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Victoria Camagong
Hilton Universal City
Terry Sullivan
Embassy Suites Palm Desert
Courtney Norris
Allure Plus Relations
Kevin Anawati
Viceroy Hotel Group
Bruce Skidmore
Hotel Queen Mary
Rebecca Young
Kyoto Grand Hotel
Lenny Catalano
Radisson Culver City
Patty Leemhuis
Patina Group / Downtown Disney
Mark Podolski
Pacific Palms Resort
Beverly Laing
Conference Direct
Cynthia Ordyke
Hilton Universal City
Michael Swyney
Hilton Universal City
Tim Rutland
L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
Catherine Gill
Four Points LAX
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Karen Gee-McAuley, EVP
Company/Organization: BLAZE PR
Phone: 310-395-5050
How did you hear about HSMAI?
Through colleagues in the industry and joint eblasts with TTMA.
Why did you join HSMAI?
Because of the quality of the programming, educational focus, supplemental and ongoing education, networking opportunities, passion and dedication and quality of the LA chapter and its board and team oriented philosophy.
Job duties:
Marketing communications support for the LA chapter that includes media relations to support ticket sales and leadership positioning in the local industry, partnerships and social media campaign counsel.
Other organization I'm involved in:
Society of American Travel Writers, International Spa Association, Condo-Hotel Association, Public Relations Society of America.
Hobbies and/or Special Interests
Travel, yoga, dance, snow skiing, scuba diving anything that involves movement!
Tell us about your immediate family:
I have been married to artist/educator Skeet McAuley for 15 years. We met at The Boulders Resort in Carefree, AZ, where we were both on-property working. I knew Id meet my spouse while traveling. We have a daughter, who has grown up traveling near and far and when we get a new hotel client asks me how many stars it has. A true hospitality executive in training.
Awards:
The Communicator Award of Distinction, Publicity Campaign, Kids Like Good Food Too!, Surf & Sand Resort, Le Merigot Hotel & Spa, Rancho Bernardo Inn, Rancho Valencia Resort, La Valencia Hotel .
The Communicator Award of Distinction, Magazine Placement, La Valencia Hotel
The Communicator Award of Excellence, The Beverly Hills Hotel
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internationals Golden Bell Award, Silver Award for Feature Placement in a Consumer Newspaper, New York Times Spa Anxiety: One Case History Surf & Sand Resort
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internationals Golden Bell Award, Bronze Award for Feature Placement in a Trade Publication, TravelAge West New Life in Laguna Surf & Sand Upgrades Surf & Sand Resort
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internationals Golden Bell Award, Bronze Award for Feature Placement in a Consumer Newspaper, Los Angeles Times Odds on the Family Santa Anita Park
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association Internationals Golden Bell Award, Gold Award, Surf & Sand Resort and The Oaks at Ojai for Feature Consumer Print Placement
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, Golden Bell Award, The Ocean Villas at La Valencia Hotel
Golden Bell, Silver Merit Award for "Campaign-New Opening," Mojo Restaurant at the W Los Angeles Hotel
Golden Bell, Bronze Award, Star Trek: The Experience® opening, Las Vegas Hilton Hotel
Golden Bell, Silver Award, The Beverly Hills Hotel
PRSA PRism Award of Excellence, Excellence in Writing a Press Release, Intimacy & Sexuality Release for Surf & Sand Resort and The Oaks at Ojai
PRSA PRism Award of Excellence, New Product Launch / Service Launch under $50,000 budget, Hotel Sofitel Get Fit Now
Galaxy Awards International Bronze Award, The Resort at Summerlin
Bulldog Award, Travel, Hospitality & Destinations Silver, Star Trek: The Experience® opening, Las Vegas Hilton Hotel
PCLA PRo Award, Honorable Mention, Special Event For-Profit Organization with Project Budget of $10,000 or Greater, The Beverly Hills Hotel
Protos Award, Outstanding Achievement in Grand Re-Opening, The Beverly Hills Hotel
PRSA PRism Merit Award, Outstanding Accomplishment, The Beverly Hills Hotel
Galaxy Awards International Silver Award for Polo Lounge 50th, The Beverly Hills Hotel
Los Angeles Advertising Women Lulu Awards Award of Excellence, PR Media Event,
Polo Lounge 50th, The Beverly Hills Hotel
Other comments:
The travel industry is my passion. I love introducing potential guests to new and interesting travel options whether they be for enhancing productivity, educational, fun, spiritual, adventuresome, eco-minded, luxurious, value or great for the solo traveler. Travel allows me to take time to rejuvenate and live life in a new environment with different people and I always come back with new ideas, inspiration and a ha moments that I wouldnt have had otherwise. Travel is not only good for our economy, its good for the soul!
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Michael Lorenz
Viceroy Hotel Group |
Julie Simpson
Eagle Graphics |
Kathy Markarian
Millennium Biltmore Hotel |
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David Volosky
HSMAI Los Angeles |
Lillibeth Bishop
Hong Kong Tourism Board |
Roger Bloss
Vantage Hospitality Group |
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Wesley Anderson
Crowne Plaza – LAX |
Mia Fairbanks
Mondrian Morgans Hotel Group |
Jon Hicks
Doubletree Los Angeles/Commerce |
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FEATURED BLOG
Strategically Aligning for Success in 2010 and Beyond
  We're excited to host a special in-depth workshop on December 7th in Las Vegas - Digital Strategy for Travel Marketing & Distribution. Our lead facilitator, David Atkins of DNA Digital Infusion, recently wrote an article for Hospitality Upgrade that looks at how to strategically align your entire business including digital, distribution, eCommerce, marketing, operations, sales, social media, and revenue management to succeed in 2010 and beyond.
The December workshop will be an opportunity for you to learn even more. Please join us for this hands-on event where we'll start to put together comprehensive plans for our eCommerce, Distribution, Operations, Revenue Management, and Sales and Marketing with David and workshop leaders from YouTube, ExpertSEO and SocialMediaopolis. Practical case studies from Vizergy, E-Site Marketing, Pegasus, and TravelCLICK will bring these topics and more to life for us. This workshop is being held in conjunction with HEDNA Winter Meeting.
FEATURED PUBLICATION
 Medical tourism: Update and implications (Deloitte)Medical tourism represents an important option for patient populations who need care but lack adequate out-of-pocket funds to afford a procedure in the U.S., or those who seek lower prices for purposes of savings. These patients pursue medical tourism options systematically through web searches, patient blogs and direct contact, and through their health plans and employers for assurance of safety. Increasingly, they work with U.S.-based referral physicians pre- and postprocedure to assure optimal outcomes and appropriate follow-up; the emergent technologies of distance medicine combined with insurance coverage for certain low-risk procedures provide a backdrop for healthy growth in this sector.
FEATURED ARTICLE
 Sustainable investment and ROI: What all hoteliers should know | By Kit Cassingham, ISHCMaking use of basic business principles is smart business, and sustainable development relies on basic business principles. Furthermore, sustainable development requires communication of your intentions and attitudes, actions, successes and failures.
Herve Houdre, former general manager of the Willard InterContinental Washington, D.C., said in the opening paragraph of the 2008 Willard Sustainability Report, "Contrary to popular belief, an SD [Sustainable Development] strategy keeps us on the right path of revenue development and expense control. Those who take the current crisis as an excuse to not act or to withhold their efforts, are missing an enormous opportunity to differentiate their business and to be closer to their customers, their employees and the world we shape for future generations."
FEATURED HSMAI PUBLICATION
Medical tourism: Update and implications (Deloitte)Medical tourism represents an important option for patient populations who need care but lack adequate out-of-pocket funds to afford a procedure in the U.S., or those who seek lower prices for purposes of savings. These patients pursue medical tourism options systematically through web searches, patient blogs and direct contact, and through their health plans and employers for assurance of safety. Increasingly, they work with U.S.-based referral physicians pre- and postprocedure to assure optimal outcomes and appropriate follow-up; the emergent technologies of distance medicine combined with insurance coverage for certain low-risk procedures provide a backdrop for healthy growth in this sector.
WEEKLY HEADLINES
November 2009 LeisureTRAK® reportThis issue, titled "Sleigh Bells Ring, Are You Listening?" provides an in depth look at Active Americans and their spending plans for the coming holiday season. Some of the topics covered in this issue include: What's the holiday forecast for sports, recreation, and fitness products and services? | Specialty Chain Stores and Online are Top Channels this Season | Gift Cards Galore! | All I Want For... | Driving Traffic My Way | What Does the Co...
What if You Reduced Your Hotel Room Rates and Nobody Noticed? | By Rick Garlick, Ph.D.Its no secret that the hospitality industry has faced unprecedented challenges in recent months. A just-released year-to-year comparative report by Smith Travel Research (STR) cited the following statistics: Hotel occupancy was down six percent to end the week at 52.6 percent. Average daily rate (ADR) dropped 9.9 percent to finish the week at $95.86. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased 15.7 percent to finish at $50.47. Furthermore,...
STR reports U.S. hotel performance for October 2009The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during October, according to data from STR. In year-over-year measurements, the industrys occupancy fell 6.2 percent to end the month at 58.1 percent. Average daily rate dropped 8.2 percent to finish the month at US$99.08. Revenue per available room for the month decreased 13.8 percent to finish at US$57.57.
Can an exciting casino experience change consumers current gloomy mood? | By Jonathan Barsky and Lenny NashDespite the impact of the recession, the United States remains the worlds largest market for casino gaming. But revenues at casinos nationwide have slipped 7% in 2009, with Atlantic City and Las Vegas markets experiencing much bigger declines. Customer satisfaction with casinos across the US is also down in 2009 due to broad cuts in staff, service, and player reinvestment. However, based on a recent Market Metrix Casino Market Study, some casin...
FEATURED VIDEO
 Ritz-Carlton Struggling in the US | Interview with Simon CooperLuxury hotel chain, Ritz-Carlton, is finding that its business sort of reflects the economy, Simon Cooper, president & CIO at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, told CNBC Wednesday. Our hotels in Asia are doing relatively well, he said, adding that business in Europe is flat, and hotels are struggling in the US.
COLUMNS
 What if You Reduced Your Hotel Room Rates and Nobody Noticed? | By Rick Garlick, Ph.D.Its no secret that the hospitality industry has faced unprecedented challenges in recent months. A just-released year-to-year comparative report by Smith Travel Research (STR) cited the following statistics: Hotel occupancy was down six percent to end the week at 52.6 percent. Average daily rate (ADR) dropped 9.9 percent to finish the week at $95.86. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) decreased 15.7 percent to finish at $50.47. Furthermore,...
 Can an exciting casino experience change consumers current gloomy mood? | By Jonathan Barsky and Lenny Nash
Despite the impact of the recession, the United States remains the worlds largest market for casino gaming. But revenues at casinos nationwide have slipped 7% in 2009, with Atlantic City and Las Vegas markets experiencing much bigger declines. Customer satisfaction with casinos across the US is also down in 2009 due to broad cuts in staff, service, and player reinvestment. However, based on a recent Market Metrix Casino Market Study, some casin...
 2009 Hotel Development Cost Survey | By Elaine Sahlins
HVS has tracked hotel construction costs throughout the United States since 1976. The survey considers data for six lodging types: Economy/Budget Hotels, Midscale Hotels w/o F&B (without Food and Beverage), Extended-Stay Hotels, Midscale Hotels w/ F&B (with Food and Beverage), Full-Service Hotels, and Luxury Hotels and Independent Resorts. This year, the time period for the survey has been expanded to include data from the first half of 2009; as...
RECENT FORUM TOPICS
The new eConnectPlease give us your feedback on the new eConnect.
Welcome to the Resort Marketing Discussion ForumWe hope you find the discussion forum valuable. Please start a discussion on a relevant topic topic today or reply to an existing topic. Thank you for your participation.
FEATURED HSMAI EVENT
 Digital Strategy for Travel Marketing & Distribution: An HSMAI Workshop 7 December 2009 Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV In these challenging economic times, the opportunities for growing your business via digital marketing, distribution, and eCommerce remain an area of opportunity with strategies and tactics at your disposal to book business, capture demand, create value, and engage customers. This workshop will include several modules to cover strategies and tactics you can implement immediately and plan for the future; ideas for how you can organize your team(s) to handle this whether your business is a Brand, CVB, DMO, Management Company, or Property Ownership Group; and, several up and comers that are worthy of consideration for your 2009 needs.
INDUSTRY BLOGS
 The Twitter Star: Nova or Supernova?Source: Shutterstock Nova: a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to its original state Supernova: a star that suddenly increases greatly in brightness because of a catastrophic explosion that ejects most of its mass I recently wrote about reports on the documented decline of visitors to Twitter.com. A good friend encouraged me
 Is this the most bizarre yet useful iPhone travel app yet?Dubai-based airline Emirates is behind an amazing new Apple iPhone application which acts as a translation tool by taking a picture of the handset users mouth and then animates to produce a range of phrases. Built to translate English into French, German and Arabic by Lean Mean Fighting Machine in London, the app is a bit rough around the edges and difficult to set up - but it works. Here is a demo video.
 Selling Skills: The 6 secrets to asking for the next step in emailThe question keeps coming up at my sales writing workshops: How do I ask for the next step? 1. Always give them a reason to want to accept or take the next step. 2. Make it about them not about you, your product, your deadlines, your anything. 3. Know exactly what you want the next step to be. 4. Be
 Ulysses, Average Daily Rate and DiogenesJust when I thought I had heard all the bad news possible about hotels, I heard this from Mark Lomanno, President of Smith Travel Research, and THE most knowledgeable person in the industry about rate and occupancy. For inflation adjusted ADR to reach 2007 levels, it could take the same amount of time it took
 Collette Vacations on Revenue Management & Pricing in Current EconomyContinuing on our subject from EyeForTravel Session 1 on "Adapt & Update Your Revenue Management & Pricing Strategy to Profit in the Current Economic Climate". Jeff Roy, Director of Air Revenue Management from Collette Vacations brought us some great information from some of the other side, the Air Travel side which is basically a direct flow through to Hospitality Revenue Management.The highlight I pulled from Jeff's address was this "Discounting may not stimulate demand, but it can, and will ...
UPCOMING HSMAI UNIVERSITY EVENTS
Revenue Management Webinar Series - Communicate RM Strategies To All Key Stakeholders
Online Webinar - 23 February 2010 With high levels of uncertainty inside and outside hotels and companies, revenue management professionals have an opportunity and obligation to shift the culture from reactive to proactive and to harness the energy of the organization toward growing revenue. Key stakeholders range from owners and asset managers to executives and line-level employees, and each of these stakeholder groups has its own perspective of the current economic situation. This webinar will provide the tools for the successful revenue management professional to clearly articulate a vision for returning the hotel to financial success in a way that everyone can understand and embrace.
Revenue Management Webinar Series - Selling Value Over Price
Online Webinar - 27-27 April 2010 Customers want the best price they can get in any economy, but that statement holds particularly true in a downturn. So what can you do to gain customers without discounting? Establish and communicate your value -- your key differentiators that will earn your customers' business. Your value proposition is key to earning and keeping your customers. When you discover what sets you apart and you sell it, you can put more focus on competing on your uniqueness rather than on your price. This webinar will demonstrate how to do that with case studies and advice you can use now.
Revenue Management Webinar Series - Run As Fast Uphill As You Did Downhill
Online Webinar - 30 March 2010 After the last recession, it took several years for RevPAR to reach pre 9-11 levels. Now the forecasters are suggesting it will be 2013 or 2014 before rates recover. We need to ask ourselves one basic question: If we had a race to the bottom, why can't we have a race back to the top? The market in general is still somewhat soft, but how price elastic are all of our market segments? This webinar will help you see that it just may be time for a race to the top, and how to get there.
Revenue Management Webinar Series - Grow RMs Knowledge of Internet Marketing
Online Webinar - 25 May 2010 There is no area in which it is more crucial to revenue management teams to partner with their CRM, digital marketing, distribution, and ecommerce teams than in the fast paced world of Internet marketing. Your online strategies contribute significantly to your hotels ability to capture demand and book business. This webinar, directed to revenue managers, will provide you the information, knowledge, resources, strategies, and tactics you need to make an invaluable contribution to your companys marketing and sales efforts online.
Revenue Management Webinar Series - Use Data to Drive Revenue Management Decision Making
Online Webinar - 27 July 2010 Revenue management is part art and part science. All too often the practice of managing revenues, setting prices, and using rate and inventory controls is done based primarily on intuition, gut instinct, and "knowing" the hotel and market. These methods, the art, have validity but should be backed up with data and facts, the science. With the ever evolving distribution landscape, more dynamic pricing, changes to the competitive environment, and changes in guest behaviors, it is more important than ever to make data-driven, fact-based decisions in the practice of revenue management. This webinar will show you how to do that.
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Some Hotels Are Successfully Gaining Market Share
First, it's an old story, but stop thinking that lowering your rates will sell more rooms and increase room revenue. It may sell a few more rooms, but it rarely sells enough rooms to offset revenue lost due to lowered rates. Its simple economics; lower rates have not ever, nor, will ever, create room demand. Travelers do not buy rate; they buy value. Don't reduce rates, add value.
Adding value is the key to increasing room sales. Creating and promoting special packages is a good way to accomplish this. Packaging allows you to mask actual room rates with features which add benefits to staying at your hotel. Don't forget to promote packages on your website.
The tell-tale sign of a hotel-in-trouble is to see increases in occupancy and decreases in room revenue. Any hotelier, who understands and employs the tactics of revenue management, monitors and adjusts rates in reaction to fluctuations in current and future occupancy demand. Every hotel experiences fluctuations in demand all year long. Knowing when to adjusts rates up or down is a function of understanding demand.
For many hotel owners and managers, reducing rates is the lazy-man's form of marketing. Its generally the first thought when sales are low; after-all, it takes very little thought and certainly very little research and/or effort. And, it also ignores the fact that people dont buy rate, they buy value. Simply lowering rates for everyone ignores the fact that most people are not seeking hotel rooms based upon rate alone. If that were true, the hotel with the lowest rates would be full all the time.
In a vacuum, rates mean little, but no hotel should operate in a vacuum. Low rates, when compared to your competition set, can also devalue your hotel. You get what you pay for is still alive and well; when a product is not known, its price will define its quality.
When sales demand is low, look to value-added marketing and position your hotel properly within your marketplace. If your hotel deserves to be in the number one position because of its location, facilities and amenities, make sure it is positioned that way.
Do Your Homework Stop Working in a Bubble
For a modest amount of money, you can start receiving market share reports from Smith Travel Research. They are not available everywhere, but, if theyre available in your area, they will provide a tremendous amount of insight into your local market status. It is far better than guessing or counting cars in your competitions parking lot; that brings me back to the seventies, it didnt work then either.
STR reports will provide you with accurate information comparing your occupancy, ADR, and RevPar with your stated competition. The fairness and accuracy of STR reports will assist you to place your hotel in its proper position among your competitors.
Become Well Informed
Im constantly surprised to hear from hoteliers who have so many excuses why they dont stay current by reading any of the many online eNewsletters. Lack of time is often the most used excuse; I guess these are the same people who dont have time to return phone calls too.
Today, go online and subscribe to at least three free online newsletters. Keep your knowledge base current with the happenings in our industry. You can learn a great deal from the successes and failures of others; the only thing you truly own is what you know.
Use The Power of the Internet
Take a serious look at your hotels website; next year, more than 70% of your business will be directly or indirectly influenced by the Internet. Before you look to have another website designed, get an analysis of your current site. A good analysis will give you a clue to what is working or isnt working very well on your site.
You can then use this analysis to guide the new designer to create a functional website. Remember, search engine optimization must be incorporated into the design of your site; its not something that is applied after your site is completed.
Its an absolute fallacy to think that SEO can be applied to a poorly designed website to increase traffic. If someone suggests that to you, run, dont walk away quickly. SEO must be incorporated into the design of the site itself.
The number of hotels getting ripped-off by techie-talking web designers is astounding. I read an article the other day, written by a website design company that thinks that a conversion rate of only 2% of site visitors who actually make a reservation, is a good average. Less than 5% indicates that something is wrong.
As I have said many times, web design is not rocket science. Your site needs to be designed to be easily found through organic search and, once found, it needs to have the necessary elements of location, facilities, attractions, and value to persuade its visitors to make a reservation.
Make a Commitment to Revenue Management
Today is the day to finally make a commitment to learn and use revenue management to increase occupancy and average rate. Sure, it takes a little effort to do the necessary research, but the rewards are great.
Revenue management relies upon your ability to look into the near and distant future to view occupancy demand and making rate decisions. Measuring reservation booking pace and being aware of occupancy generators in your area creates smart decisions.
The economy is slowly improving; solidifying your position in the marketplace now will heap great rewards in the future.
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Tattler ( http://tattlerapp.com/) is a free brand/reputation management monitoring system that finds content being written up and discussed about your company on the Internet. Using semantic Web technologies, this one application mines news, websites, blogs, multimedia sites and other social media to find out what organizations and consumers are saying about your company and its products. Easily allowing you to filter, organize and share content, the services Tattler provides are a must for staying on top of your companys image in the rapidly changing online marketplace.
Semantic Mining of News & Trends within User Generated Content
User Generated Content (UGC) can make or break a company in our current unstable economic environment, and with the rise of social media comes the power for everyone to be heard. Its more important than ever to keep up-to-date on whats being said about your company, and this unique site effectively monitors topic mentions (as Tattler refers to them) by whatever search keyword(s) your company chooses. Uncovering the most active and influential sources that are discussing your chosen search terms, Tattler mines the web for public opinion, track trends, gather news content and highlights emerging information, going far beyond the general Internet buzz to find the most thought provoking discussions that are being held by esteemed experts.
Conclusion
With countless sources of content leaving many companies scrambling to make sense of it all, Tattler is a powerful tool that navigates the ever-expanding Internet universe of information. By monitoring one or several keyword topics with in-depth semantic analysis, this one application empowers businesses with source information and consumer trend data that can lead a company to prosperity.
To Learn More
To learn more this and other social media applications, contact Josh Grieve of E-Marketing Associates at (626) 444-9111.
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| Next Month |
4/20/2010
IDS Panel Discussion
Location: Wilshire Grand Hotel
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Published Monthly by HSMAI, Greater Los Angeles Chapter
1223 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 481 :: Santa Monica, CA 90403
(213) 536-4182 office :: (213) 403-5665 fax
info@hsmailax.org
Created by EMA
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