Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Three Martini Lunch...with a Twist

Our occasional weekend post is usually reserved for commemorating anniversaries that don't fall on a weekday (and a couple of those milestones are just ahead) and to hip you to cool restaurants and nightspots I've discovered.

This one is about a cool restaurant I have yet to sample...but just love the creativity of the owners.

Before the buttoned-down '80s, the three-martini lunch was a staple in the white-collar business world. Think Mad Men. Today...it's pretty much verboten.

Except at Salty's in Seattle Southside. But here's the twist. It's a three course lunch served IN martini glasses. A seafood ceviche to start, followed by a warm seafood salad and completed with chocolate tiramisu. Check out the description, and you'll seriously consider booking a flight to SEA.

While I'm a fan of the original...this is cool.

When is a Bump a Hump?

When you're in Sarasota, of course.

Best wishes for a great weekend, everybody.

Don't Fall Asleep on the Last Flight of the Day

I rarely sleep on planes. I envy those who can.

Like Kris Lines...who fell asleep on an Air Canada flight from Calgary to Vancouver. And was nudged awake by a mechanic in the hangar where the plane had been parked to spend the night.

Apparently, flight attendants failed to do the once over at the end of the flight...and the sleeping Kris was hauled off to the hangar. Where the mechanic was just as startled to see Kris as Kris was to see the mechanic.

It's Not Just Airlines

The whole "fee" thing has caused most travelers to loathe their air carriers. And the recent announcement that Spirit would begin charging for carry-on luggage is just the latest.

But, hotels are just as complicit in trying to squeeze extra dollars out of their customers. The latest (as relayed by MeetingsNet's Sue Pelletier) is a restocking fee of $5.95 tagged on to the $2.50 can of soda you just removed from the in-room mini-bar.

Are we all just marks in our industry's eyes?

A New Way to Choose Your Hotel

After a rocky start (where Wisconsin Badgers fans booed their production and satellite trucks before and after the '08 football season opener because the game couldn't be seen in Madison), the Big Ten Network has been a scrapper. One by one, the network has managed to land visibility in most of the nation's biggest markets as well as in all 11 Big Ten towns (I know...it doesn't make sense).

Its programming continues to improve...as does its promotional smarts. As an example, this page on the network's website (and the corresponding ads within its programming announcing the tool) that lists the hotels that carry the Big Ten Network.

At first, I laughed. And, then, realized how freaking smart this is. Let's be honest...the Big Ten Network is an acquired taste for big fans. It's not like I'm going to skip a hotel if it doesn't have HBO. But, if I'm a fanatic? Hell, yeah...I'm checking the list.

And probably changing my reservation. That is, if I've got nothing better to do than sit in my room when there's all kinds of cool stuff going on outside my door. But, if I'm a sports junkie...that's exactly where I'm gonna be.

Unions Defend Themselves by Calling Out Chicago's DMO

OK...I understand that when under attack, you look for someone else to blame. But, by what kind of screwed up logic would a Destination Marketing Organization be at fault for the high-price and unpleasant hassle of meeting in its largest convention venue?

But, that's what's happening in the Windy City...where local Union officials are attempting to shift the blame for losing a few high profile conventions by calling for the Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau to be dissolved.

Huh?

But, Chicago is a union town...and the Teamsters are playing to their base. However, as one who was once an uninitiated rookie exhibitor at McCormick Place that had waited four hours for someone to plug in my lighting and ended up doing it myself at Midnight so I could get some sleep, I know first hand why meeting planners are departing the city.

I thought that the early morning severing of electrical and computer cables was a thing of the past. Looking at the comments section under this story, I guess not.

Austin Powers to Get Pink Slip?

Britian's spy agency recently announced that their '70s-era spies are on the chopping block because they don't understand computer technology and social media.

Plus, the old guys are apparently struggling with the required shagging of hot, dangerous, 20-something babes.

The Discovery of New Music

It's not nearly as subversive as it was when I was growing up. Or, at least it doesn't seem so...and, for that, I feel bad for my daughters. Because discovering new music today isn't nearly the secretive, insurrectionary movement that it was for me...and the guys in ZZ Top.

Watching VH1's Storytellers with Frank, Dusty and Billy last weekend was a revelation. Once together, they learned they had all, when atmospheric conditions were right, listened to WLS after midnight from their teenage beds. Since I grew up in the shadow of Chicago (where WCFL was far more subversive), it was KAAY out of Little Rock for me.

While my parents thought their son was asleep, I'd have my transistor radio under my pillow, listening to the underground show know as "Beaker Street," with its psychedelic backgrounds behind the DJ, well before the FM underground movement launched on the west coast. There was just something so cool, knowing you were listening to a broadcast that was a gift from far away...and for which your Dad would kick your ass, if he knew.

What about you? Where did you hear the music that changed your life?

Here's a Novel Approach

After the airlines (except Southwest) began charging for checked bags, the boarding process has become a nightmare for passengers and crew alike. People are now hauling "carry-ons" the size of a small pony on board and a fighting for space in the overhead bins. If you don't board early, your chance of finding overhead space for your pony drops precipitously.

But Spirit has found a solution! Charge for carry-ons! THAT will decrease the number of carry-ons while increasing their revenue.

No...I'm not kidding. April Fool's Day was last week.

It starts August 1st. There ought to be an Air Law...

Hyatt Teams with Funny Or Die

You know Funny Or Die...Will Ferrell's comedy website that has produced such internet classics as "The Landlord" (viewed over 70 million times)?

In a smooth marketing move, Hyatt has teamed with the site to promote their hotels as meeting sites where bad meetings just don't happen. So far, five very funny FOD videos show what could go wrong at other hotels...but won't at Hyatt.

Cost: just $300,000. And, placement not only on Hyatt's site...but through a banner ad on the Funny Or Die site.

As I said...smooth move.