This entry was posted on 3/9/2007 10:39 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
On The Road To Ponte Vedra, FL
With all the travel ahead, it was really great to start the month with a full week in the office, although I had so many errands and appointments to cram-in that it went by very fast. Before long I found myself back on a plane, but after my last business trip I was relieved to only be flying a Southwest non-stop to Jacksonville, which is for me is like a bus ride.
Visiting the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club is always a pleasure, and the experience began as usual when their car service picked me up at the airport. I was back on-property for the third time in as many months, this time to present a fully customized hospitality and sales excellence training program for the front desk and reservations staff of their new spa. Having been there the month prior for the needs-assessment, I was excited to be delivering this very special workshop. I was so honored by the enthusiastic response of their associates to the content I’d created for them, especially since they have already been through extensive, on-site training with Bill David, the Director of Training, whom I consider one of the top hospitality trainers in the business. Here’s a picture of me with my group that day:
Besides the literal joy of experiencing arguably the most authentic and genuine hospitality culture of any five-diamond resort I’ve worked with, it’s always great to get to see my good friend and long-term client Fred Cozby, who has been the Hotel Manager at this great resort for more than a decade. Here’s a picture of me with Bill (left) and Fred (right):
On The Road To Topsail Island, NC
After returning home for one night, most of which I worked since Cathy was out of town and the kids with their mom, I was back on a plane the next day to Wilmington, NC for my visit to Century 21/Action Resort Vacations on Topsail Island, NC. How luck I was to arrive on time that day, as most of the Northeast had been shut down for over a day. (This was the day of the JetBlue fiasco.) It was to be my second on-premise training for them, and the first time I had also conducted a reservations sales effectiveness audit. Scott Erickson, CEO, had embraced my recommendations as enthusiastically as any client to date, having implemented just about every suggestion from the report. Besides all this, Scott had also personally escorted all his agents to attend my area-wide seminar in Myrtle Beach last year, so his agents had been through plenty of Doug Kennedy training and so it was great to deliver a fully customized program regarding the journey to reservations sales excellence. Here’s a picture of me with their group, along with one of me with Erica, their Agent of the Month. (Scott is to my immediate left in the group shot.)
What a nice treat it was to have been invited to Scott’s house for dinner, which he had cooked himself! As good as the food was, the company was even better as I got to spend quality time with Scott, Carla, his reservations manager, and I finally got to meet Scott’s charming wife Melissa for the first time. After learning how much she has in common with my wife Cathy, such as they both drink tea (not coffee), neither likes to cook on weekdays, and both only wear jeans when their husbands buy them for them, I now really look forward to introducing the them soon. Here’s my picture with Melissa that evening:
On The Road To Gulf Shores, AL
After getting back late Thursday night, and a very and busy office day between trips, it was time to pick up the kids from school begin the weekend. Since Cathy was away at a Marriott conference in DC all week, it was up to the kids and I to get the house cleaned up and the fridge re-stocked for her return. Picking her up at the airport is one of their most treasured activities, especially since we let them ride "the magic stairs," which is what I taught them to call the escalator when they were little little ones. Here's a picture of Julia and Adam having just greeted Cathy with their welcome signs:
After enjoying a relaxing President’s Day Weekend I was back at FLL again on Tuesday, headed to Gulf Shores, AL to work with Brett-Robinson Vacation Rentals. It was the first time I’d taken the non-stop to Pensacola, and it enabled me to their offices by late morning with plenty of time for introductory meetings. I should say re-introductory meeting as it was, having conducted the training personally there nearly a decade earlier. It was great to see my friends Marie Curren, Rental Manager, and Bill Brett, who runs the entire rental division. During our meeting it was exciting to learn how much this company has grown, and that they now have 1800+ condo units and beach homes in their rental program. What was really fun was to see the training manuals and workbooks I’d written while at my old company still on their shelves, and to see some of the same participants I’d trained 10 years prior. Having arrived so early, I was done with the meeting and checked into my beach condo. The view from my balcony was very tempting as you can see below. It was especially tempting since my room directly overlooked the famous Pink Pony beach bar that was right next door. Oh, and did I mention it was Fat Tuesday and they had live bands and Cajun food on the menu? Remembering how much I had to do and how much I didn’t want to have to work the upcoming weekend, I worked diligently from my living room until at least 7pm., although I do have to admit sneaking over for some Gumbo and a beer or to before calling it an early night. Here’s my view, including the Pink Pony to the Right:
The next morning I was happy about the self-control I’d shown in leaving after the second beer, as the alarm clock went off even earlier than usual due to a favor I'd promised. It was hard to say no to such a long-term client friend as Marie Curren, who had asked me the day prior if I’d give a short motivational talk to their real estate sales team from their other division. Having always considered myself a hospitality industry training guy, I've only ventured out of the industry occasionally. So it was with more than a little trepidation that I walked into their board room to find more than 20 top-tier real estate professionals.
Looking back now, I guess I didn’t do too bad because Gene Brett, one of the founding partners of the company, re-arranged his schedule that night to join his son Bill and I at dinner, during which he said my presentation was as good as any he’s seen in 40+ years in the business, and that he wanted to get me to speak to their other office in Mobile! Here’s a picture of me with Gene Brett at dinner that night and also one with Marie Curren:
Right after my talk to the real estate group I took the 15 minute drive to their other office, and walked right into a room full of 20+ enthusiastic reservations sales agents ready for their workshop. Thankfully, they made my job very easy that day, which was appreciated since I'd walked-in cold and didn't even have time to meet anyone before starting. Over the next two days I ran into many agents who remembered me from 1997, and they really seemed to love the new caller-focused reservations training we've launched at KTN. What was really interesting was to bump into an agent who had been a guest, a meeting planner actually, of my very first hotel where I started as a bellman. We both remembered each other as she had been one of the planners for their events. What a coincidence! Here's a picture of me with each group:
On The Road To Sunriver, OR
My non-stop flight home was uneventful, and really made me appreciate the commuter jets these days when I walked in the door by 9pm. Thankfully I had two office days between trips this time, so my e-mail boxes were finally emptied before I headed to FLL again to fly to Sunriver, OR. Thanks to new Delta non-stops to Salt Lake, I landed at Redmon by 1pm to find what felt like a beautiful spring day. I was back in town to conduct an area-wide training for the resort companies in the Sunriver. The weather changed dramatically as I drove onward to Sunriver, and the recent 10+ inches of snow made for a beautiful landscape. Before long I was checking into my chalet, and as soon as I entered it I only wished I had my family and friends along to enjoy this great house with 3 bedrooms, a fireplace, and jacuzzi. Here's a pictue of the chalet and the view out back:
My non-stop flight home was uneventful, and really made me appreciate the commuter jets these days when I walked in the door by 9pm. Thankfully I had two office days between trips this time, so my e-mail boxes were finally emptied before I headed to FLL again to fly to Sunriver, OR. Thanks to new Delta non-stops to laceName w:st="on">SaltlaceName> laceType w:st="on">LakelaceType>, I landed at Redman by 1pm to find what felt like a beautiful spring day. I was back in town to conduct an area-wide training for the resort companies in the Sunriver. The weather changed dramatically as I drove onward to Sunriver, and the recent 10+ inches of snow made for a beautiful landscape. Before long I was checking into my chalet, and as soon as I entered it I only wished I had my family and friends along to enjoy this great house with 3 bedrooms, a fireplace, and Jacuzzi. Here's a picture of the chalet and the view out back:
The following day it was time for my area-wide workshop, and as the participants started filing in I couldn’t believe how many familiar, enthusiastic faces had shown-up once again. At least a third of the group had been through my other trainings, and for one participant, Cecilia Kuchabsky, from Cascade Vacations, this was to be her seventh workshop. Here’s a picture of me with the group that day, along with one taken with Cece at the Sunriver Lodge later that evening when a bunch of us went out for happy hour: 
