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an aggressive set of environmental goals for the year 2020, all designed to strengthen Hyatt's collective ability to collaborate, inspire and further its commitment to environmental stewardship. Hyatt, which is already an industry leader for tracking comprehensive global energy and water data since 2006, is significantly expanding the scope of its existing sustainability initiatives and will continue to focus strongly on measuring and reporting progress.

The conservation efforts undertaken by Hyatt hotels around the world since formalizing our approach several years ago have had a real impact, resulting in major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and water and energy usage by property across our portfolio," said Brigitta Witt, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility for Hyatt. "With five years and significant momentum under our belt, we saw the opportunity to further our commitment to environmental stewardship in a manner that fundamentally touches every aspect of our business, from the way our hotels are built and operated, to the way we collaborate with our global supply chain, to the way we influence change through the passion and commitment of our colleagues around the world."

Hyatt has launched a global CSR platform to pull together the company's sustainability initiatives, green teams, and employee volunteer and outreach programs so that the efforts benefit not only the hotels, but also the communities surrounding them.

First and foremost, Hyatt Thrive is supported -- really powered -- by our 80,000 associates in over 450 hotels around the world who really invest a lot to help this platform reach its full potential. To make sure that all of our positive, local efforts add up to make kind of a major global impact.

I think the second thing that really positions Hyatt Thrive to achieve results is that this is a global framework that really has the singular goal of helping our communities to thrive.

Guest rooms have sensors that automatically raise the temperature a few degrees when unoccupied; ditto the kitchen’s new dishwasher, which turns off when no trays are pushed through, and a pile of new exhaust hoods, soon to be installed on the resort’s seven to eight stoves, that will turn off if they sense no cooking smoke.

Perhaps even more impressive than its energy and water savings is the hotel’s recycling and composting accomplishments. In 2008 the hotel recycled 85 tons of materials; in 2009 that number grew to 137 tons. Last year 116 tons was recycled. In late June of last year, a food waste decomposition machine was installed in the loading dock area. The leased machine uses heat, and bacteria treated wood chips to accelerate the decomposition process. Over the remainder of 2010, 110 tons of food waste was composted. “We need to generate at least a few hundred pounds a day to make it [financially] worthwhile,” Martin says of the machine. The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place recycles the following: office paper, newspaper, glass, metal cans, plastic containers, glass, construction waste, cardboard (four to six tons per month), used bulbs, batteries and ballasts, electronics and pallets. Recycling containers are placed throughout the hotel in public areas and guestrooms include a plastic bag for guests to insert recyclables.

“Our focus is to do a lot of the little things that add up to one big green initiative.”

reduced its electricity consumption by 12.7 percent from 2009 to 2010 and its water consumption by 24.4 percent.

The new initiative is designed to allow Hyatt to “tap into the vast expertise of the security research community to accelerate identifying and fixing potential vulnerabilities.”

Hyatt Hotels has launched a bug bounty program via HackerOne, seeking to reward researchers who find vulnerabilities in its sites and apps.

The ethical hackers can use the platform, as well as rival services such as Bugcrowd, to report vulnerabilities, security flaws, leaky servers and more before less well-intentioned individuals stumble across them, potentially leading to cyberattacks or data theft,

it had discovered unauthorized access to payment card information at certain Hyatt-managed locations worldwide

Hyatt said the incident affected payment card information, such as, cardholder name, card number, expiration date and internal verification code, from cards manually entered or swiped at the front desk of certain Hyatt-managed locations

cyber security team discovered signs of the unauthorized access in July and launched an internal investigation, completed on Thursday, that resolved the issue and took steps to prevent this from happening in the future.

Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers?

Investment in Hotel Technology Pays Off with Increased Group Revenue Tuesday, July 10, 2012 by Sarah Vining Hotels, conference centers and other meeting venues are increasing group business with new technology, and it isn’t just a hotel app. To invest in the property’s overall capital, hoteliers are creating cool technology tools that market venues, increase group business and enhance the guest experience. Technology is just another way hotels are winning group business and marketing a hotel or conference center. What are some of these new hot tools for leisure and business travelers? Virtual concierge service on guest room TVs At Hyatt Hotels with in-room HD TVs by Roomlinx Inc., guests are able make service requests, check email/weather, use the Business Center, print documents, and receive customized messages from meeting planners. Service requests like housekeeping and in-room dining are instantly sent through the system, improving the venue’s departmental efficiency. All of these virtual functions are hoped to appeal to new markets and drive group business. More efficient billing In the article, “Insert IACC blog post title URL” we learn that in 2012, meeting and group planners are prioritizing finance as very important during in their planning process (which made the top 10 list for the first time). Hotels making large investments in revenue management systems are taking advantage of new features that automate and process data to improve efficiency and increase revenue for properties. Virtual business centers Socialization through technology and food and beverage outlets is increasing revenue for TRYP by Wyndham in the NYC Times Square South property. Google TVs and access to Google Chrome laptops near the Gastro Bar in the hotel’s lobby offers guests an opportunity to enjoy a dining experience with the comfort of complimentary technology use. On-staff IT team When planners were surveyed, reliability was listed as a top concern of IT services in the white paper “What Do Planners and Trainers Really Want in Their Meeting Service?” All IACC-certified conference centers are required to have an on-site IT team to ensure technology functions properly. Now, the need for a knowledgeable IT team that really understands technology and can cater to individuals and group business is spreading to other hotel markets.   These impressive technology tools improve the guest experience and lead to a quick return on investment, especially in F&B. As we move beyond the discussion of required hotel Wi-Fi services, there will be a focus on technology amenities that provide the same comforts of home or the office. To increase group business, hoteliers are comfortable with this investment knowing there’s a return on investment with generated buzz/venue marketing and satisfied guests. Want to learn about other ways hotels are using technology to build relationships? Check out Enhancing Your Social Networking Site with a Social Concierge! to maximize social media and connect with guests, attendees and planners!

Hyatt Hotels Corporation is set to launch the Hyatt Planner Portal, a comprehensive tool for meeting planners designed to enhance the overall planning experience.

The solution will allow meeting planners to work in one tool throughout the planning process to manage meeting details, including contracts, attendee information and costs throughout planning stages.

Additional features include banquet menus, event-space floor plans and access to collaborative diagramming software.

“Imagine a world where you can use your hotel room television to place your room service order, book a local tour, stream a movie from your Netflix account, and download a document to be printed at the front desk,”

“This is the future hotel experience at Hyatt.”

“The consumer appetite for new and fun in-room technologies has been far outpacing what most hotels offer.

SocialTables now has 2,500 customers and 30,000 users. Two-thirds of those are venue owners including the Hyatt Hotel Corporation and Caesar’s Entertainment, and one-third are party planners.

“SocialTables is a hospitality SaaS company,”

The Orion system is comprised of wireless digital thermostats, occupancy sensors, door position interfaces, remote server software and a comprehensive dashboard reporting interface. The room control dashboard provides an overview of guestroom electronic systems, including occupancy status, locks, safes, lighting, and total energy consumption.

The Orion system is comprised of wireless digital thermostats, occupancy sensors, door position interfaces, remote server software and a comprehensive dashboard reporting interface. The room control dashboard provides an overview of guestroom electronic systems, including occupancy status, locks, safes, lighting, and total energy consumption.

data management has become one of the top priorities

guests preferences, interests, social life and much more is available, useable and, most importantly, storable.

sensitive information is of great importance.

Marquee properties like the Waldorf Astoria New York, Grand Hyatt New York, Loews Regency New York and the Peninsula New York recently joined the NYC Carbon Challenge, a program Michael R. Bloomberg started as mayor in 2007 with the city’s universities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

This initial group of properties — accounting for more than 11,000 guest rooms — has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions from their buildings by 30 percent or more in the next 10 years, a move that could reduce emissions by more than 32,000 metric tons and save $25 million of energy operating costs.

Similar to the Grand Hyatt, other NYC Carbon Challenge hotels may have to financially invest in energy conserving upgrades, but their leadership realizes that they will save money in the long run.

With VingCard Elsafe products as the centerpiece, the 38-story, 39-year-old iconic Union Square property is now one of the most tech-forward hotels in all of San Francisco.

The Orion system is comprised of wireless digital thermostats, occupancy sensors, door position interfaces, remote server software and a comprehensive dashboard reporting interface.

Orion interfaces with the hotel's property management system to pre-condition the room upon guest check-in and automatically engage enhanced energy savings mode upon check- out.

I think people are reluctant of new technology and with cloud computing the issues are usually control, security and connectivity,”

When data is in the cloud, it no longer exists on the property, which means a huge decrease in risk for the operator.

Lower cost of ownership, quicker training, faster company-wide updates and a quick return-on-investment are just some of the paybacks that operators report after moving to the cloud computing model.