By Julian Demetriadi PhD FIH MHOSPA
Big congratulations go to the Board of Directors at HOSPA – the Hospitality Professionals Association for Finance, Revenue Management, Marketing and IT – for appointing with immediate effect, Jane Pendlebury as the new HOSPA Chief Executive.
They couldn’t have chosen a better person than Jane – who has played a key role in HOSPA’s success over the past two years as leader of HOSPA’s Membership and Events Office – to succeed Carl Weldon.
Commenting on the appointment, HOSPA Chairman Chris Upton said: “Jane Pendlebury was the unanimous choice of the HOSPA Board – she is a natural successor to Carl Weldon. Not only has she excelled as head of HOSPA’s Membership and Events services, she has also proved to be an excellent ambassador for the Association, supporting Carl at key meetings both in the UK and overseas. She is well-known in the hospitality industry and brings with her a wealth of management experience and knowledge.
“Jane has been an invaluable friend to HOSPA over many years. Whilst Jane was Vice President and General Manager of HOSPA sponsor Agilysys, she and Carl initiated the Association’s first IT Directors events. In 2011, in her role as Director of the Penrose Partnership, she was an integral member of the rebranding team that successfully transformed the British Association of Hospitality Accountants in to HOSPA.
“Jane also has expertise in sponsorship. During her time as General Manager-Sales of VisitLondon, she headed up the sponsorship team which generated over £1m per annum and the knowledge she gained there will prove invaluable to us in her new role as HOSPA CEO.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. For her part, Jane said: “I am thrilled and honoured to have been given this exciting opportunity. I want to continue where Carl left off, and ensure that we focus on HOSPA’s core objectives – namely, in the areas of Professional Development and Membership, whilst not forgetting other key services – such as our prestigious HOSPACE Conference and Exhibition, regional and London meetings, and our monthly ‘Overview’ magazine.
“Professional Development is one of the Associations most important Membership Services; and I am delighted with the very recent news that HOSPA has successfully secured a £10,000 Savoy Educational Trust grant, to be matched by investment from HOSPA, to further the development of our hospitality focused Revenue Management courses, and support the updating of the highly acclaimed HOSPA Revenue Management e-book.”
The grant will enable HOSPA to update and reposition its current Revenue Management programme – enabling the individual units, within the online programme’s three levels, to be studied in a modular format. This, in turn, will make the course more flexible – providing greater accessibility to a wider audience. The grant will also support the updating of the Revenue Management ebook, which has been used extensively by practitioners and academics following its initial launch in 2012.
Commenting on the Savoy Educational Trust award, HOSPA Head of Professional Development Debra Adams said: “We are greatly indebted to the Savoy Educational Trust for their generosity in supporting HOSPA’s growing provision of Revenue Management courses. As the ever evolving discipline of Revenue Management increasingly becomes an integral part of hospitality management, it is vital that HOSPA meets and exceeds industry demands and expectations. The £10,000 matched funding grant will enable us to provide a range of modules designed specifically to meet industry needs, with greatly increased flexibility in study options for our learners and members.”
The repositioning of the HOSPA Revenue Management courses commenced this month (March 2016) and is scheduled to be fully in place by March 2017. For further information about the range of professional development opportunities offered by HOSPA, visit: www.hospa.org/education; or email: education@hospa.org
HOSPA Membership is the lifeblood of the Association and Jane Pendlebury is determined to increase HOSPA’s numbers significantly. The recent and welcome addition to HOSPA of the Hotel Marketing Association (HMA) has kick-started the road to achieving this goal.
Indeed the HMA brings hospitality marketing expertise to the HOSPA membership, via regular meetings and events to communicate industry trends, views and strategy. The agreement adds an important hospitality marketing dimension to HOSPA which is already represented in the fields of finance, revenue management and information technology. Under the terms of the agreement, the HMA will promote the commercial and strategic benefits of HOSPA membership to its existing database and the wider hospitality marketing community. The existing HOSPA membership will receive in return valuable insight and informed opinion from a team of hospitality marketing professionals.
For its part, HOSPA will be responsible for HMA’s administration – in accordance with HMA budgets and approval procedures. In addition, all HMA members will automatically become HOSPA members, with access to all the Association’s benefits and events. These range from HOSPA’s Professional Development and Education Training Programmes; its monthly magazine ‘The Overview’; and the HOSPA Hospitality Finance, Revenue Management and IT Communities and their topical events, to regular London and regional membership meetings; and the Association’s major annual Conference and Exhibition, HOSPACE, with its unrivalled networking opportunities.
Commenting on the agreement, Ed Purnell, Chairman of the HMA said: “The impact of the digital era on our industry has been exciting and fast-paced. Marketing professionals have had to adapt quickly to ensure that they keep their strategies relevant and optimised. This has naturally aligned marketers and marketing intelligence with revenue management and systems infrastructure, so the converging of the Hotel Marketing Association with HOSPA was an obvious next chapter for us.”
HOSPA Chairman Chris Upton added: “We are delighted to welcome the HMA to HOSPA. The HMA’s objectives form a natural fit with our own, especially at a time when marketing is increasingly becoming an integral part of HOSPA’s three membership disciplines and communities – hospitality finance, revenue management and IT. We look forward to supporting the HMA in enhancing high marketing standards and practice; and to benefiting from the HMA’s marketing professionalism and expertise.”
Amen to that! And that’s not the only invaluable membership agreement to be recently struck up by HOSPA. The Association has formed a ‘Joint Membership Agreement’ with Chicago-based Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) – the premier technology solutions association in the hospitality industry.
HOSPA and its IT Community believe there is much to be gained from the reciprocal membership agreement with HTNG – the global trade association dedicated to defining technology solutions and their deployment in hotels. The joint agreement enables HOSPA members – both corporate and individual – to become HTNG members as well by upgrading their membership and paying a ‘top-up’ membership fee, in the region of an extra £145 per year. Last week, The Royal Automobile Club became the first HOSPA Corporate Member to take up the offer.
The Royal Automobile Club has become the first HOSPA Corporate Member to take advantage of this exciting new initiative. The joint membership agreement with HTNG provides an invaluable, additional opportunity for HOSPA members – especially those in hospitality IT, who continuously need technical information and updates in a fast changing technological world. The global benefits created by HTNG membership include: access to HTNG technical information, specifications, workgroups, and major conferences in North America, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.
As Bryan Steele, Head of IT, The Royal Automobile Club, and Chairman of the HOSPA IT Community, said: “We are very pleased to become the first HOSPA Corporate Member to take up the offer, with a number of our IT members also joining HTNG. This gives key members of the team access to the rich technical library and workgroups for which HTNG is renowned. We see this as a great additional resource, from which our small IT team will benefit.”
Vice-versa for an additional HOSPA membership fee, HTNG members can benefit from HOSPA’s Professional Development Education and Training Programmes, short courses and publications; the Association’s Hospitality Finance, Revenue Management and IT Communities and their topical events, as well as its major annual HOSPA Conference and Exhibition and unrivalled networking opportunities.
With so much going on and Jane Pendlebury’s wisdom, determination and drive, it is of little surprise that HOSPA’s Membership and Events office is set to grow.
“In addition to my CEO responsibilities,” she said, “Jenny Rose and I will continue to run an expanded Membership and Events Office from the Haslemere office; and I look forward very much to helping make this great Association of ours to be even more effective and influential in the years ahead.”
There are indeed exciting times ahead for HOSPA – watch this space!
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