September 25, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

Last week I attended the National Black MBA Association Conference here in Washington, D.C. The show was filled with anxious MBA students looking for direct placement opportunities or even summer internships. I was very impressed by the quality of students and their professionalism. What disappointed me was the maturity displayed by some of the companies actually exhibiting. This prompted a thought to offer some suggestions for proper trade show etiquette (just as a reminder for many of us).  


-Please don't eat or drink at the booth and reserve gum chewing for the baseball fields. 
 
-Even if the show is slow, please d...Read More

September 22, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Many of you may have heard about the South Beach diet. It's a strict regimen limiting fruits, sugars and carbohydrates. The first two weeks are extremely rigid with the philosophy that once your body rids itself of many excess sugars, the cravings for these types of food diminishes. You must understand, I look forward to eating my bowl of cereal each morning and my wife's homemade chocolate chip banana bread is not to be missed.  For two weeks I exercised self discipline and followed the diet precisely and I easily lost 10 pounds.

Now comes vacation at the beach. One slice of Grotto's Pizza and a small serving of Thrasher's French Fries shouldn't affect me too much. The place that we were staying didn't have a scale so I didn't follow the routine of weighing myself every morning. When we arrived ...Read More

September 17, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (2)

Serge Asensio, Managing Director of The Topline Group LLC offered one of the most ingenious analogies I've heard in years at the HSMAI Sales Strategy Conference last week. He used Einstein's formula for Energy equals Mass times Speed to explain the approach independent hotels need to take when competing with chain properties.

The energy required to move (or make decisions) for a larger mass (or company) is much greater than the energy needed to move (or make things happen) for a smaller mass (or independent company). Einstein's vision can describe the quickness and speed to market that independent hotels can utilize when trying to compete with larger hotel companies with greater distribution.

The approval process to begin a marketing campaign might only take the approval of one person and a 10-m...Read More

September 15, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

A book entitled "Flight of the Buffalo" (Belasco & Stayer, 1993) described two differing types of team leadership. One type of leadership is similar to the style that wild buffalo utilize. There is one lead buffalo that is responsible for dictating every move that the herd makes. In nature, buffalo are very loyal creatures who have been known to follow their leader into precarious situations without thought for their own well being. American Indians used to hunt buffalo by killing the leader, thus creating confusion without direction as the rest of the herd simply stops to become easy prey. Do you know any managers who are "Buffalo Leaders"?

...Read More

September 11, 2008 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Today is a sad day for many people. Early this morning, my son and I were walking our dogs and I mentioned the significance of today and wanted to prepare him for any conversations about it in school.

I distinctly remember where I was when the attacks happened. Max was only 3 years old, and my daughter was not yet born. At the time I was working from home for a convention and visitor's bureau. I was beginning my day of solicitation when my wife came in and said that a plane hit a building in New York. This was at 8:45 a.m. Most will remember this time for the rest of their lives as it changed the face of how we all live in this world.

My first reaction was that it was purely an accident. I was shocked and surprised, but tried to go about my day. Later that night there was a hospitality networking even...Read More