Yaffe Tidbits

How One Hotel Uses Foursquare to Connect With Guests.

Not a lot of hotels are using Twitter well, much less paying attention to Foursquare. Those that do, tend to use it to push out specials and not much else. On a recent family vacation to Chicago, I discovered one hotel that was doing a pretty good job of using these social media tools.

We were staying at the Comfort Suites right in the heart of downtown Chicago. Being the self-avowed foursquare addict I am, I got up in the morning and checked in to the hotel on foursquare. Much to my surprise a short while later I got a tweet from the hotel (@CSChicagoHotel) which said, "Mike, thank you for staying with us! I'm Natalie, here until 5pm - let me know if you need anything."

First off, the fact that they were paying attention to their Foursquare checkins and using it as an opportunity to connect with guests while they are still there was a great step. Then, that they gave me a real human person's name, how long they'd be there and asked if she could help in any way - that's using the tools to turn a customer into a fan. I tweeted back that I loved my suite, we had found it on a discount hotel site and I was very happy with the great value we'd gotten. Natalie tweeted back, "Yay! Happy you found us. Isn't the weather fabulous today?"

Again, they didn't try and sell me anything. Didn't try to get me to sign up for their frequent guest program or anything sales-ish. Instead, she just continued to have a conversation and connect with me further. I hadn't been following them, so I followed back at that point. Then, having seen that I was now a follower, she sent me a DM (direct message) saying, "Mike, so glad you're enjoying the hotel, need anything, feel free to email me" and then gave her email address. I didn't need anything at the time, but it was nice to know I had someone there who cared and would help me out if I needed something.

Later that day, I stopped by the front desk and asked for Natile. She was there working the desk and we had a nice conversation. I told her I was impressed with their grasp of how to use social media tools. She said, yeah most of the hotels around there didn't get it. If they were using it at all, the were sending tweets to guests about their room specials. Which if you're already a guest a room special really isn't helpful.

When I was looking for a good place near the hotel to take the family for dinner on our last evening there, I contacted her and got a good recommendation for someplace good two blocks from the hotel that wasn't expensive but had an interesting menu. It was nice to see a company doing it right.

How about you? Has any company pinged you back after you checked in on Foursquare, Gowalla or Facebook Places? Who has impressed you by engaging you while you were still there?

Mike McClure, New Fan of Comfort Suites Chicago (and no, they didn't give me anything - other than a little attention - to say that)

3 Things Every Entrepreneur Should Do

Just five months ago, 23-year-old Mallory Brown started a new company called World Clothes Line. Already, business is good and seems to be getting better by the day. It's a company who's time has come. People today want the brands they buy to be good corporate citizens and give back to the world around them. Brown decided that idea wouldn't be a part of her business, it would BE her business. It's a business model base on philanthropic giving.

World Clothing Line sells clothes, oddly enough. For every item you buy, an identical one is given to someone in need of clothing in one of three countries: the U.S., Peru and Indonesia. Brown has clothing designs that reflect the countries that she's giving in, So if you buy the Peru hoodie, one just like it is given to someone in Peru. Already World Clothing Line has given away clothing to two groups of needy people in Detroit. Soon, Brown plans to leave to take her first shipment to Peru. In fact there's a fund raiser to fund the trip tomorrow night.

Brown spoke at the Social Media Club Detroit monthly meeting last week and told her story about how she has seen this success almost completely through word of mouth and social media. When asked what three things she would tell a starting entrepreneur, this is what she said:

1. Celebrate the small victories. It's easy to focus on the big picture and the end goal. But you can drive yourself crazy or get discouraged that way, because it comes slowly. Instead look for small victories each day. Brown said her victory the day before was that she was talking to someone new and found out that they had heard of her company and knew what they were all about.

2. Tell your story as many times as you can. You never know who might be listening. She was talking with someone in a coffee shop about something she needed for her business and another person overheard. That person knew someone else who could help her with that exact issue.

3. Never underestimate anyone. Brown says that some of the most amazing help she's gotten have come from people she didn't expect anything from at all. Often when she goes to an event where she expects to meet a lot of people who can help her, nothing ever comes of it. But, its at those events and places that she has no expectations that she has often meet her strongest advocates.

Considering how far Miss Brown has come in such a short time, I'd recommend taking her advice.

Mike McClure, learning what Brown can do for me.

Photos by Jenni Murray

The Evolution of Office Communication

Is the office phone and voice mail ancient relics? I was surprised when I got back from a week's vacation and saw the red light on my phone indicating I had a message. I was further surprised to find out I had 7 messages. It got me to thinking about how little business communication gets done over the phone any more.

It's not like I didn't check in while on vacation. I mean, I am one of those people who never really takes a complete vacation from work. I check my office email at least once a day and on several of those days devoted at least a half hour or so answering them. I also run the company social media, so I checked the company Facebook page, blog stats, YouTube channel and spent time sending and answering company tweets, as well as my own. But, not once did I ever consider checking my voice mail. I used to do that on vacation. But not any more. Guess it's an indication of how we do business these days.

How about you? Do you check your voice mail still when away from the office? Or do you just rely on your cell phone, email and social media channels to keep in the loop? And what does that say about business and society in general?

Mike McClure, waiting for your comment, email, blog, text, tweet, status update... but not your call, apparently.

How can one airport create customer engagement?

In the new digital era of "the customer is in control" there are still a few places that the customer feels like he or she has no control at all. One of those places is the airport. We all have our own airport stories where we felt adrift in the crowd and nobody cared. But there is one airport that's trying to change all that.

The Indianapolis International Airport launched their twitter account, @INDairport, yesterday. It's part of a whole integrated program to make their customers feel more comfortable and more in control of their situation.. I know this because they pinged our twitter account to let us know about it. I checked it out and so far, it seems like a nice mix of airport related information and customer engagement. The personality has a nice quirky humor to it - it's friendly and different without being unprofessional. It lets airport guests get updates on flights and weather patterns and retweets customer comments and content. One customer shot a picture from her plane's window while sitting on the tarmac. Another had a picture of the trippy walkway.

I talked with Evan Strange in the Communications & Marketing department there and he told me, "With a new CEO, we were challenged to put our minds together, as an organization, and find new, innovative ways to make life easier for our passengers. Two of the best ways we found to do this was to revamp our feedback system and to engage in social media, so we can communicate directly with the people who use our airport the most."

In addition to twitter, the Indianapolis airport is also creating a blog and Flickr channel. Eventually, they will have a YouTube channel. I think that's brave in this post Dave Carroll/United flap era. But, also necessary. If companies are going to be a part of the new consumer world, they need to adapt and take chances. But, most of all, they need to take part. Digital and social media aren't one way streets.

According to Strange, "In the airport environment, people always want up-to-the-minute updates and want to be in the loop. Twitter allows us to do this. It is important to us that the airport has a voice and is able to communicate in a 2-way symmetrical approach, so we are engaged in social media to create value for our customers. Our goal is not to increase sales, but to create meaningful relationships instead."

I think the Indianapolis International airport is getting it right, at least so far. This isn't an experiment to them. They created this new airport to be passenger friendly, have diversity represented in their shopping experiences and even designed it in a way to reduce their impact on the environment. If an airport can commit to the transparency and engagement today's customers want, why not your company?

Mike McClure, ECD and frequent flier

Perspectives on our changing world

After watching the the United States of America come away from the Olympics with the most metals, we should feel proud of how our young athletes have competed physically.

After watching the video “Shift happens/Did you know 2.0”  recently on the web...all those lingering feelings of pride may be set aside to consider how our young students are doing.

Watch the video then join the conversation. Or just post your comment here.

Satchimo the A.D.

Tales from the Road

I know I haven't written an entry in a while but I thought you’d appreciate this.

I just got back form High Point Market. I was a featured speaker at Market. I gave a one-hour seminar Monday entitled “Hi-Performance Email Marketing for Furniture Retailers”. I think it might have been the best-attended seminar of the day. If not, then it was a very full room at the very least. You also travel for work so I thought you’d appreciate this brief travelogue on my trip to High Point.

On the plane to Greensboro

When do you know that you're on a plane full of designers? When all of the men are dressed way too well. And all of the women are way over dressed and the plane reeks of clashing perfume and cologne.

How do you know that you're on a small plane? When you can reach up and tap the Captain's shoulder and ask if we shouldn't be turning here.

Hertz

The guy at the counter thinks he's doing you a favor by giving you a purple Monte Carlo.

At the Hotel.

What's your first clue that this might not be a 4 Season's experience? When the hotel is located on the service drive of the freeway between 2 heavy-duty truck dealerships.

How do you know that the hotel might not be quite ready for primetime after it's recent renovation? When the electronic key card system doesn't work and the manager has to escort everybody when they want to get into their rooms. Or another clue is when the dry wall guy is still working in the main hallway at 8:30 PM on Sunday. Or when over hear 2 guests talking in the elevator about how they were at the hotel earlier this afternoon and saw them unloading all of the furniture for the dining room, lobby and bar at 2 O'clock this afternoon.

How do you know that just maybe the travel Gods are looking out for you? You get a room on the one floor that is completely finished being remodeled and doesn't reek of paint and fumes. And your room is extremely and pleasantly surprising for a Holiday Inn.

Best Regards,

Mike Morawski, Travelin' Man

EGYPT – a Country of Contrasts

Think about it – Cairo, the largest city in Africa, 17 million people – some on camels, some on donkeys, some on scooters, but always great traffic jams.  It’s a study in contrasts.  Older apartment buildings in the shadow of the ancient pyramids, each with multiple satellite dishes.  You can go for a camel ride at sunset or sit in a plush gambling casino in a posh hotel.

The pyramids are a majestic sight.  Cheops pyramid is the largest and was built about 2,690 BC, that’s almost 4,700 years ago.  How did they move 10,000 pound blocks of limestone from quarry to building site?  How did they place each block so that one would build on another?  You know that the ancient Egyptians were great mathematicians and engineers.  Obviously they had to make a plan and then execute it.  An important lesson…you have to have a plan.

A short drive from Cairo to Memphis and Sakkara where you see the “step pyramid”.  The oldest stone structure in the world (built in 2686 BC).  We entered our first of many tombs in Sakkara.  It was that of a mummified cow.

The river Nile and a river cruise boat were our hotel for 4 days.  After exploring Luxor’s east and west bank including the amazing temples of Luxor and Karnak the boat begins its run to Aswan with stops at ancient cities of Edfu and Kom Ombo, and on to Aswan.  The high dam was built with the aid of Russian engineers and shows a contemporary example of Egypt’s building on a monumental scale.

The final “contrast” alongside the dam is a shepherd walking down the street with his herd of sheep right past a McDonalds.

Fred Yaffe

Destination: Donuts

Dunkin’ Donuts and several other retailers have recently invaded yet another tech gadget you may own with marketing messages! A recent article of Brandweek reported that GPS systems, previously known as handy tools for driving directions, are now handy tools for advertisers. While the market is still small, it is projected to reach $5.4 billion globally by next year. In the example of Dunkin’ Donuts, owners of a particular brand of GPS system can download logos onto their devices or program it to alert them via a flashing icon or beep when they approach a store location.

The company that publishes “Entertainment Books” has also partnered with a top manufacturer of GPS systems to develop a program of its own. Owners sign up to be directed to participating merchants and then present a membership card to receive the discount at the location. Sounds worthwhile, since my coupon books usually collect dust after the initial excitement wears off, but I don’t actually own a GPS system.

There is concern that these beeps and alerts will distract drivers from the important task of watching the road and other vehicles around them. But we’re all eating and talking on our cell phones while driving anyway, right? And couldn’t we all use another reminder that donuts are delicious and conveniently on the way to our next destination? (Not to mention you can get 6 free with the purchase of 36 Munchkins!) I think so.

Sara Wojdacki

Account Executive and Donut Lover

Questions about Canada? Ask Sheila.

At this special time of year in the United States, and by that I mean Thanksgiving and not “The End of Nascar Season”, I thought it might be appropriate to answer the question that I get every year, being the resident British Canadian on staff, and that is “Why does Canada celebrate Thanksgiving in October?”  Well let me respond…it’s because we don’t celebrate the same thing at Thanksgiving.  You are celebrating the Pilgrims first winter in the New World, and we are celebrating the end of the harvest.  England also holds Thanksgiving on a Sunday in October.

Here are a few other things I have been asked over the years.

How many people live in Canada?  There are about 32 million of us and we mostly live within 50 miles of the border.

Are there Christians in Canada?  Yes lots

Do you have Christmas on the same day as the US?  Strangely,….Yes

Is it really cold in Canada? Yes, and it is really hot in the summer

Do Canadians really live in igloos?  That’s a secret; you’ll just have to visit to find out

Did you also know that in the oil sands north of Edmonton in the Province of Alberta there are 3 trillion barrels of oil just waiting to be extracted?  Actually they use a steam extraction process which only becomes economical when oil hits $50 a barrel.  Fort McMurray is the last stop on the long trip up to the tar sands and it’s very much the pioneer town with more bars and casinos than actual residents.

Canada also plays an important part in helping the US wage the war on terror.  They tend to do it very quietly though.  In Afghanistan Canada has a large contingent of troops and have been taking many casualties lately.  My friend’s son lost both of his legs in a roadside bombing incident in Kandahar Province earlier in the year.  He is finally at home after many surgeries and is learning to stand up on his new legs.  He has to wait until next year to get his super hi-tech legs which are made in the U.S.  Unfortunately one of the wages of war is that technology is able to produce legs with joints that act like our natural ones.  He is a very brave man and we are all pulling for him to make a full recovery.

Canada is also a great place to visit…..from the fantastically modern city of Vancouver with it’s mountains and oceans, to the majestic Rocky Mountains, across the plains to the vibrant city of Winnipeg, through the forests of Northwestern Ontario, through Toronto and Ottawa and into Quebec to Montreal where the French culture surrounds you; to historical Quebec City with its wonderful restaurants and artists quarter, and on to the east coast where the Atlantic Ocean pounds the quaint little fishing villages on the shores of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. 

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I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  I wish you all a wonderful Christmas Season and remember only 82 days until Daytona!!!!!

Sheila Smith

Yaffe Bureau of Canadian Affairs