If I have been requested to compile an inventory of essentially the most distinguished figures presently influencing the trajectory of the impartial lodging {industry}, Andrew Benioff, the Founder and Chairman of the Impartial Lodging Congress would undoubtedly be included. As a tenured hospitality skilled, I’ve been given the chance to attach with numerous thought leaders within the house – lots of whom exhibit a seemingly unquenchable urge for food for innovation and development – and Benioff is not any exception.
Coming to the desk with 15 years of expertise within the operation and administration of luxurious resorts, along with hospitality administration expertise, Benioff has been an lively participant within the {industry} via its many iterations during the last 20 years. Benioff pairs this expertise with insights from his time working in mortgage banking and capital markets for business actual property, in addition to his function as Founder and Managing Companion of Llenrock Realty Companions and Founder and Chairman of the Philadelphia Actual Property Council. Just lately, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Benioff to debate the evolution of his profession, his thought to start out a hospitality occasion centered explicitly on impartial resorts, and the triumphs and challenges encountered whereas connecting visionaries and thought leaders inside (and out of doors) the impartial lodging sector.
Benioff started his profession in lodge operations and funds, main him into the world of mortgage banking and capital markets for business actual property transactions, together with resorts. “I had left a earlier mortgage banking store and began my very own agency on the primary day of 2008,” Benioff shares. “However after the primary few months of that 12 months, we entered a really severe monetary downturn. This was an undeniably tough interval, inspiring me to contemplate what else I could possibly be doing.” Round this time, Benioff discovered himself ruminating on the significance of gathering individuals collectively; particularly, creating occasions/environments for individuals to have significant conversations. “All through my profession, I’ve attended so many hospitality and business actual property conferences, however to be frank, I by no means thought the content material was that nice,” Benioff admits. “Lots of people would collect at these occasions, and they’d be nice locations to satisfy, however the content material typically fell flat. Maybe I might do a greater job creating industry-specific occasions that gave attendees one thing to really write residence about, each by way of connection alternatives and tangible training.”
Benioff began this chapter of his profession in Philadelphia by curating occasions centered round business actual property. “I established a little bit of a popularity for internet hosting some actually attention-grabbing occasions for that sector,” Benioff shares. “However after just a few years, somebody steered that I leverage my hospitality background – one among my nice loves – to do an occasion round hospitality.” At the moment, the hospitality market in Philadelphia wasn’t notably vibrant, Benioff notes. “We had sufficient resorts and a few actually nice eating places, and there’s no denying that. However the native resorts have been largely branded and provided nothing distinctive or bespoke like what you would possibly discover in New York, LA, Tokyo, Paris, or Lonon. So on the time, I wasn’t positive if there was something to be performed. If it’s not including to the {industry} in a brand new and thrilling method, you aren’t breaking new floor. And I used to be solely fascinated with breaking new floor.”
In keeping with Benioff, he put the thought apart fully till he awoke in the midst of the night time with an “Oh my god, that is it” thought just a few weeks later. “I actually shot up in mattress and practically gave my spouse a coronary heart assault,” he shares, chuckling on the reminiscence. “Nevertheless it occurred to me that I might do an occasion centered on impartial resorts. It hadn’t been performed, and I felt like this was the nook of the {industry} the place I might break some new floor.”
Initially, Benioff hoped to mannequin his occasion equally to the NYU Hospitality Funding Convention. Whereas he felt there have been areas it could possibly be improved upon (particularly, the content material), the convention is an {industry} staple – and a spot it’s a must to be if you’re concerned in hospitality funding. “You possibly can meet everybody who’s anybody in a single or two days. It’s an unimaginable networking alternative that’s identified for forging connections. So I believed, possibly I might do this for independents – and that’s the way it all started.”
At present, ILC presents 4 most important occasions: INDIE Domesticate (yearly), INDIE Confab (twice a 12 months), and INDIE Congress (yearly). “Confabs are an exploration of a sure metropolis or geography, whereas the Domesticate occasions are an exploration of innovation and startups in hospitality and journey,” Benioff elaborates. “They’re very tech-focused, addressing what’s new within the {industry} and, extra importantly, elements and developments that can change how we have a look at issues. Congress is our largest and hottest occasion, centered on hospitality via significant panels and classes led by {industry} visionaries. It’s additionally our longest occasion, spanning two and a half days.”
Benioff’s thought started as an funding convention for independents, however at present, it’s way more. The recipe, he explains, is one thing of a mash-up between NYU Hospitality Funding Convention and ALIS Convention, a hospitality design convention, and an concepts convention like TED or South by Southwest, the place new concepts are being thrown out that won’t at all times deal completely with hospitality or resorts.
“We discover funding growth, adaptive reuse, capital markets, the way you get a deal performed, what the returns on the deal are, and the place the capital is coming from. However we additionally get into the design facet, together with the insights of designers, architects, and development specialists. We talk about the design course of and the varied items that come into play once you’re creating or investing in an indie lodge,” Benioff notes. “After which we get into the thought facet – even the far-out concepts that aren’t essentially particular to our {industry} might be helpful. We’ve to consider indie resorts as a portray; you’re bringing in all these totally different parts, and every proprietor and developer will paint differently. So we attempt to steadiness these three varieties of conferences and amalgamate their magic into one distinctive occasion, which is INDIE Congress.”
Since 2019, ILC has generated spectacular momentum till in-person occasions have been taken off the desk as a result of pandemic. “I believe persons are lastly changing into extra comfy touring and getting again on the market once more, which is implausible, and our attendee numbers are starting to replicate this renewed urge for food for occasions. We’re additionally fortunate to have an extremely loyal group of people that proceed to hunt out our occasions whereas we work to develop our neighborhood,” notes Benioff. “Our occasions vary from 250 attendees to 350 attendees at our Congress occasions, which we hope to extend to 500. Nevertheless, we don’t wish to develop into as giant as another conferences that appeal to hundreds of individuals per occasion, as we really feel that might inadvertently dilute the standard of expertise had and the power of connections solid.”
Having attended the final ILC occasion, I can personally attest to the sense of neighborhood which Benioff has labored onerous to domesticate. One thing about my first ILC Confab occasion in Denver felt totally different than the numerous different occasions I’ve attended. Finally, the occasion left me feeling that we have been all driving in direction of the identical purpose – higher information and progressive methods of doing enterprise – and I can’t wait to faucet into that once more at ILC’s subsequent occasion.
About Puzzle Companion
Puzzle Companion is a advertising company centered completely on the complicated B2B initiatives of hospitality and journey expertise innovators. By combining {industry} experience, strategic considering, and fervour for delivering distinctive outcomes, the company helps purchasers obtain their enterprise targets and keep forward in aggressive markets. With its deep understanding of the hospitality and journey sectors, Puzzle Companion has established itself as a trusted advisor to main world manufacturers. The company’s insights and holistic methodologies have helped purchasers navigate the evolving advertising panorama, maximize model publicity, and drive income development.
To study extra, go to puzzlepartner.co.
Alan Younger
Puzzle Companion Ltd.
705-718-5153
Puzzle Companion Ltd.
