Make something new again. We all need a refresh and HU was way overdue. Please check out our beautiful, new and greatly improved website hospitalityupgrade.com! It’s a resource and a tool. We hope you use it often, find it valuable and share things you find there with your friends. If you see an improvement you like, please let us know. If you need something we don’t have, let me know that, too.

 

Clean up our messes. We’re still wading through the security issues with almost a hopeless zombie apocalypse mentality. Stop it! Read the great and wise Ron Hardin’s next installment in the series on how to make all this security nonsense stop (page 38). And spring cleaning isn’t just a job your mom nags you about, it’s also a great idea for your technology, too. Check out Jeff Parker’s tips to organize and declutter your technology space (page 166).

 

Surprise and delight someone. We are in the hospitality industry. Whether it’s a guest, a colleague or a stranger, please take Michael Schubach’s latest rant to heart. Let’s try to treat each other better. Try being kind to your fellow humans (page 34). 

 

Find a challenge. We did something we’ve never done before: We created and published two issues simultaneously. For a lerger company that might not be a big deal. For a company with a staff of four people (and Rich), it’s a herculean task. It was great fun to work with Jon Inge again. Many of you know Jon and I worked together for years as he was HU’s regular feature writer and contributor from 1996 until his retirement last year. For Jon, the History of Technology project was a labor of love. For me, it was simply fascinating. I came into this industry in the mid ‘90s and most of the information in the special edition preceded my entry. After working on this special issue I have a much better understanding of how it all started, and the great men (and a few women) involved in kickstarting the technology that we take for granted in hotels today. And I’ll be a shoe-in for the next trivia game!

 

The History of Technology Special Edition will be distributed at HITEC in our booth No. 2008, or visit www.hospitalityupgrade.com/History.

 

As Rich mentioned, this is the 25th anniversary of Hospitality Upgrade. When I started with HU in 1995 and I worked on the first magazine issue, we sent 33 (not a typo), 3.5-inch floppy disks to the printer and waited three days for a proof to come via FedEx. It is pretty funny to think that today I can squeeze 10 full magazines on a single USB drive, and each issue is 10x the file size that they used to be. Now, we upload magazine page files directly to the printer and can be on press in a few days. Just as you will read in HU’s History of Technology, what a difference a few decades make!

 

Completing a great challenge and doing it well has its own rewards. Sure, there is hard work involved, and maybe stretching your comfort zone a bit, but you’ll learn something new and you can bask in the glory of accomplishment. We are very proud of this issue as well as our History of Technology Special Edition and the great editorial we have gathered for our readers within their pages. We will see you in Toronto in a few weeks, and after that, be sure to enjoy your summer!

- Geneva