you know, we were like, we're, we're like that young startup, like, you know, young, young, uh, young, like professional, having fun. But altogether we gather 250 years of experience. Wow. And the next big thing in the US obviously we're already quite successful in Europe. In Middle East and like, we're opening Asia now and the US is the next big move for us. Right. We already have like two customers. We landed two customers here. Right. And we got, you know, fairly, yeah. You know, few, few, uh, few more interested. Steve Carran: Good. Can you tell us a little bit more about what Think does? Think it's like, you know, Pascal Petit: it's, uh, it's, uh, to us it's a new vision for hospitality. Hospitality till now has been structured. Uh, with silos anchored on the property, PMSs, you know, stay centric, property centric, and there is nothing really helping the brand, the brand that sits on top of the properties. So, as a consumer and I, I'd rather talk about the consumer than the guest, right? Yes. You know, as a consumer you got a great experience from the time you check in till the time you check out, but the experience we're having with the brand is limited, right? We believe. That brand should have their own core system, their own information system, right. That is customer centric, data driven. And that will sit on top of the PMSs. And that's what we built. Steve Carran: Wow. And I come from the PMs world, and that is deeply needed in that system. It is so siloed. And it is exactly, exactly part for these different technologies to communicate to each other. Yes. Yes. So that's, I I love this. I love it. David Millili: So we'll wrap it up with you. How have you enjoyed tonight? Have you had a good time? Do you like this? The Hockey Hall of Fame? You enjoyed it? Yeah. Hockey Hall of Pascal Petit: Fame. It's amazing. It looks like a church. I don't know, was it a David Millili: church? I don't know. But it does. I believe you. I think it, it had, it Pascal Petit: was a bank. Oh, okay. So I think it was a bank. It may have been a church before being a bank, you David Millili: know, and if it was, it was probably a TV bag. Wait. It's Pascal Petit: an amazing, amazing, amazing building. That's David Millili: great. Love it. Well, we hope, we wanna wish you all the best we know. Like I said, I know a lot of your team members, great people. Your company's great. You guys have done a great job. You just raised a, a, a good round of funding. Yeah. We wish you all the success. Yes, yes. In at wherever age. You, us. And maybe, Bill Muench: you know, one Pascal Petit: thing that, that I'd like to highlight Sure. Is that we're, we're all in the asset business, you know? Correct. Ity asset business walls are asset. Furniture is asset. Yep. We believe, we believe that data should be part of the Bill Muench: asset. Yeah. Agreed. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Pascal Petit: But data is like, you know, it's like gold. You can own a gold mine. A gold mine has no value. Gold has value when it's dug Right. And when it's lint. And that's what David Millili: we do as well. Absolutely. That's great. That's true. Absolutely. So we wanna, we, we hope you had a great first day. We wish you an even better second day. Yes, yes. Lovely. And the theme of the night for me is Thursday's not gonna be good. Sorry. But, so enjoy. Steve Carran: All right. Welcome to the Modern Hotelier, Amanda Glover. Thank you. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about where you're from, what company you're working for. Amanda Glover: Sure. My name is Amanda. I'm from Dorma. We do access control solutions, so locks for hotels and we do the software and hardware behind the access control. Steve Carran: Very cool. Is this your first high tech or have you been to uh, many A high tech. Amanda Glover: I've been to many of high tech. This is my fifth one, I believe. Yeah, fifth. Awesome. What do you think? It's been great so far. I got here a few hours ago. So far so good. Steve Carran: How did you get here? I think we need to talk about this. This is how far we Amanda Glover: gonna high tech, you know, I already have PTSD from this. Um, so I was supposed to fly from New York land at noon on Monday. Today is now Tuesday. And I ended up having to rent a car and drive with not a complete stranger, but someone I didn't know very well, who was also attending high tech on my same flight. So we had a nine hour drive and we went through hail, we went through crazy storms, flooding of the streets. Wow. Everyone was pulled over. We had to stay overnight in upstate New York because the roads were closed, and we finally made it today at noon. So come hell or high water. Literally. Absolutely. We made it. David Millili: So if you've been in, in the industry for a while now, so if you were talking to somebody who is new to the industry, why would you tell them to come to hitech? Well, right Amanda Glover: now, I don't know. No, I would say actually was talking to someone earlier who left the hospitality industry and then she came back this year and we were talking about how it is the most fun industry to work in. Everyone loves where they work. It is so hospitable as it should be, right? Everyone is so kind, excited to be in this industry. I have worked in other industries and I, I will always stay in hospitality for now on. Absolutely. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Is this your first time in Nick Horgan: Toronto? Amanda Glover: It is not. It is not. Um, my second time though, so I'm still relatively Steve Carran: new. Any tips for the newbies where this might be their first time here? Amanda Glover: Oh gosh. Well, the first time I was here I was not in downtown and it was a very different environment, different vibe, much more residential. So I think downtown Toronto is fun, exciting, lots of, um, cool opportunities, cool architecture everywhere. So I think downtown Toronto is the place to David Millili: be. Absolutely right. So tell us a little bit, you're new, we've known each other for a while, you've worked. And very different roles. So yeah, I mean, your last two jobs, those two were completely different than your current job. So with Dorma, cba, what, tell us what what you think is interesting about that and what you're seeing as you go out there and yourself. Amanda Glover: So, yeah, great question. I'm really enjoying working at Dorma CBA for a few different reasons. I would say probably the biggest reason is we are a security company, right? Ultimately. So we're working on safety and security. And right now the, the tourism industry as a whole is focusing on combating human trafficking. Yep. And we have a great role in that. So we are rolling out some new software where essentially we will track door activity to combat human trafficking. Right. So, wow. Different like patterns of how often the door opens, when it opens, things like that. So it'll alert the hotel staff and they can go inspect what's going on. Right? So that's a really exciting project. I think that it's something that I'm, I'm very honored to be a part of and excited to see what happens with that and hope I can play a crucial role in combating human trafficking. David Millili: So it's kind of a complete 180, but, um, you and Steve are both obviously a lot younger than me. So were either of you alive the last time the Cowboys went to a Super Bowl? Amanda Glover: Uh, yes. No, wait, it was in the eighties. Oh no, the nineties. David Millili: Nineties. It was in the nineties. Yes. I was alive. I thought you were a real Cowboy Amanda Glover: fan, but I am a Cowboys fan. Okay. I'm just checking. I think it was, um, I don't know when. 94? Probably David Millili: 96. I 96. Yeah. Anyway, that's Mexican. That's it. Well, we thank you for Amanda Glover: joining us, you know? Yeah. Thanks for asking. I really go back, go my, my favorite question thus far. Yes. Bill Muench: Yeah. David Millili: Yeah. Well, Steve's gonna deal with Jordan Love, so who knows. Hey, it's Amanda Glover: gonna be a great season. And now we have Aaron Rogers in New York. Steve Carran: Jordan Love is taking us all the way. I am on the love train. I am a fully onboard, I am invested and if he doesn't work out, I will be heartbroken because I am. I'm all in on Jordan Love. I'm all in. All in. Okay. I love it. So ate MVP in three years. I commitment MVP in three years, so all we're right around the car. Well, thank you for joining Amanda Glover: us. This is great. Thanks for having me. Great to see you Steve Carran: guys, you see. Awesome. Thank you. All right. Welcome to the show. Thanks for stopping by. Why don't you introduce yourself, tell us where you're from and what company you're working for. So Phelim Pekaar: I'm fam from P three Hotel Software, uh, Dublin, Ireland is where I come from. That's where the company's based, but I moved to Boulder, God, last October. Awesome. So to set up the, the US version of P David Millili: three over here. That's great. Very cool. That's great. Steve Carran: So is this your first high tech or have you been to a few? Phelim Pekaar: We did high tech last year. We had a stand last year in Orlando and my first high tech was Indianapolis in 2019. David Millili: So, Tell us if you were, if you were talking to somebody, so you're obviously Enterprise Ireland is involved with you, but there was another Irish company in hospitality that was starting out. What would you tell them? What, what would you say to them why they should come to Hightech? I thought you're gonna start with the easy questions. No, sorry. Well, Phelim Pekaar: because, uh, to be fair, actually, high Tech is the only conference in that covers all the us Right. For David Millili: technology Steve Carran: focused. Yep. Correct. Yeah. And that's it. Like there is nothing else. Yeah. Phelim Pekaar: Like, and it, whereas in Europe you've got maybe kind of subset little conferences. Yeah. It's a bit harder to navigate, but Americans just do things well. We just do one and we do it David Millili: right. Steve Carran: That's high tech. Love. Hear that. Yeah. Uh, so have you, were you able to make it on the trade show today at all? Yeah. Yeah. Four. Any cool technology you saw? Any, anything that stuck out to you? Oh, did I get to walk around? Yeah. No I Nick Horgan: didn't cuz we were too busy at the Phelim Pekaar: sand. Oh, gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, I'm hoping to do that probably, probably tomorrow, Thursday. I'll, uh, have a good Nick Horgan: mosey round and see what's Steve Carran: going on. Awesome. Were you able to explore Toronto at all since you've been here? Yeah, I've been here since Phelim Pekaar: Saturday night. Awesome. I went to see the Blue Jays play, the, uh, the. David Millili: Oakland Oakland's, Oakland A. Yes. Oakland A's correct. Yeah. Who lost miserably. Yes. I was there. I was there. Yeah. It was good game. Yeah. Was good game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Correct. And I got slightly burned. So tell us about P three. Like give us just like the elevator pitch, like what you guys do, how you're different. I know booking engine technology, but just give us some insight. So, Phelim Pekaar: uh, very simply, uh, it's uh, it's _booking engine technology._ What makes us very different in the marketplace is, number one, we integrate with Oracle. Okay. And Oracle only, right? So rather than trying to build a system that integrates with multiple different platforms, and it ends up a bit like Spaghetti Junction. Yep. Right? And code. It's just, we keep it simple. We integrate with Oracle, but it means we can integrate really, really well, right? That's number one. And number two is we can offer our customers customization. So when you have a booking engine from P three, it's fully branded. To that hotel's brand identity, you know, so we can make the Marriott, the Hilton system for the smaller, smaller David Millili: brands, if you know what I mean. No, that makes sense. That's Steve Carran: great. Awesome. So tell people how they can get in contact with you, how we find out more about your company as well. High Tech Hijack. The only way you can find him right Phelim Pekaar: here. We have p3 hotels.com. That's where we are. Yeah, David Millili: p3 hotels.com. That's great. Well, we appreciate having you. I, it sounds like you had a good Tuesday. Have a great Wednesday. Yeah, it could be, it could Phelim Pekaar: be a little sore David Millili: after tonight, but, uh, yeah, that is the, that is high tech. You know what the, the biggest key to high tech is you upgrade the padding in your Steve Carran: booth. Hundred percent under the carpet. A hundred percent. Phelim Pekaar: Julia David Millili: did that this year. She spending an extra $500. I'm padding, and so what do we really need Steve Carran: that she said, trust David Millili: me, S day, you'll thank me. That's the biggest secret. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank her. We have fluffy carpet. Thank her. Yeah. Steve Carran: Okay. Will do. Yeah, when my feet get tired, I'm coming to stand by your booth. We've got lovely couches as well. Beautiful. Beautiful. Awesome. Well, thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it much, and have a great rest of the Hi time. Okay. Thank you so much. Like you. Cheers. All right. Welcome to The Modern. Hotelier. Thanks for stopping by. Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us where you're from? Bill Muench: Absolutely. Uh, my name's Bill Manch. I'm with a Ag hospitality out of Scottsdale, Arizona. Steve Carran: Awesome. So is this your first high tech or have you been with you? Bill Muench: No, this is, uh, Fourth high tech, I think it Steve Carran: is. Okay. So, yeah. Got it. What makes you keep coming back? Bill Muench: You know, it's really the connections you make, the people that you see every year, the new people, you know, uh, catching up on what the latest thing is in the industry, what the developments are, and, uh, yeah, just, you know, learning about all those great products so you can help provide solutions for people, make their lives easier and yeah, David Millili: help 'em out. So I've gotten into trouble tonight with this question, but were it then, were you to walk, were you able to walk the floor at all today? Uh, Bill Muench: I was able to walk the floor Okay. Quite a bit today. I think I'm up to like 30,000 steps or something. David Millili: So. All right. So the question I was asking others who weren't able to really, uh, partake in that mm-hmm. Is did you see any, anything that you thought was like, Hey, wow, that's pretty cool. Or do you see anything? Think, and you were thinking like, why the heck is this here? Um, so Bill Muench: I'm probably the latter, right? So, well, no, no, no. I mean, Uh, I will say that one of the things that I saw, um, was a new, a relatively new company called Your Venue. Okay. And it's basically, they're not paying me to say this or anything. I just thought it was cool. It's basically what, uh, I think they called it a pxs. So a property experience system. Right. So it's for managing non rooms, inventory classes. Yeah. Yeah. You know, David Millili: that sort of thing. Like an asset management type Bill Muench: thing? Well, not assets, but you know, um, yoga classes, horseback riding, cabana experiences, that sort of thing. But design more for hospitality where there's other systems out there that are for fitness studios and gyms that we've kind of like hijacked in the hospitality. Yeah. And I just, I don't know. Good people. Nice people. Had a good chat. Slick clean interface where it's all consolidated into one thing. So it's not like, oh, here's the one itinerary, here's your dining reservations, here's your other thing. Right. It, it just seemed to be nicely done. I mean, they're, they're new, you know, we'll see what Yeah. What time shows. Uh, but that was good. That's cool for people that shouldn't be here. Yeah. I don't, I don't think I'm David Millili: gonna touch that one. And I didn't mean actual companies. I mean, like, I always go back to, I find it funny when you're in high tech and there's like, In room phones. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And you're like, I haven't picked up a hotel Bill Muench: phone. Yeah. In 15 years. Um, there are, there are some companies that show remain nameless, that I think are a bit dated. And when you go to high tech and you see their product and then you see the new kid on the block that learned from them and started fresh. Right. Yeah. You're like, this isn't a good look for you guys, you know? David Millili: Yeah. No, I hear you. Yeah. Steve Carran: So, have you done anything fun in Toronto besides coming to the Hockey Hall of Fame tonight? Bill Muench: Uh, first of all, the hockey Hall of fame is amazing. I'm not even really a hockey fan. Still cool but's incredible. It's so cool. Like the building is amazing. The architecture is amazing. Uh, I did take lots of pictures for my Canadian friends that I'll be sending to them to make them feel jealous. I'm here with my, uh, my friend Evan, who's my project manager, right? He comes along every year and such. He's never been to Canada before, so I introduced him to poutine and that was a big thing. Right, because poutine is the food of the gods. It's amazing. Uh, so honestly, 30,000 steps. The day's mainly been on the floor. We haven't really had a chance for anything else. So you earned your P routine at the end of the day, brother? Yes, it was. It was good. It was David Millili: good. So tell us a little bit like ag hospitality, what, like what's next for you guys? Like what are you guys doing currently? What's next for you? Yeah, Bill Muench: absolutely. So, um, we basically specialize in assisting independent luxury properties. So anywhere from like one to six properties, basically independently owned, although some are part of like bigger management companies and such. Right. And you know, the way I kind of look at it, Is you have hotel owners who usually, they tend to be vision people, right? Like, this is what I wanna do, this is why I want to look like, but they don't really know the steps to get there a lot of the times. Right? And it's not saying anything bad, it's just like, you know, they've got the money, they've got the idea and such, but. What's the technology, what's the operational steps, what's, how do you actually get there? Right? And then it's like, well, that's why we hired a gm. Well, the GM's busy running the hotel. Yeah, exactly. You know, they don't have time to come to High Tech and find out these great solutions. They don't have time to figure out all these things. That's where we can come in and help. So, you know, we, we've opened some of the. Like we opened Castle Hot Springs north of, uh Wow. Which is one of the top hotels in the country now, if not the world. Yeah. Uh, Amante and Sedona just opened the Landscape Hotel. It's amazing. Back when I was in operations, I opened Mountain Shadows. Uh, you know, so we've done a lot of, uh, ones, we've got some bunch of clients, mosaic hotels out in, um, uh, Northern California. We worked with them. We didn't open, but we offer them a lot of assistance with things. Um, so, you know, we do technology, we do asset management. Uh, we're developing a spa called the Arabella Spa in Sedona. Uh, about a 25 million project. Wow. 20,000 square foot, Nordic style thermal spa, 350 lockers, restaurant treatment rooms. Wow. 360 degree views of the Red Rocks in Sedona from our bar and pool on top of a Butte. You know, it's gonna open in about two and a half years if all continues. Well, and cool. You know, we can, we, we do a lot of different things. I've been in operations for 20 years. Yeah. There are people on my team, similar amounts, you know, so, um, that's great. A lot of experience out there on how to practically get things done, you know? That's great. Not just set the target and stumble your way there. Right. So, right. David Millili: That's great. Well, look, you, you, you've survived day one. You've had a great night at this event. Yep. Yep. And, uh, we wish you all the best tomorrow, which is really kind of the key day, I think in high tech, kind of the. The middle day or the, the, the, whatever, the swing date of the series, whatever it's called. I, but, uh, enjoy it. Hump day at Hightech Hump Day. Hump Day at Hightech, and it is a Wednesday, so it's perfect. So enjoy it and we appreciate you taking the time with us. No, I Bill Muench: appreciate you taking the time. You guys do a great job and your podcast for big fans. And, uh, no, best of luck to you David Millili: as well. Appreciate, appreciate it. Thank thanks for coming by. Cheers. Thank you. Steve Carran: All right. And now we have, um, Michael C. Cohen. Michael, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself. You've been a guest on The Modern Hotelier before. Michael Cohen: Welcome back. Well, first of all, great to be back. Thank you, Steve. Thank you, David. You're welcome. So I'm Michael C. Cohen, as you very well said. I'm the managing partner of a global organization called Growth Advisors International Network Gain. We're a global organization of advisors that work with technology companies, hotel brands, uh, VCs and government and NGOs to grow and expand technology in the travel and hospitality space internationally. And Steve Carran: I know this isn't your first high tech, how many have you been to. 14. 14. What makes you keep coming back? Michael Cohen: Well, this industry globally, technology or otherwise, is about people, right? So yes, this is a technology conference. Yes, this is about feeds and speeds and opex and CapEx, but it's really about people. Yeah. And the relationships that have been established over the years. They kind of grow, they expand. People maybe move to different sides of the business. They may be on the vendor side, they may be on the Hotelier side, right? They may be guest facing, they may be back at the house. But the intrinsic relationships, they keep getting deeper and keep getting more layered. Right? So when you have those kind of, I wouldn't say friends per se, sometimes friends, but when you have those kind of true, trusted relationships, you can get a lot done commercially. Steve Carran: Absolutely. David Millili: A hundred percent. Right. So you had a new game client. Why would you tell them to come to High Tech? Well, first of all, Michael Cohen: would tell them they need to come to High Tech with someone like Gain, right? Because yes, it's very friendly. Yes, it's, uh, you can scale, but it's still cryptic, David Millili: right? There is a Michael Cohen: puzzle that needs to be completed to be able to successfully maximize the significant investment that you would make at these kind of trade shows. Sure. So therefore, you want to come grow your business, but you also want to be with a, with a team or an organization that is going to maximize your chance for success. Right. And scalability. Now Steve Carran: high tech's about technology. What are some cool technologies that you've seen while walking the walking the floor? Michael Cohen: Well, the cool thing is, is that there's much more leading edge than bleeding edge. Yeah. Meaning that used to be cool. Technology is like wow. But that never is gonna have any viability or use case in the industry, what I've seen over the last five or six years, because investors are far more shrewd on what bets they're gonna place. The actual innovation is far more real. It has real case days. So we've talked about this, Steve. I am very much into the holographic technologies. People like Hollow Connects and other companies are really nailing it on the actual execution of delivering holographic guest services, which are obviously optimized for enabling, delivering quality check-in quality guest services when there's a huge problem with staffing or. This next level of immersive technology. So Metaverse, metaverse, and people get, you know, you know, I talk about it a lot. Steve Carran: I love it too. Michael Cohen: Love it too. But how, but it's not going anywhere. Nike, Adidas, um, all the major brands in retail, they've invested huge. Now it's happening is that the hotel and travel brands are understanding that they have to invest, and that's at high tech with location based immersive activations. That drive engagement, drive guest services and experiences pre present and post of a, of a guest day or a destination experience. So those are the two areas that I really think are continued to mature. Yeah. And there's layers of innovation being brought to the industry by those kind of technologies. Steve Carran: A hundred percent agree. And I, I'd like for you to talk about ai. AI has been Sure. Such a huge topic. I feel like we're gonna see more AI companies pop up certain over the next six months as we understand how to use it. Yeah. Can you tell us how you think that's gonna affect the hospitality industry? Yeah, huge Michael Cohen: actually, cuz here it is, there's 30% of the, of the hospitality industry is drudgery. It's repetitive tasks, right? It's frankly tasks that nobody really wants to do but have to be done. Those types of in interactions, work analysis. We are and will be replaced by artificial intelligence. So again, we have an actual professional services pack that's all about hotel ai. We work with hotel brands. We audit their whole systems front and back of the house, and we give them advice on what's sort of case studies and, uh, entry points that it can enable AI to eliminate the drudgery so their staff can work on the higher value jobs, the higher value tasks. That drive guest satisfaction and drive revenue and margin, get your Steve Carran: mind off of those mundane tasks and focus on the guests. Yes. A hundred percent agree. Yeah. David Millili: So I'm very proud to have founded Gain with you. Thank you. To serve as chairman, um, you've done an excellent job as managing director. Thank you. Tell us what tonight means to you. Wow. I mean, this is an incredible event. So what, what does this mean as. You know, behind us are hundreds of people, right. You know, that have come here and really are impressed and proud that you'd either be part of, be a client, of be a friend of, of gain. What does it mean to you? That's heavy man. Yeah. And, and it's a good heavy, yeah. Michael Cohen: Listen, everybody works hard. Yeah. Everybody has vision. Everybody has aspiration. Yep. If you love what you do, And you surround yourself with great people and smarter people than yourself, which is a cliche. Yep. You have a higher probability of success. Yep. And happiness. Yeah. So right now, I'm probably one of the happiest feelings I've ever had in my professional career. That's right. When I was 19 years old, I'm, this is local to me. Yep. Toronto is my town. Yeah. When I was 19 years old, I promised myself I was here with my dad. Yeah. And I promised myself that someday I would have an event or a corporate event in this location. Yeah. It took 28 years or whatever. I can't do the math right now, but it's fantastic. So it is a culmination of a vision, of an aspiration, but being surrounded by incredible clients, incredible partners, incredible people, it makes David Millili: it so fulfilling. Yeah. And I can just tell you, and we will end on this note, high Tech, 23 years for me. Wow. Uh, many. You're that old. I'm that old. Had a lot of work done, so you can't really see it. Totally. Um, everyone we've had on. Was blown away by the event tonight. Everyone I talked to was super impressed. Everybody was like, can I get another three people in as I come? Wow. Everybody wanted to be here. So I think we'll end on that note, but great job. And uh, thank you Dave. Be part of gain and and it's been a great event. Absolutely. Yeah. Cheers and Steve Carran: thank you. Thank you for doing this. You did it like Davidson. Phenomenal. Cheers. Appreciate it. Cheers. Thank you. That was awesome. And I wanna talk about this venue a little bit. Yeah, this is incredible, y'all. This is a hockey hall of fame. We have cathedral ceilings, a Stanley Cup. Absolutely incredible. You guys have put a lot of work into this. Yeah. We appreciate it. Uh, can you kind of tell us what's next for gain and you know, what to expect David Millili: from here on out? Yeah, so for gain, we're working close with governments, with private equity groups, with startups, with enterprise companies that are looking to expand. Uh, we're launching Gain Talks, which is gonna be a speaker bureau of hospitality tech people that will be speaking at these engagements. And it's really kind of organizing that so people can actually go to a place to find those people. So, you know, again, this has been a great event, great town, great people. And you know, I, I think, uh, You know, it's sad. We're halfway through. We got tomorrow. Yeah. And I think we're already thinking about Charlotte next year. Steve Carran: Absolutely. And this is our second high tech together. Yes. For The. Modern. Hotelier. Correct. We elevated from a booth now to an event. Yep. Excited for next year. And Charlotte. Um, and I just wanna say thank you for, uh, embracing this David Millili: journey with me. No, thank, thank you. Uh, behind us is John. Yes. As most of you know, he is back there. He is doing his thing and helping us and, uh, We look forward to continue to bringing you guys insights into what's going on in hospitality. Steve Carran: Awesome. Thank you so much for tuning in and uh, we appreciate it. Thanks guys. You made it to the end of The Modern Hotelier. Thanks for listening. The Modern Hotelier is produced by Make More Media. Make sure to like and subscribe if you're watching on YouTube or follow wherever you get your podcast. If you know of a guest or sponsor that would be a good fit. Feel free to email us at hello at The Modern Hotelier dot com. Thanks and have a great day.