Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 - (Page 6)

Checking In PERSPECTIVE H&MM September 15, 2008 | HotelMotel.com EDITORIAL 600 Superior Ave. East, Suite 1100, Cleveland, OH 44114 When in doubt, purchase some seashells IN THE details What sets you apart? Memphis event a success The beach mystery What are your shells? By Paul J. Heney Editorial Director L ast month, I had the pleasure of attending the annual Memphis Lodging Industry Summit, hosted by the Metropolitan Memphis Hotel & Lodging Assn. and Pinkowski & Co. This great regional summit was well planned, professionally executed and, I thought, applicable to hotel owners and operators anywhere in the country. The opening night of the summit featured a wonderful banquet at the famed Peabody Hotel, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to Craig Marshall, the regional director of operations for the Peabody Hotel Group. Amidst the usual dinnertime banter, Marshall told a story that was fascinating and a little eye-opening. It seems that a number of years ago, there was a gentleman who owned a hotel in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was sort of a big celebrity at travel shows, with his over-the-top pitch. Guests up and down the East Coast knew the beach in front of his hotel as the best shelling beach in Florida. As such, the hotel did quite a proﬁtable business. Now, according to Marshall, Cocoa Beach is not any kind of a beach for shelling, and is fairly unremarkable, as far as Florida beaches go. Marshall had heard a back-story about this hotel for years, and at this evening’s banquet, another attendee conﬁrmed it. It turns out that this Cocoa Beach hotelier would buy shells by the truckload. Every morning at about 3:30 a.m., he would have his staff lug large potato sacks full of the shells out to the beach and spread them out just above the high-tide line. The funny part of this is that no one seemed to notice the plethora of shells mysteriously seemed to trail off close to the hotel’s property boundaries. Now you may say this hotelier wasn’t entirely leveling with his guests, and I suppose I couldn’t argue with that. However, the other side of it is he was giving his guests an experience they desired. And you have to give him credit for thinking outside the proverbial box. But what is the takeaway for those of you who aren’t necessarily involved with a hotel located on a sandy beach? The lesson is, as Marshall often reminds his staff, “What are our shells?” Tell your staff this story. Then ask them: “What is a creative, fun, engaging thing we can do in our market that will really separate our property from all of the others?” In trying economic times, you need every advantage in your marketing. So, follow Marshall’s lead and challenge yourself to think outside of the beach. pheney@questex.com Paul J. Heney, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR . . . . . . pheney@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3728 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Stephanie Ricca, EDITOR IN CHIEF. . . . . . . . . . sricca@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3791 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Victoria Burt, MANAGING EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . vburt@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3743 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Jason Q. Freed, SENIOR EDITOR . . . . . . . . . . . jfreed@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3727 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Jennifer Kovacs, SENIOR EDITOR. . . . . . . . . . jkovacs@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3782 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Heather Gunter, ASSOCIATE EDITOR . . . . . . . hgunter@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3792 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Emily Hanna, ASSOCIATE EDITOR . . . . . . . . . ehanna@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3784 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Chris Crowell, ASSOCIATE EDITOR . . . . . . . .ccrowell@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3783 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Patricia Sheehan, EDITOR IN CHIEF, Hotel Design Ph: (216) 706-3753. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .psheehan@questex.com Amy B. Witek, ART DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . awitek@questex.com Rob Ghosh, ART DIRECTOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .rghosh@questex.com ADVERTISING/SALES/CIRCULATION 600 Superior Ave. East, Suite 1100, Cleveland, OH 44114 Matt Waddell, PUBLISHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . mwaddell@questex.com 2835 N. Shefﬁeld Ave, Suite 236, Chicago, IL 60657 Ph: (773) 880-2240 | Fax: (773) 880-2241 Mary Malloy, NORTHEAST, INT’L. . . . . . . . . .mmalloy@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3790 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Brian Levine, SOUTHEAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . blevine@questex.com 757 Third Ave., 5th Floor, New York, NY 10017 Ph: (212) 895-8285 | Fax: (212) 895-8215 Jason Wallace, WEST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jwallace@questex.com 1461 S. 375 E., Kaysville, UT 84037 Ph: (801) 499-9999 | Fax: (801) 315-4137 Doug Kereszturi, CLASSIFIEDS, RECRUITMENT, DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . dkereszturi@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3794 | Fax: (216) 706-3711 Heidi Spangler, DIR., AUDIENCE DEV. . . . . . . . hspangler@questex.com Ph: (216) 706-3705 | Fax: (216) 706-3714 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Stacy Silver, BUSINESS DEV. DIRECTOR. . . . . ssilver@questex.com Ph: (954) 306-0747 | Fax: (954) 697-6265 J. Richard Casson, ASSOCIATE BUSINESS DEV. DIRECTOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rcasson@questex.com Ph: (212) 895-8426 | Fax: (212) 895-8210 Forgot to pack your favorite issue of Hotel & Motel Management? Visit www.HotelMotel.com and go to www.HotelMotel.com/ digitalarchive to download, browse through and search the text of each issue, click on links in the articles and advertisements and quickly navigate to any page. PRODUCTION 306 W. Michigan St., Suite 200, Duluth, MN 55802 Jamie Kleist, ASST. PRODUCTION DIR. . . . . . . jkleist@questex.com Ph: (218) 279-8855 | Fax: (218) 279-8812 Janelle Heller, SR. 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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopy, recording or information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of speciﬁc clients, is granted by Questex Media Group, Inc. for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Dr., Danvers, MA 01923; phone: (978) 750-8400; fax (978) 7504470; call for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law. For those not registered with the CCC, send permission request to questexpermissions@reprintbuyer.com; phone: (800) 494-9051 Ext. 100. Hotel & Motel Management does not verify any claims or other information appearing in any of the advertisements contained in the publication, and cannot take any responsibility for any losses or other damages incurred by readers in reliance on such content. Hotel & Motel Management welcomes unsolicited articles, manuscripts, photographs, illustrations and other materials but cannot be held responsible for their safekeeping or return. Questex Media Group, Inc. provides certain customer contact data (such as customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses) to third parties who wish to promote relevant products, services and other opportunities which may be of interest to you. If you do not want Questex Media Group to make your contact information available to third parties for marketing purposes, simply call toll-free (866) 344-1315 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CT and a customer service representative will assist you in removing your name from Questex Media Group’s lists. Outside the U.S., please phone (847) 763-9594. We want to hear from you! We welcome your comments, criticisms and compliments. Address correspondence to: Letters Editor, HOTEL & MOTEL MANAGEMENT, 600 Superior Ave. East, Suite 1100, Cleveland, Ohio 44114; e-mail to hmm@questex.com; or fax to (216) 706-3711. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. Please keep letters to 300 words or fewer. .EDITORIAL MISSION STATEMENT. . HOTEL & MOTEL MANAGEMENT supplies the credible news analysis and operating resources the lodging industry needs to prosper amid constant change. Comprehensive reporting and research offer top-of-mind and quick-hitting insights while introducing the people driving the future of the hotel community. Strategies about marketing, ﬁnance, technology, design and product purchasing go beyond the bricks and mortar to bring readers closer to the fundamentals of operating in the lodging business. Printed in USA http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digitalarchive http://www.HotelMotel.com/digitalarchive

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008 Contents Microtel, Hawthorn Settle in at Wyndham Is it Black or Red for Green Hotels? New City on the Strip When in Doubt, Purchase some Seashells Legal FAQ Consultant's Corner Sales Clinic On Finance Travel Trends Franchise Law Guest Column Events Cornell Insights HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Top Hotel Companies Survey Awards Lending Requires Knowledge, Preparation Casegoods Minibars Historian to Keynote Leadership Forum at IH/M&RS Fitness Equipment The Lodging Conference Preview Accent Lighting Awards Vacuums Supplier News Transactions People Ad/Editorial Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out

Hotel & Motel Management - September 15, 2008

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