Siegel Sez

October 5, 2006

Siegel Sez

by: Rich Siegel

Hospitality

I am not one to work on an airplane. To me it is a great place to read which is what I always do unless I fall asleep. I have never flown Jet Blue, but I know many who love this airline. Delta created a knockoff called Song that didn’t make it, but the Song planes are now in the Delta fleet. I am hooked. Free satellite TV, pay movies if you want and many other cool things are available with their in-flight entertainment system, but nothing beats the trivia game you can play against other passengers. It scares me how much worthless trivia I know, but I couldn’t beat David in seat 11D. I kept coming in second in every game played. Let’s face it; the No. 1 thing we all deal with on flights is boredom. In-flight entertainment is a great escape and a great way to meet other passengers. I went to the front of the plane to meet David in 11D and walked away pretty bummed. The guy was half my age and he knew more worthless trivia then I did. Who would have thought that a fun time could be had on an airplane? I need to try Jet Blue someday since it is the airline that started this craze.

I am flying to Connecticut to attend the Hotel Information Systems Users’ Group. I love when I get invited and my schedule works out that I can attend. I especially enjoy these conferences when a company was recently purchased. I remember Springer-Miller when it was bought by Par and Newmarket after it acquired Daylight Software. Nothing spectacular comes out of this except fun conversations about the future, after all, business is business and acquisitions happen for a number of reasons. In these previous cases it seemed to only make the companies stronger. It should be a fun conference, and it is also a good excuse to visit Mohegan Sun, which is a little Las Vegas if I have ever seen one.

In two weeks I get to go to the HFTP Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. It isn’t often that I am truly excited about the location of a conference but Vancouver is the exception. I was last there in the late ‘80s and remember being told to rent a car and drive up to Whistler. I was so glad I did as it was easily one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken. If you are attending the conference and have time, take the trip. You will thank me.

It is just a little over a month until the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in New York (http://www.ihmrs.com). As of Monday we had two spots available in our Technology Pavilion, so e-mail Sharon at mailto:Sharon@hospitalityupgrade.com if you are considering exhibiting.  It is a great (and less expensive) way to take advantage of the second largest gathering of technology people outside of HITEC. The fact that HFTP has brought Guestroom 2010 to the show has helped too. We are really looking forward to this show that I have been attending since I was in college. Not only do you get to meet the Hospitality Upgrade team, but Dick Johnson, who created Hotel Online way back before anybody was even considering delivering a daily e-mail to your computer, will also be in the Technology Pavilion. We hope to see you there.

Wow, I actually enjoyed writing this on a plane. Life is full of firsts and this was my first Siegel Sez written on a plane versus writing about something weird happening on a plane. (Remember when I got on the wrong flight?) And since they just told me for the second time to close up my laptop, I’d better finish. Here now is the real reason we are here—Jon Inge’s technology review of the last few weeks. I will see you at the end with this week’s attempt at you-know-what.

Rich@hospitalityupgrade.com
  
 

Technology NEWSSTAND

by: Jon Inge
 Systems News in Plain English from Jon Inge

 
TOP O' THE NEWS


- Fourteen hospitality companies named in InformationWeek’s Top 500 IT Innovators
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InformationWeek magazine has published its annual Top 500 IT Innovators list, drawn from U.S. companies with at least $500 million in annual revenue.  Perhaps making a lie out of the old story that hospitality is slow to adopt new technology, a remarkable fourteen hospitality companies were cited.  Those ranked in the top 250 were:
Aramark (#117)
Harrah’s Entertainment (#10)
Hilton Hotels (#100)
Marriott International (#7)
Sabre Holdings (#181)
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (#164)
Worldspan Technologies (#128)
Two specific projects cited were Marriott’s in-house development of its asset auditing report and Knowledgebase version 1 (MAAK1) system to assess the payment card security compliance profile of nearly 100,000 remote devices daily, and Harrah’s enhancement of its well-known CRM approach to provide recognition of guest status changes in real time instead of via after-the-fact reporting.

Other hospitality companies listed were ClubCorp, Darden Restaurants, InterContinental Hotels, MGM MIRAGE, Mohegan Sun Resort, NPC International (the largest Pizza Hut franchisee) and Royal Caribbean Cruises. 
**




 

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

 

- Gordon Wilson, Steve Barnhart named to lead Travelport’s new divisions
- Paul Brown promoted to president of Expedia North America
- David Warren hired as Northwind’s director of services and sales for U.K./Ireland
- Mark Tapling promoted to president and chief executive officer at InfoGenesis
- Diane Estner promoted to vice president of global sales at SDD
- Dave Lutz appointed to Passkey’s board of directors
- Michelle Yablin Silverman joins HBSI as director of account management
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For more on People on the Move for 10/05/06
 

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

 

- Warwick International orders OPERA for its 10 corporate-owned properties
- Visual One adds Internet checkin to V1Net browser-based PMS
- Visual One updates yield management, Web interface for its main V1 PMS
- City Lodge completes implementation of Amadeus Hotel Multiproperty (Hogatex) PMS at all 40 properties
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For more on Property Management Systems for 10/05/06
 

RESERVATIONS

 

- On-line bookings still rising, GDSs still provide significantly higher ADR
- SideStep launched in U.K. market
- STA Travel implementing new reservation system from Dolphin Dynamics and Datalex
- Silken Hotels extends contract for TravelCLICK's iHotelier for its 30 properties
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For more on Reservations for 10/05/06
 

MARKETING/MANAGEMENT

 

- Preferred Hotels expanding relationship with Leonardo
- Kayak.com contracts with Leonardo for rich media content
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The Preferred Hotel Group is expanding its relationship with Leonardo Media to add a centralized rich media content repository and distribution system to the GDSs, switches and travel channels used by its 340+ hotels.

Meta-search engine Kayak.com has contracted with Leonardo for rich media content for the 135,000+ properties worldwide for which it carries inventory.
http://www.kayak.com, http://www.leonardo.com
**




 

REVENUE MANAGEMENT

 

- Harrah's subsidiary awarded a U.S. Patent for revenue management that considers guests indirect spending.
- Softwear Group releases CHAMP CHAnnel Management Producer module
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Harrah's Entertainment subsidiary Harrah's Operating Company has been awarded a United States Patent titled "Resource Price Management Incorporating Indirect Value", which describes the setting of customized prices for hotel rooms and other resources, taking into account the value of the customer's purchases in any of a property's other operations, including gaming, retail purchases and dining.  http://www.harrahs.com
**
The Softwear Group has added the CHAMP (CHAnnel Management Producer) component to its INNovation Suite of add-on hospitality software modules.  CHAMP allows room and rate inventories to react to anticipated demand patterns across various channels.  http://www.softweargroup.com
**


 

SALES & CATERING, MEETING PLANNING

 

- LOG ON's Mobile Event Assistant wins EIBTM WorldWide Technology Watch (WWTW)
- The Breakers on Palm Beach signs with Passkey
---------------------------
Global meetings and incentives exhibition EIBTM has selected Dutch-based LOG ON's Mobile Event Assistant service as the winner of this year's WorldWide Technology Watch (WWTW) competition.  Runners up this year were:
- Teleportec’s Lectern, which enables a speaker from anywhere in the world to appear before an audience in an apparent 3-D image.
- Conference Archives’ software for capturing event content and distributing it on its ConferenceOnDemand (CoD) platform.
- Newmarket International’s MeetingBroker service for receiving and responding to electronic requests for proposals (eRFPs).
- Validar Corp and the Full Measure for their AppExchange integrated PC and Pocket PC lead retrieval application that lets exhibitors categorize tradeshow leads.
**
The Breakers on the island of Palm Beach has contracted with Passkey for group registration and meting planning services.  http://www.thebreakers.com, http://www.passkey.com
**


 

F&B/POINT OF SALE

 

- InfoGenesis announces four new products
- Hyatt Regency McCormick Place completes pilot test of Capton’s Beverage Tracker
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InfoGenesis has announced four new products:
- Version 4.0 of its InfoGenesis POS system, with new reporting options, system monitoring and distribution functions and increased guest data security.
- ResPAK Restaurant Management, a table management and reservations system licensed from Analytical Systems Pty. Ltd. and integrated with the POS.
- InfoGenesis Analytics, to be released Q1 of 2007 and providing top-level, customizable dashboards with drill-down and trending capabilities.
- InfoGenesis Self-Service, with eMenu Web and kiosk ordering capabilities and eCash for simpler customer account management and lower credit card transaction fees. http://www.infogenesis.com
**
The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago has completed its pilot test of Capton’s Beverage Tracker RFID liquor control system, and reports significant improvement in pour control.  Beverage Tracker wirelessly monitors every drink served in the bar’s normal operations, tracking the exact amount of liquor poured, the brand, time and date, reporting which drinks were under poured, over poured or not recorded in the POS.  http://www.captoninc.com
**


 

GUEST SERVICES

 

- iBAHN announces platinum service team model for regional customer support
- Hyatt implementing BoardEZ airline boarding pass kiosks in United States, Canada and Caribbean
- Embassy Suites completes roll-out of registration kiosks in all 182 hotels, adds boarding pass printing
- The Queen Mary implements power-line high-speed Internet access from Telkonet
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For more on Guest Services for 10/05/06
 

INVENTORY/PURCHASING

 

- Avendra celebrates fifth anniversary, grows annual customer spend by $1 billion
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Procurement services company Avendra is celebrating its fifth anniversary and announced that its annual customer spend has increased from $1.3 billion to $2.3 billion in that period.  http://www.avendra.com
**


 

You-Know-What

 

And now for you-know-what…

A married couple was in a terrible accident where the man's face was severely burned. The doctor told the husband that they couldn't graft any skin from his body because he was too thin. So the wife offered to donate some of her own skin. However, the only skin on her body that the doctor felt was suitable would have to come from her buttocks. The husband and wife agreed that they would tell no one about where the skin came from, and they requested that the doctor also honor their secret.

After the surgery was completed, everyone was astounded at the man's new face.  He looked more handsome than he ever had before. All his friends and relatives just went on and on about his youthful beauty.

One day, he was alone with his wife, and he was overcome with emotion at her sacrifice. He said, "Dear, I just want to thank you for everything you did for me.  How can I possibly repay you?"

"My darling," she replied, "I get all the thanks I need every time I see your mother kiss you on the cheek."