The Innkeeping Blog

Tim Brady
Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast
Brattleboro, VT

Amy and I took the trek to our second PAII conference this year. We arrived yesterday evening and luckily caught one of Jay Karens “tweets” about taking the MARTA which saved us $36… When we got off the train it was all uphill (literally) when at the top we found a Chick-fil-a (none of those in VT and the sweet tea rocks!).

Checked in and got all signed in and set up with the folks from PAII (friendly as always). Nice hotel, well appointed contemporary room, with a reasonable $6 bottle of water perched next to the 36 inch LCD… (actually the furnishings and tech appointments are really nicely done here, but its pricey…the internet access I am using is costing me $15 per day…so score 2 for our small inns! I won’t even mention the $19 bagel with lox on the room service menu!)

The keynote speaker (Dennis Snow) brought us back to Disney with a funny and informative session on dealing with difficult guests. Peppered with humorous life experiences from his times working in the Disney trenches, his message was a perfect mix of inspiration and practicality.

After the keynote we went our separate ways (I am the geek – Amy is the cook) and I headed to the Super Session on getting inside the heads of our guests with Peter Yesawich. The session set a good tone for the conference, taking a look at the economy and its impact on our industry, introducing some new concepts and sharing some good forecast data for the coming year.

Plus there was this gorilla….

Next we perused the trade show floor, planning our purchases for the year while enjoying some snacks and some more sweet tea (a nice touch).

The first afternoon session was one I presented for, Automating your inn, which I thought went well – but I suppose the feedback forms will tell all… hopefully those $5 bills i passed out helped…

The last session of the day I attended was Marti Maynes PR For Masters. I attended this last year as well and gained more from each experience. Marti really knows her stuff and I really think that a 3 hour session with her would only double the amount I took away. Luckily she offered a copy of the presentation so I can read it more closely – it was filled with great links and information on creative marketing and dealing with the press. So come on media – I’m ready for ya!

Finally we wrapped the day up back on the trade show floor for another quick once over, some shopping and more snacks (really, nice touch).

Tonight we had the great pleasure of meeting up with some guests who stayed at our inn in Vermont last year. They saw on our blog that we were headed to their turf (Atlanta) and invited us out. There really is nothing more rewarding about this profession than a moment like that. Complete strangers turned friends in a matter of days. The perfect wrap to a great first day at the 2009 PAII conference in Atlanta…