On The Road to Marriott International Headquarters.  After enjoying a week off with the family for July 4^th holiday it was time to get back on the road again just like a thousand C&W song lyrics.  My schedule provided a nice easy day trip to/from Washington DC to kick things off for the second half of the year. 

This trip brought me back to the Marriott International world headquarters building, where I’ve visited my client friends there so many times in the past few years.  Although I’ve had many meetings over the years with great client friends who are still there, every time I walk into that building my first memory is of when I first entered those doors as a new graduate of Marriott’s ID (Individual Development) training program and their week long orientation class that used to be held at the Dulles Airport Marriott, and how it felt to tour the office of J. W. Marriott Sr. himself as part of the initiation! 

Arriving on the very day that Marriott announced it was going smoke-free at all locations, there was plenty of buzz in the building that day.  After a very productive and enjoyable meeting with a new contact there to discuss the possibility of another consulting project, I was off to my next meeting at the HSMAI headquarters nearby in McLean VA to transition my role as Project Manager for the HSMAI Revenue Management Advisory Board to Mark Cornish.  Unfortunately due to vague Mapquest directions I accidentally found myself headed the wrong way on I-495 and by the time I realized it there was a huge traffic jam going the other way.  So instead of the meeting I found myself navigating through the back streets of Washington, DC by memory and intuition until I found my way back to laceName w:st="on">NationallaceName> laceType w:st="on">AirportlaceType> and calling Bob Gilbert personally for driving directions while on the road.  

After enjoying one office day it was time for Cathy and I to take a long-awaited “mini” honeymoon, as we had not taken any time off since our wedding on May 20 of this year.  (Don’t feel too badly for us as we are going to Hawaii in September!)  Thanks to my friend Ivy Gray who co-owns a vacation property rental company called At Home Key West, we were able to stay only 2 blocks from Duval in the hard of old town in a great little condo in Truman Annex.  Here is a picture at me at “the end of the road” where US 1 either ends or begins, depending on which direction you are headed.  

                                 

Here also is a picture of my wife Cathy and I our very favorite bar in the whole world, Sloppy Joes, which we were pleased to learn had just added air conditioning! 

After returning for a few more office days was time to head out on a Sunday night again but this time just a driving trip, which is always a bit of a relief, especially since I’d be going cross-continent before this week was out.  After an easy 4-hour drive up the laceName w:st="on">FloridalaceName> laceType w:st="on">CoastlaceType> to Daytona Beach I arrived to do training for the Best Western Aku Tiki and the Bahama House, which are two great little beachfront properties owned and managed by Brian and Blaine Lansberry.  With this booking coming only 6 weeks from the launch of KTN it was especially meaningful, as Blaine and Brian were some of my earliest clients and biggest supporters in the early years of my old company HSA.  It was definitely déjà vu all over again for me to be back working with this group again, and at least 1/3 of the participants had been through my original training.  Considering all this was probably appropriate and fitting that this would be the client where I would present KTN’s brand new Reservations SAILS Training 2006!

It’s always exciting to work with Blaine, as she is one of a rare breed of third generation hoteliers, and I’ve always respected her father as a top industry leader as a past President of the AH&LA and also a high ranking board member of Best Western International.   (I understand he’s still doing great things pursuing other development interests these days.) 

Here is the view from my room while I was at the BW Aku Tiki.  The best part was that Blaine invited me to come back up a week later with Cathy and the kids and they blocked two connecting rooms for us right next to the pool.  It was a classic summer vacation centered mostly around watching the kids try to out-jump the gentle waves, building sandcastles, and playing pool games and Monopoly.   

Too bad I forgot the family camera so we have no digital pics to share, but here’s a picture of me with some of Blaine and Brian’s team.  (Blaine Staed Lansberry is pictured standing to my immediate right.) 

                       
 

After training all day Monday I drove  back to laceType w:st="on">Ft.laceType> laceName w:st="on">LauderdalelaceName> and before I knew it I was Wednesday AM and I was headed back to FLL for my early AM flight to Bend, Oregon.  The project was to train the 20 or so RezForce reservations sales agents that field overflow and after hours calls for vacation property rental companies for Navis Technologies.  I have to say I’ve never met a group of agents who were more interested in learning; one even asked permission to record my talk so he could replay it again later.  Looking back I guess it was fortunate also these agents were so enthusiastic since I conducted the first workshop immediately upon my landing after 10 hours of air travel and a 60 minute drive before the workshop.  

Besides conducting the training, I was also there to learn more about the Navis’ Narrowcast system, which I have to say in my opinion is the single most exciting technology advancement in the field of hotel marketing & sales I’ve yet to see in my 25 years in this business.  But perhaps best of all was just getting to visit and spend time with my friend ersonName w:st="on">Milton BuehnerersonName> and his son Kyle who is the President of Navis, who are two of most innovative entrepreneurs I’ve ever met! 

Here I am pictured with each of the two groups of reservations agents I trained over two days.  Kyle Buehner is pictured at far right in the first photo.  (Milton is taking both pictures since he sat-in on both personally and is already pictured in my past blog entries!)