Lodging Leaders

Marc Heyneker is the co-founder and CEO of Revinate, the leading hospitality SaaS company that helps hoteliers drive more direct revenue and deliver exceptional guest experiences. Since being founded in 2009, Revinate has grown its offerings to include targeted marketing and data management, guest surveys, and online reputation management. Prior to founding Revinate, Marc spent over nine years at Akamai Technologies in sales, channels and management roles before running their High Tech division in the US. Marc’s passion for travel combined with 20+ years experience in technology business growth and management led him to co-found Revinate, where he helps hoteliers make their promise of personalized hospitality a reality. Erica Rich is the Sr. Hospitality Marketing Strategist at Revinate and is responsible for maximizing customer success through education and adoption of hotel marketing best practices. As the developer and instructor of Revinate’s Email Marketing Certification for Hoteliers, Erica has traveled around the world, educating hoteliers on how to become effective email marketers. Erica has more than 15 years of experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, and she holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Arizona. In This Episode, Marc and Erica Reveal: * The vision behind Revinate, the problem they’re solving, and who they serve. * Why Email Marketing is important, and the first step folks should take to get started. * What makes a compelling email campaign, what hotels can do to make sure their campaigns stand out, and how you can measure the success of an campaign. * Why list segmentation is important, how else email marketing can support the goals of a hotel besides driving revenue, and Erica reveals some best practices and advice. Resources & Links Mark Heyneker * LinkedIn Erica Rich * LinkedIn Revinate * Website * LinkedIn * Twitter * Facebook * Google+

Keith is an award winning hospitality executive specializing in all phases of hotel and restaurant development from concept creation through opening.  Having developed over 10 highly successful bar and restaurant concepts inside hotels, he understands how to retain guests and draw locals back into hotels for amazing experiences. With his broad depth of knowledge he helps owners read more

Keith is an award winning hospitality executive specializing in all phases of hotel and restaurant development from concept creation through opening.  Having developed over 10 highly successful bar and restaurant concepts inside hotels, he understands how to retain guests and draw locals back into hotels for amazing experiences. With his broad depth of knowledge he helps owners and developers achieve sustainability in today’s’ competitive landscape. Keith credits having spent significant hours of endurance training to compete in IronMan and long distance cycling events, saying, “I applied the same mental focus and determination that I have when competing into hotel operations, and found great success”. Endurance Management Group, LLC was born from this same philosophy, where we are business partners through every detail, to ensure we have alignment from owners to operators to the associates closest to our guests. In This Episode, Keith Reveals: * The concept behind his company, Endurance Management Group, and who he serves. * How he would approach a rebrand of a restaurant and how to determine the right fit for cuisine, price point, branding, etc. * How social media has become vital in business, creative ways to use social media, and whether there is a return on investment. * How to attract more locals to you hotel restaurant or bar, how to bridge the gap between the restaurant and the front desk, and turn your hotel staff into marketing ambassadors. * The most common mistakes hotels make with respect to their F&B, and Keith reveals one action listeners can take immediately to move the needle. Resources & Links Keith Halfmann * keith@endurancemanagementgroup.com * LinkedIn Endurance Management Group * Website * LinkedIn * Instagram * Twitter * YouTube * Phone:  +1 414-899-8578

Today’s show is going to be a little different. Several weeks ago, I reached out to my email list to ask industry folks to share a crazy hotel story. I’m sure most of us have dozens. Some hilarious, some heartwarming, and some may be downright disturbing. I got a lot of great responses, and this episode will include 6 of them. I’d love to do a show like this on a regular basis, so if you have a funny story, please share it with me. You can schedule a call with me at lodgingleaders.com/call, or if you story is less than 90 seconds, just leave me a voice mail at lodgingleaders.com/message. In This Episode, You’ll Hear Stories From: * Blanche Garcia * Rupesh Patel * Anne Boon * Shep Hyken * David Lund * Howard Feiertag

Today’s show is going to be a little different. Several weeks ago, I reached out to my email list to ask industry folks to share a crazy hotel story. I’m sure most of us have dozens. Some hilarious, some heartwarming, and some may be downright disturbing. I got a lot of great responses, and this read more

Raj Singh is a Product Design expert from a family of hoteliers, and CEO at Go Moment, a company dedicated to making customer service instant. Go Moment’s Ivy is the world’s leading automated customer service platform for hotels. Raj brings cross-discipline design, technology, and marketing experience from hundreds of large scale technology projects for leading brands like Virgin, Lady Gaga, and HEB Grocery Company. Blending his expertise in UX and market research, Raj works alongside leaders in hospitality to address the industry’s needs using next-generation technologies like Artificial Intelligence, automation, and IoT. In partnership with IBM Watson, Go Moment’s Ivy platform automates 75% of guest communication and is currently available to millions of hotel guests. In This Episode, Raj Reveals: * What Go Moment’s flagship product Ivy is all about and how it works. * How guests opt in to the service, whether the platform integrates with the hotel’s PMS, and whether integration is required. * How Ivy proactively checks in with the guest mid stay, and ultimately, how it can lead to an increase of favorable guest reviews. * How quickly can they deploy a new client, whether they offer any analytics, and of course, what the typical cost is for their service. Resources & Links Raj Singh * raj@gomoment.com * LinkedIn Go Moment * Website * Twitter * Facebook * Phone:  +1 (800) 701-0414

Raj Singh is a Product Design expert from a family of hoteliers, and CEO at Go Moment, a company dedicated to making customer service instant. Go Moment’s Ivy is the world’s leading automated customer service platform for hotels. Raj brings cross-discipline design, technology, and marketing experience from hundreds of large scale technology projects for leading read more

Robert Wallis is Director of Sales and Operations at Case Goods Refinishing. He came from a family of academics, but 25 years ago, after completing a master’s degree, he realized his passion was not in academics, but rather in working with his hands. He believes the predominant industry practice of letting case goods and public read more

Robert Wallis is Director of Sales and Operations at Case Goods Refinishing. He came from a family of academics, but 25 years ago, after completing a master’s degree, he realized his passion was not in academics, but rather in working with his hands. He believes the predominant industry practice of letting case goods and public area wood furniture steadily deteriorate to prematurely end up in a landfill neither makes sense environmentally nor as a hospitality best practice. To keep case goods looking great all the time, and to extend their lifespan, is both attainable and fiscally responsible. It was this conviction that led Robert to develop, over five years, the green processes and business model that makes this possible. Robert grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, graduated from The University of California at Berkeley in 1983 and earned a master’s degree from Regent University in 1990. In This Episode, Robert Reveals: * What case goods are, how often hotels typically purchase or replace them, and other areas of a hotel where refinishing makes sense. * How case goods are typically maintained in hotels, and how those solutions can reduce the quality and longevity of the products. * The process of case goods refinishing, whether the repairs are noisy or create toxic fumes, and generally speaking, how long until they can sell their newly refinished rooms. * The consequences for not maintaining case goods, how brands often treat this area, and whether a lack of attention on case goods can lead to lower scores and ultimately lower profitability. * The general costs per room for case goods refinishing, and how that compares to the cost of replacing them. Resources & Links Robert Wallis * robert@casegoodsrefinishing.com * LinkedIn Case Goods Refinishing * Website * Phone:  757-617-4459

Buddy is the former Director of Florida’s State Fire Marshal’s Office and is internationally known as a fire safety expert. He earned a BA in Economics from Florida Atlantic University, and a MBA from Nova Southeastern University. Buddy first entered the fire service in 1961 with the New River Fire Department in the Ft. Lauderdale, read more

Buddy is the former Director of Florida’s State Fire Marshal’s Office and is internationally known as a fire safety expert. He earned a BA in Economics from Florida Atlantic University, and a MBA from Nova Southeastern University. Buddy first entered the fire service in 1961 with the New River Fire Department in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area. He entered the U.S. Army in 1966, and served in Viet Nam where he was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” Device for Valor and First Oak Leaf Cluster. While stationed in Germany, Captain Dewar performed arson investigations throughout Europe. After leaving the U.S. Army in 1972, he became a member of the Plantation Fire Department where he served as a Battalion Chief. He began his tenure with the State Fire Marshal’s office as a Florida State Fire College Instructor in 1976, later becoming Superintendent of the Florida State Fire College in 1979, and Director of the State Fire Marshal’s Office in 1981 where he served until 1989. Buddy then worked for the National Fire Sprinkler Association for 26 years and retired as Vice President in 2015. He now serves as a fire safety consultant. In This Episode, Buddy Reveals: * What may have gone wrong during the fire that consumed the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country Hotel in Santa Rosa, CA on the evening of October 8-9, 2017. * The fire safety measures a hotel is required to implement, where fire codes come from, and whether properties are ever grandfathered in to avoid compliance with new code requirements and laws. * How often fire safety inspections should take place to ensure the equipment is fully functional, how often a hotel should review their emergency plans, and provide staff training. * Some of the less obvious things a hotel may do to put their guests and staff at risk, including exceeding occupancy load limits, blocking exits and passageways, and altering a building without permits. * Some of the things that he does as a guest to ensure he’s safe when he visits a new property. Resources & Links Buddy Dewar * gr8bud@aol.com * LinkedIn

Jon is a motivational keynote speaker who works with organizations who want to create a culture of peak performance backed by purpose and passion. As an opening Keynote speaker, closing keynote speaker or combination of keynote and conference emcee, his quality, customization and energy is unsurpassed. Jon holds a Bachelors Degree in Communications Systems Management read more

Jon is a motivational keynote speaker who works with organizations who want to create a culture of peak performance backed by purpose and passion. As an opening Keynote speaker, closing keynote speaker or combination of keynote and conference emcee, his quality, customization and energy is unsurpassed. Jon holds a Bachelors Degree in Communications Systems Management and Interpersonal Communications from Ohio University. In This Episode, Jon Reveals: His recent experience as a guest at the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel in Santa Rosa, CA on the evening of October 8-9, 2017. That night, Jon was one of many hotel guests completely unaware of a rapidly developing emergency in which 200 acres of burning wildfires, progressed to 20,000 acres in an unprecedented amount of time. In the end, the hotel burned to the ground. While no fatalities were reported, after hearing Jon’s detailed accounting of his experience, and the lack of support he and other guests received during the evacuation, it’s a miracle that all survived. Resources & Links Jon Petz * jon@jonpetz.com * LinkedIn * Twitter * YouTube * Facebook * Phone: (877) 457-3981 Jon’s Blog Post * Escaping the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country Fire. What I did, learned and would change.

John Carpenter has been in recruiting for 7 years, two years of recruiting semi-pro/college basketball players, and 5 years in the hospitality industry. He currently serves as Hotel Division Executive Recruiter and Vice President of Operations at Snelling Hospitality in Akron, Ohio. In This Episode, John Reveals: What you should expect when working with a read more

John Carpenter has been in recruiting for 7 years, two years of recruiting semi-pro/college basketball players, and 5 years in the hospitality industry. He currently serves as Hotel Division Executive Recruiter and Vice President of Operations at Snelling Hospitality in Akron, Ohio. In This Episode, John Reveals: * What you should expect when working with a good recruiter, both as a candidate and as a hotelier, why transparency is so important, and what separates a good recruiter from an average or bad one. * How working with a recruiter could actually be the way to YOUR next job. * Best practices for dealing with candidates, what he looks for when vetting candidates for a hotel client, and why the candidate AND employee experience is just as important as the guest experience. * The prices you can expect to pay for Snelling Hospitality’s executive recruiting services. Get a FREE Resume Critique By an Experienced Hospitality Industry Executive Recruiter Resources & Links John Carpenter * john@snellinghospitality.com * LinkedIn * Phone: (330) 836-9901 ext 211 Snelling Hospitality * Website * Facebook page * Twitter