“So where do we begin?
2015 marked the fantastic debut of the Future of Hospitality Summit (FHS).
To be completely frank, the first semester of 2016 was a disaster. Nothing was set in stone, only the Partner Alliance team managed to secure some speakers, and that was basically it. FHS had a 6-month head start, but where did that all amount to?
To make matters worse, one of the Co-Founders was about to graduate, and the remaining team did not have a clue as to how the organization should proceed. No one had a vision, no one had an inspiration, no one had the answer to the very riddled situation.
It was all a mess. What do we do next? What will FHS be? How are we going into the Summer Break with no direction? We were all in a state of fluster and panic. Are we going to let FHS slide down the drain like that?
“No,” said I.
I was there in 2015. I truly believed in the Future of FHS. The Future does not lie solely in hotels, The Future does not limit itself. FHS, The Future of Hospitality Summit will be the hallmark of all student-led Hospitality Summits in Europe. The name of FHS will never be outdated, it will never be able to limit us, because, I believe, that We are The Future.
So the first question I asked myself was,
“How do I build on this dream? How do I inspire others to follow my dream for FHS?”
Not possessing the priceless traits of an entrepreneur, it troubled me greatly. I had a dream for the future of this summit, but what was my objective for this summit? Hence,
“Questioning Answers: Excavating the Future” was born.
Applying myself to FHS, I believe that the Future was born from not being satisfied with the status quo. Remember the times, when we were using Friendster, MSN Messenger and Yahoo? Facebook and Google certainly did not accept that that was it. Recall back to 2011: Were you using AirBnb? Look where they have come in 5 years.
They believed that there was something that can be done better. They believed in a better future with what they envision. It was because they questioned the answers of their status quo that they came to where they are today. Look at how much they have impacted the hospitality trade.
Excavating the Future was a cheeky play on words, and helps develop the idea of where driving this behavior would lead to. We have our fun in FHS sometimes 😉
Jumping the story forward to today…
Yes, of course, there were times when my thoughts conflicted. And sometimes I think, FHS is not “my baby,” why am I working so hard just for the Founders to be recognized?
But no. What there was, was a team. A team who believed, a team that stood the test of time. A team that could never say it was their “baby”. But yet, they took out hours of their time every day, just to build this dream.
A dream that one day…
FHS will become the emblem of hospitality. FHS will become the benchmark for all other hospitality schools to see. FHS will continue to educate, seek and disrupt our industry today, because in hospitality, there is only one way: The Future.
See you in 2017!”
Peh Geng Lin, Alexander
Co-Project Head
The Future of Hospitality Summit 2016
