Making Profitable Lemonade From Lemons!Written by Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE
This October 31 turned cold, wet and dreary across Chicago and its suburbs. A rotten night for Halloween. And it could have been a lousy night for this business traveler, cheered only by prospect of conducting an interactive team session next day for an area bank. But Halloween evening was anything but cheerless at 421-room Arlington Park Hilton in Arlington Heights, IL. Creativity, energy, and vision produced an event that not only garnered immediate press and local attention, but is also sure to have long-term residual effects for new business. Take heed and see what ideas you can extrapolate for your business. Here's recipe: First ingredient: a lemon. In hotel business, that means low occupancy. Second: a surrounding residential neighborhood with growing families, schools, businesses, and senior citizens. Third: An empowered and creative director of catering, a town mayor, an eager-to-have-fun-high-energy hotel team from sales, catering, and conference services. Fourth: a dash of courage and a generous dash of money. Mix well with laughter, fun, and childhood fantasy. The result: a Halloween party for 3,000 children, their parents and 150 younger-than-Springtime folks over 65 years of age, an energized work force, tremendous goodwill, increased awareness of hotel, and lots of press. But this event did not occur by magic. It first took Director of Catering, Samantha Agnew, to realize that lemonade could be made from seasonal low of room count and meeting rooms. The hotel approached senior citizens for their help, offering a free room and dinner for Halloween if seniors would decorate their hotel door of Halloween, pass out a hotel-furnished pillow case of candy to children walking down halls, and take fliers out to local grade schools to get attendance. Response was overwhelming. Parking was at such a premium that a shuttle ran excited children and their relieved parents to and from their cars. The third and fourth floors were taken over by senior citizens who decorated not only their doors but also themselves. One high-flying grandmother even wore a burlap dress and proclaimed herself "an old bag".
| | Work/Life Balance Tips for the Business TravelerWritten by Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE
Balance and business traveler has everything to do with staying "connected". As I indicate in my book, Work for a Living & Still Be Free to Live, we achieve a fluctuating balance by how we CHOOSE to stay connected with critical areas of our life. Business travel can take a heavy emotional, physical and mental toll.Let me suggest some ways to stay connected with these areas while "on road": Emotional -- staying connected with your home base and significant people. If you have children, depending upon their ages, consider following: Take your child with you in your imagination. Ask them if they would select a SMALL toy of theirs that you could carry with you and so stay connected with them. Tape-record a favorite story or a good night ritual that can be played before child goes to sleep. With child, track your travels on a map and together talk about some of places or things of interest about your destination (lobsters in Maine; skyscrapers in NY, lions at Chicago Art Museum.) As an added bonus, you will have a new appreciation for place where you'll be. Send post cards home to each member of family (Make up labels in advance and buy stamps. You only need to write one personal line. Doesn't matter that you'll get home before postal. You thought of them.- Leave love notes for your partner (under pillow/ with toothpaste/ on bathroom mirror)- My husband leaves a message with hotel operator to deliver "Bill loves you most!" Operators really get a kick out of delivering this message- Have a different e-mail address for family members and send home messages- Take a blank book and fill it with favorite pictures of home, family, friends, pet. Always take book with you on your travels. (I do!)- If possible, make separate calls to your spouse and your children. That way, no one has to share "air time". Physical -- staying connected with your body-- Be THERE. Don't keep two watch times. You'll be tempted to say "But I can't go to sleep now--it's only 7pm in CA. or :I can't get up at 6:00--it's only 3AM in CA.)-- Plan time (it won't just appear) for exercise of any kind. Bring shoes for running or walking. Bring exercise rubber bands for muscle tone. (Take up no room) Use stairs rather than elevator where possible--Bring any item which can easily make you "feel at home" This can be anything from a pillow case, a teddy bear, a small picture.--If it's your style, bring herbal scents for room; bath salts; One friend carries a device for drowning out sound. She turns it on and selects anything from ocean sounds to raindrops...--Try a portable vaporizer. Clears sinuses and puts moisture back into face.-- Bring saline solution nasal spray for airlines. Also, a small atomizer of water (some kinds are mixed with aloe). Body tissues become very dehydrated on flights.--Drink more water than you ever thought possible.-- Always ask for a room away from elevator and ice machine-- Unless you have great stamina, avoid red eye flights. Much better to come in rested to do work than stumble your way through a meeting.-- Find luggage that works for you. Weight, size, length of shoulder strap. --Lighten load: if an extended trip, ship home materials or clothes you won't need. Bring a pre-addressed packing slip. Concierge can help. Whenever possible, check your baggage. Carry only with you necessities for work and personal hygiene and health. Wear clothes that could suit for your meeting should luggage not make it. There's far too much carry-on these days.
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