Plan Your Meetings

By Taylor Dahl, official member of Gen Y

As a future business traveler, it’s always interesting to hear what I’ll appreciate in the next few years, according to some 50-year-old expert. Hotel 2010, located in the Austin [Texas] Convention Center is a “futuristic” hotel that looks more like a bleak hospital ward. Seriously? That’s what two years from now will look like? Instead of Hotel 2010, it should be called Hotel 1985, because it looks more like a trip back in time with its light-up bed and tiled wall.

However, the recent article, “Generation Y Hotel” in Time Magazine captured my interest with the description of an Aloft hotel. These Gen Y-targeted hotels are specific to their location and look more like a set from “Friends” than “The Jetsons.”

You heard it here first, that’s what Gen Y really wants.

We’re all familiar with the Transportation Security Administration’s “no-fly” list. But how many of you know that hotels have their own blacklist?

The same software that lets front desk staff keep track of your birthday and amenity preferences is now being used to record whether you’re a chronic complainer, room defacer or scam artist. Hotels also are sharing information about who they’ve blacklisted and why, so what gets you kicked out of the Holiday Inn may also keep you from checking into a Hilton. And it’s not just John Q. Public. Check out which celebs are persona non grata.

Do you have a client or attendee blacklist? What stories do you have of people behaving badly?

Looking for a bit of inspiration? Or want to know what it’s like to have a lavish budget, and have to provide menus for celebrity chefs? Read about master planner Lee Schrager.

Last month, I was in Houston for a speaking engagement and there was a problem with my room. The front desk was very courteous, and said they would move me and send someone down with a key. The hotel had an outdoor courtyard layout and was very close to the highway. My room was near a giant hole in the security fence, so when there was a knock at the door, I asked, “Who is it?” to make sure it was the front desk and not someone who had wandered on-property.

Unfortunately, the person the front desk sent didn’t speak English. They didn’t understand enough of what I said to respond, “Housekeeping.” When I finally answered the door, they mutely handed me a key, but couldn’t give me directions to where to find my new room. It was incredibly frustrating, and we were both left embarrassed by our inability to communicate.

Later that day, I arrived at the keynote luncheon at the convention center a little late, and, looking for a seat that was still being served lunch, I had to talk to five banquet staffers before I found one who could speak English. Even then, the interchange required pantomimed gestures and Spanglish for us to understand each other.

The hospitality industry has struggled to fill its lower paying jobs for many years, and it’s a problem that’s only projected to grow, not fade away. But I don’t think hiring people who can’t communicate with your guests is the best solution. Especially in Houston, where there are still so many displaced Katrina victims.

Why is there the perception that Americans are unwilling to work for minimum wage? Why don’t employers insist on basic proficiency in English, or provide ESL classes to employees? Do you know of any hotels or restaurants that have come up with a creative solution to this problem?

I’ve heard of flea-bag motels — the kind where there’s a coin-operated bed or boot marks on the door — but I always thought bedbugs were the work of someone’s hyperactive imagination. Kind of like the bogeyman, but for cheap travelers. C’mon, a scourge of insects that nest in mattresses and live off of human blood?

Imagine my surprise when I read this article about a bedbug problem plaguing New York City’s residences and hotels. In five years, reported cases of bedbug infestations in hotels went from two to 6,889. And those are 2007 numbers. If you’re not afraid of losing your lunch, check out these images of the damage the little suckers can cause.

The nasty creatures evidently are brilliant hitchhikers, traveling from place to place on clothes, linens, pillows and bags, and they can nest anywhere; one Advanced K9 Detective at a Five-Star resort found bedbugs in a $400 Bose radio. Gross!

So what’s a traveler to do? Heed this advice from Harvard University:

• Check bed linens, nightstands, bedposts and mattresses for evidence of bedbugs.
• Don’t bring your favorite pillow to a hotel unless it’s in a bedbug-proof, sealed pillowcase.
• Don’t store luggage or portable items near hotel beds.
• If you think you’ve been bitten, report it to the hotel management ASAP. Collect a sample if you can for analysis to be sure you weren’t bitten by lice, mites, mosquitoes or fleas.
• If you’re stuck in an infested room, pull the bed away from the wall or shelving and create a 2-inch band of Vaseline or mineral oil around the legs of the bed.

After six years, I am leaving Plan Your Meetings. As editor-in-chief, I have attended many meetings and events. I have visited hotels, special event facilities and convention centers, and talked with countless planners and industry suppliers. I continue to be amazed at the creativity, demands, and spread of the meetings and events business. It is a business of details that want constant attention; it is a business of change — changing fashion, changing tastes, changing tools, and changing measurements.

It’s an exciting industry, and I have enjoyed being part of the change. It is also a very personable business, and I hope to continue many of the wonderful relationships I have developed in my position.

You’ll still be hearing from me on these pages from time to time, and I’ll see some of you at future events. Meanwhile, I hope you’ll continue to participate in all the programs and publications Plan Your Meetings produces. They’re designed to deliver information you can use in ways that entertain, inform and inspire you — whether experiencing new destinations, new technology, the latest in table décor or making new contacts at a PYM Live event, or reading about someone else’s successful negotiation tips in the magazine, or picking up some F & B ideas from our online guru, Claire Gould.

Enjoy the business you’re doing, remember to breath deeply every once in a while, and be generous (in spirit, at least) to all your suppliers. Heed the words of one of my favorite writers:

“It is not from ourselves that we learn to be better than we are.” - Wendell Berry

Thank you for helping me learn and grow, and be better than I am.

— Christine Born

Everything we do at Plan Your Meetings is designed to help you plan better meetings and events, and to help you connect with products, services and properties that best meet your needs. In order to develop the best editorial, LIVE Events, online resources, programs and content available, we regularly seek the help of experts. These meeting professionals make up our PYM Advisory Board.

During the course of the year, you may meet them at our events, read their stories online or in-book, or even take an educational seminar with them. And the work they do behind the scenes affects everything we do.

Please join us in welcoming the members of our 2008 PYM Advisory Board:

• Amy Bonner, community outreach coordinator, Piedmont Hospital
• Monica Compton, CMP, event specialist, Pinnacle Productions Inc.
• James Hogg, adjunct faculty, Ph.D. Candidate, Rosen College of Hospitality Management University of Central Florida
• Tricia Jenkins, owner, Orlando Special Event Planners
• Jennifer Kern, CMP, event marketing manager, Dynami Group
• Qualena Odom-Royes, CSEP, principal event planner, Event Essentials
• Daphne J. Meyers, CMM, owner, Red Barn Group
• Laura Miller, conference center special events manager, McKenna, Long & Aldridge
• Jackie Thornton, M.S., CMP, owner, Global Marketing
• Debra M. VanEvery, CMP, president, Resort Destinations
• Keisha Wilson, CSEP, president, Keisha Wilson Events LLC