Little things versus big things

“The little things, I can obey. But the big things - how we think, what we value - those you must choose yourself. You can't let anyone - or any society - determine those for you.”

"As pequenas coisas, eu pode obedecer. Mas as grandes coisas - como nós pensamos, o que nós valorizamos - aqueles que você deve escolher-se. Você não pode deixar qualquer um - ou qualquer sociedade - determinar aqueles para você." 

16 Hottest Food and Dining Trends for Restaurants and Hotels

16 Hottest Food and Dining Trends for Restaurants and Hotels

Annual Hospitality Predictions from Baum+Whiteman International
Food and Restaurant Consultants

October 2011 - Baum+Whiteman says it’s “into the wild” as chefs go foraging for new ingredients and customers abandon comfort food for intense mix-and-match global flavors.

Baum+Whiteman International Food and Restaurant Consultants creates high-profile restaurants around the world for hotels, restaurant companies, major museums and other consumer destinations. Based in New York, their projects include the late Windows on the World and the magical Rainbow Room, Equinox in Singapore, and the world’s first food courts. Their 12th annual hospitality predictions follow …

1 … WHAT’S THAT CRUNCHING SOUND? As the economy crawls sideways, like blue crabs at the shore, mom-and-pop eateries will be hit the hardest. Each time a big national chain cuts its prices, or flings a million half-off coupons into the market via social networks, independent restaurant numbers will take a dive. Corporate players borrow money cheaply and keep growing, but mom and pop can’t borrow at all, and after maxing out their credit cards at rapacious interest rates they’ll increasingly throw in their kitchen towels. If the economy slides more, the last week of every month will be a killer for these places. With no turnaround in sight, the US could lose 8,000-10,000 restaurants in 2012, few of them belonging to chains.

2 … THE WHOLE WORLD ON A PLATE. Look for excitement at the lower end of the market where devil-may-care entrepreneurs are piling flavors from all over the globe onto a single dish. Gastronomically, everything goes. Bite into a sandwich of chipotle pork chop with burnt sugar glaze, carrot kimchee and tarragon mayonnaise, and your taste buds will announce that these flavors came from a global Mixmaster. This is what’s emerging: A multi-ethnic, multi-sensory dining experience where flavors clash on purpose. A multi-culti zucchini pizza dabbed with hummus and topped with crunchy wasabi peas is from nowhere geographically because it is from everywhere. We can seal our southern border but it won’t stop folks from stuffing tacos and tortillas with outlandish things like octopus and feta cheese, or with barbecued chicken gizzards and sriracha slaw. And any day now, someone will stuff a porchetta with bulgogi seasonings. Cooking is at a crossroads … where everything collides!

It’s mostly happening at eateries where food is cheap because the risk is low … for both buyers and sellers. Your wallet can’t get hurt by bibimbap burger from a food truck if it only costs four bucks, right? Or fried sushi filled with a cheeseburger? The banh mi, our Sandwich-of-the-Year in 2011, is now an object of much tinkering around the country; it is a feature on Steve El’s new Asian ShopHouse prototype, too. Sandwiches are the big focus of this mix-match trend. There’s an over-the-top thrill about a sandwich filled with a carnitas, sausage, jalapeno, an egg over easy, and a hot dog with cilantro aioli from roadside shack. The wilder, the better. After all, if your new car’s parts come from around the world, why shouldn’t your sandwich ingredients? Next up: Mexican tortas and cemitas.

3 … A WIDENING “FLAVOR GAP”: The menu items discussed above contain ingredients and multi-ethnic combinations that are alien to your local Panera Bread or Pizza Hut or even Five Guys -- because chains’ financial stakes are so high, they’re compelled to serve the fewest number of items to the greatest number of people. Savvy independent operators (most of them young) use this growing “flavor gap” to differentiate themselves from more staid corporate competitors.

4 … INSTEAD OF BREAD: Stretching for even more differentiation, look for sandwiches piled on things other than bread. Arepas, for example. Flattened tostones. Bao. Waffles. Rice cakes. Think of KFC’s notorious Double Down calorie bomb… but with more inventive ingredients.

5 … INNARDS AND ODD PARTS: We said it last year … and we’re saying it again: Tongue – lamb and beef -- and gizzards are hot. They’re moving up from ethnic neighborhoods (think Mexican and Korean tacos) and onto menus of upscale restaurants. Pigs’ ears, too, on breakfast dishes right through the day to night-time bar snacks. In the year ahead, look for more “wobbly cuts” – such as tripe, and chicken livers that are crunch-fried (a great topping for Caesar salad), and even beef heart (but not brains, yet) -- because customers are increasingly adventurous (photo, prior page, of grilled beef heart carved rare from Mado in Chicago, by Cooking with the Single Guy). Even fancy places will discover that they can sell tongue tacos at the bar and izakaya-style gizzards on skewers, and pigs’ ears and ox tails will show up on white tablecloths.

6 … IN A PICKLE: House-made vegetable and fruit pickles will appear on more and more menus as chefs concoct ever more complex ways of making these preserves. They’re important because they (A) enliven all those ingredient-laden multi-culti sandwiches (see “The World on a Plate,” above) and (B) they provide a foil for intensely flavored organ meats (see “Innards and Odd Parts,” above).They’re not your grandmother’s pickles -- chefs are going global with additions of Asian fish sauce, Mexican peppers, ginger, yuzu, smoked paprika, star anise. Some are selling bowls of their own pickled products as individual menu items … and there’s a kimchee free-for-all, since there’s no “authentic” recipe. Kimchee might be the ingredient of the year.

7… AT LAST, KOREAN HITS THE CHARTS: Thanks largely to food trucks, Korean food has entered the American lexicon. Bulgogi, kimchee, kalbi, bibimbap are all the rage in Wednesday food sections, which means that shelter magazines will start running dumbed-down recipes in 2012 and we wouldn’t be shocked to see Korean-inflected fried chicken appearing on some chain menus. Look for upscale places to serve items poached or braised in kimchee broth augmented with Asian and non-Asian flavors. You won’t find red pepper paste (kochujang) in your supermarket’s ethnic food sections next year, but wait’ll 2013. Reminder: Korean barbecue comes with a barrage of pickled things, making them right on target (see “In a Pickle,” above).

Since Koreans run most of the country’s sushi bars, expect lots of fusion recipes as they open restaurants beyond the bounds of Korea-towns. The government in Seoul reportedly is footing a very big bill for an upscale restaurant outside of New York’s Korean district in order to promote the cuisine; they’re several years too late. A doozy recently opened in New York’s Tribeca, launching “modernist” Korean cuisine. Bring lots of money and a camera to Jung Sik, a transplant from Seoul (see Five Senses Pork photo, previous page, from Jung Sik)..

8… NO, EVERYONE’S NOT BROKE: About a quarter of America’s population is still happily working and another large chunk has a bit less – but not nothing – to spend, and after deep psychological retrenchment they’ll be returning to restaurant life. They’re not burning money, but they’re still having fun spending. And when they do, they’re seeking fun, interesting food and a sense of adventure. From this, we see the following:

8 a … COMFORT FOOD HITS THE WALL: When the recession hit three years ago, Americans gravitated to “crisis food”: homey roast chicken, soothing meat loaf, voluptuous mac-and-cheese, unchallenging sushi, and the Holy Cheeseburger. Now we’re bored by gastro-nostalgia. Instead, we’re demanding new taste thrills and culinary invention. Mac-and-cheese is being reworked with pork rillettes, or with chicharrones for crunch and braised pork necks for depth; or it is being stuffed into sandwiches along with fried chicken or chicken-fried steak. Classic fettuccine recipes are twisted with Asian Bolognese; pasta carbonara, already much abused, now comes with meatballs, with snails and with chorizos … and now shrimp-and- grits is getting worked over. There’s no limit to what people will slap onto hamburgers (head cheese, bone marrow, pastrami-and-eggs, Cajun crawfish) as new entrants to the “gourmet burger” biz fall over themselves being creative. Sushi’s getting stuffed with mutli-culti ingredients. Plain old roast chicken’s giving way to goosed-up fried renditions -- highly spicy, highly crisp Korean fried chicken being the most evident, but Latino flavors are being grafted on as well. Guacamole is being spiked with wasabi paste. Hummus comes in a dozen or more flavors. And meatloaf has taken a dive as customers opt for all manner of meatballs at twice the price.

8 b … EARLY DRINKING, LATE NIGHT DINING: People making sales and service calls, and supervisory staff, are spending more time in their cars, so they’re shifting social times to cocktails at four and dinner at ten. That’s because they’ve only chatted and texted with colleagues also scattered on the highways, and 4 p.m is a logical time to rendezvous somewhere, unwind with a cocktail and maybe have lunch that was missed earlier. Hotels are big beneficiaries and they’ll be upscaling drink lists, bar food (see below) and furnishings. Road warriors, and late-working desk jockeys get a second wind long after dark, congregating in better restaurants’ bars and hotels that are now revving up flavors and presentations … but still pricing things so that they are “affordable luxuries” (see “Round Things” below).

8 c … ROUND THINGS THAT GO POP IN THE MOUTH: Kimchee- and-parmesan-filled arancini (photo by Pablo76), fried goat cheese balls, spherical falafel, meat balls of all kinds, bacalao croquettes, crispy oxtail risotto balls – all of them dropped briefly in the fryer and served with multi-ethnic sauces and dips – are becoming hot-hot sharable bar food. They’re contemporary, drink-friendly finger food and no one seems to mind the calories. Also: mini sandwiches with banh mi flavors, Korean meatball sliders, all sorts of global chicken lollypops, ceviches, flatbreads from everywhere, dishes with fried green tomatoes (see “The World on a Plate,” above). Next: Smart chefs explore the world of Japanese snacky things.

9 … BEER GARDENS: Outdoor or indoor/outdoor, beer gardens will boom around the country, – especially from restaurants and breweries with unused backyards, oversized parking lots or available rooftops. The bigger the better. Good, cheap beer, often at five bucks a pop, and unchallenging food like pretzels, hot dogs and burgers, draw crowds seeking a fresh air alternative to indoor bars or lounges. Movable roofs and warmers make them year-round businesses. Topping them all, there’s Birreria, a Batali/Bastianich 10,000 sq.ft. rooftop extravaganza in New York with its own microbrewery, wine from barrels, operable roof and terrific “alpine” food.

10 … WHEELS COME OFF FOOD TRUCKS: Dozens of food truck operators will open brick-and-mortar shops in 2012. Many will put their vehicles on the block; others will attempt to run both businesses. The reason is clear: There’s more money to be made in storefronts now that food trucks – pioneering in social media marketing -- prove that eccentric menus have great market potential, and after the trucks create strongly branded identities that attract customers and satisfy wary landlords. If they open two or three storefronts, the trucks act as moving billboards. Only danger: They may lose menu focus in trying to keep their new places filled; then they become like the big chains.

11. CHOCOLATE DIRT: THE FORAGERS ARE COMING! A few years back, an unknown chef at restaurant Noma, in Copenhagen, created a strange series of tableaux on his dining room tables, using tree bark, pine needles, lichens and other things normally grazed by reindeer. So it was that in 2010 the Nordic forager Rene Redzepi (sounding much like an acid rock band) displaced the Spanish chemistry wizzrd Fernan Adria (for whom he once worked) as the world’s numero uno chef.

Molecular gastronomy hasn’t exactly evaporated, but now you might get trampled by dozens of upscale chefs rushing to harvest dinner from the underbrush and under rocks – or assembling dishes that looked like they might be untamed gardens.

In the US, “wildcrafting” is largely, but not entirely, a West Coast trend. Forerunner Jeremy Fox composed beautiful plates at Ubuntu in Napa several years ago (salad on carta de musica by Chuck Eats, prior page); John Sedlar at Playa and Daniel Patterson at Coi, both in Los Angeles, and David Kinch at Manresa in Los Gatos are masters of the style. You’ll find similar efforts at McCrady’s in Charleston, and Toque in Montreal. Perhaps the most “florid” exemplar is Dominique Crenn at Atelier Crenn (subtitled “poetic culinaria”) in San Francisco, with bonsai-like garden presentations (photo right from Atelier Crenn).

These chefs’ horticultural foodscapes appear to have been assembled by gnomes with tweezers and dental instruments. They’re sent to your table on slabs of slate, miniature rock slides, primordial wood shapes and thrown glass instead of plates. Their dishes come with lyrical names such as Ocean Creatures and Weeds, A Walk in the Garden, Into the Vegetable Garden, or Le Jardin d’Hiver.

Watch for these kinds of items slipping onto upscale menus: White acorns; tips of fir needles; “dirt” made of dried and crumbled mushrooms, black olives, bulgur wheat, or sprouting grains; eucalyptus leaves, chickweed, wild ginger, wood sorrel, yarrow, and sumac. Dirt is so hot that Crenn cooks her potatoes in the stuff before washing them clean. Next up: Dessert assemblages growing out of chocolate “humus” (as in dirt, not as in chick peas).

Read more about this trend in our Culinary Director Rozanne Gold’s blog on the subject: http://rozannegold.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/chocolatedirt-is-it-art-or-is-it-dinner/

12 … JAPANESE CRAFT BEERS will gain a following.. They’re already is making inroads on beer-centric menus and Asian-inflected restaurants and they give lots of local artisan brews a good run for their money.

13 … FORGET SKYSCRAPER ARCHITECTURE. Chefs are shifting from stacking food as high as possible to stringing out ingredients in caterpillar-like lines along oblong or rectangular plates. This may looking like “dribble art” but at least it keeps the flavors separated. Ceviches, tartars, sushi and sashimi primarily, with salads as the next frontier. At right, Korean steak tartare with Asian pear, quail egg and pine nuts from Dandi in New York (photo, Paul Goguen/Bloomberg)

14 … PERU GAINS MOMENTUM: Peru’s food is cross-pollinated by Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Italian and Andean flavors and cooking techniques. It is the source of the world’s most exciting ceviches and tiraditos (another raw fish dish), and it is where pisco sours come from (photo: halibut ceviche with mango and tomato). This past September saw many of the stellar chefs noted above – Redzepi, Patterson, Adria, along with Dan Barber (US), Michel Bras (France), Massimo Bottura (Italy), and star chef Gaston Acurio, a major promoter of self and of Peru – in Lima for a conference that put Peruvian cuisine and ingredients into the spotlight. Acurio in September opened La Mar Cebicheria in New York, following a success in San Francisco, where the food goes from high note to high note. Mo Chica in LA and Limon in San Fran are creating their own Peruvian stirs. We predict that this is the next cuisine, so you need to know about causas, lomo saltado, aji amarillo, anticuchos, cuy (you know … whole roast guinea pig, legs, head and all) and tiraditos, along with vibrant, acidic fruits and juices that go into their unique raw fish preparations. Better get to Lima and Cuzco before they’re overrun by foodies! You can read more about Peru and its trendy food in our Culinary Director Rozanne Gold’s article in the Huffington Post … http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rozanne-gold/food-trend-pop-goes-peru_b_982949.html

15 … WRONG ON HAMBURGERS: We predicted last year that “gourmet burgers” would peak in 2011. But they haven’t and we may be premature. Seems that a new burger chain launches every few weeks without regard for the growing density of competition. We think they’ll outrun the available demand; they’re selling a product that’s available everywhere; creativity is running amok as newcomers strain for differentiation; and there’s a low barrier to entry. We see a bubble. So wait’ll next year.

16 … THREE CAUTIONARY TRENDS: (1) Misuse of words like “artisan” and “heirloom” and “local” will pollute their meaning, especially as chains co-opt them for marketing slogans. Adding a whole grain to factory bread doesn’t make it “artisan” and not all misshapen tomatoes are “heirlooms” from “local” growers. “Green” and “sustainable” are in this category, too. (2) There’s a looming oversupply of farmers markets. (3) Too many chefs are smoking too many foods.

BUZZWORDS FOR 2012
Fresh sardines. Ultra-long dry aging of meat. Uni. Yuzu. Tamarind. Ox tail, (see “Innards and Odd Parts,” above). Duck will make a comeback but not slathered with orange marmalade. Hand-made ricotta and burrata. Kalbi, bibimbap, bulgogi (bulgogi photo right from ifood tv). Huacatay (better look it up). Bone marrow. Flowers re-appearing on dinner plates. Hibiscus. Arepas. Coconut oil. Goat meat crosses the border from ethnicnabes. Shiso. Nordic cooking and ingredients. Upscale restaurants re-tenanting shopping center food courts. Lamb ribs and belly. Bao. More entries into the tossed salad restaurant business, using ever better ingredients. Nduja. Micro-distilleries. Bacalao. Large displays of exotic bitters on the bar. Crazier taco fillings migrating from food trucks to restaurants. Green papaya. Seaweed in non-Asian dishes.

Baum+Whiteman International Restaurant Consultants creates high-profile restaurants around the world for hotels, restaurant companies, major museums and other consumer destinations. Based in New York, their projects include the late Windows on the World and the magical Rainbow Room, Equinox in Singapore, and the world’s first food courts.

They were this year’s lead speaker at the CIA’s “World of Flavor” conference in Napa and have run trends seminars for Taj Hotels, Starwood Hotels, Restaurant-Hospitality Magazine, Club Corporation of America, Hotels Magazine, Certified Angus Beef and Les Dames d’Escoffier.

Flash Sales: What Revenue Managers Need to Know

  By Bonnie Spalding

The past few weeks have been very hot for flash sale sites in travel, with three new sites that launched the first week in June alone (Groupon Getaways, Getaway Lounge, Wego’s Fast Deals).  Clearly the biggest headline is the partnership between Groupon and Expedia.  The daily deal/coupon distribution niche is entrenching itself deeper with consumers.  However with new players in the space popping up at a record pace, what should hotels be doing to manage this trend?  There are many ways that flash sales will be impacting the hotel industry.  I am going to focus on deciding how to participate and understanding how these sites could affect revenue management teams.

No one is forcing you on this bandwagon
Participating in flash sales is entirely optional, regardless of what they may tell you.  The industry has gone through peaks and valleys, and has come out of recessions before the existence of Jetsetter or LivingSocial Escapes.  Yes, they will generate awareness, but not necessarily to the markets you care about and not necessarily more effectively than your current OTA participation.  Yes, they will likely fill distressed dates, but how well compared to opaque options and at what costs remains to be seen.

 Groupon suppliers’ reports of satisfaction have been mixed at best, and Expedia’s reputation in the industry could inspire an “it gets better” campaign.  Unless your brand or property is looking for broad exposure – and has exhausted more creative means of getting it – the value proposition for supplying inventory to these sites is difficult to estimate and still relatively unproven.

  Commoditization 2.0
While “curated” sites like Jetsetter helped maintain the image of exclusivity, the latest entrants are decidedly mass market.  If price integrity is a priority for your brand or property, playing anywhere in this space (even with the “exclusive” first movers) could lump you in as a discount product from the consumer’s perspective.
Do not confuse these (lightly) fenced sites with opaque sites.
 
  This is a tool – not a channel
Ensure that you are viewing flash sales as a tool available to you, not as a supplement to your existing demand.   These sales – if used at all – should be used as a targeted promotional tool to generate incremental demand.  There is word that Groupon Getaways will not have blackout dates – this will likely cause displacement of higher-rated business and provide little to no incremental benefit to travel suppliers.
Suppliers (that’s YOU) hold the power
With the ever-expanding legion of potential partners in this space, managing relationships and offers may only become more confusing.  Partners with whom you participate should be carefully vetted.  Do they cater to the demographics of your transient guests? How much flexibility are you afforded with blackout dates?  Can you target a particular region or segment of their subscribers?  Is their booking or voucher redemption process disruptive to your business processes?
Thoroughly research past sale results for comparable properties.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to peers that have run such promotions.
As more entrants to this market come online, the power to be selective is shifting towards suppliers.  This will likely contract as less successful players exit the market, but currently hoteliers should recognize that they can (and should) be the ones determining who will still be in this space in 2013.

Even if you don't bet - you're in the game
Flash sales could result in enough bookings at a property to shift market share to your competitors in an uncharacteristic way.  Sales with limited dates of availability will be the primary offenders here, potentially causing market share indices after a flash sale to be skewed.  A competitor who participates in a flash sale could have higher-than-expected occupancy and lower-than-expected transient ADR.
Use your systems to their potential
If you do participate in a flash sale, ensure demand is tracked separately through your revenue management system for two reasons.
First, ensure that you can perform an appropriate post-mortem analysis on the success of the sale.  Did it result in incremental demand or displacement?  Would you want to participate again, under what conditions?
Second, ensure the integrity of your forecast.  During the sale, you may have guests redeeming vouchers well after the purchase decision has been made. Be particularly mindful of your booking curves during this period.  Once the sale is over and your property is back to “status quo,” automated solutions will need user input to understand that any resulting spikes in demand or uncharacteristic booking patterns are unlikely to be replicated.

Your competitive set is changing
For properties that rely heavily on transient business, some consumers may be just as likely to book their trip to Miami as they would to Los Angeles depending on where they can find the better deal.  When assessing your competitive set, you need to be mindful that flash sales are inherently steering some customers towards not just properties, but destinations as well.

Five Lessons Hoteliers Can Learn from Steve Jobs

Among his many accomplishments, Steve Jobs inspired the world to live creatively, expand boundaries, and continuously fuel the will to succeed. His journey—and his eagerness to share it with the public—stand as a foundation for all to build upon. Consistently quotable and incomparably wise, Coyle Hospitality Group presents five lessons the hotel industry can learn from Steve Jobs.

1. Guest experience trumps everything else. At its core, Jobs was about improving the user experience. That is why the guest experience should be the number one priority for any hotel. To optimize the guest (or user) experience, one must break down the criteria into their simplest forms, and challenge its value to the guest/user. Steve Jobs held focus and simplicity in the highest regard; he said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” Jobs started with simplicity to improve the end-user experience, and his idea directly translates to hotel guest experience. With clear, straightforward standards that are all about guest experience—and to measure it along the way—you can consistently make sure your staff is always, and reflexively looking out for #1: the guest.

2. Emphasize the importance of teamwork. Jobs said that “great things in business are never done by one person—they're done by a team of people.” In a hotel, teamwork is the backbone of the guest experience. Without excellent interdepartmental execution, the number of hotel incidents—from delivering an incorrect room service order to double-booking a room—skyrockets. Hotel employees are also continuously in the presence of a hotel’s guest, communicating meaningfully with them. If staff members and guest alike act like a team advocating for your hotel at all times, you will see improvements in guest loyalty, brand perception, and overall profit.

3. Details make all the difference. Jobs explained that if he “had never dropped in on [a calligraphy] course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts." He was the first person in the computer world to care about aesthetic details—small differences that actually matter to the user. Hotels naturally have a very diverse workforce, a veritable font of unique perspective and idea generation that can come in many forms. Additionally, a hotel guest’s experience is highly influenced by small, subjective aspects. Ambiance, guestroom touches, guest name use, and smiling are all small details that significantly alter the experience. Deliver these things authentically, and the offering will naturally be interesting and compelling.

4. Train employees to produce excellent quality, and hold them accountable for it. Jobs advised: "Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." Define what the superior product culture is—both tangibly and intangibly—and inspect it from every angle. Continuously train staff members to ensure guests are consistently experiencing that quality, and hold managers accountable. Expecting excellence and then measuring your organization’s dedication to that standard will make it difficult to miss the mark.

5. Learn from your mistakes. Jobs admitted that “getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to [him]…It freed [him] to enter one of the most creative periods of [his] life.” He was able to take a step back, analyze what went wrong, and create a plan for his future. He founded NeXT and bought Pixar before returning to Apple and making the company stronger than ever. In hotels, the mistakes are often behavioral and affect guests on a personal and emotional level. Quality assurance audits and mystery shopping will locate problem areas and provide an environment to practice on the evaluator. It is very hard to see oneself, and the biggest mistake of all is to lack a grasp of the perspective of the customer. The seemingly simple request at the front desk is more than likely an incredibly important moment of truth for the guest. See that from their perspective and it will be a mistake that is never repeated.

Coyle Hospitality Group is a market leader providing mystery shopping, quality assurance, and market research services exclusively to hospitality companies worldwide. For more information regarding Coyle’s mystery shopping programs, please contact us at 212-629-2083 ext. 106 or request information online.

19 (more) Social Media 2.0 tips

MEMPHIS, Tennessee—Social Media 2.0 involves more than just building a platform and watching it grow. Several experts participating in a panel held during the recent Southern Lodging Summit @ Memphis said the idea of advanced social media is to focus on the age-old art of conversation.

“We want to change, or at least lead, the conversation instead of following it,” said Jerry Stafford, regional director of revenue management, Davidson Hotels & Resorts.

Justin Holmerud, field marketing social media, mobile & video manager, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, said engaging social-media followers in conversation is the first step in establishing them as advocates for a hotel.

“Only 36% buy more after they become a fan,” he said. “These are the people who follow you. They read your Facebook posts. They get your e-mails. They read your tweets, but they don’t go further than that. They don’t engage with you on any level.

“The next step is the engagers who do comment, they interact, but where we want people to get is that advocacy stage,” he said. “If we can create advocates for your hotel or brands, they take your message, your Facebook presence, your Twitter feed, and they push that to their friends, who then push it up to their friends.”

“Ultimately, social media is all about is driving brand assistance and what we call co-creation,” said Chris Jackson, VP, GCommerce Solutions. “It’s working with your guests or potential guests and creating an experience and find what they’re looking for. Once you’ve created that with them, they feel they have some buy into your product feel they have some ownership, they’re more willing to talk about it, use it and share with their friends and family.

The panel went on to share 19 tips for second-level social-media programs.

Read “33 tips for effective social media platforms.”

1. Determine your purpose.
Jackson said it’s better to be purpose driven than channel focused. “Know what you are trying to achieve before trying to determine the channels you want to use to achieve it,” Jackson said.

A key to start the process is determining the hotel’s long-term sustainable competitive advantage—what sets it apart from the competition, according to Jackson.

Ted C. Raynor, attorney/mediator, Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC, said branded hotels should reach out to their brand leaders for guidelines to follow.

“But I do want to mention one caveat to that: If you start a Facebook page or Twitter, you must keep it up and use it at least daily,” Raynor said. “If you can’t do it on a daily basis, then my advice to you is don’t do it.”

2. It’s OK to use social media to learn about potential employees—just make sure you go about it the right way.
“When you’re talking to an applicant, it’s OK to screen them by looking at their Facebook page,” Raynor said. “You need to make sure your forms on your application include consent to get that kind of information. Your applicants can also friend you on a temporary basis so you can go out and look.”

Raynor said it’s extremely important to be up front about the process.

“Do not create any sort of false personas to look at applicants,” he said. “Don’t go through the back door if you have a friend or family member that might know the applicant. You really have to have that written policy, because if you don’t have a policy you can’t have any discipline against it. You can’t charge somebody for violating a company policy when you don’t have one.”

“Take a look at their Facebook page, take a look at what they’re Tweeting,” Jackson said. “It gives you some sense of who they are.”

3. Be an expert—know your locale.
One good strategy is to monitor message boards and respond to posters looking for information on the destination at which your property is located. With the right username and armed with good insight, you won’t need to hit visitors over their heads in regards to who you are—you’ll win them over by simply being a knowledgeable source.

4. Establish your voices.
Yes, that’s plural voices, not a singular one. There is a different customer on Twitter than there is following you on Facebook and Foursquare.

“They’re looking for different things; they’re talking in different ways,” Jackson said. “You need to understand that conversation, not shout at them necessarily, but participate in that conversation the same way that the group is participating in that conversation.”

5. Be positive, too!
Stafford said responding to negative and positive comments keeps guests from guessing.

“When you’re not responding, the guests consider you to be indifferent, and that means that they don’t know the good reviews are actually legitimate and they don’t know that the bad reviews are legitimate,” he said. “You need to respond to all comments.”

6. Be flexible.
There should be a Plan B, a Plan C, and so on—even though you might not know it yet.

“Social media is a dynamic situation; it’s constantly changing,” Jackson said. “All plans are made to be revised. So after you launch it, you’ve got to measure it and be prepared to adjust it.”

7. Understand the basics.
“Walk before you run,” Jackson said. “The review sites are really the biggest, most powerful form of social media in terms of influence. We find a lot of hotels will approach us and say, ‘We want a Facebook page.’ Well, you’ve got to start by first looking at your reviews, monitoring and responding before you can take the next leap of faith.”



8. Focus on the conversation.
Holmerud said hoteliers would be wise to consider “return on conversation” instead of “return on investment” when it comes to social media.

“That’s what social media is about—creating conversations,” he said. “There’s an opportunity for you to find that tweet, get in front of that guest and have the next conversion.”

“I don’t think we are ever going to be able to fully track return on investment for social media,” Jackson said. “How many times does that guest comes back, how many other people did they influence? I don’t know of any technology that’s out there to track that accurately; maybe in a year or two, but I don’t think it’s possible to measure the true return on investment.”

9. Know the details.
Raynor said managing the process of posting social-media messages is of the utmost importance. “You need to make sure these online conversations and media coverage are under your watchful eye,” he said. “Anything that is posted is not private. It’s not considered private, and usually it’s very, very difficult to erase and retreat from.”

He noted that Facebook recently issued major revisions to its privacy and promotions policies, and hoteliers should have someone responsible for knowing those policies.

10. Ask your followers what they want.
Jackson said hoteliers might think they know which is the best basketball package to put together, but why not ask your social-media followers?

“You can put it together and then come back to your fans, your followers and say, ‘we listened to you and here’s this package.’” Jackson said. “They feel like they’ve got some buy-in, some ownership of that. They’re going to want to participate in it. They’re going to want to share it.”

11. Don’t always be formal.
Stafford said it’s best to use “genuine language.”

“‘Thank you for responding…’ they don’t need that junk,” he said. “We all see that in spam and in our e-mail, spam, snail mail, and we understand what a form letter looks like, and nobody likes to get them. A customer doesn’t want to see it on a review site, so we need to make sure that we are talking in genuine language, something that’s personable.”

12. Take responsibility.
Even if there’s nothing a hotel could have done to change the outcome of a situation, a good mantra is to take responsibility for what caused it, Stafford said.

Stafford said most reasonable people understand that things don’t always go the way they want them to, so having a hotel own up to an issue’s cause can score some quality points in the guests’ eyes.

13. When using Foursquare, make sure the mayor of your hotel is not an employee. That just doesn’t sit well with other users.
“With Foursquare you can see who is checking and how often they’re checking in,” Holmerud said. “You are rewarding them for their loyalty, and that’s really what Foursquare is about, being able to monitor how loyal fans are. In the hotel industry we’re all about loyalty creation.”

14. Have a policy for what hotel representatives can give to positive and negative followers.
Call them ‘tweetie pies,’ ‘freebie mongers’ or any other name—they are the social-media users who complain and/or praise with the hopes that their shouts will be rewarded by the recipient of the message.

Tread carefully, but have a definite plan for such instances, Holmerud said.

“That’s our society,” he said. “They think we owe them something just because they’re engaging with us on a social level.”

The risk is that those users might respond negatively if they don’t get what they want, and hoteliers must weigh the ramifications of such a situation.

“Absolutely (have a policy about what you can give away to those types of posters) because you want to have some rules around how your team is communicating and how they’re managing these issues that are coming up, and they’re coming up constantly in the course of the day,” Raynor said.

15. Be unique.
Having a social-media program that simply churns out the latest special rates to all of the audiences just won’t cut it, Holmerud said.

“We’re all trying to drive heads in beds,” he said. “It’s a combination of having good contact and good conversations with your guests and creating content that has is engaging and mixed with some marketing essence. But it’s got to be unique.”

16. Don’t micromanage!
On the other side of the coin is not having anything to say. If that’s the case, the best course of action is to keep your fingers still.

“I get asked, ‘What do I do when I have nothing to say? What do I post?’” Holmerud said. “Well, nothing. You know, people aren’t going to miss you if you don’t post something for a week.

“As much as we’re talking about how you have to spend time doing it, it’s not something you have to micromanage 24 hours a day,” he said. “As long as you’re responding within the same day a comment comes in, I think that’s perfectly fine.”

17. Know there are costs.
Despite popular belief, having a social-media platform is not free. The biggest costs come with the time and personnel it takes to produce the content.

Every hotel has a different cost formula, but there is one common denominator regardless if it’s a college student, a front-desk clerk or senior manager manning the platform, according to Holmerud.

“You have to make time for it,” he said, adding that it’s not going to evolve into an automated process any time soon. “It’s talking to people. It’s really as simple as that. It’s not as complex as it seems.”

Jackson said the responsibilities should be shared.

“It is important that you’ve got a lot of contributors, but one administrator to make sure it is still on strategy, it’s on theme, it’s on brand, and that it meets all legal requirements and policies for your company,” he said.

Stafford said Davidson’s platform is property-directed and usually is headed by someone in convention services or a sales manager.

The first people to look to for potential social-media duty are those that have an interest in it in their personal lives. But be sure to have a thorough policy developed prior to starting a social-media platform, Raynor said.

“Do they speak for themselves or do they speak for the hotel?” he said. “You’ve got to be really careful because that message can be mixed.”

18. Consider adopting an identity for the hotel.
Jackson said his company worked with hotels that have adopted identities—an avatar or sorts—to help create a multi-faceted personality that allows multiple employees to be part of the platform.

“There’s a strategy, a theme and a tone behind that personality that everybody has to be behind,” Jackson said.

19. Establish a training program for long-term success.
Training is an essential element for all departments of a hotel, and social media is no different.

“The more channels you have, the more complicated it’s going to be,” Holmerud said. “Regardless of the number of resources you have dedicated to it, training is important because everyone is going to need it.”

Jackson said having multiple employees know the basics of social media is important. “If your social-media champion changes, how quickly can you get a new one up to speed?” he said, adding that advance training helps reduce that ramp-up time.

Be There

The greatest definition for concentration I ever heard is, "Wherever you are,be there!"

Things we build end up building us

If you go to work on your goals,your goals will go to work on you.If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you.Whatever good things we build end up building us.

Digital Marketing Tips

By Ryan Bifulco
As 2012 is quickly coming upon us we now realize the importance of digital marketing and advertising for hotels. However, many hotels do not have a large online presence and continue to remain skeptical about new media and Internet advertising. For those hotels that have yet to reap the benefits of online marketing programs-it is time to quickly reconsider your plans for this upcoming year:

Update Distribution. Partnering with people that produce results is a must. Doing this will allow you to grow your bookings through a combination of targeted banners, textlinks and emails. Flash sales are key to consider. As long as you approach it with a revenue management perspective you will feel the benefits.

Be consistent on your social networks. Having a social media presence is vital this coming year. It is not just about a having a Facebook and Twitter anymore, everyone already does. Look in to the numerous social networks out there and cross promote information so that you cover a wide audience. It is also about consistently updating and maintaining your accounts with information that matters to a key audience. This means at least 2 updates from Facebook and 8-20 tweets from Twitter per day, if you're not doing this you're missing out.

Create a focused and localized audience on social media. Generally speaking, people who come from out of town to stay at a hotel will not ever care about information coming daily from it. That is why when considering whom to build your social media following around, it is best to look for a localized audience. Does your hotel have a bar? A venue? A premium restaurant? Great! These are the types of things people in your city will care about and is a way your hotel can generate revenue through its amenities alone.

Use Digital PR. It used to be important to just have your hotel featured in the Sunday section of The New York Times. Today it's also vital to have your hotel show up on popular online sites like About.com, which coincidentally is owned by The New York Times and draws in 60 million unique users a month.

Refresh Your SEO Plan. SEO is constantly changing and many people think that this is something that you can do on your own. The truth is, it's not. There is heavier competition on the web than ever before and if you want your hotel's page to wind up first on Google, you're going to need a professional.

Update photos and have HD video footage. Customers want a visual experience when they visit your site. This is not only beneficial for your homepage but can help your social media accounts as well. Guests book with their eyes so make sure you are giving them something good to look at.

Package your hotel with real value. Many times guests don't buy in much to package deals because there is not much of a deal. Now that there is a million different daily deal sites people expect a great value, so now is not the time to be stingy.

Marketing your social media within the hotel is just as important as marketing it online. Guests who normally do not spend a lot of time online may be more inclined to ‘like' your Facebook page for a special offer if they see some type of signage in the front lobby. Why not take the extra step to add a QR code as well for the smart phone savvy guests?

Monitor your social media through these sites: ReviewPro, TrustYou and Revinate. These days a company cannot survive without great online reviews and the good grace of word of mouth. It is important to know what people are saying, where they are saying it and how to fix any problems that arise. It would involve someone working a full-time job to scan and monitor the countless number of online outlets where guests can rant and rave about your hotel online. However, even then, there is no way to catch them all. These three sites bring all the reviews to one place and give you an easy assessment of your online reviews.

Make use of mobile technology. Mobile does not just mean apps anymore. A lot of specialty apps may only get used once, so not every hotel needs an individual mobile application. Take advantage of having an account on Four Square so that guests can virtually check in.

Don't run banner ads unless you can track view through bookings. For every conversion or booking that is tracked from a direct click, some advertisers can see 10 times more bookings from view-thru conversions. That happens when a user sees your banner but does not click it. Then 3 or 7 or even 29 days later the user will visit your site directly and book with you. In one case study by Online Performance Marketing, a client saw 54 conversions from direct clicks, but then saw an additional 310 conversions from view-thrus, all from people that saw the banner but did not click initially!

Develop a digital strategy. Brainstorm with your team and work with experts to understand how to tie all these things together in a way that fits your brand. The items listed above are all related and must be harnessed together to really get ahead.

New Year's Resolution for Hoteliers

Dec 30, 11 | 12:09 am


By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.lma.ca)

Do you believe in New Year's resolutions? Have you ever made any? Moreover, have you ever stuck to them?  Here is a list for hoteliers I've complied that I hope you'll consider adding to your own for the upcoming year.

I will try to use less online ‘flash' sale programs. Everyone knows they work at delivering occupancy, but at what cost to your core customer base and brand value strategy? Commit to building your occupancies properly with well-founded yield management strategies.

I promise to reduce my reliance on OTAs, focusing more on business generated through my (or my chain's) website. Remember, OTA customers are not your customers. The goal is to secure your own customers for re-marketing purposes, let alone the yield enhancements that come from direct bookings.

I will respond to every TripAdvisor rating within 24 hours. Good, bad or ugly, I will ensure that everyone knows we are proactively monitoring this source of feedback with a goal of continuous product/service improvement.

I will become even more technologically savvy. True, a GM has to be a people person, confident in communicating one-on-one with guests and staff. But at the same time, the GM has to recognize and embrace the need to keep fully abreast of technological innovation.

I will not slash my advertising budget at the first sign of despair. Far too often, panic sets in after the first quarter results. The immediate target is often the marketing budget. After all, when cutting advertising, no one loses their job, and no one really knows how advertising works, right? Wrong! There is a direct correlation between your marketing spending and guest volume. Advertising is the gasoline that fuels your marketing engine. Chopping spending ultimately leads to further volume reductions down the road.

I will use my planning committee team's time wisely. Recognizing that the time spent in meetings is time away from the business and the guest, I agree to reduce the number of meetings and the time spent in those meetings by expertly pre-planning and scheduling.

I will let my competitive set and market dynamics determine group rates. The goal is to deliver the appropriate groups occupancy target. To do so, your will have to ensure that your group rates are in keeping with the marketplace. Remember, without a group base, the ability to achieve your targeted occupancy will significantly compromise FIT segment rate goals.

I will participate more in CVB activities. GMs recognize that they are goodwill ambassadors for their property. The need for visibility outside of the property grows with the value of their property. Delegate or participate with your convention and visitors bureau appropriately.

I will support the future of our industry through the hiring of interns and providing them with meaningful assignments. Do this by aligning your property with local hotel schools at the junior college or university level. Ensure that there is at least one intern working on property at all times. Choose interns in a variety of areas such as rooms, F&B, sales and marketing. Give them suitable training and feedback. If you don't pay your interns, reward them at the completion of their internship with appropriate cash or compensation in kind.

I will personally attend at least one general industry event this coming year. HSMAI, AL&HA, HAC, MWLA - take your pick, but do not delegate this. You need to keep yourself in the loop by touring the exhibits, listening to educational speakers and getting a pulse on what's going on outside of your own property.

I will eat lunch at least once a month in the company cafeteria with my team. And, if the lunch is unsatisfactory, I will appropriately chastise my F&B director to ensure that my team is well fed. I will use this time to mutually share news with my staff and to receive suggestions as to how we can enhance the property in the future.

I will reward all members of my team for the success that we will achieve. The rewards will be clearly identified within the budget framework and fully committed to by ownership in advance. Progress towards delivery of these targets will be outlined to all members of the team on a continuous basis. And we will succeed!

"Sweat Glands"

"Success is dependent upon the glands - sweat glands.”

"Sucesso é dependente de glândulas - glândulas de suor".

The Ten Most Annoying Managment Sayings

We are nearly at the end of 2011 and another year of mayhem behind. We will be judging our 2011 Non-Predictions and trying to dream up some new ones for 2012 in the next fortnight or so but this week we have been able to get some long needed admin done.
With it came a realisation that even if the financial industry is suffering, the creative management community has been in full swing dreaming up new terms and phrases to camouflage the blindingly obvious.
The evolution of ‘management speak’ means some phrases die and some survive and flourish. TMM really doesn't know what determines the success of one term or phrase over another other than, as with the arts, adoption and patronage by the most respected in the field. TMM hope that this year’s rash of newcomers all die off naturally but we would like to help with a shove into their deserved obscurity.

TMM have noticed that every cause nowadays needs an "Awareness" campaign and though we feel that "doing" is of much greater importance than "awaring," we will go along with the fashion and launch a Management Talk Awareness Week with the list of phrases and terms we have found most irksome this year.

So here are TMM's top ten annoying phrases of 2011 (even if some are older) that we would like to see the back of.

10 - Internalise - As in "What you have all failed to internalise is that there has been a paradigm shift. As a result you are all now behind the curve when it comes to the multi-lateral interoperability needed to realise the supra-organisational mission statement.” Even though there is an awful lot to detest in that statement "Internalise" is the word we most object to. It appears to just means learn or remember but as telling someone to learn or remember something appears instructive, suggesting they internalise it will sound more empathetic, but at the severe cost of sounding like a clone-monkey.

9 - Hi, I hope all is well - With the birth of the email there came an awkward period when the formality of letters, with their "Dear Sir / Yours sincerely" had to be detuned to fit in with the new immediacy and informality. After a stuttering start the world passed through an embarrassed joint squirm and settled on "Hi" for anything other than legal representations. But 2011 has seen a pernicious ingress of a new form of insincerity with the addition of "I hope all is well" to the "Hi". Rather than questioning either the validity or sincerity of that statement, we would just ask that the bulk senders of such missives consider where they are sent to, as for many recipients things are blindingly obviously not well. We suggest the only time this greeting is appropriate is when addressed to bore-hole companies.

8 - Weaponise price opacity - As the scarcity of new Himalayan Pink Salt in the financial market takes its toll on the bottom lines of financial institutions it is becoming more important for them to make sure that they maximise the profitability of existing basic products. Opacity of price is critical in this process but weaponising it? Wow.

7 - Ideation - What happened to good old "have a think" or "come up with some ideas"? Even running things up flag poles is less irksome than "ideation" which sounds as though it should involve radioactive iodine.

6 - Stakeholder Community - Not a Transylvanian village but the new plural of stakeholder. Theoretically a stakeholder is anyone who can affect, or is impacted by, your decisions and so could be a lowly minion in your company, but deference only ever seems to be made to "stakeholders" when they are either your bosses, investors or regulators. Please let's call them who they really are.

5 - Socialise - When issues got out of hand in the old days you would normally either just tell the boss, or perhaps "take it upstairs." But now a cunning adaptation of the old mantra of "My profit, our loss" has invoked a caring sharing attitude to screw-ups by "socialising" them. As in "I think we should socialise this issue with senior management and the stakeholder community."

4 - Complementary - Odd one this, and it's really down to our own stupidity, but we have regularly opened emails this year expecting some nice free service only to re-read it and find it's not "complimentary" but something expensive and homeopathic. We expect the marketing world to soon be jumping on this and emailing multitudes of complementary not-at-all-free offers. Such as Ryan-Air offering "Complementary Flights" which sound as though they are free but are actually expensive and just "complement" what a decent service should be by being dreadful. Or have they done that already? "Complementary" should be banned from subject lines so that the vaguely dyslexic amongst us shouldn't be taken advantage of.

3 - Bandwidth - The adoption of IT geeky words into mainstream fashion is nothing new but the latest over-usage of "Bandwidth" by management is particularly grating. Just as "spending more time with my family" has become the acceptable expression of "Just been fired/stiffed/shafted/backstabbed/found out but have photos" so has "I'm sorry I can't action that, I don't have the bandwidth” become the generic replacement for "I don't have the time/resources/authority or inclination." But the saddest part is the way it's used under the false allusion that "bandwidth" is new and fashionable. Our grandmothers, thanks to broadband adverts and home routers, know what bandwidth is so please, unless you are the type of person who still uses "groovy" in the boardroom, please drop "bandwidth."

2 - Geosourcing - Why you lose your job to someone in a different part of the world. "The support function has been geosourced" or "How's the front office geosourcing project going?” It's the sharp end of a simple belief of ours that if there is someone able and willing to do your job for less than you, you are toast. But the use of "geo," which has connotations of environmental friendliness married to "source," which conjures images of babbling fresh springs in the mountains, results in a super-eco word which actually means "You're fired."

1 - Reaching out - TMM first came across 2011's winning term in July and since then it has spread like wildfire, which has us looking like Irish Riverdancers as we try to stamp it out as fast as we can. The origins and epidemiology of this disease has us suspecting it's the product of some Class of 2011 Management School somewhere. It really is complete and utter rubbish. If you are about to call an investor for some documents you don't "reach out to the client," you phone or mail them. If you want to know why a trade hasn't settled you don't "Reach out to Bangalore" you "call back-office." So let's just kill that one right now before someone gets accused of molestation.

And with that we open up "Management Talk Awareness Week." We are sure you all have your own experiences to share and we look forward to the comments column acting as a joint cognitive pan-cohesual empathy forum leading to textualisation of common goal and achievement recognition programs.

Happy New Year.

5 leadership tips for 2012

Mike Myatt, Contributor
Leadership advisor to CEOs & Boards, and author of Leadership Matters

5 Leadership Tips for 2012
 
With only a few days left until we usher in the New Year, you’re going to be bombarded with lists of things to do and not to do. Most of them will contain the same tired rhetoric from years past. These lists du jour will simply rehash and spin items from prior years while offering little new in the way of helpful thought. I wanted to give readers 5 key items to focus on if they’re serious about becoming better leaders in 2012 – my holiday gift to you.

There are lots of things I could have included on my list, so many will probably wonder how I chose the following 5 items. The following list contains the 5 items (6 including my bonus selection), which I’ve personally chosen to focus on (pursue) in the upcoming year:

Family: I’m going to approach this topic a bit differently than many – If you’re struggling with the family balance thing my advice is simple: don’t attempt to balance your family – make them your priority. I’ve simply lived too long to buy into the myth that success in the workplace will create happiness at home. While it makes for a nice sound bite to console those with a guilty conscience, IT IS A LIE. If your business is growing, but your spouse is crying and your children are neglected, it’s time to do a reality check on your priorities. If your assistant respects you, but your spouse doesn’t you have serious issues that need your immediate attention. If you would rather spend time with your online “friends” than with your children, it’s time to pull the ripcord on your internet connection. Here’s the cold hard truth…if you cheat your family to invest into your career, you and your loved ones will pay a very heavy price. It is simply wrong to value your workplace commitments over your family commitments – moreover it’s not necessary. If your focus is on your family, your career won’t suffer, it will flourish. Get this wrong and not only will your family suffer, but so will you as you someday mourn the loss of what could have been, but cannot be recovered.

White Space: While the mind of a leader may be most comfortable being oriented toward the future, he/she can only act in the here and now. The knowledge and skills required to master any endeavor only happens when we focus on what we’re currently doing. This is the definition of presence, and it is only when we operate in the present that real creativity, growth and innovation occur. The problem with being present is that many leaders confuse this with having to do everything themselves. Have you ever interacted with somone who deals with silence by jumping in and filling the conversational void? This same thing occurs with executives who attempt to fill every open slot on the calendar with activity – this is a huge mistake. Smart leaders don’t fill their calenders with useless activities, they strategically plan for white space allowing them to focus on highest and best use endeavors. Leading doesn’t always mean doing. In fact, most often times it means pulling back and creating white space so that others can do. This is true leadership that scales.

Listening: Want to become a better leader? Stop talking and start listening. Being a leader should not be viewed as a license to increase the volume of rhetoric. Rather astute leaders know there is far more to be gained by surrendering the floor than by dominating it. In this age of instant communication everyone seems to be in such a rush to communicate what’s on their mind, they fail to realize the value of everything that can be gleaned from the minds of others. Show me a leader who doesn’t recognize the value of listening to others and I’ll show you a train-wreck in the making.

Unlearning: I’ve believed for quite sometime the most profound and commonly overlooked aspect of learning is recognizing the necessity of unlearning. We’ve all acquired knowledge, beliefs or positions that but for the protection of our ego, would easily admit are outdated. I can think of no better definition for a closed mind than someone unwilling to change their opinions. Smart leaders recognize it’s much more valuable to step across mental lines in the sand than to draw them. Here’s the thing: No one has all the answers, so why even attempt to pretend that you do? Show me a person that never changes their mind, and I’ll show you a static thinker who has sentenced his mind to a prison of mediocrity and wasted potential. If the world is constantly changing, if the marketplace is always evolving, if the minds of others are continuously developing, how can you attempt to be unchanging and still be relevant? The smartest people I know are the most willing to change their minds. They don’t want to be right, they want the right outcome — they want to learn, grow, develop, and mature. Subjecting yourself to dissenting opinion allows you to refine your good ideas, weed out the bad ideas and acquire new ideas. Moreover, it’s the ability to evolve and to nuance thinking that leads to the change and innovation your organization needs to survive. Leaders and their ability to change their mind demonstrates humility, confidence and maturity. It makes them approachable, and it makes them human. People are looking for authentic, transparent leaders willing to sacrifice their ego in favor of right thinking.

Engagement: Leadership isn’t about you – it’s about those whom you lead and serve. There are few things as limiting and frustrating as disconnected leaders. Smart leaders spend their time starting or advancing conversations, not avoiding or ending them. The more you engage others, the better leader you’ll become. It’s nearly impossible to engender the type of confidence, trust, and loyalty a leader must possess without being fully engaged. In person, over the phone, via email, through the social web, or even by sending a good old fashion thank you note – ENGAGE.

* Bonus item – Read: There are few things which impact your thought life more than what you read. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I plan to continue this pursuit in 2012. I read more than 70 books in 2011, and plan to read more than 100 books in 2012. To the person, the best leaders I know are prolific readers. My message today is a simple one – if you want to improve your station in life, as well as the lives around you – read more. The greatest leaders throughout history have been nothing short of relentless in their pursuit of knowledge. I believe Michelangelo said it best when he uttered the words “Ancora Imparo” which when translated from the Italian means “I am still learning.” By the way, his first public use of this phrase was noted to have been on his 87th Birthday. I don’t know about you, but I’m still learning (and unlearning). Moreover, the day I stop reading, the day I stop learning – that’s the day I stop leading, and likely the day I stop breathing.
Many will criticize my selections as not being comprehensive, or lacking certain elements they feel constitute a critical omission. That’s okay – it’s my list. That said, now’s your chance to get off the sidelines and add your contribution by sharing your thoughts in the comments below. The best contribution (as chosen by me) will win a free autographed copy of my book Leadership Matters.

Tailor-make the attitudes

 “You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations”

"Você não pode alfaiate-fazer as situações na vida, mas você pode tailor-Verifique as atitudes para ajustar essas situações"

Time is more valuable

Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you can't get more time

Say Instead

Don't say,"If I could ,I would."Say instead,"If I can,I will.

Five new must-have green trends

Five New Must-have Green Trends
By Roger G. Hill , Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, The Gettys Group Inc.
Today’s world finds a growing trend with hospitality designers to commit to, and educate themselves as LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professionals. As leaders in the industry, sustainable design practices are becoming common place in pursuing Green Design; creating value, reducing risk and solving problems for their clients as each of them become aware of their social and environmental responsibility. The collective goal is to promote the well being and business success through a comprehensive and collaborative approach, generating distinctive style and driving long term investment returns. The ultimate aspiration of green design is for each project and development site to reasonably sustain itself while neither depleting nor contaminating natural resources or their environmental footprint while striving to give back to the community by providing local support. In pursuit of these goals the expectation is to be seamless execution with the maximum rewards.
Globally, the hospitality industry is at the threshold of an amazing opportunity; breaking ground by offering owners and consumers more environmentally sensitive hotel and resort options while truly maintaining brand identity. The time has come for developers, owners and property managers to implement responsible sustainable practices in managing and measuring performances. These options, vary whether renovation or new construction and are dependent on what region of the globe, are being implemented and provided at a substantially lower cost than the original perception; a nominal 5%-10% increase in initial investment. With demand comes supply!
The new trends for green design reflect the ongoing challenges being addressed by architects, designers, engineers, developers and hoteliers alike throughout the hospitality and lodging industries.
We must have green design as the norm NOT the exception; sustainability is no longer just an option but it is fast becoming the standard for which buildings are designed.

With the increase of green-educated owners, clients, guests and communities, an escalated level of consciousness is expected from all design professionals. This holds true for all development types resulting in overall cost savings during construction, operations and ultimately the life span of the project. The crowning goal is an increasing awareness and conservation of the environment.
We must have biomimicry; the use of nature as a guide and mentor to advance design.

It is the increasing model for which all sustainable designs are being developed. We look to nature to lead us while designing. This is being accomplished by creating more efficient manmade systems, enhancing the chemical properties of new products and materials and producing a more cyclical, self-sustaining process of building. To date there are numerous examples that exist in the marketplace or are underdevelopment. For instance nano-technology is the science by which we change the chemical properties of materials at the atomic and molecular level. Some successes are self cleaning paints, photo sensitive and thermal glass and inherently moisture, stain and bacterial repellant textiles.
We must have reduction in consumption; both in water and energy.

New advancements in the technology of individual buildings’ mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems have made this possible. The net result is maximum efficiencies, cost savings, both during construction as well as once the property is operational, and a decreased environmental impact to every project. Monitoring sensors are one of the most significant features used today. They contribute to controlling air flow, ventilation and water utilization depending on the application or building system. Concerning plumbing systems we have temperature, water flow rate and volume controls at both the building and end-user levels. Regarding electrical management, controlling power consumption is greatly affected by both overall building examination and monitoring as well as individual area controls, with the specific use of low-cost efficient LED & CFL lamping in conjunction with the advanced controls in regulating natural and electronic light.
We must have alternative materials and resources; stemming from recycled, natural and rapidly renewable products.

Great advancements have been made in the area of textiles. We find that new fibers are being developed from natural bamboo and hemp, becoming as prevalent as cottons, wools and linens, materials which are more commonly known and used since the inception of applied design. Reclaimed and recycled materials such a wood, glass and natural stone are successfully being utilized as interior finish materials. Many building products and interior finishes such as structural steel, porcelain tile and carpet are being designed to have a continual life-cycle. At the end of their use cycle, they are regenerated into new product and are consequently being selected, specified and installed on new projects. Paper and plastic products, although many are already made from wood bi-products or post consumer recycled materials, are also being produced from vegetables like corn and potato, all of which are bio-degradable.
We must have local sourcing; regionally grown and produced products and services.

Renewed interest in regional businesses such as fabricators, installers, entrepreneurial artisans and craftsmen results in a boost to the local economy and infrastructure. Most notably, restauranteurs are increasingly incorporating indigenous meats, vegetables, fruits and condiments into their cuisine, resulting in tastier, fresher, more creative and interesting fare. In addition, local sourcing minimizes transportation efforts and costs, benefiting both services and consumers.
A recent example of successful Green Design is the Hotel Felix, designed by Gettys - the global interior design firm specializing in hospitality. The Hotel Felix is credited as the first successful LEED Silver hotel in the city of Chicago; located in the heart of the North River neighborhood, it is an eighty year old historic Beaux Arts property ignored for more than fifty years. It has been transformed into an upscale two hundred and twenty five guest room boutique hotel. Considered the ultimate in recycling, the building itself maintains its original terra cotta and brick façade while the luxurious interiors are complimentary with its crisp, clean and renewed aesthetic. The eco-friendly renovation included the modernization of the building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. Guest rooms, public spaces and back of house areas are all on motion and occupancy sensors greatly contributing to the total automation and efficiency of the property. Evident from the buildings approach and continuing into the welcoming lobby, reception and up to the finely appointed guest suites the use of recycled glass tile, bamboo floors, low VOC finishes and FSC certified wood maximize the importance of being environmentally sensitive. A continuing contribution to the community by the hotel’s management and operations team is the implementation of a successful ‘recycle program’ practiced by all staff and guests alike. What can be recycled is recycled! Although The Felix Hotel renovation presented many complex design and implementation challenges, the Gettys design, development and procurement team accomplished its goal; a successful project which embodies the essence of Green Design.
As evident with the success of the Hotel Felix renovation, green design can be implemented with the same level of quality and durability, if not better than the more conventional, non-sustainable design of the past. Interior spaces can successfully feature beautiful materials and high-end design without sacrificing quality. As sustainability confronts the mainstream through media, consumers are demanding more environmentally friendly, reduced impact, travel destination choices. It is through the perpetual education and global understanding by all of us, as consumers, that will promote what it is to be truly green from a construction perspective as well as an operational and design perspective.
Green design is sexy. Green design is smart. It translates into luxurious design, be it ultra contemporary, high style or traditional and no longer means compromise. It transcends all styles and does not have to be raw, unrefined or primitive. It is about the careful, selective process and application of sustainable practices, concepts and materials, achieving sophisticated designs that are beneficial to the client, the community, and the environment.
Nearly 25 years ago, Roger Hill co-founded Gettys, a Top 10 hospitality interior design, procurement and development firm. Under his leadership, Gettys has grown to a global team of business-minded professionals who specialize in hotels, resorts, spas, casinos and mixed-used developments the world over. A respected industry veteran, he is frequently called upon by hospitality and business media outlets to provide insight into the redevelopment, renovation, and repositioning of hotels. A graduate of Cornell University, Roger has served as an appointed delegate for the White House Conference on Small Business, and is a member of ULI, YPO and ISHC. Mr. Hill can be contacted at 312-836-1111 or info@gettys.com

Does your pricing strategy measure up?

Online Bookings: Does Your Pricing Strategy Measure Up?
By Jean Francois Mourier, Founder & CEO, RevPar Guru Inc.
It seems like yesterday that a hotel's overall pricing strategy had to take into account two (or, at the most, three) relatively straightforward sales channels: direct, travel agents, and, in the case of larger chains, a global distribution system (GDS). With limited options for inventory distribution, pricing and forecasting were also limited. Travel agents needed published rates many months in advance, as did the advertisements that drove direct sales. GDSs had (and have) a bit more latitude- by aggregating room inventory across an entire chain or franchise network, occupancy-based pricing is more feasible- but GDS rate changes are still made in days, not hours or minutes.
Then, of course, the internet showed up. And just as it changed all of our lives, the rise of the online marketplace marked a fundamental shift in the way hotels sold their rooms.
Hotels are now faced with a myriad of sales channels. Add online travel agencies (OTAs) to flesh-and-blood agents, an individual hotel website to the direct channel (which was dominated by phone bookings, pre-internet) and third-party room aggregators to global distribution systems, and you have a daunting range of available avenues for room sales.
Today, the unquestioned growth leader among these channels is online. More than 44% of all room sales are completed online, a figure which is expected to grow to 57% next year. The online market for hotels is projected to exceed $65 billion in the US by 2010. Clearly, the current size and future potential of this channel demands an innovative pricing strategy to match it. Yet many hotels, while embracing certain aspects of the online revolution, nonetheless maintain a traditional pricing structure.
Why is this? The short answer is, because traditional pricing has always worked. Hotels have always employed smart men and women to determine the equilibrium between what a guest is willing to pay and what a room is worth, and to achieve the fine balance of occupancy, rate and operating margin that results in positive revenue per available room (revPAR). Complex formulas have been conceptualized and implemented to govern these variables, and courses at hotel schools from Ithaca to Las Vegas are dedicated to developing sound strategies for hotel profitability.
But the game has changed. The online marketplace moves at the speed of electrons and revenue managers need a sophisticated and fully automated system that will help keep up with the pace and update the rates continuously, in real-time. The most elegant calculus can't predict the permutations of occupancy from three months out. And as the current market has (painfully) reminded us, the only constant is change.
The only solution for optimizing both revPAR and occupancy is a comprehensive revenue management system that features automation and real-time updates, and leverages the tremendous information transparency currently available in the internet age. Considering all of that, how does your pricing strategy measure up?
Reactive vs Proactive
Traditional pricing is, at its core, only reactive. It's a reaction to historical norms, to forecasted occupancy rates, to seasonal changes and to perceived changes in the marketplace. Of course, all pricing methodologies share these characteristics; they are inarguably useful, and integral to any pricing process. But traditional pricing does not use all of the information available. At the end of the day, it cannot marry the proactive and reactive characteristics necessary to optimize both revPAR and occupancy.
Room rates determine, in large part, the very top line of a hotel's p&l. Maintaining the appropriate rate is paramount to sustainable financial success. Too often, particularly in a challenging environment such as the one we're in right now, a traditional pricing strategy will react to soft demand with deep discounting in an effort to increase occupancy rates... but this is a purely reactive action. Instead, hotels should build the right kind of reactionary action into a proactive plan. This may sound like doublespeak, but a system that reacts to moment-by-moment changes in demand and occupancy levels, as a dynamic pricing system does, is, in fact, more proactive than a 'manual' system that reacts after the fact.
Historical pricing is history
Basing rates on occupancy levels from last year (or last quarter, or last season) is a time honored technique, but one that in inherently limited in its scope. If the current economic situation has taught us anything, it's that year-to-year projections can easily be undercut by unforeseen events. To use an extreme example from a particularly hard-hit market, the Baltimore Convention Center Hilton had initially projected a revPAR of $112.57 in 2008; the actual figure came in at $68.46. This shortcoming is not limited to large-scale crises either. In boom times, hotels that relied exclusively on data from the year prior probably sold their rooms slightly short, missing out on a crucial revenue bump their competitors might have capitalized on.
Historical or seasonal rate setting- by itself- is dangerously myopic. Instead, these techniques should be integrated into a comprehensive pricing strategy, one that leverages the strengths of the online channel rather than functioning despite the rapid changes facilitated by online sales. The place for historical and seasonal rate setting is in establishing a baseline, not governing the pricing strategy altogether.
What is dynamic pricing?
Dynamic pricing provides the answer to the occupancy vs profit margin dilemma by allocating price points to the demand in real time; in other words, balancing what the market wants with what it's willing to pay. It's a tool by which hoteliers can reach a natural equilibrium point in their given market and also within each individual booking transaction.
In terms of hotel rooms, which are inherently perishable, achieving this equilibrium is critical for hotels to remain profitable (or even surviving) in a demand-depressed economy. Good revenue management systems use information transparency- the relative ease with which pricing data is obtained from hotels in a client's competitive set along with demand data from multiple sales channels- to optimize pricing on a moment-by-moment basis.
Dynamic pricing isn't new, but it's been updated to reflect the speed of consumer's purchasing decisions. Automated pricing programs and revenue management systems allow hotels to manage multiple sales channels more efficiently. This allows consumers a wider array of pricing options, effectively passing the savings onto the consumer.
Managing multiple sales channels
With an intense focus on the online channel, which, as trends suggest, is absolutely necessary, other sales channels can fall by the wayside. This is not acceptable. A good revenue management system must be integrated into all sales channels, and, ideally, into all major systems in a hotel. What good is an RMS that cannot take into account room sales made by live travel agents, or reservations taken via phone through an in-house department? (On another note, how useful is an RMS that can't communicate with a property operation and management (POM) system? But that's for another story.) A solid pricing strategy or RMS must be able to consider all of the applicable sale channels, and translate the information gleaned from them into real-time pricing updates.
Pricing strategies in an online-dominated, demand-depressed operating environment must be innovative, up-to-date, and extraordinarily effective. They cannot be based on antiquated practices- though they can, and should, incorporate the best aspects of traditional pricing tactics- and they cannot be limited by lack of automation. The best way to achieve a strong pricing strategy in today's market is to utilize a robust, comprehensive revenue management system.
Jean Francois Mourier arrived in South Florida in 2003 after a career in Europe as a trader, financial analyst and director for a number of firms including Merrill Lynch and ING Barings. He joined a small Miami Beach hotel management firm as a financial analyst. he revamped the company’s revenue management methods, with dramatic results. In 2007, along with his colleague Bruno Perez, Mourier founded RevPar Guru to provide the Yield Dynamic Price Engine, an integrated revenue management and pricing solution, to others in the hospitality industry. Mr. Mourier can be contacted at 786-478-3500 or clientservices@revparguru.com

From social brands to social business

By Michael Brito

Many organizations today spend a lot of time, resources and financial investment trying to understand the social landscape and engaging externally their customers and prospects. They are on a quest to become a social brand. They are investing in Facebook applications, branded communities and blogs; and many are using online monitoring solutions to listen and see what people are saying about the brand. And, from this perspective, many companies today are doing a decent job.

Friends, fans and followers are important, yes. And brands increase their social equity by engaging in two-way dialogue with their constituency, yes. And transparency is key to these external engagements, yes. And while many organizations are trying desperately to humanize their brand, they are failing to understand that they need to humanize their business first.

And thereby lies the business challenge for many organizations today. Years ago with the expansion of Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks; and as the influence of the social customer became apparent to everyone, companies of all sizes and in every vertical began to “join the conversation.” It was not only an expectation from customers that companies engaged with them but also from social influencers who enjoyed playing Monday morning quarterback and often criticized brands for every customer action/inaction.

And companies listened. In response to the social customer and the growing criticism from the masses, organizations are now aggressively hiring community managers and social strategists, allocating budgets to social media, hiring social media agencies, integrating social media into other areas of paid media and doing their best at community engagement. They are doing everything a "good" social brand should be doing.

But a good social brand causes problems behind the firewall.

From the outside looking in, most wouldn’t recognize and understand the challenges that social media has created in the enterprise. The anarchy, conflict, confusion of roles and responsibilities, lack of communication and collaboration; and organizational silos that exist behind the firewall is not visible. These challenges make the process of becoming an effective social brand much more difficult and less effective. So for many organizations, this quest to becoming a social brand and a social business is one of a simultaneous effort.

Obnoxious Act

"Every obnoxious act is a cry for help.”

"Todo ato desagradável é um grito de socorro".