Jane L. Levere - The New York Times Media Group
NEW YORK
It may be a little late to the game, but business travel is now the subject of a variety of blogs.
In the past two years, companies in the travel business, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Marriott International, Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, have introduced blogs to promote their products and brand images, as have business travelers who want to narrate their experiences and gripes.
One of the newest blogs intended to appeal to business travelers is BoardingArea.com, a portal created by Randy Petersen, a frequent flier program expert and founder of the online forum Flyer Talk.
Now in beta mode, meaning that it is still being tested before its official release, BoardingArea is essentially a directory to blogs that address issues of interest to business travelers.
Forrester Research said that in the second quarter of 2007, 21 percent of business travelers who use the Internet read blogs, not just on business travel, but also on sports, business, finance and other topics.
''This indicates that organizing a portal for business travel blogs, especially with good content, means the site has potential,'' said Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst for Forrester.
Tracy Gamble, vice president of business development for Propylon, a software company, has found travel blogs to be a great resource. Gamble, who is based in Dallas and spends half her time traveling, reads three or four travel blogs regularly, including the Informed Traveler, Cloud Travel and Gridskipper.
''I regularly consult these blogs before making client dinner reservations,'' she said. She also uses them, she said, to keep up on travel news like changes in security procedures.
Last autumn, she said she was too busy to visit her own doctor to get a flu shot. But after reading a post on Gridskipper, she learned that she could get a shot at a kiosk in O'Hare International Airport. So in November, when on a layover at O'Hare, Gamble went to the kiosk and was done in 10 minutes.
''It gave me peace of mind,'' she said. ''A week before I sat on a seven-hour flight with a lot of sniffing and coughing types. If I'd seen the kiosk without having seen it on the blog, I wouldn't have stopped.''
Hotels, airlines and other companies in the travel business have also harnessed blogs to build customer loyalty, promote their brands and offer insights from their employees.
One of the most prominent bloggers is J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive of Marriott International, who began a blog, Marriott on the Move, a year ago. It includes four or five posts a month and podcasts.
Marriott said he had tried to make his comments as personal as possible; for example, his post Wednesday discussed his and his family's experiences in the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
''I love it,'' he said. ''I read an awful lot of responses we're getting. It gives us a chance to communicate with the world and a chance for people to communicate back.''
The company considers Marriott on the Move a success now that it has attracted more than 345,000 visitors, almost a quarter from outside the United States. This year, the company plans to translate Marriott's posts and add the blog to its Web sites in Germany, China and Latin America. This month, it also started a second blog, Marriott in the Kitchen, written by Brad Nelson, its corporate chef.
Starwood started its blog, TheLobby.com, in April 2006 to provide information for participants in its Preferred Guest loyalty program. Chris Holdren, vice president of Starwood Preferred Guest and global Web services, said the tone of content had changed since the blog's introduction to allow the ''perspectives of the bloggers to be brought to life.'' These include four travel writers and some 70 Starwood employees.
Southwest Airlines has operated its staff-written blog, ''Nuts About Southwest,'' a name that refers to its in-flight snack of peanuts, since April 2006.
Blogs can also be a quick way for companies to gauge customer reaction to policies. Early last year, Bill Owen, a schedule planner at Southwest, wrote in a post that the airline sold its inventory only three months in advance. But after an outcry from customers, it changed its policy and now sells tickets at least four months in advance.
The blog had 500,000 unique visitors in 2007, said Linda Rutherford, vice president of public relations and community affairs at Southwest. Southwest expects that number to double this year.
Delta is one of the newer entrants to the blogosphere. It began blog.delta.com last August, which also has staff-written posts.
Delta is using the blog for market research. In the next month, it will post proposed screen shots for its ticket kiosks on the blog for feedback from travelers.
BoardingArea.com lists not only these travel company blogs and those published by daily newspapers, but also features nine blogs started by individual business travelers. Two of the nine blogs, View from the Wing and The Gate, had their start in Petersen's other frequent flier ventures.
Brett Snyder, director of new products for PriceGrabber.com, a comparison-shopping Web site, and author of the Cranky Flyer, one of the nine blogs featured on BoardingArea.com, hopes the portal will do more than earn him and Petersen money.
''It will help with exposure,'' Snyder said. ''Business travelers will be able to come and read not just my blog, but others. I'm a big fan of sharing traffic, getting conversations going across blogs.''
January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Be Green: A Small Bag Change
Everyday a large number of consumers walk, bike, or drive to their local grocery store to purchase a variety of products. It seems that the local grocery store has now become the local buy anything and everything store.
The average household has a huge hoard of plastic grocery bags, flying out of every pantry and cupboard in their home. In recent years several provinces and states have put bans and controls on plastic shopping bags. These vary from a fee on each individual bag to discourage usage, to a complete ban on plastic grocery bags altogether.
Just recently there has been a few big moves which hopefully will have a large successful impact. One hopes these moves shall get people looking at the reality of a product that they are using and than disposing of without a thought.
China State Council has banned plastic shopping bags effective June 1st, 2008. In a recent story from CBC.ca on January 8th, 2008 CBC discusses the ban in China and other such related bans. The article states that worldwide on average, we throw away 500 billion plastic shopping bags annually that can take up to 1, 000 years to fully decompose.
The Oprah Winfrey recently aired January 3rd, 2008 a show called "It's Easy Being Green” . The episode discussed ways that we can help to have a clean environment. Just by making small changes in our day to day lives within and outside the household we can make the earth a healthier place for ourselves and the environment. The discussion talking about plastic shopping bags specifically stated that of the 500 billion plastic bags we thrown away in the world annually, 380 million of them are in the United States alone. It also discussed the fact that for a while people were trying to substitute paper bags for plastic ones, but in order to produce 10 billion paper bags we would have to be cutting down 14 million trees a year.
You might ask what's the best plan?
We need to use cloth, re-usable bags, no paper, and no plastic, because they're both damaging to our environment in different ways. If we opt to use cloth bags we are making a move to save our environment for the future. We quite possibly will save ourselves money. Even though we don't have bans on plastic shopping bags yet across North America and there will be a slight fee for every cloth bag that you purchased.
Oprah has made it possible for people to purchase a cloth bag from her website, the cloth bags are featured as the "O grocery bag". It is made of 100% organic cotton that no type of chemical was used during the production. But if you're not an Oprah fan, or don't care for making purchases over the World Wide Web, a simple re-usable cloth bag from your local dollar store will do the trick.
It makes sense; why not make this change for our environment? It will help ourselves, our kids and future generations. We can only be excited for something that will make such a great difference and yet is so easy to do. So make a difference and DO “a small bag change".
Mary-Jane Martin
Eco-Tourism Student Class of 2009
The average household has a huge hoard of plastic grocery bags, flying out of every pantry and cupboard in their home. In recent years several provinces and states have put bans and controls on plastic shopping bags. These vary from a fee on each individual bag to discourage usage, to a complete ban on plastic grocery bags altogether.
Just recently there has been a few big moves which hopefully will have a large successful impact. One hopes these moves shall get people looking at the reality of a product that they are using and than disposing of without a thought.
China State Council has banned plastic shopping bags effective June 1st, 2008. In a recent story from CBC.ca on January 8th, 2008 CBC discusses the ban in China and other such related bans. The article states that worldwide on average, we throw away 500 billion plastic shopping bags annually that can take up to 1, 000 years to fully decompose.
The Oprah Winfrey recently aired January 3rd, 2008 a show called "It's Easy Being Green” . The episode discussed ways that we can help to have a clean environment. Just by making small changes in our day to day lives within and outside the household we can make the earth a healthier place for ourselves and the environment. The discussion talking about plastic shopping bags specifically stated that of the 500 billion plastic bags we thrown away in the world annually, 380 million of them are in the United States alone. It also discussed the fact that for a while people were trying to substitute paper bags for plastic ones, but in order to produce 10 billion paper bags we would have to be cutting down 14 million trees a year.
You might ask what's the best plan?
We need to use cloth, re-usable bags, no paper, and no plastic, because they're both damaging to our environment in different ways. If we opt to use cloth bags we are making a move to save our environment for the future. We quite possibly will save ourselves money. Even though we don't have bans on plastic shopping bags yet across North America and there will be a slight fee for every cloth bag that you purchased.
Oprah has made it possible for people to purchase a cloth bag from her website, the cloth bags are featured as the "O grocery bag". It is made of 100% organic cotton that no type of chemical was used during the production. But if you're not an Oprah fan, or don't care for making purchases over the World Wide Web, a simple re-usable cloth bag from your local dollar store will do the trick.
It makes sense; why not make this change for our environment? It will help ourselves, our kids and future generations. We can only be excited for something that will make such a great difference and yet is so easy to do. So make a difference and DO “a small bag change".
Mary-Jane Martin
Eco-Tourism Student Class of 2009
Friday, January 25, 2008
Leadership - What Will Happen if Nothing Changes?
By Gregg Thompson
Many of us who lead organizations go through a very similar routine this time of the year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year -the projects left undone and the opportunities not seized. We grit our teeth, clean off our desks, start a fresh notebook and resolve to make significant changes in the way we will work in the coming year. Year after year, the same resolutions are made:
1 I've just got to get organized. ('If I can just create a better way of dealing with this relentless stream of email, improve my scheduling and sort out this mess of papers in my briefcase, I'll be able to spend more time doing the really important leadership stuff.')
2 This year, I will set priorities. ('I've got to stop doing a bunch of things, no matter how cool and interesting, and discipline myself to do only the strategic stuff.')
3 I promise to delegate more. ('If I can only get others to do the things I don't want to do and to work as hard and smart as me, I'll be free to do the high value-added stuff.')
I have news for you (and me). While these are worthy goals, the truth is we will all still be at the same spot next year, fussing about the way we are organizing, prioritizing and delegating. But what would happen if we were determined to make a real change in the way we lead our organizations this year? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the more compelling question... what will happen in our organization this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?
Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organization in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and I promise that you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!
1. Craft A Big, Bold, Breath-Taking Story And Tell It Every Day
What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed. Paint the story in full color. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.
2. Multiply The Strength Of Your Leadership Connections
Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honor their uniqueness, share more of yourself, learn about them, ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.
3. Act With Exceptional Compassion And Kindness
You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organization are faced with many of the same challenges that you face...imperfect products, unpredictable markets, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organization with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organizations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.
4. Tell The Absolute Truth Stop Spinning, Sugar-Coating And Avoiding.
You'll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. Everyone wants to improve the communication throughout their organization but what about simply setting a new standard for honesty... starting with you. How much more effective would your organization be if the half-truths, positioning, sacred elephants and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.
5. Hold Everyone Accountable. Accountability Is A Very Good Thing.
It is not tyranny. The caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organization that keeps its promises.
6. Confront Underperformance With A Twist
You know in your heart-of-hearts who is under-performing in your organization. Make a list. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here's the tough part. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions - 'What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?' Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it's their turn. You may need to do nothing else.
7. Be Distinctively You
What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd. These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Your obsessions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it's time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.
Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?
Gregg Thompson is the President of Bluepoint Leadership Development, and the author of Unleashed! and The Leadership Experience. He can be reached by greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com, or at 513-289-0141.
Many of us who lead organizations go through a very similar routine this time of the year. We start by admonishing ourselves for the mistakes of the past year -the projects left undone and the opportunities not seized. We grit our teeth, clean off our desks, start a fresh notebook and resolve to make significant changes in the way we will work in the coming year. Year after year, the same resolutions are made:
1 I've just got to get organized. ('If I can just create a better way of dealing with this relentless stream of email, improve my scheduling and sort out this mess of papers in my briefcase, I'll be able to spend more time doing the really important leadership stuff.')
2 This year, I will set priorities. ('I've got to stop doing a bunch of things, no matter how cool and interesting, and discipline myself to do only the strategic stuff.')
3 I promise to delegate more. ('If I can only get others to do the things I don't want to do and to work as hard and smart as me, I'll be free to do the high value-added stuff.')
I have news for you (and me). While these are worthy goals, the truth is we will all still be at the same spot next year, fussing about the way we are organizing, prioritizing and delegating. But what would happen if we were determined to make a real change in the way we lead our organizations this year? Perhaps we should ask ourselves the more compelling question... what will happen in our organization this year if nothing changes in the way we lead?
Here are seven leadership resolutions you might consider that will make a real difference in your organization in the coming year. Which ones will provide the biggest payoffs? Do all seven, and I promise that you will have the most rewarding year of your leadership career!
1. Craft A Big, Bold, Breath-Taking Story And Tell It Every Day
What is the most exciting, rewarding, and scariest future you can imagine? What great battles will be won, treasures found and people freed. Paint the story in full color. What does the future look like? How are we going to get there? How is tomorrow going to be much better than today? People want to be part of an important story. Tell it to them and help them find their own starring role.
2. Multiply The Strength Of Your Leadership Connections
Consider for a moment the 8-10 individuals with whom you share management and leadership responsibilities. How much more effective would your leadership team become if you dramatically strengthened your personal connection with every one of these people? You have probably created a mutually acceptable status quo with these individuals so change will not be easy. Are there some difficult conversations that you need to have? Try this: honor their uniqueness, share more of yourself, learn about them, ask how you can serve them. Be careful, this is very potent.
3. Act With Exceptional Compassion And Kindness
You are not the only one feeling a bit beaten up these days. The members of your organization are faced with many of the same challenges that you face...imperfect products, unpredictable markets, insatiable customers, disappointing staff performance. Seek out ways to show your humanity every day. Treat everyone in the organization with dignity and respect, especially those who are struggling. They will walk through walls for you, but do not do it for that reason. Do it because it is the right thing to do. We spend much of our waking lives inside organizations and you have the power to make these places where the human spirit can thrive or die. Use this power well.
4. Tell The Absolute Truth Stop Spinning, Sugar-Coating And Avoiding.
You'll be amazed at how many people start listening to you. Everyone wants to improve the communication throughout their organization but what about simply setting a new standard for honesty... starting with you. How much more effective would your organization be if the half-truths, positioning, sacred elephants and face-saving were eradicated? The tough part is that you cannot make this happen by mandating it. You must go first. You must model it.
5. Hold Everyone Accountable. Accountability Is A Very Good Thing.
It is not tyranny. The caring leader insists that people do what they say they will do. When you hold people accountable, you are saying that their work is important. You are saying that they are important. Every time you let a deadline slip or a deliverable go incomplete, you are discounting the person whose job it is to deliver on these commitments. Make it a habit to ensure that every piece of work is accompanied by a personal commitment. Measure. Give feedback. Initiate consequences. Celebrate being part of an organization that keeps its promises.
6. Confront Underperformance With A Twist
You know in your heart-of-hearts who is under-performing in your organization. Make a list. Commit to seeing that this performance changes early this year. Now here's the tough part. Before you take any action, ask yourself these questions - 'What is my part in this situation? How have my actions or lack thereof contributed to this situation? What do I need to do differently?' Approach the individuals in question and describe your responsibilities and personal commitments to change. Then, and only then, it's their turn. You may need to do nothing else.
7. Be Distinctively You
What would you get if you could put all of the leadership qualities of Bill Gates, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, George Washington, Jack Welch and Winston Churchill into one individual? Probably a bland, non-descript person indistinguishable in the crowd. These men and women made a difference because they had the courage to be themselves. Have you forgotten who you really are? What excites you these days? What are your passions? Your obsessions? Where do you want to make your mark? When you are at your best, what are you doing? Maybe it's time to figure out what is most important to you, tell everyone around you, and let this fuel your leadership.
Why not make this your best year ever as a leader. What will happen if nothing really changes?
Gregg Thompson is the President of Bluepoint Leadership Development, and the author of Unleashed! and The Leadership Experience. He can be reached by greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com, or at 513-289-0141.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Online Reviews of Hotels and Restaurants Flourish
By JOE SHARKEY
Published: January 22, 2008
Many of the reader-generated reviews of hotels, restaurants, destinations and other travel services on the Web may have started their lives as independent blogs by travel buffs. But they have consolidated into major online businesses, taking an ever-growing piece of the market from print guides.
The major sites are TripAdvisor.com, owned by Expedia, and IgoUgo, owned by Sabre Holdings, which also owns Travelocity. Both Expedia and IgoUgo staked their first Internet claims as sites where travelers could research prices and directly book trips. They now operate the review sites as separate businesses.
Like their parent companies, TripAdvisor and IgoUgo are fiercely competitive. TripAdvisor claims by far the greater amount of content, including reviews that are mostly anonymous. Igo-Ugo, on the other hand, requires its contributors to register, and its travel forums and other review material are usually accompanied by member profiles.
IgoUgo pointedly says this differentiates it from TripAdvisor, on which people with vested interests can plant phony reviews.
TripAdvisor acknowledges that an occasional review or forum can be manipulated by a crafty hotel or restaurant owner. But it says the sheer volume of offerings — and the growing sophistication of Internet travel site users — mitigates the problem.
“It’s just very hard to stack the deck with this kind of volume,” said Stephen Kaufer, the co-founder and chief executive of TripAdvisor.com. “On my screen right now, I have 859 reviews of the Sofitel Hotel in New York.”
Traditional print travel guides, whether in book or periodical form, are usually written and edited by travel professionals — some of whom regard the growing online travel review sites as interlopers that barged onto their turf like boisterous day-trippers piling out of their Winnebagos and plopping down next to the members of a beach club.
But Mr. Kaufer argued that online sites have advantages over written guides, including the fact that the Internet reviews are often more immediate and tend to be punchier than guidebook listings.
One of the pioneers in user-generated travel guide information, Zagat Survey, was reported last week to be seeking a buyer. Zagat’s main business is selling print pocket guides with brief summaries of user-generated reviews of restaurants, hotels and other services. Last year, Zagat sold more than 5.5 million of its print guides around the world, but the company has also been aggressively expanding its online business.
A few weeks before the potential sale was reported, Tim Zagat spoke of the difference between the approach of online reviews and Zagat’s, in which thousands of reader-generated reviews are filtered by editors and boiled down to pithy, concise summaries, with ratings tabulated for quality, service, price and the like.
TripAdvisor and IgoUgo, he said, “put everything up raw.”
He added: “We edit the comments and try as nearly as possible to accurately synopsize the results of the survey. We try to make it nice and easy to read — in as few lines as possible.”
Some Internet companies, he said, “are running into the problem that anybody can throw up things on the wall, and after a while there are just too many people doing it.”
Right now, the online business is expanding rapidly, and may soon eclipse the book publishing business.
Both Mr. Zagat and Mr. Kaufer agree that guides printed on paper, being compact and easy to carry, still have a future in the travel review business, perhaps as components of a far more extensive online product.
TripAdvisor.com, founded in 2000, has user-generated reviews and interactive forums on hotels, restaurants, cruises, cities, attractions and even airline seats (through its Seatguru.com site). Like its online competitor IgoUgo, it also publishes photos and even videos from readers, and has sections for reader blogs and interactive forums.
Both sites make money when hotel, restaurant or other ads cause a reader to click through to make a booking. They generate revenue from banner ads and other forms of promotion.
Like IgoUgo, TripAdvisor has a core staff of employees and also employs specialists who “have a nose for sniffing out fraud and who literally read every review.” Both sites also use filters to discourage spam messages. And both are working to make it easier for users to simplify, index online or print out specific information for individual needs on a trip.
Mr. Kaufer of TripAdvisor said he initially worried that the reviews on the site would be overtly negative. “I thought, why would someone typically write a review other than they had a horrible time and they needed to vent,” he said. The opposite happened. People generally like to share good travel experiences, even if they tend to toss in caveats, he said.
Mr. Zagat said that investors in his company have told him, “ ‘Look, this is all symbiotic. We can do both.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/media/22reviews.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Published: January 22, 2008
Many of the reader-generated reviews of hotels, restaurants, destinations and other travel services on the Web may have started their lives as independent blogs by travel buffs. But they have consolidated into major online businesses, taking an ever-growing piece of the market from print guides.
The major sites are TripAdvisor.com, owned by Expedia, and IgoUgo, owned by Sabre Holdings, which also owns Travelocity. Both Expedia and IgoUgo staked their first Internet claims as sites where travelers could research prices and directly book trips. They now operate the review sites as separate businesses.
Like their parent companies, TripAdvisor and IgoUgo are fiercely competitive. TripAdvisor claims by far the greater amount of content, including reviews that are mostly anonymous. Igo-Ugo, on the other hand, requires its contributors to register, and its travel forums and other review material are usually accompanied by member profiles.
IgoUgo pointedly says this differentiates it from TripAdvisor, on which people with vested interests can plant phony reviews.
TripAdvisor acknowledges that an occasional review or forum can be manipulated by a crafty hotel or restaurant owner. But it says the sheer volume of offerings — and the growing sophistication of Internet travel site users — mitigates the problem.
“It’s just very hard to stack the deck with this kind of volume,” said Stephen Kaufer, the co-founder and chief executive of TripAdvisor.com. “On my screen right now, I have 859 reviews of the Sofitel Hotel in New York.”
Traditional print travel guides, whether in book or periodical form, are usually written and edited by travel professionals — some of whom regard the growing online travel review sites as interlopers that barged onto their turf like boisterous day-trippers piling out of their Winnebagos and plopping down next to the members of a beach club.
But Mr. Kaufer argued that online sites have advantages over written guides, including the fact that the Internet reviews are often more immediate and tend to be punchier than guidebook listings.
One of the pioneers in user-generated travel guide information, Zagat Survey, was reported last week to be seeking a buyer. Zagat’s main business is selling print pocket guides with brief summaries of user-generated reviews of restaurants, hotels and other services. Last year, Zagat sold more than 5.5 million of its print guides around the world, but the company has also been aggressively expanding its online business.
A few weeks before the potential sale was reported, Tim Zagat spoke of the difference between the approach of online reviews and Zagat’s, in which thousands of reader-generated reviews are filtered by editors and boiled down to pithy, concise summaries, with ratings tabulated for quality, service, price and the like.
TripAdvisor and IgoUgo, he said, “put everything up raw.”
He added: “We edit the comments and try as nearly as possible to accurately synopsize the results of the survey. We try to make it nice and easy to read — in as few lines as possible.”
Some Internet companies, he said, “are running into the problem that anybody can throw up things on the wall, and after a while there are just too many people doing it.”
Right now, the online business is expanding rapidly, and may soon eclipse the book publishing business.
Both Mr. Zagat and Mr. Kaufer agree that guides printed on paper, being compact and easy to carry, still have a future in the travel review business, perhaps as components of a far more extensive online product.
TripAdvisor.com, founded in 2000, has user-generated reviews and interactive forums on hotels, restaurants, cruises, cities, attractions and even airline seats (through its Seatguru.com site). Like its online competitor IgoUgo, it also publishes photos and even videos from readers, and has sections for reader blogs and interactive forums.
Both sites make money when hotel, restaurant or other ads cause a reader to click through to make a booking. They generate revenue from banner ads and other forms of promotion.
Like IgoUgo, TripAdvisor has a core staff of employees and also employs specialists who “have a nose for sniffing out fraud and who literally read every review.” Both sites also use filters to discourage spam messages. And both are working to make it easier for users to simplify, index online or print out specific information for individual needs on a trip.
Mr. Kaufer of TripAdvisor said he initially worried that the reviews on the site would be overtly negative. “I thought, why would someone typically write a review other than they had a horrible time and they needed to vent,” he said. The opposite happened. People generally like to share good travel experiences, even if they tend to toss in caveats, he said.
Mr. Zagat said that investors in his company have told him, “ ‘Look, this is all symbiotic. We can do both.’ ”
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/media/22reviews.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Friday, January 18, 2008
A new hotel scheme for gouging the customer
Industry insider is frustrated over bogus, new cancellation policy
By Amy Bradley-Hole
Travel columnist
Tripso.com
updated 3:42 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 16, 2008
I'm interrupting my previously scheduled column to tell you about a hotel policy that really makes me mad. I don't know how long hotels have been doing this or who thought it up, but I think it's fairly new and probably the work of some greedy corporate vice president.
A few weeks ago, my friend Mary Ann made a reservation through the Holiday Inn Express Web site for a room at the Holiday Inn Express in her hometown. She was having some company and was afraid she might not have room for everyone at her house. After one of her visitors canceled his trip, she knew she could accommodate all the guests, so she called the hotel to cancel the reservation. Too bad, she was told. You booked a special rate online, and you can't cancel or change your reservation. Never mind that you called well in advance of the arrival date. You're going to be charged room and tax for all six nights of your reservation, to the tune of about $750.
After letting a few choice expletives fly, Mary Ann called me to see if anything could be done about the situation. At first, I didn't have much sympathy for her. I knew that despite her protestations to the contrary, there were probably several warnings about the cancellation policy on the Web site. And I was right. I checked the site, and there are notices about the policy, and they're fairly obvious, though they are full of industry jargon. Still, fail to read the fine print, and you have only yourself to blame!
I discouraged Mary Ann from disputing the charge through her credit card company, because she was clearly in the wrong. Instead, I suggested that she speak to the hotel's manager in person, admitting her mistake and begging for mercy. Maybe he would agree to some sort of compromise, perhaps charging her for only one night. Alternatively, I suggested she go ahead and check into the room even though she wouldn't be using it. At least that way, the hotel couldn't resell the room and make a double profit and she'd gain some small satisfaction from "sticking it to the man." Otherwise, I was afraid she was out of luck.
But the more I thought about it, the more I sympathized with Mary Ann. Anyone could have made her mistake and, besides, the policy is simply outrageous.
The first time I noticed a "no cancellation" policy like this was back in April, when I was booking a room online at a Doubletree hotel. I was cruising through the booking on Doubletree's Web site when I noticed this:
FULL PAYMENT REQUIRED AT TIME OF RESERVATION. CREDIT CARD REQUIRED AT TIME OF BOOKING AND WILL BE CHARGED IMMEDIATELY FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE STAY AS RESERVED. NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR EARLY DEPARTURE, CANCELLATION OR NO SHOW. NO MODIFICATION ALLOWED ONCE RESERVATION IS CONFIRMED. GUEST MUST CHECK IN ON ARRIVAL DATE OR RESERVATION WILL BE CANCELED AND FULL PAYMENT FORFEITED.
They were going to charge everything upfront — no problem, this policy has been around for a while, and I can deal with it. No refunds or credits for early departure — again, this is a pretty standard policy, though many hotel managers will waive it under certain circumstances. But no refund for a cancellation? Hold up!
In the event of a cancellation, most hotels charge only for the first night's room plus tax — and only when the reservation is canceled on late notice. Faced with the Doubletree policy, I figured: Well, if I needed to cancel and didn't want to lose my money, I could just change my reservation dates to another time, or let a friend check in, right? Nope, this ironclad contract did not allow me to modify the reservation in any way. I went ahead and booked the room, however, because I had to be in that town for an appointment that had been planned for ages and could not be rescheduled, and I had to be there even if I was at death's door. And guess what? At the last minute, something almost forced a cancellation, and I almost lost my money.
When I nearly got stung by this policy, it irked me a little, but I didn't give it much thought. When Mary Ann got burned to the tune of hundreds of dollars, I gave it some more thought. I think this policy stinks, and here's why:
I've booked hotel rooms online for ages, and I've only noticed this policy in the past year, so I think it's fairly new. If a company makes major changes to the way it does business, it had better let its customers know about the change as quickly and as clearly as possible. In my opinion, hotels need to post any no-cancellation policy in huge print in a prominent position on their reservations pages. The Doubletree site does a good job of this. The Holiday Inn Express site does highlight some of its cancellation policy with red font, but many people would need a magnifying glass to read that font. Holiday Inn Express even has the nerve to begin its "Rate Description" section with the phrase "Special Savings!" It should read "Buyer Beware!" And almost all of the hotels' rates policies that I checked use industry jargon that many people might not understand.
The no-cancellation policy is not applied across the board. As far as I can tell, it applies only to certain bookings on the hotels' Web sites. If Mary Ann had called the hotel directly or gone down there to book in person, she would not have been charged for her cancellation; similarly, when I called the toll-free reservations number for a hotel company that applies this policy to online bookings, the operator mentioned only the standard 48-hour cancellation policy. If hotels choose to penalize online bookers, fine. But they need to clearly state on their Web sites that booking in other ways will allow guests to cancel their reservations under certain conditions. Also, if you look closely online, you will often find rates that are only slightly higher that do allow guests to cancel. Again, this should be more clearly explained. I shouldn't have to hunt around for a link to get an explanation of the rate structures.
It's not necessary. Don't get me wrong — I think cancellation policies are valid. If a hotel is sold out one night, and it turns down guests because it's sold out, and then people don't call to cancel their reservations, the hotel has lost business. The hotel shouldn't have to lose the revenue of unsold rooms just because lazy people can't be bothered to pick up a phone and cancel a reservation. But in theory, the hotel should invoke the cancellation policy only when it can't resell the room. If a guest cancels a reservation weeks, or even days, before the arrival date, the hotel has plenty of time to resell. Even if a guest cancels late, he should be charged only for the first night since the hotel has time to sell the room for the remaining nights of the stay. Only in rare circumstances, such as during huge events, should hotels keep all the money for a canceled reservation.
So now when you book a room through a hotel's Web site, you've got to make sure that the cheap rates don't come with restrictions that you might not be able to accept. You've got read the fine print every time you book, because hotels are making secretive changes that they don't want you to know about.
Does any of this story sound familiar to you? Does it sound like booking an airline flight, by any chance? Yes, it seems that hotels have now decided to charge rates and make policies just like the airlines do. Well guess what, hotels? People hate airlines. If you want to emulate a business model, how about one that makes lots of money by providing a great service and a great product, not one that makes money by screwing people over. Next thing we know, hotel chains will make us commit to staying at their hotels exclusively for two years. If we decide to go somewhere else, they'll charge us a $200 "early termination fee."
But here's the worst part, in my opinion, fellow travelers: We have let the travel industry do this to us. Every time we go searching for the absolute rock-bottom rate, we will get what we pay for. Every time we forget to cancel a reservation and then swear to our credit-card company that we did cancel it and the hotel is lying, the hotels will find even more ways to protect themselves. Just as businesses must be responsible and ethical, so must consumers.
The next time you book online, please read the fine print, even if you have to go searching for it. Question everything, and then decide whether the risk of highly restricted hotel rates is worth the reward of saving a few bucks.
Amy Bradley-Hole has worked in the hotel industry for many years in many different positions and at all types of properties — from small luxury boutique hotels to large resorts, both in the United States and abroad. E-mail her or read more of her articles on Tripso.com.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22686345/page/2/
By Amy Bradley-Hole
Travel columnist
Tripso.com
updated 3:42 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 16, 2008
I'm interrupting my previously scheduled column to tell you about a hotel policy that really makes me mad. I don't know how long hotels have been doing this or who thought it up, but I think it's fairly new and probably the work of some greedy corporate vice president.
A few weeks ago, my friend Mary Ann made a reservation through the Holiday Inn Express Web site for a room at the Holiday Inn Express in her hometown. She was having some company and was afraid she might not have room for everyone at her house. After one of her visitors canceled his trip, she knew she could accommodate all the guests, so she called the hotel to cancel the reservation. Too bad, she was told. You booked a special rate online, and you can't cancel or change your reservation. Never mind that you called well in advance of the arrival date. You're going to be charged room and tax for all six nights of your reservation, to the tune of about $750.
After letting a few choice expletives fly, Mary Ann called me to see if anything could be done about the situation. At first, I didn't have much sympathy for her. I knew that despite her protestations to the contrary, there were probably several warnings about the cancellation policy on the Web site. And I was right. I checked the site, and there are notices about the policy, and they're fairly obvious, though they are full of industry jargon. Still, fail to read the fine print, and you have only yourself to blame!
I discouraged Mary Ann from disputing the charge through her credit card company, because she was clearly in the wrong. Instead, I suggested that she speak to the hotel's manager in person, admitting her mistake and begging for mercy. Maybe he would agree to some sort of compromise, perhaps charging her for only one night. Alternatively, I suggested she go ahead and check into the room even though she wouldn't be using it. At least that way, the hotel couldn't resell the room and make a double profit and she'd gain some small satisfaction from "sticking it to the man." Otherwise, I was afraid she was out of luck.
But the more I thought about it, the more I sympathized with Mary Ann. Anyone could have made her mistake and, besides, the policy is simply outrageous.
The first time I noticed a "no cancellation" policy like this was back in April, when I was booking a room online at a Doubletree hotel. I was cruising through the booking on Doubletree's Web site when I noticed this:
FULL PAYMENT REQUIRED AT TIME OF RESERVATION. CREDIT CARD REQUIRED AT TIME OF BOOKING AND WILL BE CHARGED IMMEDIATELY FOR THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE STAY AS RESERVED. NO REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR EARLY DEPARTURE, CANCELLATION OR NO SHOW. NO MODIFICATION ALLOWED ONCE RESERVATION IS CONFIRMED. GUEST MUST CHECK IN ON ARRIVAL DATE OR RESERVATION WILL BE CANCELED AND FULL PAYMENT FORFEITED.
They were going to charge everything upfront — no problem, this policy has been around for a while, and I can deal with it. No refunds or credits for early departure — again, this is a pretty standard policy, though many hotel managers will waive it under certain circumstances. But no refund for a cancellation? Hold up!
In the event of a cancellation, most hotels charge only for the first night's room plus tax — and only when the reservation is canceled on late notice. Faced with the Doubletree policy, I figured: Well, if I needed to cancel and didn't want to lose my money, I could just change my reservation dates to another time, or let a friend check in, right? Nope, this ironclad contract did not allow me to modify the reservation in any way. I went ahead and booked the room, however, because I had to be in that town for an appointment that had been planned for ages and could not be rescheduled, and I had to be there even if I was at death's door. And guess what? At the last minute, something almost forced a cancellation, and I almost lost my money.
When I nearly got stung by this policy, it irked me a little, but I didn't give it much thought. When Mary Ann got burned to the tune of hundreds of dollars, I gave it some more thought. I think this policy stinks, and here's why:
I've booked hotel rooms online for ages, and I've only noticed this policy in the past year, so I think it's fairly new. If a company makes major changes to the way it does business, it had better let its customers know about the change as quickly and as clearly as possible. In my opinion, hotels need to post any no-cancellation policy in huge print in a prominent position on their reservations pages. The Doubletree site does a good job of this. The Holiday Inn Express site does highlight some of its cancellation policy with red font, but many people would need a magnifying glass to read that font. Holiday Inn Express even has the nerve to begin its "Rate Description" section with the phrase "Special Savings!" It should read "Buyer Beware!" And almost all of the hotels' rates policies that I checked use industry jargon that many people might not understand.
The no-cancellation policy is not applied across the board. As far as I can tell, it applies only to certain bookings on the hotels' Web sites. If Mary Ann had called the hotel directly or gone down there to book in person, she would not have been charged for her cancellation; similarly, when I called the toll-free reservations number for a hotel company that applies this policy to online bookings, the operator mentioned only the standard 48-hour cancellation policy. If hotels choose to penalize online bookers, fine. But they need to clearly state on their Web sites that booking in other ways will allow guests to cancel their reservations under certain conditions. Also, if you look closely online, you will often find rates that are only slightly higher that do allow guests to cancel. Again, this should be more clearly explained. I shouldn't have to hunt around for a link to get an explanation of the rate structures.
It's not necessary. Don't get me wrong — I think cancellation policies are valid. If a hotel is sold out one night, and it turns down guests because it's sold out, and then people don't call to cancel their reservations, the hotel has lost business. The hotel shouldn't have to lose the revenue of unsold rooms just because lazy people can't be bothered to pick up a phone and cancel a reservation. But in theory, the hotel should invoke the cancellation policy only when it can't resell the room. If a guest cancels a reservation weeks, or even days, before the arrival date, the hotel has plenty of time to resell. Even if a guest cancels late, he should be charged only for the first night since the hotel has time to sell the room for the remaining nights of the stay. Only in rare circumstances, such as during huge events, should hotels keep all the money for a canceled reservation.
So now when you book a room through a hotel's Web site, you've got to make sure that the cheap rates don't come with restrictions that you might not be able to accept. You've got read the fine print every time you book, because hotels are making secretive changes that they don't want you to know about.
Does any of this story sound familiar to you? Does it sound like booking an airline flight, by any chance? Yes, it seems that hotels have now decided to charge rates and make policies just like the airlines do. Well guess what, hotels? People hate airlines. If you want to emulate a business model, how about one that makes lots of money by providing a great service and a great product, not one that makes money by screwing people over. Next thing we know, hotel chains will make us commit to staying at their hotels exclusively for two years. If we decide to go somewhere else, they'll charge us a $200 "early termination fee."
But here's the worst part, in my opinion, fellow travelers: We have let the travel industry do this to us. Every time we go searching for the absolute rock-bottom rate, we will get what we pay for. Every time we forget to cancel a reservation and then swear to our credit-card company that we did cancel it and the hotel is lying, the hotels will find even more ways to protect themselves. Just as businesses must be responsible and ethical, so must consumers.
The next time you book online, please read the fine print, even if you have to go searching for it. Question everything, and then decide whether the risk of highly restricted hotel rates is worth the reward of saving a few bucks.
Amy Bradley-Hole has worked in the hotel industry for many years in many different positions and at all types of properties — from small luxury boutique hotels to large resorts, both in the United States and abroad. E-mail her or read more of her articles on Tripso.com.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22686345/page/2/
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Embassy Suites Hotels Launches New Hotel Restaurant Concept - Flying Spoons
Hotel Brand Creates New Hotel Restaurant Segment - Hip Casual
Part European-style café and part American coffeehouse, this new concept in hotel food & beverage expands upon the 'fast casual' concept made popular by Panera Bread and other bakery-cafes and creates a new segment: 'Hip Casual.' Embassy Suites is accommodating the changing needs of guests by providing a range of convenient, fresh dishes and beverages to fit a variety of schedules: from eating on the go to eating smaller, more frequent meals.
'For three years we've been studying guests' changing eating habits: guests who eat on-the-run, guests who replace meals with a specialty coffee drink and even those who eat at non-traditional times of the day,' remarked Jim Holthouser, senior vice president, brand management, Embassy Suites Hotels. 'We've taken these habits into consideration and have beta-tested a variety of new layouts, dishes and restaurant concepts in a sampling of hotels throughout the brand. Flying Spoons is the evolution of that research and we think we've created exactly what guests have been requesting.'
This new concept was first introduced as 'Marketplace' in 2006 as a part of the brand's new Design Option III prototype. Flying Spoons is the evolution of that concept and is designed to meet the needs of developers and owners looking to give business and leisure guests a complete food & beverage solution for every situation and hotel location, from airport to suburban and urban/city center hotels. The new concept offers hotel developers flexibility and cost efficiencies not afforded with a traditional hotel restaurant.
Flying Spoons will be strategically located in the hotel lobby and shares space with the brand's complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and Manager's Reception, a reduced labor model and reduced square footage. The restaurant will cost an estimated 30 percent less to develop than a traditional atrium restaurant. The brand's first Flying Spoons will debut in late 2008 at the Embassy Suites Jackson-North/Ridgeland, Miss., which will also be the brand's first Design Option III prototype to open.
'We worked very carefully to make sure this restaurant offered developers flexible options and cost efficiencies by sharing the hotel's back-of-house facilities and equipment and a reduced labor model,' added Holthouser. 'From a development standpoint, this is definitely a more viable F & B alternative for markets where guests have a plethora of dining options right outside the hotel's door or is a part of a mixed use project.'
Design Elements and Menu Offerings
The new hip casual restaurant segment created by Flying Spoons offers guests a social environment in the hotel lobby where guests can check e-mail, connect with others or just 'be.' Signature design elements include:
• Display of Fornasetti dinner plates: Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) was known for decorating everyday objects with fanciful motifs. The most famous is the 19th-century black-and-white magazine image of a woman's face, which he adapted for a series of dinner plates.
• Comfortable, casual furniture: Custom-made pieces include an access lamp with power ports and other free-standing elements, rather than built-in pieces, portraying a more residential feel.
• Variety of Seating Styles: Bar-height /transactional seating for people on the go, traditional restaurant seating with tables and chairs, wing-back chairs and ottomans with custom lamp and power ports for people who want to settle in for a relaxing dining experience.
• Inviting décor: The interior design of Flying Spoons encompasses a warm color palette of dark gray, light gray, chocolate brown, burnt orange and robin's egg blue. The ottomans featured in each hotel showcase the famous verse from the Declaration of Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'
• Flexible packages for developers: Hotel developers can choose from three design levels to meet their hotel's specific needs, from complete turnkey package to a smaller-scaled version.
Innovative menu items being offered at Flying Spoons feature lighter fare such as fresh soups, salads and gourmet sandwiches, to more sophisticated dinner options like salmon, scallops and lobster enchiladas. The menu will also feature a rotating selection of pastries and desserts, along with specialty coffee drinks, teas and boutique soft drinks.
Flying Spoons will offer convenient hours of operation for guests, no matter the travel schedule. The restaurant will be open from 5 a.m. until 1 a.m.
This article comes from Restaurant News Resource
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article30756.html
Part European-style café and part American coffeehouse, this new concept in hotel food & beverage expands upon the 'fast casual' concept made popular by Panera Bread and other bakery-cafes and creates a new segment: 'Hip Casual.' Embassy Suites is accommodating the changing needs of guests by providing a range of convenient, fresh dishes and beverages to fit a variety of schedules: from eating on the go to eating smaller, more frequent meals.
'For three years we've been studying guests' changing eating habits: guests who eat on-the-run, guests who replace meals with a specialty coffee drink and even those who eat at non-traditional times of the day,' remarked Jim Holthouser, senior vice president, brand management, Embassy Suites Hotels. 'We've taken these habits into consideration and have beta-tested a variety of new layouts, dishes and restaurant concepts in a sampling of hotels throughout the brand. Flying Spoons is the evolution of that research and we think we've created exactly what guests have been requesting.'
This new concept was first introduced as 'Marketplace' in 2006 as a part of the brand's new Design Option III prototype. Flying Spoons is the evolution of that concept and is designed to meet the needs of developers and owners looking to give business and leisure guests a complete food & beverage solution for every situation and hotel location, from airport to suburban and urban/city center hotels. The new concept offers hotel developers flexibility and cost efficiencies not afforded with a traditional hotel restaurant.
Flying Spoons will be strategically located in the hotel lobby and shares space with the brand's complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast and Manager's Reception, a reduced labor model and reduced square footage. The restaurant will cost an estimated 30 percent less to develop than a traditional atrium restaurant. The brand's first Flying Spoons will debut in late 2008 at the Embassy Suites Jackson-North/Ridgeland, Miss., which will also be the brand's first Design Option III prototype to open.
'We worked very carefully to make sure this restaurant offered developers flexible options and cost efficiencies by sharing the hotel's back-of-house facilities and equipment and a reduced labor model,' added Holthouser. 'From a development standpoint, this is definitely a more viable F & B alternative for markets where guests have a plethora of dining options right outside the hotel's door or is a part of a mixed use project.'
Design Elements and Menu Offerings
The new hip casual restaurant segment created by Flying Spoons offers guests a social environment in the hotel lobby where guests can check e-mail, connect with others or just 'be.' Signature design elements include:
• Display of Fornasetti dinner plates: Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) was known for decorating everyday objects with fanciful motifs. The most famous is the 19th-century black-and-white magazine image of a woman's face, which he adapted for a series of dinner plates.
• Comfortable, casual furniture: Custom-made pieces include an access lamp with power ports and other free-standing elements, rather than built-in pieces, portraying a more residential feel.
• Variety of Seating Styles: Bar-height /transactional seating for people on the go, traditional restaurant seating with tables and chairs, wing-back chairs and ottomans with custom lamp and power ports for people who want to settle in for a relaxing dining experience.
• Inviting décor: The interior design of Flying Spoons encompasses a warm color palette of dark gray, light gray, chocolate brown, burnt orange and robin's egg blue. The ottomans featured in each hotel showcase the famous verse from the Declaration of Independence: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.'
• Flexible packages for developers: Hotel developers can choose from three design levels to meet their hotel's specific needs, from complete turnkey package to a smaller-scaled version.
Innovative menu items being offered at Flying Spoons feature lighter fare such as fresh soups, salads and gourmet sandwiches, to more sophisticated dinner options like salmon, scallops and lobster enchiladas. The menu will also feature a rotating selection of pastries and desserts, along with specialty coffee drinks, teas and boutique soft drinks.
Flying Spoons will offer convenient hours of operation for guests, no matter the travel schedule. The restaurant will be open from 5 a.m. until 1 a.m.
This article comes from Restaurant News Resource
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/article30756.html
Friday, January 11, 2008
Managing Emotions in the Workplace: Do Positive and Negative Attitudes Drive Performance?
You know the type: coworkers who never have anything positive to say, whether at the weekly staff meeting or in the cafeteria line. They can suck the energy from a brainstorming session with a few choice comments. Their bad mood frequently puts others in one, too. Their negativity can contaminate even good news.
"We engage in emotional contagion," says Sigal Barsade, a Wharton management professor who studies the influence of emotions on the workplace. "Emotions travel from person to person like a virus."
Barsade is the co-author of a new paper titled, "Why Does Affect Matter in Organizations?" ("Affect" is another word for "emotion" in organizational behavior studies.) The answer: Employees' moods, emotions, and overall dispositions have an impact on job performance, decision making, creativity, turnover, teamwork, negotiations and leadership.
"The state of the literature shows that affect matters because people are not isolated 'emotional islands.' Rather, they bring all of themselves to work, including their traits, moods and emotions, and their affective experiences and expressions influence others," according to the paper, co-authored by Donald Gibson of Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business.
An "affective revolution" has occurred over the last 30 years as academics and managers alike have come to realize that employees' emotions are integral to what happens in an organization, says Barsade, who has been doing research in the area of emotions and work dynamics for 15 years. "Everybody brings their emotions to work. You bring your brain to work. You bring your emotions to work. Feelings drive performance. They drive behavior and other feelings. Think of people as emotion conductors."
In the paper, Barsade and Gibson consider three different types of feelings:
• Discrete, short-lived emotions, such as joy, anger, fear and disgust.
• Moods, which are longer-lasting feelings and not necessarily tied to a particular cause. A person is in a cheerful mood, for instance, or feeling down.
• Dispositional, or personality, traits, which define a person's overall approach to life. "She's always so cheerful," or "He's always looking at the negative."
All three types of feelings can be contagious, and emotions don't have to be grand and obvious to have an impact. Subtle displays of emotion, such as a quick frown, can have an effect as well, Barsade says. She offers this example: "Say your boss is generally in very good humor, but you see him one day at a meeting and his eyes flash at you. Even if they don't glare at you for the rest of the meeting, his eyes have enunciated some valuable information that is going to have you concerned and worried and off center for the rest of the meeting."
Barsade suggests that while some people are better than others at controlling their emotions, that doesn't mean their coworkers aren't picking up on their moods. "You may not think you are showing emotion, but there's a good chance you are in your facial expression or body language. Emotions we don't even realize we are feeling can influence our thoughts and behaviors."
The researchers' paper discusses a concept known as "emotional labor," in which employees regulate their public displays of emotion to comply with certain expectations. Part of this is "surface acting," in which, for instance, the tired and stressed airline customer service agent forces himself to smile and be friendly with angry customers who have lost their luggage. That compares to "deep acting," in which employees exhibit emotions they have worked on feeling. In that scenario, the stressed-out airline worker sympathizes with the customer and shows emotions that suggest empathy. The second approach may be healthier, Barsade says, because it causes less stress and burnout, particularly emotional exhaustion from having to regulate one's emotions and "play a role."
But is there a downside to being too authentic? If the company is losing money and experiencing the effects of downsizing, should the manager, feeling stressed and overwhelmed, convey his despair to his workers? Or should the manager try to appear cheerful and act as if nothing is wrong? Barsade says it's possible for the manager to convey emotions that are both authentic and positive, saying something like, "I know you're worried. Things aren't looking good, but you know, we have a way out of this and we can work [on it] together." The employees will appreciate the honesty and take comfort in the optimism, she says.
Emotions as Valuable Data
Emotional intelligence -- buzz words already familiar in psychology and education -- is now talked about in business circles as well, Barsade says. Business schools are teaching executives how to be emotionally intelligent, and how to manage the emotions of their employees.
"The idea behind emotional intelligence in the workplace is that it is a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable data in navigating a situation," according to the authors. "Let's say a sales manager has come up with an amazing idea that will increase corporate revenues by up to 200%, but knows his boss tends to be irritable and short-tempered in the morning. Having emotional intelligence means that the manager will first recognize and consider this emotional fact about his boss. Despite the stunning nature of his idea -- and his own excitement -- he will regulate his own emotions, curb his enthusiasm and wait until the afternoon to approach his boss."
Barsade says research suggests that positive people tend to do better in the workplace, and it isn't just because people like them more than naysayers. "Positive people cognitively process more efficiently and more appropriately. If you're in a negative mood, a fair amount of processing is going to that mood. When you're in a positive mood, you're more open to taking in information and handling it effectively."
While you can't necessarily change your coworkers, people can take steps to avoid catching a negative mood, according to Barsade. They can tell themselves before attending a staff meeting that they are not going to be bothered by the person who shoots down everyone's ideas, or that they are not going to let that person become the focus of their attention at the meeting (reducing the possibility for contagion). Or they can change their office routine. Barsade gave the example of a manager who was dragged down at the start of every day when passing by the desk of an employee who either grunted or gave no acknowledgement. The manager took control and simply started following a different route through the office.
Barsade's research has taken her into a variety of workplaces, most recently long-term care facilities. Her research found that in facilities where the employees report having a positive workplace culture -- she calls it a "culture of love" -- the residents end up faring better than residents in facilities with a less compassionate and caring work culture. The residents reported experiencing less pain, made fewer trips to the emergency room, and were more likely to report being satisfied and in a positive mood.
Overconfidence Online
E-mail, instant messaging and video conferencing have introduced new challenges to the workplace, Barsade adds. E-mails and instant messages can be misunderstood because they are devoid of facial expressions, intonation and body language -- cues that help convey emotions. Some people, she says, work hard at making their emails neutral, with the downside of sometimes sounding curt. On the other hand, while some writers may add a smattering of exclamation points, question marks and capital letters in an attempt to convey more emotion, this can also be a dangerous route, particularly when attempting humor or sarcasm to drive home a point.
"How can emotions be best conveyed via these media?" the paper asks. "What is the effect of conveying emotionally charged messages via text, when these messages are more likely to be misconstrued? How must we re-think emotional contagion and other social processes in an organizational world in which many meetings take place online?"
The paper cites a study showing that people tend to be overconfident about their ability to convey the emotion they wish in an e-mail, particularly when they are trying to be funny or sarcastic. "Video conferencing, also increasing in its use, has more cues, but it is also not yet the same as interacting face to face, particularly in group situations. Given that these technologies continue to grow as a primary means of communication within the business world, it is crucial that we understand how the interpretation and communication of affect occurs in these contexts," the paper says.
Workplaces need to get smart about the best use of e-mail, Barsade states. Her advice is that "if something is important, and you know that the emotional context is going to be an issue, then pick up the phone; don't just rely on e-mails." And even the phone may not be good enough. "Sometimes, if it is really important, you just have to fly to where they are and meet them face-to-face to get the message across."
This article is reprinted with permission from Knowledge@Wharton.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28535.html
"We engage in emotional contagion," says Sigal Barsade, a Wharton management professor who studies the influence of emotions on the workplace. "Emotions travel from person to person like a virus."
Barsade is the co-author of a new paper titled, "Why Does Affect Matter in Organizations?" ("Affect" is another word for "emotion" in organizational behavior studies.) The answer: Employees' moods, emotions, and overall dispositions have an impact on job performance, decision making, creativity, turnover, teamwork, negotiations and leadership.
"The state of the literature shows that affect matters because people are not isolated 'emotional islands.' Rather, they bring all of themselves to work, including their traits, moods and emotions, and their affective experiences and expressions influence others," according to the paper, co-authored by Donald Gibson of Fairfield University's Dolan School of Business.
An "affective revolution" has occurred over the last 30 years as academics and managers alike have come to realize that employees' emotions are integral to what happens in an organization, says Barsade, who has been doing research in the area of emotions and work dynamics for 15 years. "Everybody brings their emotions to work. You bring your brain to work. You bring your emotions to work. Feelings drive performance. They drive behavior and other feelings. Think of people as emotion conductors."
In the paper, Barsade and Gibson consider three different types of feelings:
• Discrete, short-lived emotions, such as joy, anger, fear and disgust.
• Moods, which are longer-lasting feelings and not necessarily tied to a particular cause. A person is in a cheerful mood, for instance, or feeling down.
• Dispositional, or personality, traits, which define a person's overall approach to life. "She's always so cheerful," or "He's always looking at the negative."
All three types of feelings can be contagious, and emotions don't have to be grand and obvious to have an impact. Subtle displays of emotion, such as a quick frown, can have an effect as well, Barsade says. She offers this example: "Say your boss is generally in very good humor, but you see him one day at a meeting and his eyes flash at you. Even if they don't glare at you for the rest of the meeting, his eyes have enunciated some valuable information that is going to have you concerned and worried and off center for the rest of the meeting."
Barsade suggests that while some people are better than others at controlling their emotions, that doesn't mean their coworkers aren't picking up on their moods. "You may not think you are showing emotion, but there's a good chance you are in your facial expression or body language. Emotions we don't even realize we are feeling can influence our thoughts and behaviors."
The researchers' paper discusses a concept known as "emotional labor," in which employees regulate their public displays of emotion to comply with certain expectations. Part of this is "surface acting," in which, for instance, the tired and stressed airline customer service agent forces himself to smile and be friendly with angry customers who have lost their luggage. That compares to "deep acting," in which employees exhibit emotions they have worked on feeling. In that scenario, the stressed-out airline worker sympathizes with the customer and shows emotions that suggest empathy. The second approach may be healthier, Barsade says, because it causes less stress and burnout, particularly emotional exhaustion from having to regulate one's emotions and "play a role."
But is there a downside to being too authentic? If the company is losing money and experiencing the effects of downsizing, should the manager, feeling stressed and overwhelmed, convey his despair to his workers? Or should the manager try to appear cheerful and act as if nothing is wrong? Barsade says it's possible for the manager to convey emotions that are both authentic and positive, saying something like, "I know you're worried. Things aren't looking good, but you know, we have a way out of this and we can work [on it] together." The employees will appreciate the honesty and take comfort in the optimism, she says.
Emotions as Valuable Data
Emotional intelligence -- buzz words already familiar in psychology and education -- is now talked about in business circles as well, Barsade says. Business schools are teaching executives how to be emotionally intelligent, and how to manage the emotions of their employees.
"The idea behind emotional intelligence in the workplace is that it is a skill through which employees treat emotions as valuable data in navigating a situation," according to the authors. "Let's say a sales manager has come up with an amazing idea that will increase corporate revenues by up to 200%, but knows his boss tends to be irritable and short-tempered in the morning. Having emotional intelligence means that the manager will first recognize and consider this emotional fact about his boss. Despite the stunning nature of his idea -- and his own excitement -- he will regulate his own emotions, curb his enthusiasm and wait until the afternoon to approach his boss."
Barsade says research suggests that positive people tend to do better in the workplace, and it isn't just because people like them more than naysayers. "Positive people cognitively process more efficiently and more appropriately. If you're in a negative mood, a fair amount of processing is going to that mood. When you're in a positive mood, you're more open to taking in information and handling it effectively."
While you can't necessarily change your coworkers, people can take steps to avoid catching a negative mood, according to Barsade. They can tell themselves before attending a staff meeting that they are not going to be bothered by the person who shoots down everyone's ideas, or that they are not going to let that person become the focus of their attention at the meeting (reducing the possibility for contagion). Or they can change their office routine. Barsade gave the example of a manager who was dragged down at the start of every day when passing by the desk of an employee who either grunted or gave no acknowledgement. The manager took control and simply started following a different route through the office.
Barsade's research has taken her into a variety of workplaces, most recently long-term care facilities. Her research found that in facilities where the employees report having a positive workplace culture -- she calls it a "culture of love" -- the residents end up faring better than residents in facilities with a less compassionate and caring work culture. The residents reported experiencing less pain, made fewer trips to the emergency room, and were more likely to report being satisfied and in a positive mood.
Overconfidence Online
E-mail, instant messaging and video conferencing have introduced new challenges to the workplace, Barsade adds. E-mails and instant messages can be misunderstood because they are devoid of facial expressions, intonation and body language -- cues that help convey emotions. Some people, she says, work hard at making their emails neutral, with the downside of sometimes sounding curt. On the other hand, while some writers may add a smattering of exclamation points, question marks and capital letters in an attempt to convey more emotion, this can also be a dangerous route, particularly when attempting humor or sarcasm to drive home a point.
"How can emotions be best conveyed via these media?" the paper asks. "What is the effect of conveying emotionally charged messages via text, when these messages are more likely to be misconstrued? How must we re-think emotional contagion and other social processes in an organizational world in which many meetings take place online?"
The paper cites a study showing that people tend to be overconfident about their ability to convey the emotion they wish in an e-mail, particularly when they are trying to be funny or sarcastic. "Video conferencing, also increasing in its use, has more cues, but it is also not yet the same as interacting face to face, particularly in group situations. Given that these technologies continue to grow as a primary means of communication within the business world, it is crucial that we understand how the interpretation and communication of affect occurs in these contexts," the paper says.
Workplaces need to get smart about the best use of e-mail, Barsade states. Her advice is that "if something is important, and you know that the emotional context is going to be an issue, then pick up the phone; don't just rely on e-mails." And even the phone may not be good enough. "Sometimes, if it is really important, you just have to fly to where they are and meet them face-to-face to get the message across."
This article is reprinted with permission from Knowledge@Wharton.
This article comes from Hotel News Resource
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com
The URL for this story is:
http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article28535.html
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
MARRIOTT HOTELS & RESORTS OF CANADA AND WESTERKIRK CAPITAL SEEKING TO PARTNER AGAIN IN HALIFAX
January 7, 2008
Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada and Westerkirk Capital today announced an agreement with Aspotogan Sea Spa Limited to evaluate the feasibility of acquiring and completing the Sea Spa Nova Scotia property at Aspotogan.
If this study is successful, the property is slated to become a Marriott-managed, full-service hotel, complete with spa, conference and banquet services.
"We are excited about this opportunity because it represents new investment in the high end of the tourism sector in Nova Scotia. It's a largely untapped segment for this market. Should this prove successful, this new property will provide an economic benefit to the local economy through new jobs, group meetings and events, and higher margin travellers," said Scott Allison vice president, sales and marketing for Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada.
The Sea Spa was originally designed as a medical spa, but was never completed. Since the original property was built, the surrounding area has been developed with residential lots.
Marriott Hotels and Westerkirk have partnered together before. In March of 2005, they opened the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront to capacity bookings. This property was Marriott's 50th in Canada and the first full-service Marriott hotel in eastern Canada. The company continues to support the success of the Harbourfront property with capital renovations.
Westerkirk is committed to continuing its sizable financial and economic commitment in Nova Scotia.
Westerkirk is also working on a third project in Halifax with one of Marriott's largest development partners in Canada and the United States, Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company. The two companies have submitted a bid with Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada for a Marriott Courtyard at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. This bid is in response to an RFP from the Halifax International Airport Authority.
Concord Hospitality entered Canada aggressively in August of 2002, with five Marriott-branded hotels in the Greater Toronto Area and has subsequently opened an additional five Marriott-branded hotels in Canada. This deal marks its first venture in eastern Canada.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada was also named one of Canada's 50 Best Employers in 2007.
www.marriott.com
Author: Natalie Little
Organization: Fleishman-Hillard for Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada
E-mail: natalie.little@fleishman.ca
Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada and Westerkirk Capital today announced an agreement with Aspotogan Sea Spa Limited to evaluate the feasibility of acquiring and completing the Sea Spa Nova Scotia property at Aspotogan.
If this study is successful, the property is slated to become a Marriott-managed, full-service hotel, complete with spa, conference and banquet services.
"We are excited about this opportunity because it represents new investment in the high end of the tourism sector in Nova Scotia. It's a largely untapped segment for this market. Should this prove successful, this new property will provide an economic benefit to the local economy through new jobs, group meetings and events, and higher margin travellers," said Scott Allison vice president, sales and marketing for Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada.
The Sea Spa was originally designed as a medical spa, but was never completed. Since the original property was built, the surrounding area has been developed with residential lots.
Marriott Hotels and Westerkirk have partnered together before. In March of 2005, they opened the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront to capacity bookings. This property was Marriott's 50th in Canada and the first full-service Marriott hotel in eastern Canada. The company continues to support the success of the Harbourfront property with capital renovations.
Westerkirk is committed to continuing its sizable financial and economic commitment in Nova Scotia.
Westerkirk is also working on a third project in Halifax with one of Marriott's largest development partners in Canada and the United States, Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company. The two companies have submitted a bid with Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada for a Marriott Courtyard at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. This bid is in response to an RFP from the Halifax International Airport Authority.
Concord Hospitality entered Canada aggressively in August of 2002, with five Marriott-branded hotels in the Greater Toronto Area and has subsequently opened an additional five Marriott-branded hotels in Canada. This deal marks its first venture in eastern Canada.
Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada was also named one of Canada's 50 Best Employers in 2007.
www.marriott.com
Author: Natalie Little
Organization: Fleishman-Hillard for Marriott Hotels & Resorts of Canada
E-mail: natalie.little@fleishman.ca
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Web 2.0, Learning 2.0, Travel 2.0, Marketing 2.0
What are Social Media and the 2.0 phenomena? If it is here to stay, how do we deal with it?
January 3, 2008 is the Nova Scotia Community College: Tourism Management “Industry/Faculty” professional development day. In May of 2007 we invited industry participants to join faculty in gaining insight to a tourism management business simulation. As a follow up to this event we decided that efforts would be made to search for further joint professional development opportunities.
This topic presented itself for selection. As faculty we had noticed over the past few years the arrival of the ubiquitous cell phone usage by our students and in more recent times in class text messaging and the computers logged on to Facebook or MySpace. The more we spoke of it, the more we also started to hear about the phenomenon in the media and from our students. When we discussed the topic in industry they seemed to express the same concerns and interest in finding our more about Web 2.0.
After researching this topic there is little doubt that social media is here to stay. This will be a dynamic process with some of its players coming briefly to the forefront and then vanishing as quickly. This does not change the underlying value proposition that this interactive communal activity brings to society and specifically for our purposes to the travel industry. Equally there is no question that it calls for a paradigm shift in how we think and that it will have significant unintended consequences.
As a tourism educator, who is a digital immigrant, I am excited by the possibilities of web 2.0 and aware of the risks and challenges inherent in learning new tools. However we must be also aware of the responsibility of educating students to be discriminating users of the 2.0 world and that quick (wiki) has its benefits and drawbacks.
Please add your comments on this blog and on today’s session .
http://akerleychatss.blogspot.com/
January 3, 2008 is the Nova Scotia Community College: Tourism Management “Industry/Faculty” professional development day. In May of 2007 we invited industry participants to join faculty in gaining insight to a tourism management business simulation. As a follow up to this event we decided that efforts would be made to search for further joint professional development opportunities.
This topic presented itself for selection. As faculty we had noticed over the past few years the arrival of the ubiquitous cell phone usage by our students and in more recent times in class text messaging and the computers logged on to Facebook or MySpace. The more we spoke of it, the more we also started to hear about the phenomenon in the media and from our students. When we discussed the topic in industry they seemed to express the same concerns and interest in finding our more about Web 2.0.
After researching this topic there is little doubt that social media is here to stay. This will be a dynamic process with some of its players coming briefly to the forefront and then vanishing as quickly. This does not change the underlying value proposition that this interactive communal activity brings to society and specifically for our purposes to the travel industry. Equally there is no question that it calls for a paradigm shift in how we think and that it will have significant unintended consequences.
As a tourism educator, who is a digital immigrant, I am excited by the possibilities of web 2.0 and aware of the risks and challenges inherent in learning new tools. However we must be also aware of the responsibility of educating students to be discriminating users of the 2.0 world and that quick (wiki) has its benefits and drawbacks.
Please add your comments on this blog and on today’s session .
http://akerleychatss.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Commentary: An Ethical New Year: Three Resolutions
by Rushworth M. Kidder
http://ethicsnewsline.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/commentary-an-ethical-new-year-three-resolutions/
The other day a newspaper editor rang up. She was writing a preview of the coming year and wondered what ethical hotspots I saw emerging in 2008.
Great question. But as I thought about her request, I realized that ethics is less about places and events than about characters and ideas. The real question is, What overarching ethical trends are developing in 2008, and what moral qualities will be needed most as we move forward?
What New Year’s resolutions can we commit to for 2008? Here are my three:
Civility. This coming year will require a willingness to outgrow the shallow notion of ethics as right-versus-wrong and replace it with a thoughtful clarity about right versus right. During his confirmation hearings, U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey quoted Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson, who wrote that “the issue between … a right and a wrong … never presents a dilemma,” but that “the dilemma is because the conflict is between two rights, each in its own way important.” The challenge to ethics in public and corporate life is to replace a rule-bound, compliance-based, right-versus-wrong way of thinking with a values-based, right-versus-right reasoning. Resolution: I won’t resort to a rule when a value will make the point. And I will refuse to reduce the great debates of our day to the polarizing, I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong language of talk radio and blogosphere rant.
Vigilance. We’ll need watchfulness coupled with moral readiness. To spot ethical temptations but have no way to resist their subtle allure leaves you dangerously exposed. But never to recognize temptations in the first place is, in effect, to give your consent to them and be manipulated by them. Don Imus, the quick-witted, sharp-tongued talk-show host who was sacked in April from his $10-million-a-year job by CBS, apparently was so acclimated to personal slurs and moral slights that he failed to withhold his consent when an egregious insult about the Rutgers women’s basketball team tripped off a colleague’s tongue and then his own. Resolution: I won’t merely drift along with the passing moral currents. Instead, I will maintain control of my own conscience and have the moral courage to stand up against unethical behavior.
Fairness. We’ll be called upon to express new levels of equity, expressed through the principles of democracy. The test of a nation’s character lies in how it treats its aged and teaches its young. The growing disparity of income between the rich and the poor effectively shrinks resources toward the middle-aged and away from both the young and the aged. Resolution: I will not replace deep compassion with benign neglect, genuine respect with ritualized hand-wringing, and individual responsibility with buck-passing collectivism. Instead, I will argue at every turn for the ethics inherent in democracy, and for the democratizing power of ethics, not only at home but around the world.
Those are my three. What are yours?
©2007 Institute for Global Ethics
http://ethicsnewsline.wordpress.com/2008/01/01/commentary-an-ethical-new-year-three-resolutions/
The other day a newspaper editor rang up. She was writing a preview of the coming year and wondered what ethical hotspots I saw emerging in 2008.
Great question. But as I thought about her request, I realized that ethics is less about places and events than about characters and ideas. The real question is, What overarching ethical trends are developing in 2008, and what moral qualities will be needed most as we move forward?
What New Year’s resolutions can we commit to for 2008? Here are my three:
Civility. This coming year will require a willingness to outgrow the shallow notion of ethics as right-versus-wrong and replace it with a thoughtful clarity about right versus right. During his confirmation hearings, U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey quoted Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson, who wrote that “the issue between … a right and a wrong … never presents a dilemma,” but that “the dilemma is because the conflict is between two rights, each in its own way important.” The challenge to ethics in public and corporate life is to replace a rule-bound, compliance-based, right-versus-wrong way of thinking with a values-based, right-versus-right reasoning. Resolution: I won’t resort to a rule when a value will make the point. And I will refuse to reduce the great debates of our day to the polarizing, I’m-right-and-you’re-wrong language of talk radio and blogosphere rant.
Vigilance. We’ll need watchfulness coupled with moral readiness. To spot ethical temptations but have no way to resist their subtle allure leaves you dangerously exposed. But never to recognize temptations in the first place is, in effect, to give your consent to them and be manipulated by them. Don Imus, the quick-witted, sharp-tongued talk-show host who was sacked in April from his $10-million-a-year job by CBS, apparently was so acclimated to personal slurs and moral slights that he failed to withhold his consent when an egregious insult about the Rutgers women’s basketball team tripped off a colleague’s tongue and then his own. Resolution: I won’t merely drift along with the passing moral currents. Instead, I will maintain control of my own conscience and have the moral courage to stand up against unethical behavior.
Fairness. We’ll be called upon to express new levels of equity, expressed through the principles of democracy. The test of a nation’s character lies in how it treats its aged and teaches its young. The growing disparity of income between the rich and the poor effectively shrinks resources toward the middle-aged and away from both the young and the aged. Resolution: I will not replace deep compassion with benign neglect, genuine respect with ritualized hand-wringing, and individual responsibility with buck-passing collectivism. Instead, I will argue at every turn for the ethics inherent in democracy, and for the democratizing power of ethics, not only at home but around the world.
Those are my three. What are yours?
©2007 Institute for Global Ethics
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