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On The Road to Minto, New Brunswick, Scottsdale, AZ, Orlando, FL, and St. George Island, FL, January 2009
This entry was posted on 1/31/2009 4:38 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
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…
January wasted no time in putting me back on the road, but after having been home for about three straight weeks of sunny, 80 degree South Florida weather I was about to get a reminder of what winter was like. Perhaps I’d been in denial before my trip because I didn’t watch the weather and just jumped on the plane. Turns out it was just as well, because I was flying through Montreal airport, which was experiencing white-out conditions. As I waited out my 3 hour layover in the commuter terminal for my flight to Fredericton, New Brunswick, I tried to remain optimistic as I saw one after another outbound flights marked “delayed” or “canceled” on the schedule.
But as always, my travel angels were riding on each shoulder and somehow my flight arrived only 45 minutes late. Before long I was walking into a nice Ramada Inn hotel in Fredericton, which featured an indoor atrium and pool that almost made me feel home in FL again. There meeting was my client and friend Bernice McCurdy, who is the V.P. of Reservations for my client there Kimpton Hotels. (See OTR October, 2008 and May, 2008 for pictures of Bernice.) We had a wonderful conversation over dinner catching up from on our Christmas celebrations, me with our Adam and Julia and she with her beloved little Anthony, who is about the same age our son.
Bernice had come all this way from St. Andrews basically just to escort me to and from the call center in Minto, New Brunswick where the Kimpton reservations calls are fielded, which I very much appreciated since it was an hour drive each way through several centimeters of snow. It was great to be back in the building, which is the call center for VAS (Virtual Agent Services), a Canadian company that has brought thousands of call center jobs into the small communities of Eastern Canada. I had been there one year before training the agents for the Loews brand, some of whom I got to see again. Here’s a picture of me with the two groups:
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:
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