Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Get ready for an enlightening episode of Hospitable as hosts Rob Napoli and Kees Zorge sit down with Jennifer Jones from J2 Hospitality Solutions at HITEC! Discover the transformative power of technology in the hospitality industry, the immense value of industry events, and the essential collaboration between various departments.
Jennifer Jones, a seasoned IT consultant from J2 Hospitality Solutions, delves into how AI and machine learning are revolutionizing hospitality. Jennifer’s balanced perspective highlights how technology can enhance, but never replace, the human touch that defines hospitality.
Rob and Kees take a backseat, giving Jennifer the floor to share her extensive knowledge and actionable insights. From leveraging high-tech solutions for small businesses to integrating AI in hotel operations, this episode is packed with practical tips and strategies.
Don't miss out on this insightful episode filled with valuable advice and industry secrets. If you enjoyed this episode, remember to like, subscribe, and share the podcast with your network. Stay tuned for more engaging discussions on hospitality, technology, and innovation. Happy HITEC!
Timestamps
[00:02:48] Embracing problems for growth.
[00:08:00] Implementing technology in hotels.
[00:12:32] AI impact in hotel operations.
[00:17:07] AI in the hospitality industry.
[00:20:04] Data unification challenges
[00:22:28] Human errors and change control.
[00:27:56] User-friendly interface in hospitality tech.
[00:31:49] New Open APIs in Integration.
Quotes
00:01:11 - "You know, I think it's important to highlight, you know, none of us are human haters, right? But humans, by nature, we are flawed. Human condition, right? So understanding that humans do cause errors, but also tech can cause errors."
00:04:17 - "we came up with a really good solution, but it also opened up a whole new line for us to communicate and do more stuff together, which I think so many people are so afraid of problems that they shy away from it, where I think we love to lean into it."
00:13:25 - "It still amazes me how some vendors will charge X for an integration where it might be an API and it's super self-service."
00:15:25-00:15:36 - "AI can impact the workflows of the reconciliation process or identifying errors before day rolls."
00:21:33-00:21:43 - "We collect all this data, but some of it isn't correct. Correct. And so if we're going to plug in AI to be doing... It's going to be messy."
00:27:21-00:27:31 - "when you approached us like, hey guys, and excuse my French, you got a fair warning that when I don't, I can't come up with the proper wording, I'm gonna be a bit more vocal. It's like, hey guys, you're fucking shit up. Help us out here. That's where a partnership kicks in. Again, super intentional, but focused on the solution for the customer."
00:29:25 - "How do we make it as easy as possible for them to get what they need from step A to B?"
00:32:35-00:32:46 - "Fuck the system up now and then to see what the error logging is looking like."
00:34:01 - "It could just be one field that needs to be passed and people playing well in the sandbox and seeing that stuff happen. That one field means a tremendous amount of value for that one vendor."
Connect
J2 Hospitality Solutions: http://www.j2hospitalitysolutions.com/
Jennifer Jones: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermjones24/
Jennifer Jones: https://www.instagram.com/j2hospitalitysolutions/
Omniboost: https://omniboost.io/
Kees Zorge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keeszorge/
Rob Napoli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robnap/
Rob Napoli: https://www.robnapoli.com/
Show Produced by: Niranjan Deshpande (Nick), Broken Frames Studio, www.brokenframesstudio.com
Creators & Guests
Host
Host
What is Hospitable?
Hospitable is a podcast that discusses how to make hospitality MORE human through technology.
Hospitable focuses on discussing the leading challenges facing the hospitality industry and to explore the latest trends, technologies, and best practices that are shaping the industry. Each episode features interviews with hoteliers, restaurateurs, chefs, industry analysts, and other experts who share their insights and experiences on topics such as customer experience, sustainability, innovation, staffing, and more.
Hosted by Rob Napoli
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:04:11
Jennifer Jones
And IT consultant with technology in my or now that sounds corny.
00:00:04:12 - 00:00:05:18
Rob Napoli
What is the value of events?
00:00:05:22 - 00:00:14:19
Jennifer Jones
I come here for a variety of reasons. I'm helping new clients introduce them to high tech, meet people and in person.
00:00:15:00 - 00:00:22:02
Rob Napoli
So many people are so afraid of problems. This is what you do. You help lean into problems and figure out solutions. Which I think is super, super cool.
00:00:22:04 - 00:00:30:05
Jennifer Jones
High tech is the ability for these maybe smaller, not so well known people to have a chance and get their product out there.
00:00:30:07 - 00:00:33:10
Rob Napoli
Yeah. How do you navigate the space with the hotel and what's your process?
00:00:33:11 - 00:00:51:00
Jennifer Jones
I don't want to give away my secret sauce. I have to have the help of operation, revenue and accounting. If you do not have those three people together, you're going to be working in a silo. It's not going to be successful. I say IT is here to support, not to select.
00:00:51:03 - 00:00:56:00
Kees Zorge
A lot of them are starting to talk about AI and machine learning. But how do you approach that?
00:00:56:03 - 00:01:11:09
Jennifer Jones
Well, we already know that we're using it in some form or fashion. It's just recognizing is it front office at the back office? Well it's both. I think some people get worried with AI because they think it's going to take over their job, and that's not the way to look at it.
00:01:11:09 - 00:01:29:00
Rob Napoli
And I think that's the point to highlight. You know, none of us are human haters, right? But humans by nature, we are flawed human condition. And so understanding that humans do cause errors, but also tech can cause errors, right?
00:01:29:02 - 00:01:40:21
Rob Napoli
Hi. How are we doing? We are back for another episode of hospitable here we're actually on site in Charlotte today with Jennifer Jones and our founder Kees Zorge I know it's Zorge
00:01:40:23 - 00:01:44:21
Kees Zorge
Zorge but good try. Good on it. Okay.
00:01:44:23 - 00:02:01:22
Rob Napoli
We are out here for high tech this week. We're super excited Jennifer. We've been kind of like circling each other for a while. We've been working together and finally get a chance to meet in real life after what almost a year now? Yeah. So Jennifer Jones is an IT consultant. She helps hoteliers do a lot of different things.
00:02:01:22 - 00:02:25:03
Rob Napoli
But really, as it comes to implementing new technology, around accounting, around POS, PMS, she's your go to. She helps, amazing hotel brands. go to market with this stuff and really figure out how to best set up a hotel for success. So that's what we're gonna kind of jump into today. But first, what I like to always bring up, like, we are at Hi tech, super cool event.
00:02:25:05 - 00:02:28:09
Rob Napoli
What is the value of events? Why are you here?
00:02:28:11 - 00:02:56:05
Jennifer Jones
Thanks for having me. Nice to meet you guys in person so high tech every year is an opportunity for me to, nurture relationship, with partners, vendors. you know, I come here for a variety of reasons. I'm, helping new clients introduce, them to Hi tech, meet people and in person. I come with a bag of problems maybe that are better solved.
00:02:56:07 - 00:03:22:05
Jennifer Jones
Talking 1 to 1 with people. The value I bring to my clients is, the relationships I have with partners. So if we need, to escalate things, if, we need to maybe get something enhanced. I have those relationships, and I've met those people and in person, you know, in addition, it's always great to see, the old faces.
00:03:22:07 - 00:03:45:09
Jennifer Jones
I've known people for decades. coming back here, people I've maybe worked for, maybe, worked with. So, and then on top the educational sessions, there were some great AI sessions this morning that I attended, new ideas. So. Yeah. I mean, this is, I don't know what number. Hi tech. This is for me, but it's over number ten.
00:03:45:12 - 00:04:01:10
Rob Napoli
That's amazing. And, you know, for me, it's number two. I was in Hi tech last year in Montreal, and I, you know, everyone's like, oh be prepared. It's a bit smaller, it's a bit more intimate. But it was one of the, I think the best that I had in a long time because we were able to have so many great meetings and really dig in 1 to 1.
00:04:01:10 - 00:04:14:10
Rob Napoli
And I love how you brought up like those wonder around relationship escalations. I mean, how we met was through an escalation on a issue and that actually kickstarted us all three of us getting on a call. It works. I took it from the courthouse when I was doing jury duty.
00:04:14:10 - 00:04:16:21
Kees Zorge
Yes.
00:04:16:23 - 00:04:32:11
Rob Napoli
I you know, the beautiful thing is that through that problem that was escalated, we came up with a really good solution, but it also opened up a whole new line for us to communicate and do more stuff together, which I think so many people are so afraid of problems that they shy away from it, where I think we have to lean into it.
00:04:32:11 - 00:04:39:14
Rob Napoli
And you, you brought that up like this is what you do. You help lean into problems and figure out solutions, which I think is super, super cool.
00:04:39:17 - 00:05:09:12
Jennifer Jones
You know, one other thing at Hi tech that I didn't mention before is the E20 X competition. So it's a area at high tech where there are newcomers into the industry who want to pitch. And, so it's an opportunity for new, partners in our space also as well. you know, everybody's got to start somewhere. and Hi tech is the ability for these maybe smaller, not so well-known people to have a chance and, and get their product out there.
00:05:09:14 - 00:05:24:21
Rob Napoli
Yeah. I think it's really cool that the program is pretty intense. There's a lot of stuff going on. It's almost overwhelming how much is going on. So being over number ten, Hi tech, how do you kind of navigate your three days here at this type of event? Like what's the
00:05:25:01 - 00:05:26:10
Kees Zorge
Must be very busy.
00:05:26:10 - 00:05:52:17
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. I mean, you start getting all the emails probably a month ahead of time not to mention the, the oodles of party invites, which of course adds to the fun and excitement of Hi tech. you know, it's a lengthy schedule and a lot of coordination because even though it's only three days, you know, there's a lot of people you want to schedule time with, and then you want to shop.
00:05:52:21 - 00:06:10:13
Jennifer Jones
You want to go and see what else is out there. Yeah. and not to mention, you know, how fun it is in the in the middle of the exhibit hall to get pulled aside to see old, faces and catch up that way. So the three days, it's not enough time, but I feel like I always need a vacation after Hi tech to, rehab.
00:06:10:15 - 00:06:24:17
Kees Zorge
Also it's very funny. That's the unintentional conversations actually bring a lot a lot of energy and like, okay, cool. I didn't set up a meeting, but there's stuff that actually happens by accident.
00:06:24:19 - 00:06:41:02
Jennifer Jones
Yeah, I don't necessarily go searching for new business, but, it's a wonderful opportunity for to have these side conversations. And then somebody remembers you months down the road and, it turns into, a partnership and a relationship.
00:06:41:04 - 00:06:50:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah. I think that's the thing that I'll say Kees has been on the road a lot this year and a lot of events but I mean, heck, you've been on, what, four days in the last three weeks?
00:06:50:05 - 00:06:54:09
Kees Zorge
This month I'm going to be home for like, seven days in total. Yeah
00:06:54:09 - 00:07:15:06
Rob Napoli
But one of the things that you've been mastering and you kind of just brought up is it is all those side conversations and it's the face to face. It's the fact that, like, we're not behind a computer screen or an e-mail, and when you finally put a face to a name and you're kind of circling, kind of like when it came to all three of us, I think that's where, like the magic happens in a way that you just can't predict.
00:07:15:06 - 00:07:16:17
Rob Napoli
But that's why you have to be at these events.
00:07:16:19 - 00:07:40:10
Kees Zorge
And so. So what, you guys were just, having, the conversation about it's like the, by the way, or we spoke about a mapping issue or whatever, and we can think that we've got the most amazing mapping tooling out there. But if it's not working for a hotel. Yeah, it just isn't working. And then having to decide versus, like, go to guys, but you might want to take a look at, this part.
00:07:40:12 - 00:08:07:24
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. You know, one of the other things I think about, keeping track of leading up to Hi tech is you were all super busy, and, I'm super fortunate to have built the relationships I have, and I don't want to bug everybody during the year on maybe little pesky things, but as I'm doing projects over and over again, I'm thinking of ways that we could improve the process, make it better, make it bulletproof.
00:08:08:01 - 00:08:23:17
Jennifer Jones
And I kind of tuck those things aside and I wait until I come to Hi tech, and that's when I can see. And, an executive or someone who I really wouldn't want to bother during the year with, but being like, I have a really great idea, I think this will improve the process. Yeah, let's talk about it.
00:08:23:19 - 00:08:29:00
Jennifer Jones
Let's go grab a drink. Let's go have a coffee and let's talk about it. And that's really important.
00:08:29:00 - 00:08:37:19
Kees Zorge
Yeah, that's. What I meant. We decided on converse. Those are the, the amazing takeaways that you're like cool. This is good solid feedback. Yeah
00:08:37:22 - 00:09:00:20
Rob Napoli
So when you're at an event like this and you're with all the conversations, the, the floor, the side events, like the innovation that's in your brain is always happening because you're hearing so much of these things where those conversations become more natural versus like, hey, I have this great idea. I have this thing I want to talk to you about when you're in the flow of your business, where here it's like your brain's already kind of thinking about, okay, where is improvements happening?
00:09:00:20 - 00:09:21:19
Rob Napoli
What is innovations happening? Oh, I heard this group talking about this. How do we incorporate something like that. And we'll get into a little bit like AI, which is obviously a super hot topic in hospitality for everybody. For everybody right now it's absolutely crazy. But I want to kind of jump into, you know, the hotel side of things when, you're working with hotels to implement, like what is the process for a hotel out there?
00:09:21:19 - 00:09:43:23
Rob Napoli
Because as you know, the space has changed a lot this year. I think everyone knows is a year of change. Some big chains are switching, PMS is, new PMS players are really stepping into upstream type of markets. You're starting to see a lot of new technology, mergers, integrations happening. How do you navigate the space with the hotel and what's your process with them when you get started.
00:09:43:23 - 00:10:08:20
Jennifer Jones
Yeah don't want to give away my secret sauce kidding. But, it's a great question. I'm agnostic of platform. And so when I meet with a with a new client, it's important for me to tell them that because I want to get to know them and so I can learn their pain points and help them, lead them to the right decision to find the right solution or solutions.
00:10:08:22 - 00:10:32:22
Jennifer Jones
you know, one of the rules I always go by is I've got to have the three pillars to success for me are I have to have the help of, operations, revenue and accounting or finance. If you do not have those three people together when you're implementing a system, you're going to be working in a silo.
00:10:32:22 - 00:10:59:09
Jennifer Jones
It's not going to be successful or you're going to go down and build something only to have to reimagine it at a later time. So, I even though I kind of represent the IT side, I say IT is here to support, not to select, I need the business owners, ops, rev and finance to be, having a voice in whatever decision is for whatever given tool.
00:10:59:11 - 00:11:14:13
Jennifer Jones
But then they need to be a part of the configuration process. And so they all have a vested interest on how it was built, why it was built this way. so that to me is lays the foundation of any successful implementation.
00:11:14:16 - 00:11:22:11
Kees Zorge
Yeah then all stakeholders and for are actually quite well aware on what to expect and where to apply.
00:11:22:13 - 00:11:47:22
Jennifer Jones
Exactly. You know, I go through a really, intense requirements gathering process no matter again what system it is or systems, whether it can be integration requirements if they already have a current tech stack, that they're going to be fitting the system into, other requirements for functionality, other requirements that IT might have from a compliance, perspective.
00:11:48:02 - 00:12:12:20
Jennifer Jones
But all of those things need to be gathered. How do we gather them? I'll do a discovery session where, I'll sit and interview different users from different departments. and then, you know, draw up a scorecard like help people identify and document, you know, what they stated previously. And why we selected the system. Because it always happens after people come and go.
00:12:12:22 - 00:12:34:09
Jennifer Jones
Why do we choose this? Oh why? And so we document it and we keep a library of those requirements and we use it as we go down the path of vetting out vendors and scoring them. And, so then everybody collectively can have a voice in, the selection process.
00:12:34:11 - 00:12:43:18
Kees Zorge
And how do you guys scope mutually? It's, with hoteliers and departments about connectivity issues, for instance. How important is that?
00:12:43:20 - 00:13:14:23
Jennifer Jones
It's probably one of the top three. I mean, if it's integration related, you know, we will judge those things as, high priority, maybe nice to have versus need to have. and yeah, we'll put some kind of like quantitative maybe measurement against it based on well, this integration isn't super important, but we could always get another system for that.
00:13:15:00 - 00:13:39:03
Jennifer Jones
because sometimes when you choose something, things around the ecosystem have to change as well. There can be a domino effect. you've got to get out costs. You know, it's still amazes me how some vendors will charge X for an integration where it might be an API and it's super self-service. So there's really not a large level of effort around clicking it in per se.
00:13:39:05 - 00:13:50:01
Jennifer Jones
But you know, that's cost of course is a factor in the whole analysis. In addition to, scoring those, pieces of functionality.
00:13:50:03 - 00:14:14:13
Kees Zorge
Yeah of course and also yeah, so there Rob here the podcast host. But it's quite interesting if you think about the connectivity issues and what Rob was alluding to earlier like ML, AI. How do you approach a process where you start talking? I can imagine that a lot of them are starting to talk about AI and machine learning, but, how do you approach that?
00:14:14:14 - 00:14:16:18
Jennifer Jones
Yeah you know, it's still new.
00:14:16:23 - 00:14:17:18
Kees Zorge
Yeah.
00:14:17:20 - 00:14:45:09
Jennifer Jones
There were two great sessions this morning here about AI. you know, one of the things I picked up, from the session. Well, we already know that we're using it in some form or fashion. It's just recognizing, you know, is it front office at the back office? Well, it's both. I'm more intrigued. On the back office side, the AI use to help support our employees and our processes behind the scenes.
00:14:45:09 - 00:14:57:15
Jennifer Jones
Of course, there's AI technology that impacts the guest. you know, considering that AI that you're an accounting type tool, right.
00:14:57:17 - 00:15:05:05
Kees Zorge
We're bit more and so. Thank you for asking us the question. Like, I need to understand what you guys are doing. Well, yeah true.
00:15:05:08 - 00:15:37:13
Jennifer Jones
But, you know, I think that, accounting departments in hotel struggle, they're always cleaning up the mess of all of the transactions that are done by our front office staff. Restaurant, you know, all the cashiers, people who are in our cashiers, our cash registers. and, you know, I feel like it'll be interesting to see how AI can impact the, like the workflows of, like, the reconciliation process or identifying errors before day rolls a year.
00:15:37:13 - 00:15:40:08
Jennifer Jones
Smirking. I can't wait to talk about this more.
00:15:40:10 - 00:15:56:09
Rob Napoli
Yeah. I mean, you're kind of highlighting a lot of the things that we are kind of working on behind the scenes as well, but also the things that we talked to our clients and partners about all the time. And I think you kind of highlight this interesting thing about AI on the back office, but not just cleaning up the mess, but also prepping for the mess.
00:15:56:09 - 00:16:15:17
Rob Napoli
When you think of staff planning and revenue management, things like where is it best effectively used in different parts of the process so that by the time it gets to accounting, that is a smoother process. I think everyone is thinking, oh, we're just going to put it here, but you're just highlighting. There's so much that leads up to here that needs to have.
00:16:15:19 - 00:16:26:01
Kees Zorge
That was also the reason as why, right? Because if you don't have a data, perfect data approach, you can talk all about AML and AI that's it. Like it's never going to work.
00:16:26:01 - 00:16:45:07
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. I mean we have some old fashioned, ways to catch bad data mapping. We all know what they are. And they work. But it it requires the manual effort of somebody searching for that, fix me code or that bad data.
00:16:45:09 - 00:16:47:23
Kees Zorge
Like for full back lies here like what's happening guys.
00:16:48:00 - 00:17:17:14
Jennifer Jones
And the, the sad part about it is, even though we have those old fashioned catch all, tools, notably it's not caught until after day end. So we're adjusting past financials. you know, I'm just I think in the last year or two, I have this huge effort where, you know, I, I really embrace the accounting people in a hotel because I've now seen the masses that they are left.
00:17:17:15 - 00:17:51:06
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. And, you know, I don't know if we're ever going to fix it on the frontline staff, you know, I mean, it’s also difficult. It is difficult. We want them to serve the guest. We want that guest experience first and foremost. so I think it'll be interesting to see how AI can help that gap between, you know, a clean transaction and helping our staff who may makes mistakes, fix it before it gets to accounting.
00:17:51:08 - 00:18:10:11
Rob Napoli
I love that because when you think about the customer getting into the customer experience, the customer experience I think is super important at hotels And, you know, there are some hotels that are going fully, you know, tech focus where, you know, for their kind of digital natives to walk in and have a different experience. But most traditional hospitality, you still want that guest experience.
00:18:10:11 - 00:18:26:17
Rob Napoli
And it's really easy to say, oh, we're going to build a tool to make a better guest experience. But what does that actually mean? What are the interactions that guest needs to have to have a proper experience? And then are the staff, especially frontline staff, equipped to handle those things so they have the tools to mitigate risk.
00:18:26:19 - 00:18:35:21
Rob Napoli
In terms of the guest experience, I think we don't always think that there are some times and that's sometimes I challenge on if any tech is where does that tech help and where does it hinder?
00:18:35:22 - 00:18:59:06
Jennifer Jones
Yeah, I think some people get worried with AI because they think it's going to, take over their job. Right. And that's not the way to look at it. I feel that, a colleague of mine who spoke this morning in one of the AI sessions said something that really resonated with me. He's like, he said, AI is like the eager intern.
00:18:59:08 - 00:19:20:20
Jennifer Jones
You know, it is like the eager intern, like. So yeah, it was a great phrase. And I love the fact that I could tell an accounting person it's not going to replace your job. Instead, it's going to do some of the work for you, and you can have it pause and then you can check it. You can put your seal of approval on it and then but let it happen.
00:19:20:22 - 00:19:40:19
Jennifer Jones
And you come into the office and it's like, here's what I've got for you. Just double check it like that to me, I think would be like so refreshing for a finance person to hear. and I really feel that there is an opportunity for this to work. I mean, I feel like some of the accounting in our hospitality environment is pretty simple.
00:19:40:21 - 00:19:50:02
Jennifer Jones
You know, we've got AR, we've got AP, we've got, you know, journal entries. so I'm really optimistic that we'll find a solution for this.
00:19:50:04 - 00:20:09:16
Kees Zorge
Usually it's I think what you spoke about earlier off camera is like the mapping issues as well. To be intentional. I think what I would like to see that AI could help out there, like based on the learning expects. Hey, you are mapping to words like PNL might be a balance sheet accounting. Can I help you out?
00:20:09:18 - 00:20:33:01
Kees Zorge
Stuff like that's super intentional. super proactive. And where to remedy the fact that it's not going to hit the books and the accounting staff needs to do a whole bunch of reconciliation processes. And so also the question why the data approach? Because it's more than just accounting. Yeah, it's front office. All the ops, FNB whatever.
00:20:33:02 - 00:21:00:05
Kees Zorge
So everything ties back together. And one that's why I also like the you were like, hey, you guys are an accounting integration platform. We're actually on the verge of re pivoting. It's, Omniboost is more or less becoming a data unification platform. Super intentional to fill that specific started out obviously with the accounting and the, individual integrations, because you need to be able to have a proper stack and then bring everything together.
00:21:00:05 - 00:21:26:21
Jennifer Jones
So that's a great point because it's not just an issue in the accounting with mapping transactions, we have an issue with bad data all over and, you know, for people who are familiar with PMS systems, it's source codes, it's market segments. It's. Yeah. And a lot of that is, user entry. Right. And it's things that we just can't get a grip on.
00:21:26:21 - 00:21:38:10
Jennifer Jones
And so I feel like when you said unification, I mean, I really feel that we collect all this data, but some of it isn't correct.
00:21:38:10 - 00:21:38:22
Kees Zorge
Correct.
00:21:39:02 - 00:21:43:02
Jennifer Jones
And so if we're going to plug in AI to be doing it's.
00:21:43:02 - 00:21:43:19
Kees Zorge
It’s going to be messy.
00:21:43:19 - 00:21:50:12
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. So the I don't know how can the AI outsmart the bad data entry I don't know.
00:21:50:14 - 00:21:52:09
Kees Zorge
Yeah. At some point.
00:21:52:11 - 00:22:10:09
Rob Napoli
Maybe something we'll have fun playing with. But I think and this is what I love about kind of highlighting this is, you know, this data unification platform you got to think about data is in there. Right. So this is where data flexibility kicks in. And actually understanding what data is flexible, what data is needed and what are the maybe parameters for good data versus bad data.
00:22:10:10 - 00:22:24:18
Rob Napoli
Not that we always know it, but there are ways to source that out through different functionality or different scripts and things like that, which I think is a challenge that we revel in. I know, like what keeps him up at night or what gets his brain going is just like, okay, give me a problem. How do we how do we solve it?
00:22:24:18 - 00:22:32:05
Rob Napoli
And that's where the transition to data unification, data flexibility for us has been a big launching point for our stack.
00:22:32:05 - 00:22:53:14
Kees Zorge
And that's where I have for us as a company, partnerships bits. But you, for instance, are so beneficial meeting up with, at a Hi tech as what you've done. But you spoke about this, you implemented your own semantics layer if you datafied Yeah. You've got all kinds of how do you as a align standards around what may not.
00:22:53:16 - 00:22:57:05
Kees Zorge
But you've got your semantics layer. So that's the glue
00:22:57:05 - 00:23:05:09
Kees Zorge
And that's bringing us together as a stack as a vertical need to embrace and build upon.
00:23:05:11 - 00:23:26:16
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. And I don't want people to think that I'm a hater on human. You know, human entry is our biggest problem. It's I always I always advise people to have some kind of change control. and if you don't have change control, you have what we previously spoke about. People constantly building new values and whatever system it gets out of hand.
00:23:26:16 - 00:23:57:05
Jennifer Jones
And they don't understand the domino effect of how that is becomes a hurdle for all of your integrations. And so now all of a sudden, you have an unmapped value. yeah. So I just I highly recommend people, formulate some kind of change control. I know a lot of people have permissions and systems that they feel they can just go in and add a value, but there's got to be a conversation about when they're going to do it, and somebody else to explain the domino effect of how that's going to work with all the other systems.
00:23:57:05 - 00:24:20:11
Rob Napoli
And I, you know, I think it's important to highlight you know, none of us are human haters, right? But humans by nature, we are flawed. Like, that's human condition, right? So understanding that humans do cause errors but also tech can cause errors. Right. There's when you have that change control and you have those kind of fallbacks, you can actually start to implement proper process, proper unification and proper semantics to mitigate risk.
00:24:20:13 - 00:24:25:21
Rob Napoli
Risk is always going to be there. Yeah, things are going to happen. But it's all about mitigating with a proper attack.
00:24:25:21 - 00:24:49:02
Kees Zorge
And it's hypothetical. But if you base on learnings and you can actually be like, is this intentional? Are you aware that this change is going to do X, y, Z? On those integrations, those connectivities, those outputs, that that's something where we as an industry, I'm a true believer on that level where we can hugely benefit from ML and AI
00:24:49:02 - 00:25:01:17
Jennifer Jones
Yeah, I'm glad you guys are here. I think maybe a lot of people may not know who you are, and you've been invisible because you've been like a middleware, right. And you know, and you don't.
00:25:01:17 - 00:25:03:14
Kees Zorge
I learned platform. Middleware wasn't there
00:25:03:20 - 00:25:23:11
Jennifer Jones
And you don't get enough credit for what you do. But I encourage people, here and after the show, to contact you with business problem because I guarantee you there is a whole handful of business problems that you may have not thought of yet, but some of you and it's not just happening at one place, it's happening at many places.
00:25:23:13 - 00:25:43:09
Jennifer Jones
I have some of my own that I'm going to share with you, and I would love to see if your organization can be a resolution to those pain points. They may not be huge pain points, but it's one less pain point for the whole flow of everything. And I know we've talked a lot about, you know, our labor force is, super struggling.
00:25:43:11 - 00:25:52:23
Jennifer Jones
but it's all areas that I think it's just it's one more improvement. that can be made in certain departments that I have ideas about, but.
00:25:53:00 - 00:26:16:02
Rob Napoli
Yeah, I'm gonna use this time to kind of share who we haven't spoken outwardly yet, but, we're actually launching an ambassador program, because when it's people like you that are that ambassadors of this space that understand these different problems, because when we talk to our partners, yes, they see the problems, but they're also thinking from a product level, having folks on our network, having folks out there as ambassadors, in the space actually allows us to solve those business cases.
00:26:16:02 - 00:26:29:20
Rob Napoli
And that's actually why we're launching our ambassador program later this year, which I'd love to have you a part of for that reason, because we're actually looking at bringing in people who are bringing these kind of business cases to light so that we can actually figure out a solution, whether that's us solving it or working with partners to do that.
00:26:29:22 - 00:26:46:06
Rob Napoli
But it's something that we feel fully we believe in is how do we you know, we're also yes, we were a middleware. We started coming out to the integrations we built into a platform where data unification, but we want to solve and lift up the industry. So we're going to use it now to actually highlight we're actually launching an ambassador program.
00:26:46:06 - 00:27:04:05
Rob Napoli
If you're interested in being a part of that, please let us know. because that's actually what we're trying to do. It's why we're here. It's why we've put an investment into the podcast, into connecting with you, especially after the fact that was a problem. The first person to jump on the call, if he was our CEO, it was us we wanted to jump in because that is something we feel strongly about.
00:27:04:05 - 00:27:10:00
Rob Napoli
So I love that you're bringing that up and highlighting it. And I think it's clear in this space
00:27:10:02 - 00:27:30:12
Kees Zorge
What I liked is that it touched the core value. What you mentioned earlier, it's like solution. It's not about the selling. You sell afterwards, you come up with a solution. And when you approach, that's like an hey, guys, and excuse my friends, you got a fair warning. That's when I don't I can't come up with a proper wording.
00:27:30:12 - 00:27:42:21
Kees Zorge
I'm going to be a bit more vocal. It's like I'm guys, you're fucking shit up. Help us out here. That's where our partnership kicks in. Again, super intentional, but focused on the solution for the customer
00:27:42:21 - 00:28:06:14
Jennifer Jones
On that day I already did drop a F bomb. But look where we are now. Right. And you know, now I can reach out to you if I have to escalate something. your team's wonderful. They've been super responsive. you know, I think you guys have done a good job of making some other vendors out there look good because of your product
00:28:06:16 - 00:28:18:21
Kees Zorge
We are hoping ever contributing quite well. And like you said, from activity standpoint, the best compliment that we could ever get was like, who are you? Because then the integration itself.
00:28:19:00 - 00:28:19:19
Jennifer Jones
Yeah.
00:28:19:21 - 00:28:30:18
Kees Zorge
The tooling is working remarkably well, transcit from a marketing perspective and a direct selling, perspective, because there's, like Omniboost. Never heard of them.
00:28:30:22 - 00:29:00:22
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. I mean, your tool is so user friendly, just from the small part. I've used it for my clients. I mean, when you compare it to that specific mapping, process, other vendors might have that in, stuffed away in a portion of the administrative portal of their software. Right. It's not user friendly there's a lot of interface configuration around there that we wouldn't want somebody from accounting maybe to be tinkering with.
00:29:00:24 - 00:29:09:20
Jennifer Jones
But, kudos to you. Your portal, super user friendly. and you can set an interface up in under an hour. A point of sale mapping interface. Yeah.
00:29:09:21 - 00:29:13:10
Rob Napoli
And we are not paying for this. This is unsolicited
00:29:13:12 - 00:29:15:16
Kees Zorge
I am convinced so thanks
00:29:15:18 - 00:29:31:21
Rob Napoli
No, I really appreciate that. I mean, that is something that we have looked at from every step is how do we make like what we do is at times complicated, not sexy, but how do we make it for it for the user? How do I make it as easy as possible for them to get what they need from step A to B?
00:29:31:23 - 00:29:51:17
Rob Napoli
Because the hospitality tech space is, you know, source agnostic, right? There's so many different platforms out there. There's so many different tools, there's so many different things that have to connect and work together to create a streamlined, unified process. Yeah. All we want to do is how do we make that easier for people to use, and how do we make people enjoy what they do every day and not pull their hair out?
00:29:51:19 - 00:29:52:23
Rob Napoli
00:29:53:00 - 00:30:14:06
Jennifer Jones
Yeah. I'm looking forward to more conversations. I, you know, I feel like I've only encountered you all in the point of sale space. and in the accounting, export space. But, you know, I have a bevy of ideas. I think you guys have a knowledge of point of sale data that is untapped.
00:30:14:08 - 00:30:55:11
Jennifer Jones
Even this morning, we were talking about, you know, data and collecting data. And one of the areas I feel like we still fall short of is collecting, point of sale details. So I know that you charged this amount of beverage or food, but I don't know that it was a $150 bottle of Camus vintage 2008 or whatever, and I'm not and I'm those are details that we need from a marketing standpoint to be able to do what we do with individualized marketing, and I haven't really found a solution yet that works super well. You're smirking again.
00:30:55:13 - 00:31:09:02
Rob Napoli
I know. Yeah, there's a lot that we have to talk about. I mean, we're excited because, you know, there's a lot of things that we're trying to do on the back end that we're excited to share and explore. and share with the world at a later time. But these are these are the things that we think about all the time.
00:31:09:02 - 00:31:40:12
Rob Napoli
Like when we when people think of Omniboost they don't realize how big picture we think, especially from his perspective. And it's, you know, something that goes back to who we are as part of our core DNA, being just curious. Yeah. And learning how to, be growth mindset. Right. And always thinking about where we could do because for us it's it is such a unique space and hospitality is it's one of the coolest spaces because there's so much human interaction and I mean, your most the memories you think about most are usually traveling or some sort of human experience.
00:31:40:12 - 00:31:49:01
Rob Napoli
Right. Like they're the strongest memories and feelings. And so even if we're going to be just a small fraction of that to us is like what we strive for.
00:31:49:02 - 00:32:02:08
Kees Zorge
That's I think part of the job that we do is that the hotelier can focus on what they do best, be hospitable and give people joy. And if we can take away a bit of noise from the background, yeah that's best.
00:32:02:10 - 00:32:28:16
Jennifer Jones
Well, keep me posted. I'm always open for pilots. You know, one of the things I always encourage people to make sure that they, ask partners for is testing environments. You know, way too many times are we, clicking in new staff, in our production environments and some vendors out there have, testing environments available, in their ecosystem, some don't.
00:32:28:16 - 00:32:51:03
Jennifer Jones
And the ones that don't, I would ask them, encourage them. It's not fair for you to have to kick the tires when you're touching live data. So it's something that's a part of my plan, that we're always running fake night audits, you know, making sure taxes are calculating correctly. and yeah, so that's one piece of advice.
00:32:51:05 - 00:32:56:11
Kees Zorge
Fuck the system up. When I went down to see what the error looking is looking like. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.
00:32:56:13 - 00:33:18:00
Rob Napoli
It's a lot of fun. Cool I know I don't want to like overtake your time, but, kind of last two questions. The first one is what are you most excited for as we head into the back half of 24, looking at 25, looking at the industry, what are you what are some of the things that you are really excited for coming out of this year into the next year that that just like get you to get out of bed every morning?
00:33:18:00 - 00:33:51:02
Jennifer Jones
Yeah, that's a great question. I from an integration lens, because that's super important to me is all of the new APIs. So not AI, let's put that aside, but APIs and that old archaic vehicles we used to, interface systems. so I'm a lot of people are coming out with new open APIs, so many agile vendors now, talking to other vendors and improving their APIs.
00:33:51:04 - 00:34:03:10
Jennifer Jones
it could just be one field that needs to be passed, and people playing while in the sandbox and seeing that stuff happen, that one field means a tremendous amount of value for that one vendor, but.
00:34:03:10 - 00:34:25:06
Kees Zorge
It also makes your job more important because API to API to API, a lot of people think like, yeah, it's an open API, so it's going to be working remarkably well. My our experience usually is like, you know, to be able to have someone readily available that can help you identify what that specific field actually.
00:34:25:08 - 00:34:51:22
Jennifer Jones
Yeah and we do, a lot of testing. I document a lot. I have scripts that, you know, need to pass, just to make sure that I feel that it's we've tried to break it, you know, just make sure it's bulletproof before we put it into production, but, I'm really pleased. Over the last year and, summits I've been to for other vendors.
00:34:51:24 - 00:35:11:23
Jennifer Jones
What's on the roadmap? As it relates to APIs and, this open source integration, it makes things that were taking like five business days to get done on your own time and self-service. so I think that's one of the key things for me this year.
00:35:12:00 - 00:35:25:04
Rob Napoli
Yeah. That's exciting. And then last question is, you know, for those out there watching this, listening to this, how do they get in touch with you? How do they follow you, follow along or if they have questions or want to, you know, tap into some of these ideas out there. How do how do people find you?
00:35:25:06 - 00:35:51:07
Jennifer Jones
You can go to LinkedIn you can search Jennifer Jones. There's a ton of me. but just put J2 and, J2 Hospitality Solutions. My website is www.j2hospitalitysolutions with an S .com you can find me on HFTP I'm a member. but yeah, I'd love to talk with people, talk through their problems, see where we can help them out with innovative solutions of that.
00:35:51:07 - 00:36:02:20
Rob Napoli
And I will make sure to link your LinkedIn and your website in the show notes. All you gotta do is click the button, show notes, click on it, and you'll be able to access you really easily. If don't have to do all the searching, I'll make sure it's there for them. Like they're really easy to find you.
00:36:02:20 - 00:36:04:14
Jennifer Jones
Thanks guys, I really appreciate it.
00:36:04:14 - 00:36:05:09
Kees Zorge
Thanks for sharing to me.
00:36:05:14 - 00:36:20:18
Rob Napoli
Yeah, we appreciate having you on. We appreciate all the insights. We're excited to discuss more and get you a part of the ambassador program and see you at more events. So, appreciate the time. I know a lot of craziness, here at the Westin as we're in Charlotte, making time, finding a little corner of a hallway.
00:36:20:20 - 00:36:23:15
Kees Zorge
Funny story actually Rob was remodelling
00:36:23:20 - 00:36:39:00
Rob Napoli
Yeah, they're remodeling the front entrance. They have two different conferences going on at the same time, so we're able to find a space. I appreciate the flexibility. And, Yeah. Thank you for, tuning in to another episode of hospitable. if there is topics guests are, you would like to be on their show. Please let us know.
00:36:39:00 - 00:36:47:02
Rob Napoli
Also be a tier one and click that subscribe. Follow along. and let us know how we can be a service to.