Evolution is curious thing to observe while amidst it. And particularly when things evolve so quickly relative to overall human development. Take, for example, advances in medicine. People are generally the same as they were two hundred years ago. And yet, in that era, blood letting was still a common procedure for minor aches and […]
If there’s any rule by which I have taken aim at abiding above all things in the four years since I started my business, it’s saying yes. One of the primary reasons I left a job that I loved was because I found myself saying no in much greater abundance than I was saying yes. […]
Commissions seem to be a sensitive area in the tri-fold relationship between hotels, third-party agents, and the customer. And often the awkwardness about it comes because there’s a fourth party involved in some of the transactions – the end user. Perhaps we should define the roles of each of these parties when it comes to […]
There can’t be a correct way to spell it – is it chotchkies? Chatskies? You know what I’m talking about. Specifically, I’m talking about hotel logo’d swag. I get a lot of it. I refuse most of it. But over the last three plus years in business I have managed to accidentally accumulate an ungodly […]
I grew up around New York. New York was and always will be “The City”. I think you can be more than 500 miles from New York and if referring to “the city” you still mean New York, even if 100 cities lie between you and New York. But I haven’t lived in or around […]
Where do you turn to get a real glimpse into what may lie ahead in your upcoming travel plans? There can be a real value in utilizing websites like TripAdvisor when planning one’s travel and added benefits for those who are in the travel industry itself. But there are ways to misuse sites like this […]
I’ve felt so fortunate in recent days to be staying at some of the nation’s finest hotels and resorts. Gone are my youthful days flipping through AAA guide books trying to find that gem of a 2-diamond motor inn that impress at the off chance they’d made serious improvements since their last evaluation. Long behind […]
It’s been called the “AIG Effect” but no question it’s bled further than the insurance and finance industries. Any corporation, association, government agency, non-profit, any entity who has any type of public stakeholder suffers from the backlash of public scrutiny when choosing a location for their conference. Upon first glance, as a tax payer, or […]
Ah yes, the notorious “FAM” tour. This is one part of my enterprise that is difficult to explain to those outside the industry. It’s hard to describe the events of one of these trips without it sounding like a boondoggle in the minds of family and friends. Even on the hotel and convention bureau side, […]
I was born in New York. I lived most of my life in New Jersey. I went to school and lived for some time in Boston. And now I live in Washington. Having grown up in the “aggressive” northeast corridor of our wonderful mood-diverse nation, I’m afforded a unique luxury when I travel domestically. No […]