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Knowledge is power, but only if you use it. The challenge facing the hospitality industry goes beyond merely connecting with guests on social channels, but how to turn information from those connections into actionable CRM data.

This past April, Hospitality Technology magazine announced the winners of the 2012 Hotel Visionary Awards at the Hotel Technology Forum. Four forward-thinking hotels were awarded the honor in two categories: Infrastructure Innovator and Guest-Facing Innovator. This year's honorees are Flamingo Las Vegas, Gaylord Entertainment, Hilton Worldwide and La Quinta Inns & Suites. The executives behind the technology initiatives share the award-winning hotels' stories.

Heartland Brewery safeguards against losing potential event clients with Imbookin.com. The restaurant, which has seven locations in Manhattan and books about 1,000 events a year, uses the online tool to boost its business while decreasing labor.

The next wave in customer engagement is social customer relations management. As more formal tools emerge to build brand awareness and identify influential customers, many leading companies are taking a more proactive approach to utilize social media by customizing offers based on activity in order to increase loyalty and sales.

As hospitality industry operators collect information from an increasing number of touch points, the Federal Trade Commission is calling on companies to self-regulate use of customer data in order to protect privacy.

Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle are helping hotels increase their visibility on the online bulletin board.

The Black Bear Casino Resort has selected the UniFocus GUESTScope Survey Solution to determine what is important to its guests.

Luxury resort chain has employed Guarded Systems to provide HSIA in addition to billing and control.