ALIS DESIGN+ 2025 Pr0gram

The ALIS DESIGN+ program is updated as of August 7, 2024. Please check back as programming is underway and we are regularly making updates.

Thursday, JANUARY 30, 2025

7:30am-7:00pm

REGISTRATION + INFORMATION

12:00am-7:00pm

TRADE FAIR EXHIBIT HALL

11:00am-12:00pm

RAPID RENDEZVOUS

Find the perfect match to meet your hospitality business goals. From potential partners to next-level projects and aspirational products, this fast-moving session connects innovators across the hotel investment, design, architecture and construction communities

12:00Pm-1:30pm

WELCOMING REMARKS + NETWORKING LUNCH

1:00pm-1:30pm

CONVERSATIONS: HOTEL OWNER-OPERATOR, ASSET MANAGEMENT + PURCHASING COMPANY TALK SUCCESS STRATEGIES FOR A COMPLEX CITY-OWNED HOTEL CONVERSION

1:30pm-3:00pm

GENERAL SESSION

1:30pm-1:35pm

ALIS DESIGN+ CONFERENCE WELCOME

1:35pm-2:15pm

POWER PARTNERS: HOTEL INVESTOR/ENTREPRENUER JON BORTZ + BUSNESS-SAVVY DESIGNER ANDREA DAWSON SHEEHAN UNLOCK THE VALUE OF UNIQUE DESIGN

Listen and learn as these long-time collaborators deliver straight talk on their battle against bland. Get the inside intel on new horizons for sustainability, increasing pressure on independents and the bottom-line reasons owners/investors and designers need to work as equal partners to create innovative, highly profitable hotels.

2:15pm-3:00pm

VIEW FROM THE C-SUITE: 10 MUSTS TO AMPLIFY THE ROI OF DESIGN

Leading hotel executives checklist the operations-, guest- and margin-driven innovations owners and designers are implementing to accelerate the return on the design investment at the enterprise and property levels.

3:00pm-3:30pm

CONVERSATIONS: HOTEL DEVELOPERS + CONTRACTORS TALK STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

3:15pm-4:05pm

INTERACTIVE ROUNDTABLES

SESSION 01: UNDERSTANDING THE OWNER MINDSET

Different types of owners define success in their unique ways as their investors look to them to achieve specific outcomes. Hear from owners representing different types of hotels to better understand what each of them is looking for, how each views capital projects and what they’ve always wished their design professionals knew.

SESSION 02: DE-CARBONIZING HOSPITALITY - THREE HOTEL CASE-STUDY SOLUTIONS TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET

A trio of expert teams unpacks the latest strategies for elevating hotels to the vanguard of profitable, impactful environmental leadership.

CHALLENGE: SHRINK THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF URBAN HOTELS
CHALLENGE: DEBUT THE U.S.’S FIRST CARBON-POSITIVE HOTELS
CHALLENGE: FUTURE-PROOF ECO-IMPACT OF NATION’S FIRST NET ZERO HOTEL

4:05pm-4:30pm

AWARD PROGRAM - DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED

4:35pm-5:05pm

MEET THE JUDGES + AWARD WINNERS

4:30pm-6:00pm

NETWORKING RECEPTION

Friday, JANUARY 31, 2025

8:00AM-5:00PM

REGISTRATION + INFORMATION

9:00AM-6:00PM

TRADE FAIR EXHIBIT HALL

9:30AM-10:45AM

GENERAL SESSION

9:30AM-10:30AM

GAMECHANGERS+: WOMEN EXECUTIVES STRATEGIZE THE FUTURE OF HOTELS + DESIGN

Gain insights on what’s ahead for the hotel investment, design, architecture and construction worlds from the leaders who are shaping the future of this industry. Get a sneak peek at the next cultural signposts and share their innovative approach on the best tactics to capitalize on the changes for 2025 and beyond. Visionaries from investment and management to design, purchasing and construction explore actionable opportunities in this special session presented by ALIS DESIGN+ along with AHLA and NEWH.

10:30AM-11:00AM

CONVERSATIONS: DESIGNER, OWNER + BRAND TALK SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES FOR COST-EFFECTIVE REBRANDING

10:45AM-11:00AM

NEWH SCHOLARSHIPS & NEW AWARD PRESENTATION

Join us as we honor an established visionary and the next generation of powerful voices shaping hotel projects as NEWH introduces this year’s NEWH Scholarship Award winner and unveils its newest honors: the first-of-its-kind SOHE (Structures of Hospitality Excellence) distinction given to an outstanding changemaker in the hotel construction industry and a scholarship recognizing a force to watch in this vital industry sector.

10:50am-11:40am

INTERACTIVE ROUNDTABLE

Session 03: M&A - IS BIGGER, BETTER?

Big money sources and mega design firms are in an acquisitive mood. Is your design, architecture or construction firm their next target? Experts will map options for how to respond when opportunity knocks.

1:30Pm-2:00pm

NETWORKING LUNCH

1:15Pm-1:45pm

CONVERSATIONS: MEET THE NEWH AWARD WINNERS + JUDGES

Gather for this celebration of current and future industry changemakers. Get a first-hand look at what they see as the most important challenges and opportunities. Then learn more as NEWH’s thought-leading judges discuss the skills and vision of some of the most powerful up-and-coming and established voices in the hotel and construction sectors.

1:45Pm-2:35pm

INTERACTIVE ROUNDTABLES

Session 04: PIPS: HOW MUCH, HOW LONG AND HOW HOTELIERS + DESIGNERS

What will be brands’ next PIP priorities? How flexible will they be on design and completion timelines? Find out everything you need to know to raise any hotel to a new standard.

Session 05: RIDE THE WAVE OF UPBRANDING: CHANGES IN CAPEX PLANS, SPEC LISTS + DESIGN APPROACHES THAT MAKE LUXURY + LIFESTYLE NUMBERS WORK

Project participants from all sides of the table highlight fresh filters for data-, demand- and desire-driven decisions that sell to cross-generational travelers without overspending on ostentation. It’s the real deal.

Session 06: RAMPING UP FOR THE OLYMPICS: CITY OFFICIALS + HOTELIERS WORK TO TAKE HOME THE GOLD

Get insider strategies on how Los Angeles and its hoteliers are leveraging the runup to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games and what that means for CapEx planning and development.