Two weeks ago, the HD team along with nearly 200 attendees headed to Washington, DC for our annual  HD NextGen Forum event. The day and half conference is meant to inspire and inform the next generation of hospitality design leaders. Along with various networking opportunities (including a great dinner at José Andrés’ Zaytinya restaurant), we honored and heard from our 2017 Wave of the Future honorees (those we deem young enough to be considered visionary, but tested enough to be considered accomplished); ideated a few trending topics in the design world (health and wellness, reinventing the communal lobby) over wine; and listened to a handful of of thoughtful speakers who shared their powerful messages of how sometime the simplest, albeit innovative ideas can have the biggest impact. Here are three inspiring takeaways from our next-level NextGen speakers:

Adam Braun addresses the crowd

The Impact of a Promise

Adam Braun

With only $25 to open a bank account and his word to his family, Adam Braun created Pencils of Promise, a for-purpose organization that builds schools and provides education (and literally pencils) to impoverished children. Continue reading →