Mike Baldinger
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Evention LLC
"He goes the distance on problems others stop looking for."
Who Is Mike Baldinger
Where Financial Operations and the Guest Experience Collide
Every disputed charge, every tip error that reaches a server's paycheck late, every billing discrepancy a guest notices at checkout — these aren't just financial problems. They're hospitality problems. Mike Baldinger has spent more than two decades at the intersection of financial technology and hospitality operations, helping operators understand that what happens after a transaction closes is just as critical as the experience that preceded it.
As co-founder of Evention, Mike built financial technology specifically for the complexity of hospitality environments — where transactions touch multiple systems, fees shift after payment, and errors compound quietly before anyone notices. He has worked with global hotel brands including Marriott International, and spoken on stages at HITEC, HFTP, HX: The Hotel Experience, SSON, and Marriott's global finance conferences. Featured in Travel & Hospitality Tech Outlook.
On stage and in the studio, Mike connects the dots between back-office accuracy and front-of-house excellence — challenging hospitality leaders to think about financial operations not as an accounting function, but as a foundational layer of the experience they're working hard to deliver.
Beyond the Office
Outside of work, Mike is an ultra marathon runner competing in races up to 100 miles. The mindset transfers directly to how he approaches business: keep going when it gets uncomfortable, pay attention to what others overlook, and build systems designed to hold when the pressure is highest.
Why Mike Is a Great Guest
The Right Fit for Your Audience
Mike speaks to the full range of hospitality leadership — GMs, owners, operators, finance directors, and technology decision-makers. His conversations work because they don't require a finance background to follow. The problems he describes are things every hospitality professional has encountered. Mike just explains where those problems actually start.
- Breaks down complex financial topics in plain hospitality language — no accounting degree required
- Draws on real operator stories from global hotel brands, not theory
- Connects back-office accuracy to guest experience, staff morale, and brand reputation
- Comfortable and conversational with executive audiences
- Brings a perspective and an angle hosts haven't heard before
- An ultra marathon runner who translates endurance thinking into operational leadership
Podcast Topics
Ready-Made Episodes for Your Audience
Five focused conversations Mike brings to your show — each one a standalone episode your audience will find immediately practical and relevant.
When Finance Becomes a Guest Problem
HOW UNRESOLVED BACK-OFFICE ERRORS SURFACE IN THE GUEST EXPERIENCE
Disputed charges, tip errors that hit a server's paycheck late, billing discrepancies a guest notices at checkout — these aren't just accounting problems. Mike unpacks how back-office financial gaps surface in the guest experience and why hospitality operators can't afford to treat finance as invisible.
Audience takeaway: A new way to think about financial accuracy as a hospitality standard.
The Operator's Blind Spot After Checkout
WHY FINANCIAL RISK ACCUMULATES AFTER PAYMENT CLEARS — AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Most revenue leakage in hospitality happens after the guest checks out. Mike breaks down the systemic gaps in post-transaction processing and gives operators a clear framework for identifying and closing those gaps before they compound.
Audience takeaway: A practical framework for finding and recovering hidden revenue loss.
Staff, Tips & the Trust Gap
HOW PAYROLL AND GRATUITY ERRORS AFFECT TEAM CULTURE AND RETENTION
Tip errors and payroll discrepancies erode staff trust long before a manager sees a report. Mike walks through the systemic gaps in post-transaction processing that affect the people delivering the guest experience — and what operators must close before it compounds into turnover.
Audience takeaway: Why financial accuracy is a people problem, not just an accounting one.
Technology That Serves the Operation
BUILDING FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE THAT LETS GREAT HOSPITALITY HAPPEN
As financial technology evolves, so must the leaders who oversee it. Mike discusses automation, data integrity, and what next-generation hospitality CFOs and controllers need to understand about turning back-office accuracy into a frontline operational advantage.
Audience takeaway: What a modern hospitality finance operation actually looks like in practice.
What Running 100 Miles Teaches You About Running a Hospitality Business
ENDURANCE, SYSTEMS, AND THE DISCIPLINE TO FINISH WHAT OTHERS ABANDON
Ultra marathon running and hospitality operations share one truth: the hardest problems surface when you're too tired to ignore them. Mike draws on years of long-distance racing to talk about building teams, systems, and cultures designed to perform when the pressure is highest — and why endurance thinking is the missing ingredient in most operator playbooks.
Audience takeaway: A fresh leadership lens that applies at every level of hospitality management, from GMs to ownership groups.
Career Highlights
- Co-Founded Evention LLC, a financial technology platform built specifically for hospitality environments
- Frequent speaker at HITEC and HFTP events
- Contributor to shared services conferences and major hotel brand finance forums
- Speaker at entrepreneurial innovation platforms
- 20+ years at the intersection of financial technology and hospitality operations
- Featured in Travel & Hospitality Tech Outlook: Smart Hospitality Edition
Ready to book Mike?
Hospitality executives, CFOs, controllers, finance directors, hotel operators, and technology leaders in the travel and hospitality sector.
See Mike in Action
Short-form clips from the field
What Your Audience Will Take Away
Insights That Connect the Back Office to the Guest Experience
Mike's goal on every show is to reframe something familiar. Most hospitality leaders know their operations aren't perfect — they live with workarounds, late discoveries, and unexplained variances. Mike gives those experiences a name, a cause, and a direction forward.
Where hotels quietly lose revenue — and how to find it before it compounds
Why traditional reconciliation processes fail at scale
How finance teams are evolving from back-office to operational drivers
What automation actually fixes — and what it doesn't
Why financial accuracy directly impacts guest trust and staff retention
Leadership lessons from endurance sport applied to hospitality operations
Evention gives us confidence in numbers we used to question. Instead of chasing discrepancies after the fact, we now identify and resolve issues as they happen across systems. Our finance team spends less time investigating and more time leading the business with accurate, trusted data.
Director of Finance
Multi-Location Hospitality Group
Where Mike Has Spoken
Industry Stages & Credentials
Ready to Book Mike?
Bring a fresh perspective on hospitality finance and operations to your audience. Mike's conversations are practical, engaging, and immediately applicable.