This entry was posted on 12/31/2006 4:27 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
On The Road to Gulf Shores, AL
December thankfully brought Cathy back from PA on Sunday, December 4 and we got have a couple of days of normalcy around the house before I had to hit the road again. This time the client was Meyer Real Estate, which is one of the largest vacation property rental companies in North America. Since they rent out more than 2000 condos, villas, and beach homes ranging from 2 – 10+ bedrooms, my guess is that they have more bedrooms than the largest hotels in Las Vegas.
Having not been to their offices before I was pleasantly surprised to find one of the most overall beautiful and welcoming lobby areas, certainly in the vacation rental business but even in the resort sector, featuring a symbolically round lobby with floor-to ceiling windows and extending the curve outside the walls into the courtyard area which was complete with a bronze statue of children playing. Better yet I was welcomed again upon arrival, something that had only happened me 3 times before in the last 20+ check-ins.
It was great to be presenting two days of customized, on-premise training for their more than 20 reservations agents in their call center along with their front desk staff which also sat-in. Since they’ve had a steady stream of trainers and speakers over the years it was great to hear from my friend Chuck Steeg their Director/GM that it was well received. I’ll look forward to going back there in May for to present the advanced training, and now it looks like to also present the hospitality/guest service training too.
Here’s a picture of me with two of Chuck’s key managers, Sharon Belew on the left and Loretta Ison on the right, followed by a picture of me with their group.
After the second day of training I of course headed straight back home for an office day Friday and to have the weekend with Cathy and the kids, during which we would be celebrating Julia’s 9th birthday with party.
On The Road To Orlando then the District of Columbia
The following week was a pretty easy one as far as travel goes, as it was only a two-night trip. The first day I was headed to train the 6 reservations agents at Allstar Vacations in Orlando, which rents upscale privately owned homes in Orlando. I stayed in what was definitely the nicest private home I’ve ever experienced. I only wished I was there with friends at a Superbowl party as it featured not one but two big screen TV’s, plus a private, heated pool, hot tub, and best of all an outdoor grill. Might have to think about this for Superbowl 2008… Here’s my picture with Steve Trover, their President.
After finishing up around 4pm I headed to the MCO airport for my flight to National, where I was to conduct my fifth and final Embassy Suites regional “Power Meeting,” which was set for Washington, D.C. Having just met Chris Rudasill the Regional Director of Hotel Performance Support, at the New Orleans meeting for Embassy Suites, it was great to work with him again and I really appreciated his wit and sense of humor in setting up this meeting. Here’s a picture of Chris, on my right, along with David Hale on my left.
The meeting itself was went great, other than we woke up that morning to find the entire District of Columbia under a blanket of fog with the airports being completely closed. Unfortunately this meant that the keynote speaker who was flying in that day did not make it, forcing Chris to improvise for an afternoon presentation. But the only good news was that the weather cleared right after my presentation and I was able to make it home, which was very important as this was the night of Hollywood Hills Elementary holiday class concert, and I knew my Julia’s eyes would be searching the audience when she walked out. Even with a slight delay of 45 minutes it looked like I’d make it with an hour to spare, but with weather turning bad in FLL we had to circle so long that the pilot nearly diverted to Miami but at the last minute was able to land. With my gas tank and my stomach on E upon landing I headed straight for the school and walked in just minutes before Julia walked out on that stage.
On The Road to Hilton Head, SC
After a weekend of doing all of the last minute Christmas shopping with Cathy it was time to hit the road again Sunday afternoon for the last trip of the year. Thanks to my newly recovered elite status on USAirways I finally made the first class upgrade list, and after a nice dinner in Charlotte where I had the airport to myself I continued on to Hilton Head and before long had checked into the Marriott resort at Palmetto Dunes, where my client had put me up. This booking was arranged by Linda Maloney, who is the owner of one of the many vacation resort rental companies in the area. Being an active member of the Hilton Head Chamber of Commerce, she had taken it upon herself to organize and promote my workshop as an area-wide event, for which I am very grateful. She even scheduled the workshop to be repeated the next day so that more staff could attend. Here’s a picture of me with Linda Maloney followed by pictures of my group each day:
On The Road to New York, NY
Finally after my second workshop in Hilton Head I headed out to Savannah and thanks to Delta/Comair, was unbelievably able to find a non-stop flight to LaGuardia airport for my next booking. As always, it was very exciting to grab a cab and watch the skyline of Manhattan emerge from the backseat as the driver took me towards the mid-town tunnel, and to watch the new day dawn from my room the next morning:
On The Road to Orlando
With all of the business travel I do one might think that the last thing I want to do when I have time of is to hit the road. Yet as is typical for me that was exactly what we had planned for the end of the month. After enjoying a week being back home to celebrate the Christmas holiday with Cathy and the kids, we were back in the minivan headed to Orlando, but this time for fun. Thanks once again to my client friend Barb Bowden we had a suite of rooms at The Peabody, better known in our family as “The Ducky Hotel.” It had been nearly 2 years since we’d taken Adam and Julia there, and when we walked into the elevator I suddenly realized how much they’d grown since they last stretched to reach the buttons. And yet as you can see from the photo below they were just as excited as ever to watch as the red carpet rolls out for the world famous Duck March that takes place every morning and afternoon in the Peabody lobby. Despite all of the challenges and tribulations of life on the road, it’s moments like these that make them all worthwhile and confirm for me that I found the right profession long ago when I started in banquets at the Lexington Marriott 25 years ago now.
