For more than 100 years, HX: The Hotel Experience Powered by AAHOA has offered hospitality professionals unparalleled opportunities to learn about the latest industry innovations from front to back of house. Each November, the conference and expo draws thousands of hotel and foodservice professionals to the Javits Center in New York City. But what will the show look like during the COVID-19 era? Wider aisles, sanitation stations, dedicated entrances/exits and reimagined registration areas are all possibilities.

While the show’s organizer, Emerald, explores solutions for safely staging the event in Manhattan Nov. 8-9, HX is hosting webinars to keep the hospitality community connected from home as it faces unprecedented business challenges. It’s also celebrating those who have responded to the pandemic with ingenuity and are making a positive difference in the industry via its monthly newsletters.

“Our conference partner, AAHOA [whose members own more than half of all U.S. hotels], is currently working on an educational program for HX that will help hotel and foodservice professionals navigate hospitality’s new reality,” says Kevin Gaffney, vice president and group show director for HX, as well as the co-located Boutique Design New York (BDNY).

Several pandemic-related topics are planned for the conference, primarily dealing with lessons learned and how to successfully operate hotels and leverage new technology during a crisis. “The best-practices wisdom to be found at HX this year is no doubt worth the price of admission,” Gaffney says. “In the course of imparting this education, we will consider the safety of every attendee first and foremost, while following the rules and regulations set out by the state and the facility.”

“While we are planning on staging, we are considering offering virtual content after the show for folks who are not able to attend,” Gaffney says. “This add-on component could include webinars or full conference recaps.”

Numerous creatives from the food and beverage sector submitted their ideas for the show’s Foodservice Pioneering Concept competition online during the stay-at-home order. The winning concept, which will take into account operating concerns in a post-COVID-19 environment, will be built out as a life-size working model on the trade show floor.

Partners at the Javits Center believe strongly, as do HX organizers, that the health and safety of all attendees must be the top priority. With the show still about five months away, the HX team stresses that they’re prepared to tend to exhibitors’ business needs, and to address the attendees' concerns and questions.

“Exhibitors are signing on and looking forward to showing their wares in person,” Gaffney says. “I for one believe that face-to-face interaction is not dead. In fact, the craving for in-person networking may indeed be stronger than ever.”