The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Revenue Optimization Conference (ROC) delivers on the highest standards of industry news and topics year over year. 2015’s Austin, TX conference is rising to the expectations as another ‘can’t miss’ conference, with more than 500 key stakeholders assembling to discuss the hottest topics in hotel revenue management today.
We snagged a few minutes with Garth Peterson, HSMAI Revenue Management Consulting Board Member and IDeaS Senior Director of Sales in the Americas, to chat about his involvement in the conference and the anticipation surrounding this year’s event.
Q. HSMAI ROC started in Dallas in 2004, how would you describe the evolution of the HSMAI ROC over the years?
A. This year marks my 10th ROC. My first conference was in 2006 when I was the Director of Revenue Management at the Sofitel Minneapolis. The ROC was in its infancy at that time and just beginning to gain a foothold in the revenue management community. That year’s event had been attended by a small, but extremely passionate, group of revenue management professionals.
Ten years later, the ROC has emerged as the industry’s premier revenue management event. It is a not-to-be-missed gathering of around 500 prominent and developing revenue management leaders. The content has become much more robust and features multiple keynote speakers and a rainbow of great breakout sessions on current topics each day.
Q. You have been attending for 10 years. I have to ask, what keeps bringing you back to the conference year after year?
A. I keep attending ROC because it continues to be the best place for me to interact with peers in revenue management across the hospitality industry. It has become an annual reunion for me – it is a great opportunity to see friends and clients, and meet new people too, all in one place!
Q. What speakers and hot topics are you looking forward to most at this year’s conference?
A. The opening keynote will be particularly interesting, as Scotibank Chief Economist, Warren Jestin, is presenting his global economic and financial impacts perspective for the hospitality industry. Jack Easdale, from the Venetian, and Nicole Young, from SBE, will be talking about their experiences with ‘transcendent optimization’ and moving total revenue management closer to reality. I’m really looking forward to tuning into these sessions, not to mention a smattering of others.
Q. HSMAI ROC is in Austin, TX this year. What ‘must see’ places would you recommend to ROC attendees?
A. Great question! I am an avid fan of live music. Austin’s famous 6th Street offers an array of raw and authentic live music bars. It is a great place to explore the different styles of music and bands from the area in a short amount of time.
Another unique experience in Austin is the Congress Avenue Bridge bats. Every day at dusk, an estimated 1.5 million bats fly out from their resting place in the crevices under the bridge, and hunt throughout the night consuming up to 20,000 pounds of insects. As you can imagine, it’s quite the sight to see.
Have a great ROC memory? We’d love to hear about it! Leave them in the comments below.
We look forward to catching up with everyone at the HSMAI ROC Conference. Visit us at our IDeaS booth in the ballroom, or grab an IDeaS representative at any time during the conference.
See you soon, Austin!