The last four weeks seem like a whirlwind.  I am behind on my blog updates and cannot wait to share my awesome experiences in training the top vacation rental companies on Emerald Isle, NC just two weeks ago, and then being a guest speaker at the Davidson Hotels conference last week.  Now that I only have 1 night on the road in the next 14 days those updates are coming soon.... 

Meantime, tonight I have just driven back down the mountains from Lake Louis, Alberta where I was a guest speaker at the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Conference today to Calgary, to stay for my early AM flight  home. What a great experience it has been.  Here is a picture of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, and also of me with my host from the AH&LA conference Joann Kirland, Director of Hotels for WestCorp Hospitality.  (See more details below.) 

It actually didn't start so great yesterday (Monday AM).  It was not that I had to wake up at 3:45am, but rather the still embarrassingly inadequate signage at the Miami International Airport.  My "home base" airport is Ft. Lauderdale whenever possible, but I've flown in/out of MIA probably 200 times.  Still it was so confusing.  I knew I was on American, which runs from gate A to gate D.  I parked on the first floor.  There was no signage to direct me to the terminal, so me and one other business traveler had to cross the traffic and I was only thankful it was so early since there were no cars.  Then we ended up on the ground level of terminal A.  No signs to the check-in, but thanks to my intuition I sniffed it out. 

Then it was 7 hours of flying and a 2.5 hour layover at DFW, which I have to say the AA terminal was a good place to be stuck.  Then into Calgary airport and my awaiting Avis car.  Can you believe they put me in a Minivan just like I drive at home?  I was hoping for a SUV or something more sporty for the 2.5 hour drive up to Lake Louise. (More pics from the drive posted at the bottom of this entry.)

Speaking of the drive, wow.  I have driven to most ski areas in North America other than this one and first I would have to say the roads were excellent.  Not only in maintenance but also in layout, as there was plane of room on the shoulders vs. the I-70 corridor drive from DEN to ASP I know all too well!   Thankfully my wife Cathy called out to me at 4am "Did you remember your coat?" which I had not since I've been traveling in the south for several weeks now and living in FL thought winter was over.  Yet out the windshield it was hovering around freezing the whole drive and there were a few spots of snow showers still sticking.  I was thinking back to the day before when I was in the pool at home in Florida with the kids thinking that summer had set in as it was really hot.

It was really one of the most beautiful drives ever.  Seeing the majestic snow-capped mountains against either the azure blue ski and flashes of yellow sunlight brilliance contrasting with the mostly cloudy overcast grayish blue skies was wonderful.

Upon arrival at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise it was such a warm, inviting, and welcoming lobby. My wife Cathy - who readers of this blog know grew up on the farm and who returns to hunt each Fall - would have loved all the moose trophies on the walls and also the native artwork, wood carvings.  The kids would have loved the house dog who is the most adorable (and first) hotel mascot I've ever seen. I think this dog will live to be 20 or more, as he receives so much love especially from the children. 

After checking in and reception up I was off to the registration and the evening's reception, where I was greeted by Tina TIllapugh from the Alberta Lodging Association, who had made the arrangements for me to be one of the conference speakers.  She was very organized and made my job as a speaker so easy and stress free. 

I had to head back to my room to get my name badge, and as fate would have it on the elevator ride down I bumped into two business ladies who were looking for directions to the evening event.  I said I was headed there so they could follow me and introduced myself.  Out of 500+ attendees it happened to be Joann Kirkland, Director of Hotels for WestCorp Hospitality and the AHLA board member responsible for introducing me the next day!  She was with Jane Barrigan Jess, GM of Varscona Hotel, and they warmly welcomed me to join them at their table with their colleagues.  After traveling alone for over 14 hours and walking into a reception hall full of 500 strangers it was so wonderful to be welcomed to join their table later for dinner.  At the table I also met Nicholas Wilson, GM of Matrix Hotel, whom I found out I had connected with during a vist to Westin Grand Cayman in 2007 for the Tourism Awards dinner.  I also met RIchard Wurst, GM of Neighborhood Inn in Bonnyville, AB and his housekeeping manager who's name I recall as Joan.  As compelling and wonderful as it was to meet all of these folks, I have to say it was especially an honor to meet Lelia, who is one of the housekeepers at Neighborhood Inn.  Leila was there to receive her third straight annual AHLA award for excellence.   She was one of the warmest personalities I have ever met in 21+ years of hospitality training.  This fact was demonstrated when she personally pinned on the floral lapel arrangement you can see in this picture of us together: 

Here is a link to a short video of the entrance ceremony they held for the 2011 AHLA Housekeeping Awards Recipient, which was led by a bagpipe player:   


I have to say even the keynote speakers for the dinner were super excellence.  I especially enjoyed the speech by Bruce Okabe, CEO of Travel Alberta, who talked about creating authentic vacation memory experiences and sending people back to their homelands with stories to tell about their travels.  He is spot-on when it comes to branding of a destination. 

The next day it was a great honor to be a part of this conference.  Here's a picture of me with my group doing one of the activities that shows that a smile is inarguably contagious. 

A picture of me with Joann Kirlkand, Director of Hotels from Westcorp is posted at the top of this blog entry.

Below are pictures of my incredibly beautiful drive from Calgary to Lake Louise: