Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

Opening a $107 Million Convention Hotel without a DMO

I'm pretty sure that the disillusioned head shake by hotel developers in Conroe has been more pronounced than that of the serial killer in the Geico commercial. As the City of Conroe footed most of the bill for the exceptional new Hotel & Conference Center that opened last week, you'd think someone would have considered that having a DMO with no staff to assist with the opening would have been a red flag.

Hey, if forces within the City wanted to fire accomplished, award-winning DMO leadership...that's fine. Completely their prerogative. But doing it weeks before one of their biggest private economic development partners opens such an ambitious project that needs a professional DMO (and not City Hall receptionists)...that's just carelessly clueless.

But hey, there's a lot of that going on out there.

Sadly.

Missing Priorities

While the Hawaiian Legislature spent an inordinate amount of time attempting (and, ultimately failing) to end the Hawaii Tourism Authority...they absolutely whiffed on a bill that would have had a profound impact on protecting the State's delicate infrastructure. 

Despite widespread public support, a bill that would have imposed a fee for tourists to visit State Parks and trails that would have funded the maintenance and protection of parks, coral reefs, forests and wildlife such as dolphins. And yet, legislators apparently couldn't agree on details before the session concluded.

Isn't that what we elect leaders to do...represent our interests?

Reality v. the Circus

For the past 5 years, Shannon Overby took the destination marketing of Conroe TX beyond what most would consider possible. She recently got caught up in political shitshow when forces within the City decided that the DMO should serve as the receptionist for City Hall and she pushed back.

Conroe let her go for her "insubordination." And, within days, she is snapped up by one of the top DMOs in the State of Texas.

Hey Conroe? Does that suggest to you that you have no friggin' idea what you're doing? Or the talent you just frittered away?

Yeah...probably not.

A Cautionary Tale

This isn't the story of a clueless Destination Marketing Organization. Indeed, two of their six Directors within the past decade have gone on to work at the State Tourism level, one as Director of the State's Tourism Association. So, it's not that they haven't been blessed with experienced talent.

Rather, this is the story of a careless DMO Board that, according to a just settled lawsuit, passed over an experienced Number 2 to install an individual with no apparent experience in the hospitality and travel industry as its new CEO. The lawsuit claimed the reason for the hire was that he was Black and she was White. In the filing, the Board was accused of saying that, since the town is predominantly Black, the DMO should be headed by someone who is Black.

The story gets more convoluted...and you can follow the rabbit hole if you choose. But suffice to say the Board ultimately hired the Number 2 as interim when the original hire split after less than half a year...while the lawsuit was in play.

But, here's the true cautionary tale: The company that issued the Directors & Officers insurance has alerted the local agent that they are dropping the DMO...and the local agent told the Board that he's having a hard time finding another company that will touch them, if they don't stop making "stupid decisions." When the Board President shot back that "it hasn't been proven nowhere," the agent said, "All right, that's what I needed to hear. Y'all need to get (your insurance) from somewhere else." And he walked out of the meeting.

Losing D&O Insurance is significantly more troubling than settling a discrimination lawsuit which, of course, is troubling enough. Because now, with no insurance, who is gonna wanna serve on that Board?

There are consequences to everything...and some really hurt.

 

 

A Missed Opportunity?

Every time I slide into a rental car and find that the satellite radio feed hasn't been activated, I shake my head, thinking of all the potential subscribers SiriusXM is forfeiting by not giving the service away to rental car companies. Just think (I think to myself) of all the people who have decided they won't pay for radio who might be convinced to subscribe if they had a few hours to experience the vastness of genres that are unavailable on terrestrial radio. It wouldn't cost SiriusXM anything to do it. Thus, the ROI could be substantial.

After reading this article on HotelManagement.net, I began to think the same thing about hotels and the way they serve up the availability of streaming services. Oh, you can find HBO on most in-room channel lists...but the other streaming services expect guests to enter their subscription information to stream their content. Again, why? And, no...I'm not entering my user name and password on a hotel TV, no matter how secure I'm told it is.

I ended up subscribing to HBO years ago when I got hooked on The Sopranos after watching a few episodes in hotel rooms. Never would have if I hadn't gotten that taste. So why don't the other streaming services offer their content free to hotels. I mean, really...one in-room episode of Poker Face would cause me to subscribe to Peacock in an instant.

Opportunity lost. Every night. Every room.

Looking at it Through the Customer's Eyes

Trying to find the dock for a Water Taxi to get us to dinner...and the address provided is not recognized by GPS. And there's no signage at the nearest parking lot. Sure, the locals know where to go...but how many first-time visitors miss their reservations because nobody in management of this otherwise sensational experience thought about how a potential first-time customer (who will likely rip them on Social Media) could possibly locate an impossibly difficult to find dock. Have you tried to find your business using GPS (and on all the platforms)? As Todd Rundgren famously said on Something/Anything, "you might be surprised."

Or the web platform that chose to update the skins of all its users without warning and inadvertently caused at least some of us (and I'm guessing more) to have their interface become unreadable? We open a "support" ticket, get a rapid response...and then are told, "looks good on our end." Yeah, because they're all using big screens while the majority of our users are on laptop and mobile. When shown screen shots of how it's not OK, they go radio silent for two days. Hey...we get it. You fucked up and don't know how to fix it. But, an automated, "we know you're still out there" response each day would be nice so we don't start searching for another host because we think you don't care (which I just had, minutes before they finally acknowledged their mistake).

In every enterprise, there needs to be a person responsible for these kinds of missteps. I'm not saying it's a full-time job (though it may well be). But somebody needs to be on the case, everyday, focused on how new and existing customers can revel in your customer care...and be, as Guy Kawasaki once said, "Thunder Lizard Evangelists."

 

Nuts!

As the Southwest Airlines meltdown played out over the holidays, I went searching for a book in my library that I likely hadn't touched in 20 years. Nuts! (by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg) tells the fascinating saga of Southwest's initial fight for life and ultimate emergence as a dominant player in the airline world. And, they did it by breaking all the rules.

What caused me to pull the book for a skim was an open letter from a veteran Southwest pilot that explained that early leadership of the company was based on operational optimization. Things changed when accountants took over from founder Herb Kelleher.

What also apparently changed was the unwavering focus Herb had on placing employees first. One of my favorite stories about the Southwest Airlines culture was that you'd never find the then 60-something CEO in his office on the day before Thanksgiving (one of the busiest travel days of the year) because he would be on the tarmac at Love's Field slinging luggage with the baggage handlers. That's leadership.

Though the book is approaching its 30th anniversary, Nuts! is worth your time...because Herb's vision and leadership was timeless.

If Everyone Cared

We close each year of blog posts with a plea for the coming year. From hunger to inhumanity and the environment to runaway government, we've been sharing these songs since 2006.

There are those moments in which songs mysteriously shuffle forward, as if there is an invisible force directing your next move...and that happened yesterday in the shower, listening to my new waterproof bluetooth speaker. I had pretty much decided on a track earlier in the week...but shifted gears upon hearing a song I certainly hadn't expected to fill the room.

This year, it's our wish for the world to care from Nickelback.

And as we lie beneath the stars,
We realize how small we are.
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be.

Imagine, indeed. 

Best wishes for a caring New Year....and we look forward to catching up on the other side.

Oooops

Destinations International has been a shining light in opposing the weaponization of boycotts against travel to make a political statement. While the fiscal pain the boycotting state or city inflicts on another can be substantial...it doesn't take into consideration the pain and loss that is also inflicted on hospitality workers (many that may agree with the boycotter's position...but need to score a regular paycheck to survive).

So, it's not with a bit of irony that we see California Governor Gavin Newsom vacation with his family in a State that his State has said is verboten for State-funded travel because Montana's politics don't jibe with California's. Of course, his trip is personal and not funded by the State (though there is some question of who is paying his security detail).

Hey...I couldn't be more pleased that the Governor is spending his money in a State that really needs visitors this year. But, can we stop with the political grandstanding that hurts visitor economies and the people that most need a paycheck?

And, if not for them, because this will always come around and bite you in the butt during the next campaign.

Elvis Has Left the Building

By now, you've no doubt heard that the organization that manages the Elvis brand has issued a stop order on Vegas Wedding Chapels and performers that do impressions of the King in their work. In a world where Elvis is increasingly irrelevant, one wonders how this keeps the brand alive...other than extracting revenue from businesses and gig workers. As one chapel manager said, "We believe the Las Vegas wedding industry has helped keep Elvis relevant for a whole generation of people."

But...what would this mean for events like Tupelo's Elvis Festival, which seems to have avoided a similar cease and desist order. A Youth Day there began after seeing an uptick in Elvis interest among younger generations. "We wanted to do that event because we were noticing a lot of younger kids and a younger demographic becoming interested in Elvis," said the coordinator. "Maybe one day they will become Elvis tribute artists," he said.

Yeah...but they won't work in Vegas.