PRE-CONFERENCE Dinner at La Rural Aregeinte Grill (transportation provided)
- meet in Cabana Terrace (Weather Backup: Bar Zen)
Arriving early? Join your peers for a pre-conference dinner. This event is hosted by Luis Segredo (thanks Luis!) and transportation will be provided.

PRE-CONFERENCE. Complimentary Shuttle to Bonaventure Country Club—Main Lobby Entrance

12:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

PRE-CONFERENCE. Golf Tournament at Bonaventure Country Club
Join us for our ninth annual chance to tee off with your peers before the conference begins. The tournament is a fun-filled shotgun-style, best-ball event (teams of four, where only the best shot is played). Lunch will be provided. Pre-registration is required.

First-Time Attendee Gathering—Rain Forest (Weather Backup: Society Lounge)Attending your first Executive Vendor Summit? All first-timers are invited to this meet-and-mingle to get the inside scoop on maximizing your Summit experience.

Welcome Cocktail Reception/Icebreaker and Barbecue Dinner—Rain Forest (Weather Backup: Society Lounge)
Come kick off the conference! It’s no secret: the Summit focuses on peer-to-peer interaction. It is important to us that you get to meet everyone and we are very creative when it comes to our opening night icebreaker. It can be silly, but is always fun. See what we have planned in the perfect Florida location! Dress is casual and comfortable (jeans or shorts are acceptable). *Spouses are invited to attend this event for a fee of $140.

The Happs with HFTP—Speaker: Frank Wolfe, CEO, HFTP—Florida BC

Ask the Money—Florida BC
We have assembled a group of money men to answer your questions. They are here, they have money and plenty of opinions and we are holding them captive until they talk.
Speakers: Chris Hemmeter, Managing Director, Thayer Ventures; Rob Rogers, Principal, Vista Equity Partners; and John Rovani, Managing Partner, Ponterra Business Advisors.

10:30 a.m.–10:45 p.m.

Break—Florida Foyer    

Ask the CIO—Florida BC
As we are in Florida, getting a group of resort and cruise CIOs together to discuss the challenges facing their market niche seemed like a very good idea. Our CIO panel will talk specifics about their needs and strategies as well as answer your questions.            Speakers: Laurent Bortoluzzi, VP Information Technology, LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels; Brian Garavuso, EVP and CIO, Diamond Resorts International; and Bill Martin, VP and CIO, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

Stefanini Update—Speaker: Bruce Travis, Director, Business Development, Stefanini—Florida BC       

The Building Blocks to a Successful Exit—Florida BC
Chart a course to preparing your business and yourselves, as business owners, to successful exits.  Hear from leading M&A, CPA and legal advisers, and one of your peers possessing directly relevant hospitality technology business exit experience.  Grill the experts as you begin to think about and develop your own exit strategy.
Speakers: Henry Danish, CEO, bookthatdoc.com; Bruce Nunally, Partner, Carr, Riggs & Ingram LLC; Brad Rost, Managing Partner, Tenenbaum & Saas, PC; and John Rovani, Managing Partner, Ponterra Business Advisors.

Break—Florida Foyer      

The Tao of Exploitation—Florida BC
Tao, in ancient Chinese philosophy, seeks to have its followers become one with the will of nature; to effortlessly go with the flow. The Tao of the information age is to go with the flow of data, being able to understand its movement and how it is protected. Finding the optimal method to steal your information or your client’s information is the Tao of Exploitation. This session will explore leading practices in data protection and look at just how safe your data really is.
Speakers: Terry Dunlap, Co-Owner, Tactical Network Solutions; and Peter Hay, CNO, Tactical Network Solutions.

Cocktail Reception—Cabana Terrace (Weather Backup: Society Lounge)
Due to the airboat ride immediately following dinner, dress is casual and comfortable. *Spouses are invited to attend Thursday’s reception and dinner for a fee of $109.

Gala Dinner—Society Lounge
Due to the airboat ride immediately following dinner, dress is casual and comfortable.         

Red Eye Alligator Airboat Tour—Sawgrass Recreation Park
Don’t miss your chance for an air boat adventure with your peers seeking out the telltale red glow of Florida’s legendary reptile, the American alligator! *Dress is casual and comfortable. Flat shoes are strongly encouraged as well as a light jacket; ear protection will be provided. Transportation will return attendees to the hotel immediately following the air boat tour. **Spouses are invited to attend this event free of charge.

I, I, I: Inspiration. Innovation. Invention.—Florida BC
No, that is not the sound of one of your customers complaining, it is the call of the market, demanding inspiration, innovation and invention. Everyone doing business in the market today is being challenged to inspire customers, innovate within their product offerings and reinvent themselves in the marketplace. Jason Bryant, Founder and co-CEO of Nor1, Inc. shares his entrepreneurial inspiration and the evolution from innovation to becoming truly inventive.  As technology vendors, are you really thinking through industry problems, anticipating your customers needs and productizing to provide answers?   Speaker: Jason Bryant, Founder and co-CEO, Nor1, Inc.

9:15 AM-10:15 AM Cloud 2.1—Florida BC
The Cloud has become a ubiquitous topic of conversation over the past several years; everyone knows about it and agrees that it is a good thing. The current market demands that your business adopt the “good thing” so how do you migrate your existing business to this new paradigm? This session will explore the practical realties of migrating to the Cloud.
Speakers: Scott Warner, Owner, Garvey, Schubert & Barer and Peter Hay, CNO, Tactical Network Solutions and Real World Migration Discussion.

Who NUI?—Florida BC
Natural User Interface: (NUI) - Touch, Gesture, Voice and Neural in a number of technologies and platforms on a broad spectrum of devices is the next wave of experiences being offered to engage users. This session will focus on the creation of high impact user experiences and how these can change the relationship dynamics between your software and your users.
Speaker: Tim Huckaby, Chairman/CEO, Actus Interactive Software and Founder/Chairman, InterKnowlogy.

Complimentary Shuttle to Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL)—Main Lobby Entrance