Shr Soundbites

Heather Fricke, Marketing Director, at The Grand Tuscany, joins me from Houston, Texas, on the latest episode of the Soundbites Podcast. Heather talks about her hotel, explains it as, 'Vegas meets Miami,' finding your niche amid the fallout of the pandemic, juggling multiple gigs, à la VP of Communications with the Meeting Planners International Board, and the organization she started, 'Power of P,' Powerful Positive People Through Pain.

Sarah Dandashy, Travel Expert, with Ask A Concierge, joins me from Los Angeles. Sarah talks about her recent travels, what hotels are doing well--depending on the location and destination, how good her Mexico experience has been, and where we are headed this Spring and Summer.

Is Mohegan Sun the poster child for how to conduct meetings amid the pandemic? John Washko, VP of Expo & Convention Sales at Mohegan Sun, joins me from Boca Raton, Florida, to explain. John talks about re-opening his 5.5MM square foot facility last June, and hosting some 50 meetings since it's re-opening. He goes on to describe how their world-class indoor arena has been transformed into a international broadcast center, the 'bubble' environment they've managed to create, spending over $1MM in implementing safety protocols, and much more!

Kelly McGuire, Managing Principal at ZS, joins me from Washington, D.C.. Kelly talks about ZS and their focus on commercial and analytics, a recent article she published on what has happened to a hotel's data amid the pandemic. She walks us through categorizing our data: -leading signal -evolving signal -stable signal, -experimental signal, and fine-tuning analytical models.

Richard Valtr, Founder of Mews, the Amsterdam-based PMS, joins me from New York City. Richard talks backing off their big push to sell in the states after their series B funding in 2019, to focusing on further development of their PMS in wait of travel's rebound, their latest projects, and the two-way interface with our CRS, Windsurfer.

Dave Overeem, Corporate Revenue Manager with Inntel Hotels, joins Jason from Amsterdam. Dave talks about the lockdown in Amsterdam, building 2 new hotels, how his role has changed, and travel's near term future.

I found myself a real life Derry girl! Of course, I'm referencing the hit Netflix show by the same name, 'Derry Girls.' My latest guest, Carolynne Harrison, indeed grew up in Derry, Ireland. Now residing in Donegal, Carolynne is the GM of Shandon Hotel & Resort. Carolynne talks with me about being closed for 8 months, grateful for the time throughout the pandemic spent with her girls, learning how to cook and clean :), wanting to get back to work, the frustration her and the 160,000 out of work hospitality folks are experiencing with no clear date of when the lockdown will be lifted.

Regitse Cecillie Rosenvinge, Founder and Creative Director of Room22 Agency, joins me from Denmark. Based in Berlin, with clients throughout the Nordic countries, Cecillie talks about what some of the productive marketing she sees from hotels in this region.

Brandi Baker, former Regional Director of Sales, for HEI Hotels & Resorts, joins Jason from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brandi talks about her journey through the pandemic, educating herself, staying on top of the industry, how the sales role has changed, and what Philly will look like this summer.

Tobias Koehler, Group Director Systems & Commerce, at Ruby Hotels, joins me from Leipzig, Germany. Tobias talks about Ruby's 'lean luxury' brand, what that means for their hotel tech stack, and how the pandemic has changed his role and hotel stacks in general.

Nicoletta Pilardi, Founder of NP Collection, joins me from London, England. Nicoletta is a 3-generation hotelier from Italy and has worked in London for 20+ years. She talks with me about working with her hotel clients, what hotels are doing well and what hotels could improve upon.

Rodger Wada, former Revenue Manager, with Highgate, joins Jason from Honolulu, Hawaii. Rodger talks about his experience over the course of the pandemic--he got married!, gives us an update on Hawaii, his continued education despite being let go, how ecommerce and accounting is becoming a big part of revenue management.  

Connor Langton, Corporate Director of Revenue Management, with Refined Hospitality joins Jason from New Jersey. Connor talks about his luxury, event, food & beverage-driven hotels, how he's had to adjust his role given the pandemic, helping out more with demand generation, how his pricing strategy hasn't changed too much and how the level of cancellation has helped forecasting.

Hiren Mazgaonkar, Director of Commercial, with Steigenberger Hotel, joins Jason from Munich, Germany. Hiren talks about his experience through the pandemic, what Germany is like now, his hotel, how his role has changed, and how they are selling their hotel.

John Knowles, Director of Public Spaces, at the Roger Smith Hotel, joins Jason from New York City. John talks about creative ways to sell hotel space and keeping the brand top-of-mind, amid the pandemic, i.e., podcasters, musicians, artists, physical therapists, and more.

Scott Curran, COO of Reneson Hotels and Founder of GuestEQ, joins Jason from San Francisco, California. Scott talks about his 20 years at Reneson, teaching himself to code, and the creation of his Operations and Guest Text platform, GuestEQ.

Roland Seddon, Managing Director, MRK Associates, joins me from just outside London. Roland talks about the state of revenue management staffing in Europe, its outlook for 2021, his advice for hotels as well as Revenue Managers.

Ingrid Summerfield, President of Ingrid Summerfield Hospitality, talks about the start-slow-stop treadmill experience of managing 8 hotels found in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Hawaii, and Washington State. She goes on to suggest the areas hotels must address in preparation of travel's rebound: continued communication of safety protocols, their website's messaging and offerings to cater to domestic vs international travelers, up-to-date photographs, and more. She also addresses branded vs independent.

Airela Kiradjian, Partner & COO of The Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association and Co-Founder of StayBoutique, joins Jason from Los Angeles, California. Ariela talks about how boutique hotels have faired amid the pandemic, with some leaving for brands while also finding branded hotels, de-flagging. #1 reason boutiques move to brands? Distribution. But, she explains that many hotels are finding ways to develop and execute a strong distribution plan and make more money without those brand fees.

Davonne Reaves, hotel owner and Founder of The Vonne Group, joins me from Atlanta, Georgia. Davonne and her college roommate are the youngest Black women to ever co-own a property under a major chain (Hilton). Davonne talks about buying a hotel amid a pandemic, her proven methodology for doing so, 'Pathway to Hotel Ownership Plan,' and her take on revenue management.