Pondering the world

Loot from the innkeeping conference

We're back from the PAII innkeeping conference in Austin.  We always look forward to it for so long, and it's great, and then it's over!

Before I put everything away and get completely back to "normal," I wanted to share the loot from the conference with you.

First, the always-desirable conference mugs from Deneen Pottery (click on the photo to enlarge to see the Texas hat and boots design).  I got a cool plastic Texas boot mug from the folks at Calling Inn, an answering service for innkeepers.

That last item, the red clown nose, needs some explanation.  The keynote speaker on Wednesday morning was Stuart Ellis-Myers, also known as "Twitchy," the world's only motivational speaker living with Tourette Syndrome.  He was such a great speaker that we scarcely noticed anything different about him.  

When we entered the auditorium, we each got a clown nose and a blank sheet of red paper.  He started his talk by poking some fun at himself and how he came to be a motivational speaker with Tourette Syndrome.  Then he moved on to us and why we were there--the many duties of an innkeeper and the stresses we're under.  To relieve the stress, he had us all put the clown noses on, then look at each other and scream for 30 seconds!  Who can manage to keep a straight face after that?  We should do that every day. 

During the presentation, we were all to write down on the red paper those things that keep us from being good innkeepers--anger, frustration, despair, overcommitment.  Somewhat involuntary audience participation was a part of this, since those who got chosen out of the audience never knew what they would be called upon to do.  The PAII CEO and some staff members were called to the front and asked to face the audience.  "And now.... take that red paper with all of those negative things on it, and crumple it back and forth! Back and forth!  Like playing an accordion!  Take out all your anger on it!  Now ball it up as tight as you can get it, and throw it at.... THEM!"  Red balls of paper went flying all over the place. 

That's what motivational speakers are for--to get you fired up and happy and help you reconnect with why you're doing this in the first place.

low-hanging fruit at the PAII conference

We're back from the national innkeepers conference.  Yes, Virginia, there really is a national association for bed & breakfast owners. 

While it was held at Disneyland this year, we never made it any closer than Downtown Disney, mostly just to grab something quick to eat between sessions or events at the conference.  And if it wasn't right outside the door of the Disneyland Hotel, we wouldn't have made it to Downtown Disney, either.

As always, the conference was three days packed solid from the keynote speakers or general sessions first thing in the morning, workshops and sessions through the day, well into the evening with networking and social events. 

And, for the fourth year, we've already learned during the conference something that will pay back the money we spent on the conference.  Some things are so important that our reaction is, "well, that paid for it right there."  When you get a few of those, you start to understand why you need to belong to a national association--and ATTEND THE DANG CONFERENCE!  (I fail to understand why someone would be a member of an association and then never attend any of the meetings.)

Here's the real problem with this conference:  We get so many ideas and so much inspiration to take our operation to the next level that we don't know what to do first.  Without exception, every innkeeper I talked to was creating a long list of things to work on, while saying, "now when am I going to have time to work on THAT?" 

That's how we were feeling by the end of the conference on Thursday afternoon.  Totally overwhelmed, exhausted, energized and worn out all at the same time.  So many ideas that the pages of notes go on forever. 

Where to start? 

Low-hanging fruit--pick something that is the most obvious and easy to accomplish immediately.  Immediately you'll feel a sense of accomplishment and be energized to tackle the next task, maybe one a little harder or one that takes a little longer.

We didn't plan it that way, but since the conference ended on Thursday afternoon and we weren't flying back until Friday afternoon, we used Thursday evening as a working session, pulled out our laptops, and tackled that first task of low-hanging fruit.

Mickey everywhere

Yes, I actually will use the lotion that I brought back from Disneyland, but I just couldn't resist the caps with mouse ears!

Everything in Disneyland has characters in it somewhere, some subtle and some not so subtle.  The wallpaper in the hotel rooms is a sort of garden print, and when you look closely at the topiaries, they're Disney characters.  The carpet in the conference area is an overall scroll kind of design, but if you look carefully.... yep, there's the mouse ears.

And just in case you don't pick up on the tiniest little hints that you're in Disneyland, how about something much more obvious, like the trademark white gloved hand holding the lamps.  Well, that and Snow White's wicked stepmother's magic mirror in the bathroom. 

hey, I'm an "expert"

On Tuesday I attended an informal gathering of "innkeepers with blogs," which turned out to be about 30 people, maybe five of whom have blogs.  The rest of them want to know why/how to do it.

It's a funny thing to be regarded as an "expert" or a veteran at something when I've only been at it for a year and a half.  On the other hand, I could answer any of the questions that were asked:  how much time does it take (two minutes to all day); how often do I need to post; where do I get a blog?, etc.

Last year there was a formal session on blogging, so I was surprised this year when there wasn't.  I guess they thought it didn't get high enough rating on the evaluations.  Given the number of people who showed up and wanted to know more about it, I suspect there will be a regular session on blogging back on the schedule next year.

The most difficult questions to answer are those by someone who just doesn't even get the concept.  It's sort of like when someone who doesn't even have a computer says, "explain how the internet works."  Where do I start?

In that case, go down to the PAII bookstore in the exhibit hall and buy "Blogging for Dummies." 

the happiest place on earth

At 4 a.m., I'm sitting in one of the side lobbies of the Disneyland Hotel listening to "Bippety-boppety-boo" as I'm posting. 

We're going into Day 2 of the national innkeepers' conference (PAII).  As always, yesterday was a marathon of sessions from the keynote address, to individual sessions (Reviews:  Harness the Power; Historic Roads and Corridors Niche Market; Seven Elements of Effective Websites; Tracking and Research for Best Results) as well as a couple of informal gatherings (innkeepers with blogs and urban inns).  The exhibit hall opened just after noon and there was a reception there last night.

By that time we had gathered ten of us from New Mexico to go to dinner.  However, we hadn't made any reservations because we didn't know how many of us there would be.  We wandered around Downtown Disney looking for a place to have dinner--Napoli, the Jazz Kitchen, House of Blues, even the ESPN Zone--and either the only seating available was outside (and it is CHILLY here) or the wait was an hour and a half.  I said it felt like that garbage scow from New York wandering all up and down the coast looking for a home.  We finally ended up at the Lost Bar, which was mostly empty except for our rowdy group and a few others.  They have a "limited" food menu--hamburgers or nachos, but we made dinner of it anyway.  Hey, innkeepers are a fairly easy lot to please.  Heck, Monday night Steve and I had a very late lunch by the time we got here, so ice cream sufficed for dinner.

Did I mention it's CHILLY here?  Daytime temp is around 65, but there's a breeze blowing and it's more humid here than New Mexico.  So that's the explanation for the outside temperature, and we marvel at the kids in the pool.  Egad.  The indoor temperature is another story.  Stepping into the hallways and the conference center is like walking into a blast cooler.  A conference room that's too warm will put people to sleep, but still... 

I almost filed this under the category "OK, now I'm grumpy" because I'm now on my second night in a row of not sleeping at all.  None.  Nada.  I don't sleep well in a strange bed.  I don't even sleep particularly well in my own bed, but usually on a trip I don't sleep well the first night and then am so exhausted the second night that I have no problem sleeping.  Not this time.

Even in the "happiest place on earth" they have a dwarf named Grumpy.  Maybe it's because he never got any sleep.