After the blur of traveling to six cities in March, I was glad to see my travel schedule ease-up a bit for April. Aside from some regional sales calls, my only official trip brought me back to Duck, NC to once again work with Twiddy & Co., who is fast becoming our poster-child for reservations sales success. This being my third trip back after already conducting two rounds of reservations sales and e-mail sales workshops, I was very anxious to hear how things were progressing. It was really great to hear the good news from Jon Summerton, their VP of Operations, that they had been significantly increasing booking pace every month so far this year. Whereas they reported being about 25% behind booking pace for the summer 2009 season last December when we first started conducting the training and mystery shopping, through a lot of hard work on all levels they had amazingly drawn within striking distance of pace vs, last year. This was especially great news since I’ve grown quite attached to this client company and the wonderful people there. (By the way, if you're looking for a unique vacation opportunity this summer I would definitely suggest visiting them online at: www.Twiddy.com

This time I was there to conduct the hospitality and guest service training which was to be attended by the whole company, including housekeeping, maintenance, accounting, homeowner services, and of course the front desk reception team. It was really a great couple of days seeing so many familiar faces and also meeting some new ones. Below are some pictures from my trip. The first one is with their rental manager and supervisors who worked so very diligently to coach, train, and fully optimize their team (left to right): Lori, Linda Flannery (Rental Manager), Joanne, and Sara. 

                                              

Here’s a picture of me with some of my favorite participants (from left): Brooke, Courtney, Sara, Melanie, Jennie and Kristie.

                                      

Ron from maintainence was a little making it out for our first picture, so he got to do his very own photo shoot, which something tells me he must have really enjoyed!

                                      

Other than my week in NC, it was great to spend the rest of the month training our own new staff at KTN, as our little mystery shopping business is really growing now and we needed to add several new positions.  During this time in the office we were also able to forge ahead with our International expansion plans in Europe and elsehwere. 

It was also really great to be in town for some important school events. I got to see my son Adam earn a "Kids of Character" award and also my daughter Julia get another A Honor Roll recognition. I was also very happy to be in town for the annual Hollywood Hills Elementary Field Days event. Here are pictures of me with Adam and Julia that day:

                                                

                                                

                                                  

After returning from my long trip to Brazil, it was good to have the rest of February off the road, especially as I looked ahead to my extensive travel schedule for March.  My travels for the month began on the very first day of March when my alarm went off at 3:45am for my day-trip to Raleigh, NC, where I was to be a keynote speaker for the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association’s annual conference.  I normally would have flown up the night before for such an engagement, but since my presentation wasn’t until 3:20pm I decided to save the association some lodging costs and to fly in and out of Raleigh on the same day. Although I usually check the weather channel before my trips, especially this time of year, it was a late night with Cathy and the kids and I never go around to doing so. Sometimes ignorance is bliss though, as had I checked I would have found about the major snow and ice storm converging on Raleigh!

About 5:20am while seated comfortably in my Delta flight to Atlanta, where I would connect on to Raleigh, I decided to take a quick peek at my Blackberry before dozing off for the flight.  That’s when I saw the message about my return flight that same evening being rescheduled for the same time – tomorrow evening!  Since I had no clothes nor toiletries, I knew this just wouldn’t work.  With the boarding door closing, I had just enough time to find learn out about the approach storming on the mobile-phone Internet.  Of all my travel essentials, my “estimated driving time” map has perhaps proven to be the most invaluable, and it certainly was that day as I immediately began thinking of alternate airports.

When we landed in Atlanta and I headed straight for the terminal monitors only to find that all three of the remaining flights to Raleigh were canceled!  Thanks to my well-worn driving distance map, I knew Greensboro was only 70 minutes away; seeing a flight departing for there in 30 minutes I bypassed the usual re-ticketing desk and instead grabbed one of the last seats.  Upon arrival I headed straight to Delta counter to see about my return flight, which was now postponed 24 hours.  Spiderman has his Spidey Senses, but Doug Kennedy as his travel angels which delivered me to a very nice Delta Airlines agent who was patient enough to check every possible option, including other airlines.  I couldn’t believe it when she came up with an AA non-stop back to Miami – close enough for a cab ride home – which was rare from a smaller airport like Raleigh.  (When I later heard how many passengers were stranded in Atlanta, Charlotte and elsewhere in the ice storm that night I felt even more fortunate to have made it home.)

With the travel stress now behind me, I headed over to the Marriott Raleigh Convention CenterlaceType> for the NC Restaurant & Lodging Association’s annual conference I was feeling much better now.  This conference was a special event, as it for was the first since the Restaurant and Lodging associations had merged.  Despite the late time slot on a Sunday afternoon, I was very happy to see that the room was mostly full for my session on Cooking UP New Sales.  This presentation turned out to be well-named for the occasion. Normally, it is a model where we use cooking and fine dinging analogies in exploring sales fundamentals.  Since this audience included several catering salespersons from restaurants, the theme worked especially well this time! (A picture of me with my main contact at NCRLA, Alyssa Barkley, can be seen above.) 

After making it home in time for a decent night’s sleep, I enjoyed an entire week in the office working with my team of KTN superstars which seems to be bonding more and more these days.  Knowing that I was about to head out on the road for three work weeks, Colleen suggested that I was time for KTN to have one of those off-premise team-bonding events.  But it was me that suggested the place which happens to be my wife’s favorite spot especially on weekend afternoons where you can always hear live Latin influenced bands and performers.  This time it was just me and the team, as Cathy was still at work.  Here’s a picture of our team that day from left to right:  Kathleen (Kat), Karla, and Colleen.

                                               
Monday morning I headed off early for my next stop, which was to work once again with one an old client and friend Ned Williams, who had about a year ago joined Brittain Hotel Management as their VP of Operations for their 9 resorts and also golf club operations.  I had known Ned from when he had the same title with Flagstone Hotels, which was at one time a major client of my first company; although we’d spoken by phone we hadn’t seen one another in person for several years. Since this was to be four straight days of on-site training for the on-site reservations teams, I had planned to head up early for an introductory meeting with his GM’s and corporate team.

Unlike my Raleigh trip, I did check the weather in advance and it was a beautiful day to fly.  The travel gods must have been laughing on this day, as it turned out that both of my flights experienced mechanical delays of a few hours each.  By the time I arrived it was too late to meet with the GM’s, but we were able to reschedule it during my visit.

It was very exciting to work with the room reservations and golf reservations sales agents from their nine resorts. I had a chance to also meet some very bright, talented and up-and-coming managers from Ned’s properties.  As of this writing, Ned and his team at Brittain management has ratcheted-up their level of focus and commitment to our training and mystery shopping, so I’m looking forward to two additional rounds of training in May and June.  Here’s a picture of me with the four groups from my full-day workshops.
                                                 

                                                

                                               

                                              

                                                

Here’s a picture of me with my client and good friend Ned Williams, V.P. of Operations right before I headed out to the airport:


                                              

It was good to be home for the weekend with Cathy and the kids, especiallu since it was St. Patrick’s Day and we got to take them to the annual parade in Downtown Hollywood, FL on a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon.

As I headed back out on Monday morning I was excited to be FINALLY working with a hotel company which I’ve pursued as a client for many years, which is Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.  Actually Rosewood had been a client of my first company and I remember well mailing them packages of cassette tapes with mystery shopping for Caneel Bay and Little Dix Resorts.  I also had many of their reservations managers attend our various public-venue training workshops over the years, but until now I had never had the chance to conduct private training for them.

This was an extra special engagement as I was also extra special, as I would have the opportunity to reconnect with another former client and friend, Lauri Graves, who is now the Director of Reservations and Channel Management for Rosewood. I had known Lauri when she was one of the Regional Directors of Revenue for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the late 1990’s and early Millennial years.  Here’s a picture of me with Lauri the week of the training:

                                                                       

It was also exciting to be a guest of a Rosewood property for the first time ever, and to have my first experience there be at one of their flagship properties The Mansion at Turtle Creek.  During my visit I learned that the Mansion is actually built over a real mansion, and the architectural style such that the hotel blended in with the quiet residential area to the point where you couldn’t really tell it was a hotel at a glance. The service was also very authentic and genuine, the true mark of a grand hotel, since they are mostly all good at service efficiency.  Although I didn’t get to stay at the Hotel Crescent Court, we did take a tour as part of our KTN training.  This hotel on the other hand was connected directly to of the most prestigious office and retail shopping complexes in the Dallas area.  Here’s a picture of the Hotel Crescent Court with the complex in the foreground:
                    
                                                           

Over the next two days I conducted training for the agents at the Rosewood  Hotels & Resorts reservations office in Dallas.  What an interesting and  well-traveled team they have there.  Most of the agents had been to most of the North American and Carribean properties and really knew their product.  Here's a picture of me with my groups each day:

                                             

                     
                                            

After finishing up my second day of training I was excited to be headed to DFW airport and thankful that one of the participants even dropped me off personally right at the terminal.  It's always great to return home but this time I was returning to my original home in Lexington, KY.  Although I have resided in Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale for 23 years now and thus lived here longer, Lexington KY will always be my "true" home.  I was able to once again see my father George, who continues to amaze us all with his courage and will to live on despite his health challenges.  Best of all, I was able to be there for my Sister Kathy's birthday, which was the first time in decades since I was able to share this with her.  Here's a picture of my sister Kathy Bolton with my Brother-In-Law Don Bolton at dinner that night.  (I think the waitress sent out the wrong candles though!) 

                                                                 
After my visit to Lexington I headed home for the weekend and had just enough time to do some chores, unpack and then repack before heading out again on Monday.  My next trip was to work with a new KTN client which is also new to the hotel industry, a company called Customer Direct in Chesterfield, MO.  This client had identified us as a resource from reading some of my recent hotel training articles.  Although they were an established third party voice reservations call center of over 200 agents, they had so far focused on other industries such as retail fulfillment and customer service for cable companies, although they had worked with hotels to provide WiFi tech support call servicing.  Although they had just taken on reservations for their first hotel client and had gone live only two weeks prior to my arrival, they seemed to already have the basics down very well and their call conversion numbers had already increased from the previous supplier to prove it.  We had a very interesting couple of days of training and it was clearly evident they had done an excellent job in the recruitment and selection process.  Here’s a picture of me with my groups that day:

                                                           

                                              

Besides meeting their staff, it was especially wonderful getting to know their President, Rob Nolan, and also their VP of Sales, Charlie Noonan.  I knew we were off to a great start when they took me to dinner at a sports bar and were happy when I wanted to eat at the bar.  (It was after all still March Madness!)

After arriving back home late Wednesday night it was time for some real travel fun for a change!  Since the kids had four day weekend this year,  right after breakfast we loaded up the car and drove up to Orlando to stay at The Peabody Hotel once again and to visit Disney World with one of our best family-friends.  Here's our kids' picture with their friends right after the Peabody Duck march in the lobby:

                                            

Having had nearly two weeks at home base, the road was calling once again as I headed off for my first trip of the month, back to Duck, NC to conduct some additional training for Twiddy & Company, which is arguably one of the very best vacation rental management companies in the industry.  This was a follow-up engagement for the four days of consulting and training I had provided in December.  (See OTR December, 2008)  Once again, the leadership team at Twiddy & Co. extended the same warm and generous hospitality as during my first visit.

First of all, they put me in just the perfect home for my stay.   The home was perfect because for one of the few times ever I was able to bring along my wife Cathy on a business trip, thanks to her having to finally use stored-up vacation time before it expires!)  As it turned out, one of her closest friends Lisa was going to be in the area visiting her boyfriend Bill’s mom that same weekend and they were able to stay an extra night to help us enjoy our fabulous vacation home.  Here’s a link to the house we stayed in:  Link Celtic Shore home

After finishing two straight days of training I was really looking forward to having the weekend off with Bill and Lisa visiting.  Having mentioned this, the next thing I knew the Vice President of Twiddy & Co. Jon was offering-up his company SUV for us to take a drive up the natural beaches north of Corolla where we could see wild horses roaming the beach.  Next day our party arrived at the Twiddy check-in office to find Jon’s SUV ready for our adventure.  He even had the air partially let out of the tires and the gas tank full; we headed north only a mile or so more to “the end of the road” where you drive right on to the beach.

I have to admit Bill and I had enjoyed a couple of beers as he shared some incredible stories about his experience in Army Special Forces in the early 1980’s, so the girls had to drive.  As it turned out my wife was a quick learner about the four wheel drive stuff; must come from all her experience driving tractors and trucks on her family farm in PA.  I have to say she really did enjoy going over those bumps, and probably at a few miles faster than Jon usually drives on the beach!  The weather was perfect that day and it felt like spring.  I couldn’t believe the flocks of sea birds that were feasting right off shore, as the sun set over the sand dunes to the west.   We all wanted to see one of the wild horses, and we stopped at a spot that looked westward into what seemed like an endless skyline of sand dunes and sea oats. Although we did see a lot of tracks, we didn’t see the wild horses this time. Before heading back we took a great picture of us right on the beach in front of the Jon’s Twiddy Truck, but it somehow got deleted.  So the only picture we have from the whole trip was this one of Cathy and her friend Lisa on "one of" our balconies: 

                                                 

After getting back from NC it was good to be home for a week before heading out, especially with Valentines Day coming up with Cathy and the kids.  Cathy made this Valentine’s Day one to remember by bringing a new member into the Kennedy household, which is Max, our new Teacup Maltese pet.  Here’s a picture of us at the pet shop:

                                              

As the President’s Day weekend wound down, I geared up for my last trip of the month, which was to conduct four days of training and consulting for the Pegasus Solutions/UniRez reservations office in Sao  Paulo, Brazil.  It was exciting to be working with Pegasus again, as I’ve been conducting training for their third party call centers since they got into the business in the early 1990’s.  This office had just been expanded to take on some new accounts, so it was an exciting time for the 35 new agents who had been working there about three months so far.

Living in South Florida, where we have such a large Brazilian community that includes Sergio my neighbor and even Karla from our KTN team, I was excited to be able to experience it firsthand.  Although I’ve been to Mexico and Central America, it was also exciting to be taking my first ever trip to South America as well.  I’m sure I was the only business traveler taking pictures out the window that day as I snapped this picture out the window of the Amazon River: 
 
                                                      

Upon landing I was thankful for the gracious hospitality of my client contact, Adriana Benavente, the call center’s director, who had pre-arranged my ground transportation and lodging.  Having lived in New York and South Florida so long I could manage to find my way around signage in Spanish, but I have to admit the Portuguese language signs were confusing for me so late at night, so it was great that all I had to do was find the taxi company’s booth.  From there I was whisked away into a clean taxi with a polite driver and headed straight to the laceName w:st="on">BluelaceName> laceName w:st="on">TreelaceName> laceType w:st="on">TowerslaceType> hotel, where I found myself pre-registered and pre-paid.   The staff was very friendly and accommodating and very patient with my complete lack of understanding of the language. I even had a balcony with a terrific view of the endless skyline of Sao Paulo:

The best part was the hotel  was only a short walk to the Pegasus office, which was on the Advenue Paulista which my friend Sergio had told me was one of the most prestigious addresses in the country.  As soon as I entered the Pegasus Solutions/Unirez office I knew it is a special place to work, with a very nice cafeteria, a quiet room, an awesome espresso & cappuchino maker, and best of all one day a week they even have a massage specialist on staff!  The leadership team there was amazingly energetic, upbeat, and very motivated.  Despite working extra long hours because of my training and consulting,  Adriana still found time to take me to lunch and otherwise help me find my way around the city.  Here’s a picture of me with the team on the last day, which was casual Friday:  (From left, Fernanda, Karen, Karina, Renata, and Adriana.)

With the state of the hotel industry and the economy in general being what it is these days, I was feeling more blessed than stressed as I looked at my travel schedule for the month.  Not only was it feeling good to have business during this down market, but this month’s schedule would bring me back to visit some very dear client friends.  But the best part for me was that Cathy now has so much vested vacation time that if she doesn’t start using it she’ll lose it, so she was able to come along on my last trip of the month…

After returning for a weekend at home in South Florida, I have to admit I was glad the rest of my stops for the month took me to warmer climates as my blood has thinned having lived 23 years in Florida now.

Next up was a return visit to the new Intercontinental Montelucia Spa Resort in Scottsdale, which is situated at the base of the famous and picturesque laceName w:st="on">CamelbacklaceName> laceType w:st="on">MountainlaceType>.  Despite a 3 hour mechanical flight delay, I arrived with enough time to see this beautiful new resort in its full daytime glory.  Having visited last September for the consulting phase of the project, I was now returning to conduct the actual reservations sales training for the carefully-selected team they have assembled there to provide “one stop shopping” so that guests can book their entire experience without having to be transferred.  It is nothing short of amazing that my client Jason Thielbahr was able to navigate all of the reservations systems issues necessary to accomplish this goal.   It was also amazing to see how the construction project I’d toured back than had transformed into one of most beautiful spa resorts I’ve experienced. The best part for me was the view from my room, which looked over one of the four "villages" that comprise the resort:

                                     

Understanding how long I’d been sitting on the runway, Jason invited me to experience firsthand the Montelucia’s incredible spa, providing me with the most extensive menu of services to contemplate.   Having once had a Thai massage, which his performed on a mat by a therapist while you are wearing loose fitting gym clothes, gives you all the benefits of taking a Yoga class except that someone else does all the work!  My therapist, Heather, was very experienced and one could tell she had been hand-picked from a long list of applicants.  (Now I know I have  to bring Cathy back here next time to experience this all firsthand!)  Here’s a picture of me with Heather, my therapist at the spa that evening:

After my massage and an excellent light meal, I was thrilled to be clicking through the cable channels to land on a laceType w:st="on">UniversitylaceType> of laceName w:st="on">Kentucky BasketballlaceName> game, which is always a thrill to catch my hometown (and alma matter).  Tonight was a very special game in that I got to watch one of our players – Jodie Meeks – smash through a school scoring record set by Dan Issel that had stood for 30 years.

After a great night’s sleep I was ready and excited to be meeting Jason’s agents and conducing the workshop that day.  I was not to be let down, as the group was very engaging and had lots of active participation.  I could tell right away that they understood the concepts very well and I knew they’d eventually be another “poster child” client for us.    Here’s a picture of me with the group that day.  Jason Thielbahr, Director of Revenue, can be seen on the far left of the back row; Heather Haubrich, Reservations Manager, is in the front row on the far left:
                          
                              
After Scottsdale, it was nice to be back in the state of Florida for the rest of the month.   Colleen Tuttle, our Director, and I had scheduled several webinars for the next week, including a public-venue webinar she and I conducted for hotels looking to Maximize Reservations Sales this year, as well as a private webinar we ran for the on-site reservations agents at Kimpton Hotels & Resorts.

My last trip of the month was to be a road trip, and after all the time I spend on the road alone I was so happy to be bringing my wife Cathy, who has so much vacation  time she has to use or start losing.   After work on a Wednesday, we headed up to Orlando, where our dear friend and client Barb Bowden had once again arranged  accommodations for us.  As a bonus, Cathy got to see her friend Claudia who also works for Marriott, but in the vacation ownership division, who met us for a drink in their lobby bar.  Here’s a picture of Cathy and Claudia that evening.

                                 

Next morning we took our leisurely time continuing the drive to our destination, to train the reservations team of a vacation home rental company on St. George Island, FL, which is just past “The Big Curve” as we call that part of Florida connecting the main peninsula with the panhandle.  I had never been to St. George Island before, but I knew the client very well from having met their key staff at various association meetings and public-venue training seminars I’ve presented over the past decade. 

My main contacts, Dana Ingalls, and Diana Prickett, were two of the owners I knew the best and they had decided to bring me to up train their team directly.  Since  I brought Cathy, the also gave us one of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen to stay in.  Our four story house had windows that were nearly floor-to-ceiling on three sides.  It also had balconies on every level overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, along with a hot tub where we could sit and look out at the stars at night.  Cathy also loved the kitchen, which was full granite counter tops and all the most modern appliances.

On Friday I just had an introductory/consultative meeting, then Cathy and I were free to enjoy our house and the beach for the rest of the day.  Here’s a picture of the beach there and also of Cathy on our walk:
                                                  

                                   

That night Dana, Diana, Beth, and several of the other key managers took us to a very special dinner of fresh Oysters, which the nearby town of Apalachicola is famous world-wide for.   The next day (Saturday) I had a wonderful time training the frontline reservations and front desk staff of Resort Vacation Properties.  Their group did about the best job I can remember at some of the exercises, such as creating alluring and enticing descriptions.  Also, Josie their reservations manager provides a very in-touch, energetic leadership example, and I know they will do well long-term with our program.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day:

                           

After visiting my dad in Lexington, KY at the end of November, it was good to have the rest of the Thanksgiving Holiday at home with the kids.  We mostly spent putting up our extensive Christmas display which took a long time since Cathy was home at her family farm in The Poconos hunting with her dad, which has been her tradition every year since childhood.

As I looked at my travel schedule which had me crisscrossing the continent for four stops in 9 days, conducting training on 7 of those and working all the way, rather than stressing out about the travel and time away during this busy holiday season I decided to count some blessings.  First, that we at KTN were fortunate enough to have so many clients in such bad economic times when training is the usually the first thing to get cut.  In looking at my client list that week I realized that I have some of the most excellent lodging companies in the business and it reminded me that the best in any field always reach for even higher goals, especially when under adversarial conditions.  Besides having dedicated clients in a down market, I also felt blessed to coming off the road for the rest of the month once I was back home in Fort Lauderdale with my immediate family for the holidays.

My first stop took me to a city I’ve always loved, San Diego, to train the reservations team at the soon-to-open Hotel Setai, which was yet another Gemstone property we were adding to our client list.  Since the hotel wasn’t opened yet I ended up staying at the San Diego Marriott thanks to my wife Cathy’s career and Marriott’s Friends and Family rate, I had a great room and view as well. The next morning Sausha Sherbin, the Corporate Director of Training for Gemstone Hotels & Resorts, who I’d met in October at another engagement, picked me up personally at my hotel and brought me to the training site at Hotel Setai.  While I thought this was a nice gesture, I appreciated it even more when we got there as the hotel was still very much in the final stages of construction and pre-opening and it was challenging to find your way around.

Despite all the would-be distractions, it was great have such a terrific group of participants for the reservations SAILS training workshop I was to present over the next two days.  Pre-openings are always such an exciting atmosphere, and it was clear that Gemstone was right on-track with this opening and that they had done the best job at recruiting and selecting just the right team.  Here’s a picture of me with the reservations team at the Hotel Setai that day:

                               

After finishing my workshop I made my usual mad dash to the airport to hop the very next flight home to Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale.  Arriving home after 1am didn’t leave much time to unpack and re-pack for my next trip, but I was glad to be back in town as I had an extremely important duty to fulfill the next day. By 8am I was reporting for duty at Hollywood Hills Elementary, where I am only one of a few male volunteers who has gone through the necessary level two security background authorization process necessary.  Since our school board requires male chaperones on every field trip, it was important reason for me to be there.  But an even more important reason is that Julia really wanted me to do this.  As it turned out it was me who benefited the most as it turned out to be quite memorable.  The field trip was for their 5^th grade chorus to go and sing at the laceType w:st="on">Ft.laceType> Lauderdale/Hollywood airport; coincidentally they were performing at the same terminal which I was scheduled to fly out of right after school!  It was so enjoyable to hear them perform their holiday songs for the passing travelers, which surprisingly many stopped to listen to.  Now every time I walk past Terminal 1 I’ll have fond memories of that day.  Here’s a picture of me with some of Julia’s closest classmates that day:

                                    

After taking the bus back to school I hoped back into the minivan and headed back to the same terminal for my next stop, which was a non-stop Southwest flight to Norfolk followed by a two hour drive to the Outer Banks.  The road was familiar and thankfully the weather cooperated and the cold didn’t shock my Florida blood too much and the roads and traffic were clear.  But still I was definitely feeling the jet lag and lack of sleep.  So as I pulled up to the Duck office of Twiddy & Company I was both honored and especially relieved to be greeted personally by Clark Twiddy, their Director of Operations.  Although I’d known Twiddy & Co. for years through various associations as one of the top-tier vacation home rental companies in the Outer Banks, I’d only met Clark briefly once before.  As I worked with him to finalize plans for this engagement I sensed he was a special person, but as the three day visit progressed I realized he and his entire family truly understand they are in the hospitality business.  It’s not just a commitment made on some poster at a staff retreat, but something they live every day.

After taking me out themselves my first full evening there, the executive team had scheduled this special dinner for me on the second night to be able to spend time with some of their supervisors and assistant managers who are the foundation of the future.  We had a wonderful diner at the very best local fine dining spot, and Patrick our waiter (pictured far left) had us all enthralled with his stories of growing up in the mountains of Jamaica.  Turns out he had also worked at my next stop, The Breakers of Palm Beach, which made it that much more interesting for me. Here’s a picture of us that evening:

On the very last stop I had a wrap up meeting with their executive team, including Jon Summerton, Vice President, Laura, their IT Director, and others.  Afterwards I had just enough time to snap this picture of myself with the Twiddy family pictured here (from left): Clark Twiddy, Director of Operations, Sharon Twiddy, co-founder, Ross Twiddy, Director of Marketing, and Doug Twiddy, company founder and President:
             
                                 

Just a few days after this picture was snapped Clark Twiddy was headed back to Afghanistan for his second tour with the U.S. Military Special Forces.  Being in the Reserve, Clark was very enthusiastic about having been recalled and dedicated to his mission.  Clark, know that we appreciate all that you’re doing over there for our country and the world and we wish you Godspeed.  I look forward to tipping back another Bud Lite and taking you up on the offer to do some fishing when you’re back home soon enough!

The weather was even better for my drive back to Norfolk and my last airplane trip for the year, which was to conduct reservations sales consulting and training for The Venetian in Las Vegas.  It’s always exciting to arrive in Las Vegas just to be around the energy of the city, and although I was dragging a bit upon arrival I found it hard to go right to sleep.  But after taking in just a quick walk on The Strip I decided to turn in for the night as there were two more days of training ahead.

Thanks to the time change I managed to get a good nights sleep and was very energized to begin my day of consulting with a meeting with Mark Molinari, their Executive Director of Revenue Management & Strategic Marketing.  I’d met Mark a few years back at one of our HSMAI Revenue Management functions when I was the advisor to the association, and we’d stayed in touch by phone over time.  When I was last in Las Vegas we were able to meet, and Mark was very excited about our contemporary new reservations sales training approach. 

As I began my day of consulting for this, the world’s largest hotel, it was clear that this was also one of the very best run companies in the industry too.  Not only to they have the best systems, technology, and product possible, but also some of the best people too.  The  next day I conducted a train-the-trainer program for their reservations managers and departmental trainers.  It was amazing to see how much Mark carved out time to participate personally as he was there most of the day, despite all that was going on in this busy hotel.   Here’s a picture I took the first night outside The Venetian, along with a picture of me with the group that day.  (Unfortunately Mark wasn't there for the picture.)

                     

Again the alarm went off way too early but it didn’t matter, as I was finally headed back home to Florida through New Years.  Again my timing was perfect as my two-day pit-stop in the office also coincided with the date for my son Adam’s school holiday concert.  When I saw how much he actually performed the songs, to the delight of his wonderful music teacher Mrs. Million, I was so glad not to have missed it.  Adam is in the middle of this picture below doing the gestures:

                                

My last training engagement of the year was thankfully very close to home, as I was headed back to The Breakers in Palm Beach which is only a 45 minute drive where I was to conduct a Saturday workshop for the entire 20 person reservations team.  Having stayed there in October with Cathy I knew it was going to be a great guest experience.  Thanks to the incredible hospitality extended by my client contact, Jim Mostad, we also had a special family weekend.  Since Jim really needed a Saturday training I had fairly warned him that there were some strings attached in that the only Saturday I had left was my daughter’s 11^th birthday, which traditionally includes a sleepover with some of her closest friends.  Jim was extremely accommodating as not only did we have a two-bedroom, ocean front suite, he also invited us to dinner in their family-oriented Italian restaurant located right next to the kid’s activity center.  Here’s a picture of Cathy and I with the kids that day.

                                  

After the kids quickly consumed their food and headed back to the interactive play area Cathy and I were able to catch up on all that had happened while she was home hunting with her dad on her family farm in The Poconos and while I’d been on the road. The next morning I headed down to train, while Cathy ensured that Julia and her entourage had a wonderful day celebrating her birthday.  They even stopped by the workshop and offered a “focus group” of input about The Breakers from the grade schooler’s perspective.  The celebration continued the rest of the weekend when I was done with work. 

What a fun group of people they have on their reservations sales team at The Breakers. Their enthusiasm just resonated back with me that much more, which was really nice since most of them had given up their Saturday day off during the busy holiday season to be there with me.  I was especially grateful for such an energetic group at the end of such a long stretch of training.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day:

After my weekend pit stop at home for a fun Halloween weekend, November wasted no time in putting me back on the road, which given the current economy I have to say I was especially thankful to have another busy month for our team at KTN.  Sunday afternoon found me flying Frontier non-stop to Denver, followed by a 2 hour drive to my next client, which was Beaver Run Resort located in Breckinridge, CO.  Normally I try to avoid Sunday departures, but in this case I wanted to be home on Tuesday evening, as it was Election Day.  (I’d already voted absentee but wanted to watch the results at home with Cathy.)  Plus I still had to get to New York City before the week was out.

I’d only met my new contact Andrea Lawrence over the telephone, and although I’ve been to ski resorts throughout Colorado so many times, I’d never been to Breckinridge so I really didn’t know what to expect as I exited I-70 West and headed 10 miles south on an empty but well paved state road watching for deer and elk. What a great first impression it made as I drove into the quiet laceType w:st="on">villagelaceType> of laceName w:st="on">BreckenridgelaceName> itself of a Sunday evening, with the newly strung holiday lights already twinkling along the charming Victorian storefronts on Main Street and tourism areas.

As I found out the next day, I was one of only 7 guests in the entire resort of about 400 rooms due to being shoulder season and Election Day.  Yet despite that there wasn’t much going on I was happy to find the bar and restaurant staff open and ready to engage in some genuine conversation while I enjoyed a great meal and well deserved beer watching what was left of Sunday Night Football.

Next morning it was time to conduct a full-day reservations workshop for Andrea’s reservations team of about 6 agents and some guests from other departments.  Monday AM start-times for workshops can sometimes be a little tricky, especially when so many of the staff are brand new and sometimes don’t have as much input or questions.  Thankfully though that wasn’t the case here, as my participants kept me fully engaged throughout a fun-filled day.   You can tell by my picture with their group below that they had a sense of humor!  Here’s also a picture of me with Andrea Lawrence, Reservations Manager.

     

Early Tues AM I was up way before the sun for my drive back to Denver and non-stop flight home.  Thankfully for me there wasn’t any rain, snow, or high winds, as after living so long in flat Florida I’ve bit of a nervous driver on the downside of those “14er’s” headed back to Denver.  Landing home at 1:30pm I was able to make school pick-up and after mulling through the usual hours of grade school homework enjoy a wonderful afternoon and evening with the kids before sending them back to mom’s.  This left just enough of a window to watch the election results with Cathy.  Since I had another early AM flight on Wednesday, I was glad when several of the networks called the race at 10pm ET and relieved I wouldn’t be up all night like the past two Presidential elections.

Again rising before dawn, my car seemed to drive itself back to the airport, this time for a non-stop flight to New York.  The engagement was to train the reservations team of the historic Carlton Hotel, which is managed by our latest KTN hotel management company client – Gemstone Hotels & Resorts.

This was an especially fun booking for a couple of reasons.  For one, I got to meet their team of bright, savvy agents, including staff from Gemstone’s White Face Lodge in Lake Placid, who had driven down for my training I also got to meet Jennifer Mahl their Director of Revenue, who’s enthusiasm and energy I appreciated during such a long week of travel.  Not to mention that I’m always impressed when a top-notch quality Director of Revenue carves out time to participate fully with their team for the entire workshop experience. An extra treat was bumping into an old client and friend Bonnie Frain.  I’d known Bonnie when she was the Director of Reservations for Manhattan East Suite Hotels (now Affinia), where I’d trained her call center staff in 1991 and for several years after done follow-up training and mystery shopping.  So what a treat it was to run into Bonnie again at her new stop with Gemstone’s Carlton.  Here’s a picture of me with the reservations team that day; Bonnie is on my left and Jennifer Mahl is to my right.  

After a great day at Sandbridge Key the road was calling all too early, and by 6am it was wheels-up from Norfolk to Chicago, again non-stop thanks to Southwest this time.  By 11am I was arriving at my next stop, which was to train the reservations team at another Gemstone property – Hotel Sax Chicago.  I knew the hotel was located directly next to the House of Blues in Chicago, and upon arrival I placed it as the old House of Blues Hotel, but this time reincarnated to a whole new level as a hotel that is hard to describe in its uniqueness.

It certainly has some of the hip, edgy, ambience of South Beach Miami, along with the professionalism of the top boutique hotel brands in major markets, but all in a unique way.  Besides the ambience, it’s also their outlets and amenities such as a bowling alley night club complete with DJ and dancing and unique lobby lounge/nightclub, their other amenities set them apart.  I was especially impressed with the entertainment lounge they’ve created where guests can interact over RockBand, Guitar Hero, or any other Wii game with other guests, and also their welcome amenity which is a Microsoft ZUNE player pre-loaded with music of your designated genre or artist requests.

What a fun day of training we had that day, and I especially enjoyed our property tour during which I got to see all of the amenities I’d missed in my all too brief visit, but at least I know where to stay when I come back to Chicago for fun some day.  Here’s a picture of me with my group that day:

                         

Once again the road always seems to bring me back home at the right time, as I was able to give a special presentation to her class that week about the importance of the U.S. Constitution in our lives today.  Even more fortunately, I was able to be there for my Julia’s seventh straight A-honor roll awards ceremony.   Here's a picture of me after presenting to Julia's calls, and also one of her receiving her honor roll award; also pictured are Mrs. Wagner, her incredibly dedicated and passionate teacher and Julia's mom Lisa Kennedy (far right.)

     

With all the travel so far this month, and more month still yet to come, I felt lucky that my next client was a call center located just 30 minutes from home.  Although it was a local booking, the client company was very exciting as I was to train the new staff at the new call centralized call center they have just opened to market all of their many wonderful resorts in Barbados.  Although this is a well established company, it was almost like the excitement of the grand opening as it was a new office, a new team, and a new reservations system. 

The training was on a Monday and just that weekend the group had returned from an extensive FAM trip to tour the resorts they’d be selling, so there was plenty of enthusiasm in the air.  It was also great to see my buddy Dan Snepp, who has been a client at so many stops over the years at Wyndham, Sandals/Beaches, and who had now was doing work as a consultant to help set-up this office and had recommended me.  It was also great to be able to have Colleen Tuttle from our KTN team there since it was local, and her enthusiastic new approaches always are insightful.  We’re glad to have this client locally so that we can stay in touch for many years to come and look forward to doing a planned follow-up training for them in a few months.  Here’s a picture of me with my group that day; Colleen is on the far left on the first row:

For my final trip of the month leaving home was kind of like coming home, as I left Hollywood to head back home to Lexington, KY where I grew up and my family still lives.  As readers of this blog know, my dad George has been in the long term care there for about a year now, after going in for some outpatient surgery one day.  Given his circumstances, he’s doing incredibly well and made several amazing comebacks this year and this fall to give all us Kennedy’s the best Christmas wish ever simply by being there once again.  He continues to inspire us with his incredible optimism and will to live.  My sister Kathy fixed a complete Thanksgiving meal and we took-over the dining room for the afternoon to celebrate together.  Here’s a picture of us that day my sister Kathy is on the far left.

After being on the road most of the end of September, it was really nice to stay local for the first week in October and finally getting to spend some time in person with our KTN team in Hollywood, which is thankfully still growing despite all the bad economic news.  My only trip this week was mostly leisure, a new local client, The Breakers Hotel in West Palm  Beach, had invited my wife Cathy and I up to experience this unique hotel in preparation for training which I’ll be doing in December.  Their Director of Sales, Jim Mostad had graciously extended this invitation, and since I had not been inside the hotel for over a decade was I ever in for a pleasant surprise!  They have somehow managed to blend it’s historic architectural design into what I would call “elegantly casual” ambiance.  Cathy and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner in their seafood restaurant and then strolled through the public areas marveling at the architecture, art work, and furnishings. 

The next day I had a very engaging meeting with Jim and his Director of Revenue, Jenny Haire, in their expansive rotunda dining room over the biggest and most diverse breakfast buffet I’ve seen.  Meantime, Cathy was able to enjoy a sunny morning at the resort.  Here’s a picture of us in front of the hotel’s original owner, Henry Flager, who’s descendants still run the resort as I understand, and then one of Cathy mesmerized at the floral display: 

                                 

My next trip was to bring me to Southern California to conduct the first of a series of workshops KTN is presenting for an exciting new client, Gemstone Hotels & Resorts.  This was my first experience in working with Gemstone, and my first impressions were great based on what I’d seen on their websites.  This was a particularly interesting workshop as it was attended by staff from several of their properties in the region, ranging from Lake Arrowhead Resort to the Hotel Mosaic in LA.  What  an interesting day it was exploring the subject of conversational selling for today’s over-informed, multi-tasking callers . It was also exciting to finally meet Sausha Sherbin, their Corporate Director of Training, in person and I was impressed that she invested her whole day participating with us.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day; Sausha is on my immediate left:  

                                

Thankfully the road of this life I’ve chosen always seems to lead me back home just in time for the key moments, such as the laceName w:st="on">HollywoodlaceName> laceType w:st="on">HillslaceType> laceType w:st="on">Elementary schoollaceType> bookfair, which I arrived just in time from the airport to attend with our kids.  After enjoying the better part of a week back in the office it was time to head out again, this time back to New Brunswick to conduct another round of training for the Virtual Agent Services group that fields voice reservations for Kimpton Hotels.  Having met most of the agents while there to speak at their annual meeting last May, I knew it would be a really fun and engaging couple of days.  I was also looking forward to spending time with my main contact from Kimpton, which is Bernice McCurdy, their Vice President of Reservations  Bernice was such a great host in helping me navigate the lodging arrangements in the two beautiful small towns where the call centers are located and also in making sure I was well fed during my stay.  I was fascinated to learn that like my wife Cathy, she also hunts and had recently got her first moose, which she just happened to have a few pictures of to prove it!  Now I know that Cathy isn’t the only hotel corporate woman you’d also find in orange hunter’s gear!  Here’s my picture with Bernice, followed by my pictures with the groups at their two locations: 

                             

              


           

Instead of  heading home, my schedule had another nice detour which was to meet up with Cathy, who was in Orlando on business and mostly to attend a milestone birthday for her dear friend Claudia Grice, and to also enjoy another rare date night in Orlando.  Here’s a picture of Cathy and Claudia and also one of us together that the females in my office staff say I just have to post:


 

From Orlando I had one more stop for the month, which was to head to Madison, Wisconsin to conduct the opening keynote session for the Wisconsin Innkeeper’s Association.  Although I had traveled to WI before on business, and had sent my other trainers there over the years, this was one of four states in which I had yet not conducted training personally, which made iteven more special.  The location was also excellent, as they had me staying at a beautiful Hilton right across from a modern, top-notch conference center built right on a lake, across from the State Capital building.The occasion was the first day of the annual conference for the Wisconsin Innkeepers Association, and it looked to me like at least 300 people in attendance.  Conference openings are always a big challenge for a speaker, and starting first thing on a Monday isn’t always ideal as it can take longer to warm up an audience.  But that certainly wasn’t the case here, as I was greeted with a very receptive and engaging audience for my “So You REALLY Like Working With People?” speech.  It was also great to see the turnout for the two break-out sessions I presented later that day.  As an extra treat, I bumped into several people I’d not seen in a long time, including Kevin Gallagher, who I’d known as a client years ago at Adam’s Mark and who is now Operations and Project manager for laceName w:st="on">MarcuslaceName> laceName w:st="on">HotelslaceName>.  Here’s a picture of me with Kevin (on my right) along with Buck Drossart, General Manager of The Pointe on laceType w:st="on">LakelaceType> laceName w:st="on">MinocqualaceName>:  

                                      

Before long I was back at the airport and headed home to Florida for the rest of the week. Once again the travel gods were smiling as I was back in town for all the Halloween events at the kids school and of course trick-or-treating here in the neighborhood. Here’s a picture of Adam and Julia with Cathy:

                                                  

With August having provided lots of time off the road during the kids summer vacation, September wasted no time in calling me out once again.and this was to be a very special client engagement.  I was to do consulting for the reservations sales team at the soon-to-open Intercontinental Montelucia resort in Scottsdale, AZ, where I’ll be returning later this year to do some training.  The new client contact was, Jason Thielbahr, who I had worked with when he was Regional Director of Revenue for Red Lion Hotels about 6 years ago before the brand was sold to Intercontinental. Although I had spoken to Jason over the phone, this was to be the first time I’d met him.  Having had several conference calls and e-mail exchanges with Jason, I had come to appreciate his sharp wit and sense of humor already. Since his hotel wasn’t opened yet we were to meet at one of his comp-set hotels, the luxurious Royal Palms Resort nearby, which itself had been one of my former clients years ago although I’d not trained them personally.  After a jam-packed lunch meeting (over excellent food) with Jason and Heather, his new reservations manager, we headed over to the pre-opening offices to meet with the executive team.  

As we drove up to the pre-opening office I was completely shocked to see that was housed in the old lobby of the former Marriott’s Mountain Shadows Resort, which was ironic for many reasons.  For one, I had stayed in this resort so many times over the years, starting in 1984 when I was a bellman staying on employee rate and into the early millennial era when I was a keynote speaker for the IARE conference that was held there.  But the biggest irony of all was that this very hotel front office had been managed by my dear wife Cathy Cook, who still tells so many enthralling stories of her experiences there.  Can you imagine how surprised Cathy was when I called her to say I was in her old lobby?  Later to end the day we had a very engaging 5pm meeting with Antonia Valeriano, the enthusiastic and visionary Managing Director for this new resort, and Greg Haas, their Director of Sales & Marketing.  In what seemed like minutes later it was 7pm and I greatly admired their passion and interest in this area, especially at the end of what was surely a long day. 

After the meeting Jason and I headed off to meet a very dear mutual friend of ours, Todd  Arviso, and his fiancée (and now wife!) Erin for dinner.  Unfortunately we were 45 minutes late, but Todd and Erin waited graciously.  I remember clearly the day I met Todd when he walked into one of my area-wide reservations train-the-trainer workshops in 1997.  My paths have crossed with Todd many times since, such as when he was Corporate Director of Sales for Accor North America and he brought me in on several training projects. In fact, it was at one of my hotel training seminars I was doing for Todd that he met his fiancée Erin, then a Sales Manager for Accor/Novotel.  I recall them both begging me to join them for some bowling or Karaoke after that workshop; guess it worked out that I declined and left it just the two of them instead.  Here is a picture of me with Todd, Erin, and Jason that night.  (Jason is on my right side; Todd and Erin on left.)  

                                          

Next up was a short flight from PHX to LAX, and then a 30 minute taxi to the Loews Santa Monica, where I was to train the new reservations Travel Planners at that location on the reservations SAILS training we have implemented this year company-wide.   Thanks to my friend Don Foreman, Regional VP of Sales, and also their CRM system, I had my same ocean-view suite as I had when I was there last January, not to mention a nice bottle of wine and fruit & cheese platter that was perfect for my late night munchies.  We had a terrific day of training the next day, and I was very impressed that their Director of Sales and three transient sales managers joined us for the day to lend their support.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day, followed by pictures of my view:  

          

As usual for my West Coast trips the alarm clock went off early the next day, as I am always on the first flight back that was in this case a wheels-up of 6:30am.  Thanks to all the non-stops I was soon landing in laceType w:st="on">Ft.laceType> laceName w:st="on">LauderdalelaceName>, where I was greeted by Cathy and the kids, a rare even these days due to school  schedules and other obligations they have.  As a parent, and especially as a dad, I can’t think of a better feeling than being greeted with bear hugs by your children upon return.  Here’s a picture right before I got my hugs:  
                                     
It was with mixed emotions that I left on my next trip, which was to visit my father George Kennedy who is in the long-term care VA hospital in Lexington since last October.  Unfortunately we have seen his condition slowly and steadily deteriorate ever since he went in for what was to be a simple outpatient procedure.  During moments like these you appreciate your family, starting with my wonderful wife Cathy who has been so supportive of me during this time.  I also am extremely grateful for my dear  sister Kathy Bolton, who despite working full time and having a new grandson, somehow manages to get out there to visit almost every day.  When she walks in to the hospice floor, where my dad is staying, she literally lights-up the place with her wonderful energy.  She has befriended many of the other patients and often brings them fast food or pharmacy items they need.  I’m sure my dad wouldn’t have made it this far without her. I was also grateful for my brother Dan and his wife Beth, as they too make lots of time for Dad. 

Sometimes during situations like these it is the gestures that come unexpectedly that mean the most, and this was the case with our host for this trip, Jim Webb who is GM of the Hilton Suites at Lexington Green.  I had met Jim at a Hilton conference about 1.5 years ago and he had already put up my family for an entire 10 day stay last July.  (See OTR July 2007.)  Once again he welcomed us, this time for 4 nights.  Although we spent most of the time at the hospital, Jim’s staff was wonderful once again, including Allie from housekeeping and Sandy from the restaurant, both of whom I’ve written about previously in my blog and also in my articles.   The most amazing part is that when Jim has since found out why I was in town, he gave me his personal cell phone to call 24/7 if (when) I need to come back in town unexpectedly.  I still owe him a day of training to make up for this, but he keeps on saying not to worry and to wait until it is a better time for me.  Jim, I have received many gestures of hospitality over my career, but yours was one of the most heartfelt and for that I am especially grateful.  By the way as of this writing Dad is still showing the incredible strength of his character everyday to his caretakers, nurses, visitors and especially us his family. 

After being home just one night, I had a pit-stop in the office and then was lucky enough to carve-out time to enjoy picking-up the kids from school and the joys of homework.  Before the night fell I was headed back to the airport for an evening non-stop to Atlantic City NJ, and a short drive to Cape May, NJ.  It was well after midnight when I climbed into my rental car and due to the dark roads and no traffic I was especially happy to have the friendly and re-assuring voice of my “Garime Girl,” as I’ve affectionately come to call the voice on my GPS device, to guide me into my next stop. 

Soon I was arriving at the historic and famous Congress Hall hotel.  Having visited the website I knew I was in for a treat, especially since I am such a history buff and have such a special place in my heart for historic hotels such as this one that has hosted something like 6 Presidents including Teddy Roosevelt.  The numerous enlarged historic photos in the corridors even has a picture of John Phillip Sousa playing a July 4^th concert on the front lawn.   It got even better when I got to my room and was pleasantly surprised to find all of the best amenities I would expect at even the most modern hotels which made for a very restful and quiet night’s sleep, and thankfully there were no ghosts to disturb me either despite the legends.  Here’s a picture of Congress Hall (I must say the picture here dosen't do justice to this historic treasure): 

                                

This was a very special engagement as it was a new client and company that I’d never worked with on any level to this point.  My contact was Stephane Mozziconacci, their Vice President of Revenue Management, and as I later found out, also their most excellent Hotel Manager for their new hotel in Atlantic City NY.  I had known of Stephane at his previous stops at Kimpton Hotels and also at Affinia Hotels, but if we’d ever met it was only briefly.  Thanks to a referral from my dear friend Beverly Ramstook VP of Revenue Management at Affinia, Stephane had contacted me almost immediately upon coming on board at Cape Resorts, which operates about six historic hotels, inns, and even a B&B in Cape May. 

Stephane was especially interested in having me help out in their efforts to optimize their call center options at the center they have in place to field calls for all of their properties.  In addition to conducting two full days of reservations training, I also had the opportunity to conduct a  reservations sales assessment consulting report.  What a great two days of training it was.  I met a lot of new contacts and friends that day, including some very interesting reservations agents and new friends.  But I was especially impressed at Stephan’s enthusiasm for the topic.   Despite having a hotel going through a soft opening in Atlantic City, Stephane managed to turn off his Blackberry for the entire day and participate fully in all the activities that day.  Here’s a picture of me with my groups: 

   

Once back from Cape May I saw that next up on my agenda was a bit of a break from the travel in that I was to conduct hospitality and guest service training for two small, privately owned boutique hotels in South Beach Miami, The Colony Miami Beach and The Kent hotel.  I had only met the GM’s once during an introductory meeting, and frankly I was impressed of their commitment to raising the bar on hospitality and guest service efficiency for their staff.  It was also wonderful to have a local client that I could get to without a flight or long drive, which is always nice. Knowing the unpredictable nature of the I-95 traffic, I decided to stay over as their guest.  After tucking the kids in for the night and saying goodbye to Cathy I headed for the 35 minute drive to The Colony, which is right on Deco Drive (Ocean Drive) and has one of the most famous outdoor neon signs in Florida.  They were very gracious in offering me a very nice ocean view suite, and also accommodating one of our key staff from KTN, Kathleen Olarte,  with a nice room.  Turns out Kat (as we call her) has cousins and friends in Miami who met us there and who I of course had to chaperone to hear some excellent reggae music that evening.  Here is a picture of my suite and also with the group the next day:  

 

After spending the rest of the week at home, Sunday afternoon found me headed back out to the airport once again.  This time Cathy and the kids got to drop me off at the airport, which they always enjoy visiting, but for some reason my son Adam just didn’t want me to go this time.  (At age 9 he’s long over separation anxiety.)  This must have been a sign!  After 5 hours sitting on the runway in FLL, first due to weather in Philly and then due to a torrential downpour, our plane was hit by lightening just after the pilot had announced that we had been cleared for take-off in just 11 minutes.  Instead the flight headed back to the gate with no power and we all got to deplane by flashlight  Fortunately my “road warrior” experience paid off and instead of following the herd of displaced passengers to the line at the USAirways counter like we had been told to do, I jumped on the phone and found that they had re-booked me on an afternoon flight which just wouldn’t do as I had a full-day program in Philly.  Thanks to my laptop and broadband Internet, within minutes I had rebooked on a non-stop Southwest flight and called Cathy to tell her I was coming back home.   

Although I did manage to get about 3 hours sleep morning came all too quick and I was back at the airport, although thankful to be able to make my training that day.  It was an important occasion I knew, as I was to train the new reservations agents at the new regional call center that Loews has set-up at their Philadelphia hotel that will now field calls for their Washington, DC location.  The group of enthusiastic new-hires were to start taking their first calls on Wednesday, so this Monday training was important to them and I just knew I had to make it.  Fortunately the weather cleared and it was a beautiful day of traveling.  Soon I was walking into the meeting room and getting started just after 10:30am, only 90 minutes late.  Thanks also for a great group of new agents, which is also a testament to Jack Knoble, who is one of the best reservations managers I’ve ever met, it was a wonderful day despite the rocky start.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day: 

                           

After a bite to eat and just one beer at happy hour I was headed out for the drive to Atlantic City, and again thankful for having my Garmine Girl to talk me through the many route changes.  After training 8 hours on 3 hours sleep and driving 2 more, I was more than a little tired upon arrival at the client, which as The Hotel Chelsea, a wonderful boutique hotel that was just opened by my aforementioned new client – Cape May Resorts.  Although I was expecting a positive experience, having met the hotel manager, Stephane Mozziconacci two weeks before, I have to say I was completely blown away by the genuine, authentic, and heartfelt service I received from each and every member of their staff with zero defect.   I was so impressed that I decided to write my entire monthly column about this experience, which was the first time in 12 years of columns I’ve ever written solely about one hotel.  It was a great way to end the month.  Here is a link to my article that as of this writing has just posted followed by my pictures with their team that day:

Link to Doug's article about Hotel Chelsea "You Can Still Experience Hospitality Excellence DAILY!:  Link

   

After all of the travel for May I just had to slow things down a bit for the summer, but my travels still brought me to a number of very interesting places.  One of the most memorable was yet another visit to train the reservations sales team at Hershey, PA.  It is hard to believe that I’ve now been conducting training there on and off for 10+ years now.  As always it was great to see some of their reservations sales superstars, some of whom have been there longer than I’ve been training. Yet it was just as good to meet those who had just started at the Hershey foundation’s hotel group’s call center.  In fact one of my four groups was comprised mostly of agents who had only started days before, and I’m sure some of them will make Hershey a career which by the way is a great choice from my view!  Here’s a picture of me with my groups that day:

                

          

I have to admit the best part was that this time I also got to see my client friend Angie Meyers, who is now their Director of Central Reservations, and Ken Geesaman, their Director of Revenue Management.  Both were out of town last year so I missed them, but thanks to the timing of the HiTech conference they were around.  I was very happy that they made time to join may main contact Michelle Fisher and I for dinner that evening.  I remember Angie was a frontline reservations agent when I started training there, and she is now doing such an incredible job leading the entire operation!  I also remember Ken a decade ago when he was just transitioning from a long career in hotel operations into the role of Director of Revenue Management for both hotels, which at the time was a new position.  It is incredible to see how far they have both come in their careers.  Understanding what a uniquely altruistic and non-profit operation Hershey Hotels and Hershey Entertainment are a part of, it’s even more rewarding to see the value they have each brought to their organizations.  Too bad we didn’t have the camera for dinner that evening to include Ken, but I’m thankful that I did get the following picture with Angie Meyers, Director of Central Reservations (left) and Michelle Fisher, Training Manager (right).

                                   

This summer’s travels also brought me back to Omaha, NE, for the first time in 5 years.  This visit was for a very special and I must say somewhat “out of the box” training engagement for me.  Although I’ve spent the better part of two decades training in the hotel & lodging industry, I’ve sometimes taken on special projects, yet this was the very first time ever I have been contracted exclusively to train a group of volunteer participants!  Honestly I didn’t know what to expect, especially since it was the first time they had held such an event, but I was sure it would be an adventure I thought.  Based on the enthusiasm of my client contacts, Kathy and Lindsey, I had a feeling it would be a fun day, but what an unexpectedly delightful day it turned out to be! 

The project was to present my hospitality training programs for this audience of volunteer ambassadors who work as greeters at information desks at the airport, convention center, and welcome center.  It was an honor to work with this group and they were highly interactive and very fun, but the best part was hearing their stories of rescuing stranded travelers and visitors in such personalized ways.  Here is a picture of me with each of the two groups that day, including my new personal hero Herman, pictured with me in the first photo, who is in his late 80’s and still carrying shifts:

                                   

                                   

After the training Kathy and Lindsey took me out for a very nice dinner nearby and some great conversation that was a nice alternative to my usual routine of room service and e-mails.  Kathy also had some wonderful stories about famous movies filmed in the Omaha region, which is part of her other job.  Here is a picture of me with Kathy Rocco, Director of Visitor Services and Film Commissioner, and Lindsey Creath, Director of Convention Services: 

                                 

Notice the picture in the background of J.W. Marriott Senior and Bill Marriott.  It is the same picture I looked at in our lobby in my first job as a bellman at the Lexington Marriott at Griffin Gate.  I could remember seeing the Omaha Marriott in the directory back when there were only 125 Marriott hotels and when Courtyard, Fairfield, and Residence Inns were yet to be dreamed of.  This hotel was built in the same circa as my first hotel and so I felt at home.  How interesting it was when I looked out the window to see some motorcade, which after seeing all of the security officers in the lobby and watching the news later figured out was for Senator John McCain, who was in Omaha campaigning at that time.  It was interesting to share the hotel with his entourage that evening, including journalists, advisors, and handlers, and to see them in all action the next morning lining up for security check and departure right outside our meeting room.  The hotel staff did a great job in accommodating, and I was very impressed with the organization of Senator McCain's entourage.