A recent meeting planner survey conducted by the Event Service Professionals Association (ESPA) reveals that meeting planners view event services managers (ESM) as trusted and valued partners. This sentiment holds true for first-time meetings and events as well as booking repeat business at hotels, convention centers and convention and visitors bureaus. READ MORE

In 2009, facing environmental crises such as pollution and resource scarcity, the City of Los Angeles embarked on a mission to encourage local hotels to adopt environmentally-friendly practices. With the help of several municipal agencies, the city launched the LA Green Lodging Program, which seeks to promote hotels that voluntarily green their operations. By adopting Earth-conscious practices and attaining certification through the LA Green Lodging Program, hotels will be rewarded with cost savings through lower utility expenses, promotional efforts by the program and its partners, increased bookings, and financial assistance that will outweigh the upfront costs associated with going green. READ MORE

Are you a manager or department head observing evident need for a customer service strategy but your owner(s) or headquarters not seeing this the way you are? Are you trying to convince them or bringing this up but they are not paying attention to this? Why is this so? What and how can we approach this situation to sell, justify and convince to them to invest in the appropriate service strategy? This article brainstorms brief concepts that should give some idea to assist in this situation, which I am certain many of you are going, or have gone through. READ MORE

As a transactional attorney working in the hospitality sector, I work with companies and individuals having a variety of different levels of experience in working with outside attorneys. If you don't work with attorneys often, you may be unsure of what to expect or how to manage the relationship. Those who work with attorneys more regularly may wish to increase their level of satisfaction and efficiencies. Not surprisingly, when working with an attorney, good communication is the key to maximizing the relationship. Prior to forming my own legal practice, I hired and supervised many outside attorneys on behalf of a large corporation, and observed a wide range of working styles and personalities. Here at Zeidel & Associates, we strive to apply best practices. Here are a few tips on how to help the attorney of your choice work best for you: READ MORE

Experiential marketing offers a way of integrating hotel operations with marketing efforts in order to fit into the modern paradigm of how consumers discover new products as well as how guests broadcast their brand advocacies. In essence, it's a system of integrating the onsite and online property experiences as well as the nurturing of guests so that they can act as pundits on a hotel's behalf. Experiential marketing offers hoteliers a best practices approach to fully exploit a great hospitality experience, turning it all into an engine for lasting results. READ MORE