What a great two month’s of both business and personal travel The Universe had in store for me to close out the final two months of a great year for 2007.  So much travel that it was a bit of a blur, even for a seasoned road warrior such as yours truly, but in looking back there were so many great moments and wonderful connections (and re-connections) I made en route.

Both months kept me on the road the majority of the time, but many of the places I visited seemed like my home away from home.  November started with my fourth trip to Split Rock Resort in 2007, this time to conduct our Reservations SAILS Training for their reservations team.  Despite that I’d trained the entire resort throughout 2007 in hospitality, this was to be my first visit back to work with just the reservations team, as they had been under contract with another company for reservations training.  What made this booking especially meaningful was that due to the long tenure of their staff, many of these same agents went through one of my first seminars over 15 years ago!  It was great to observe that their willingness to learn and grow professionally hadn’t waned a bit over the years, and wonderful to hear that that thought I “still had it going on” so many years later.  Here’s a picture of me with the group that day.

                           

Next up was a short trip from our main office in Hollywood/Ft. Lauderdale for Colleen and Kris, from my training and mystery shopping team, to attend a Loews brand orientation session at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, as a final step in creating a completely customized version of our Reservations SAILS Training for them.  We felt very warmly welcomed by their associates, and it was great to spend the better part of a day sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with their latest new-hire class, many of which were just starting their very first hospitality industry job.  It was especially impressive that their GM, Shawn Hauver, personally presented 2 hours of the program despite that he had just gotten back from being out for two weeks and could have easily delegated this to one of his department heads.  But then again after finding out that he had spent several years working directly under Charlie Hines, who was my first Resident Manager and who remained one of my personal mentors for many years until his recent retirement, I wasn’t surprised at all.  Here’s a picture of me with Colleen Tuttle, Director of Training and Assessment, and Kris Jorge, Training and Assessment Specialist, in front of the Loews Miami Beach hotel just after our meeting that day:

                                      

My third trip of the month was by far and away the most important of the year, which was to visit my ailing father who was recovering from complications of what was to have been a simple outpatient procedure but instead had resulted in a three and a half hour emergency surgery a month prior.  I was on the road alone the night of his emergency surgery, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to look into those wise and kind ocean-blue eyes of his just once more time, to give him a hug and tell him again how much he means to me.  Now thanks to his slow but steady recovery, on this trip I got to do all that and much more during my weekend visit.  I’m very blessed to have a sister and older brother who reside there and who have been there for him every day, and thankful also that we have an excellent VA hospital in my hometown.  When I walked in the room that day I almost didn’t recognize my dad, but after spending a few days with him playing checkers, watching football, and just reminiscing, he seemed to have returned to his old self at least mentally, and it was clear that his body was healing too although not as fast as it once did.  I’m even more proud than ever about my dad’s ever-optimistic attitude about life, and that he managed to avoid the depths of depression that he could have so easily slipped into.  Here’s a picture of me with my dad George Kennedy, my sister Kathy Bolton, and my brother Dan Kennedy that day:

                                   

After being back home for only one night it was time for another tip, and this was yet another sentimental journey which was to head to my in-laws farm in the Poconos of PA for the Thanksgiving holiday.  It’s always a mental escape for me to visit my wife Cathy’s family farm, as we are so busy helping out on the farm that there’s little time for work or worry.  This small, working dairy farm has been operated by Cathy’s family since 1852, and every day, twice a day, her dad, mom, and brother milk about 30 cows, as their ancestors did for over 150 years.   But this trip was especially sentimental as it may very be the last time that we get to see cows, as they might have to soon close down the dairy business.  This is not only due to the economic challenges that are squeezing out the small farmers, but also because as more farms have closed the companies that provide support services, such as the company that delivers the “chop,” are themselves shutting their doors.  We hope for the best and know the family will be okay, but empathize for their sadness to have to give up the only life they’ve known and loved.  We know they’ll be okay financially either way, but it’s sad to see a long chapter in her family history drawing to a close.  Friends often ask me, “So Doug, do you help milk the cows when you’re there?”  Truth is that I’m not trained enough to be that high on the barn-work “food chain.”  So while Cathy and her family do the actual milking, my job is to clean the stalls, fill the chop cart, and distribute the hay.  Here’s a picture of Cathy and I in the barn:

                             

As tradition has it, Cathy stayed on the week after Thanksgiving to be with her father for the peak of “hunt’n season.”  And yes my beautiful, otherwise very corporate-looking wife puts on her orange vest and heads off to the woods with her father, sister, and his hunt’n buddies to hunt for dear, which is a main staple of their diet year round.  (She got both a doe and a buck, so it was a good year!)  Meantime, I headed home to be with the kids for the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We had a great time putting up the Christmas Tree and decorating the house. 

Monday morning found be back on the road, this time headed back to Ponte Vedra Inn and Club to conduct an advanced-level reservations training for this classic five diamond resort that has been my loyal client for over 15 years now.  It was great working with their new Operations Manager, Yaofa Shung, who was recently promoted to the position, and to see so many familiar faces in my workshop.  It was also very exciting to be able to bring along Kris Jorge, one of our new training/assessment specialists, so that she could under-study that day.  Here’s a picture of us with the two groups we trained that day:

 

After returning Tuesday in time to spend some time with the kids, I was back on a plane the next morning for what was my longest distance trip of 2007 – to Whister, B.C.  After flying from South Florida through LA to Vancouver and securing my rental car, I headed up the coastal highway for the beautiful drive to Whister.  It has been said that ignorance is bliss, and in this case it was for sure as little did I know that the coastal highway had been closed by the provincial police all day unless you had snow chains, and everyone had been turned back.  But my travel angels came through once again for me, as about the time I reached the checkpoint the weather had cleared just enough for me to make it, although the still-snowy road grew dark and lonely after sunset.  How charming it was to pull into the Whistler Pinnacle Hotel that evening after such a long day of travel, and I was instantly reminded of why I’ve always been so found of this destination when upon arrival I was welcomed warmly by the front desk staff.  It was also nice to have a fireplace and a deep soaking tub, which I have to admit even I used this trip since it was so cold outside for a guy from Florida.  Here’s a picture of the village one morning during my visit:

                         

The next two days I conducted four half-day sessions for the reservations agents at Whistler.com, which is the official “destination” call center.  Having met their Director, Ben Day, at the CRADR conference I’d spoken at last October (see October On The Road), I had high expectations due to his obvious leadership skills and proficiency.  But even these expectations were exceeded, as this turned out to be one of the most interested, motivated, and engaged ski resort reservations teams I’ve trained in recent memory.  Being so seasonal, the ski resorts always have a tough time recruiting good talent, but apparently not so here!  Ben and his team have managed to find plenty of talented people despite a labor crunch.  Their active participation, engaging questions, and dynamically diverse personalities and backgrounds made my job extremely easy that day, which was especially appreciated after such a long journey.  By the end of the two days I’d made many new friends, and only wished that I could press a button and have Cathy and the kids appear so we could stay over the weekend.  Here’s a picture of me with three of my four groups that week:

 

                                 

 

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