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G’day Accommodation Professionals,

Sorry for interrupting your regular programming.

This week I’m not doing the usual guest deep dive. Instead, I want to share something we put together off the back of STRive 2026.

After the Auckland event wrapped, we filmed a recap reel with the attendees. We didn’t script it. We just asked them why they come back to STRive every year. What we got back floored me.

Different operators. Different businesses. Different parts of the region. All saying the same things in different ways. I come every year. I get take-home points I actually use. The industry is moving too fast not to be in the room. We need places like this to see what our competitors are doing, what’s working, what’s not. Just book your ticket.

That kind of unscripted consensus is the thing I’m most proud of from STRive. It is also the clearest answer I have to the question I get asked the most.

Why STRive?

I built STRive because I was tired of conferences that felt like trade shows. Rows of branded tables. Awkward round-table seating that made it impossible to meet anyone. Sad sandwich lunches. Two days of being talked at while you quietly checked your phone under the table.

STRive is the opposite of all of that. And the difference shows up in five places.

The community is the product. STRive draws the major operators and the biggest companies from across Australia, New Zealand, and increasingly the rest of the world. The room is not a beginner’s room. The people sitting next to you are running real portfolios, making real decisions, and dealing with real problems. The conversation in the hallways is the actual value of the event.

Collaboration over competition. This is our north star. Our speakers don’t deliver polished keynote talks. They get into the actual mechanics of their businesses, what is working and what isn’t, what they tried and what failed. That kind of transparency is rare. It is what makes every operator in the room better.

Professional, but not stuffy. Everyone who attends STRive says the same thing: it’s the best-run event they’ve been to. We work hard at that. No massive round tables that make engagement impossible. No sterile corporate vibe. Just a room that lets serious operators do serious work and still have a good time.

The food and the energy. Yes, I’m talking about food. Every operator who has been to a tired conference with sad sandwiches knows what I’m talking about. We treat food as a tool. It keeps the energy up, it brings people back into the room, and it makes the breaks part of the experience instead of an interruption. Same with entertainment. This year in Melbourne and Auckland we had a DJ, a comedian, and a roaming band. That isn’t extra. That is how you build connection.

Local soul, not a tourist. This is the one I’m most proud of. A lot of global conferences parachute into a city, hire a venue, pretend to understand the local market, and then leave. We aren’t tourists. We are part of the communities we run events in. We vouch for the markets we visit, we partner with local associations, and we make sure every STRive feels like it actually belongs in the place we’re hosting it. That’s why STRive Indonesia exists. That’s why we’re building this across the entire APAC region.

The industry is changing faster than it ever has. AI is reshaping how guests find us, how we run our operations, and how we communicate. Regulation is tightening. Competition is intensifying. The operators who thrive over the next five years are going to be the ones who stay connected to what is actually working on the ground.

That is the whole point of STRive. It is the room where you find out what your peers are actually doing. It is where the new ideas land first. It is where the relationships that change your business get built.

What’s next.