Attendees mingle at the Welcome Reception hosted on the Ace Hotel New Orlean’s second-floor courtyard

Elizabeth Penney, Oriental Weavers Hospitality; Chantz Wesnidge, the Ness Group; and Gavin McDowell, Oriental Weavers Hospitality

Jon Healy and Jeff Sladick, Stickley Contract; and Stephanie Weston and Mel Kolinski, Lixil

Luke Lasky and Ariel Yao, Parts and Labor Design

Jayson Gates and Carrie Gates, Absolute Procurement; and Jaclyn Moser and Chris Sommers, Harken Interiors

Fonting Yu, Teri Dolan, and Jason Bramhall, Hilton

Elaine Schmid, Curioso; Jocelyn Nevels, Fabricut Contract; and Carlos Herrera, Curioso

Jeffrey Stefanov and Ericka Whitaker, Tarkett Hospitality; Aja Baldwin, Southern Land Company; and Joelle Brahim, DesignAgency

Kathy Chisholm, Yellow Goat Design; Caitlyn Pratt, Forrest Perkins; and Nicola Casale, Yellow Goat Design

Kane Sarhan, the Well; Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, HD; and Tony Machado, SH Hotels & Resorts

Carly Werner and Anngelica Mohabir, Determined by Design; and Jason St John and Brianne Wilhelmi, Bells + Whistles

Kelly Parker, Fabric Innovations; Katy Curtis and Tyler Duncan, Duncan & Miller Design; and Caroline Cummins, waldrop+nichols studio

The event included four keynote presentations, as well as a roundtable discussion

HD editor in chief Stacy Shoemaker Rauen sits down with Ace Hotel Group president and co-partner Brad Wilson

Antionette Carroll, founder and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab, discusses the power of design

Kavitha Iyer, IHG Hotels and Resorts; Chris Robinson, Bryan Ashley; and Jason Millhouse, IHG Hotels and Resorts

Zach Strobino, RH Contract; and Thomas Gibbons, Bond Collective

Chantz Wesnidge, the Ness Group; Mrinal Suri, HBA; and Nick Cimms, Preciosa

Mountain climber and entrepreneur Adrian Ballinger discusses the importance of being prepared and accepting failure

Top row: Wave of the Future honorees Kristen Conry, Paris Swann, Damon Lawrence, and Rebecca Weinstein with HD editor in chief Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, Ryan Haggett of Williams-Sonoma Business to Business, and HD executive editor Alissa Ponchione. Bottom row: Wave of the Future honorees James Cull, Kaitlyn Thornton, Susan Nugraha, and Ashley Wilkins

Sarah Smallwood, Great Wolf Resorts; and Evan Guerrero, Murphy Cramer Design

Alvaro Montoya Mora, Sarah Klymson, and Marisol Fisher, Hyatt

Architect Michael Ford discusses the connection between hip hop and architecture

Attendees interact during the Owners Roundtable

The dinner reception, sponsored by Preciosa, was held at Hotel Peter and Paul

Gil Dyer, Bernhardt Hospitality; and Aja Baldwin, Southern Land Company

Jason Millhouse, IHG Hotels and Resorts; Paolo Ferrari, Studio Paolo Ferrari; Michael Holy, Preciosa; Ryan Schommer, The Gettys Group; Katie Liberman, KTGY Simeone Deary Design Group; Kristen Conry, Marriott; Stacey Sefcik, HBA; Gina Tomczak, Looney & Associates; and Vojta Kastovsky, Preciosa

Moises Briceno and Lauren Rottet, Rottet Studio; Deanne Teeter, HKS Hospitality; Andrew Kline, Workshop/APD; Christina Zimmer, Highgate Hotels; Cindy Tiek, Tiek and Company; James Cull, Rottet Studio; Nick Cimms, Preciosa; Lauren McGowan, Looney & Associates; and Betsy Hughes, 11fiftynine Design Consultants