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The week after the summit was a bit of a blur for me. Several requests for interviews, all declined. Our public relations manager handled these with a simple story the flag mishap was a mistake given the procurement of new flags and the innocent mix up of which ones go where. Not our finest hour but the furor died down. But not before the chairman’s call. He was ballistic.

This piece is about a book I read that was a gift to me by my daughter one Christmas not that long ago. At the time I had no idea how much it would mean to me and how important it is for people to understand its message. The message is simple, no one just lands on this planet with what they need to be successful. We ALL must work for it.

Two decades ago, if I were to have asked you what the world would look like in 2020, what would you have said? Would you have anticipated the steady rise of self-service technology, tools allowing for instant gratification across all aspects of our life, and artificial intelligence? The autonomous vehicle? The seemingly endless runway of possibility stretches before us, with the help of cutting-edge platforms that were once merely a futuristic concept?

Benchmarking, according to Wikipedia, 'Is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time, and cost.' This begs the question, 'What are companies using benchmarking for?'

Every few years, a disruptor comes along in every industry – and it seems like one has now arrived in the hotel space. While living in San Diego in 2015, Amanda Szabo realized two things. Known for its beaches, parks, and inviting climate, San Diego had some incredible hotels to choose from, and this was as close to ‘living in a vacation’ as she would get. This gave way to her second realization. How can she experience those incredible local hotels, even if just for a day? After all, it didn’t make sense to book an overnight room when she lived nearby.

It is eerily silent in most sales offices these days. Whereas in the past the halls echoed with telephone conversations between sales managers and group or function planners, these days the only sounds you’ll hear are the clicking of fingers on a computer keypad.

Within the hospitality industry, we are frequently introduced to new, wide-spread economic trends. First, it was the Mobile Era,' then we got to know the 'Age of the Consumer' and the 'Experience Economy,' and now, the term on everyone’s mind? The 'Expectation Economy.'

If Quality Assurance had not been taken over by such interests, it would be focused on operational audits and follow-up actions that result in improved service and thus influenced guest perception based on real-world intentions and actions. This hijacking of QA could explain some very real problems that hoteliers are facing today in their operations and even with guest perceptions

Almost daily, employees enthusiastically circle a web address at the bottom of our receipt for us to complete a customer service survey, promising a chance to win a trip for two to some far-away beach, or maybe a shopping spree. Quite frankly, the prompt is so familiar most of us have grown accustomed to tuning it out as soon as the employee begins their spiel, pleasantly smiling as we gather our bags to leave the store.

In my career I have worked with a lot of interesting characters. To say the least, they were all quite colorful, usually fanning the flames of the hotel’s drama and adding their own seasoning. One boss I had was particularly interested in teaching lessons. He made everything into a lesson. What did you learn? How did I screw up? There was always a warm underbelly to be examined.