The Innkeeping Blog

Attendees at the Nebraska Association of Bed and Breakfast conference earlier this month

Would you cook an omelet without the egg?  Would you offer morning coffee without cream and sugar to your guests?  You could do the above things, but it just wouldn’t work as well, would it?  The same can be said for trying to run a state, provincial or local B&B association, or even PAII, without input and involvement from the membership.  There is a disturbing pattern at many B&B associations, from what I observe – a critically few members do all of the work to keep the organization going, and these folks are getting burned out.  This causes a bit of a “vicious cycle” to occur –association members complain they’re not getting enough out of their association and might not renew (or non-members will say the same about not joining) > association tries to involve members in regional meetings, state meetings, board meetings, ANY meeting to discuss how to improve the work and value of the association > the same few people attend everything > the same few people end up DOING everything > the association tends to lack progress they need or desire > same uninvolved association members complain or stay silent > same burned out association volunteers try again.  I believe strongly in the value of local B&B associations – I’d love to see all of them succeed, be progressive and have strong membership bases.

More and more, association members view their involvement in associations simply as consumers – I will pay dues only if you can clearly show me a financial return.  The problem is … associations (especially those run exclusively or mostly be volunteer members) are not like retail shops or typical corporations.  If an association doesn’t have legions of staff to do all the work and stimulate necessary progress and innovation, then the responsibility falls to the membership and volunteers.  Customers don’t volunteer to help keep a retail operation alive.  Your own B&B guests don’t convene to determine ways to make sure you stay in business.  But when associations are prescribed to change leadership every few years, there is a need for people to rotate into those leadership positions to make sure the organization stays on course.

I apologize for the negative bent of this post, but oftentimes peers tend to be overly polite with each other and may not draw attention to the fact that their friends and colleagues aren’t helping to carry the water of the organization.  My hope for all B&B associations is for more members to get involved and answer the call when volunteers are needed…to support the organization through your dues even if every dollar can’t always be traced back to a reservation…to encourage other innkeepers to belong to the association.  Remember – the whole point of having an association is to accomplish in a collective way what you cannot accomplish as an individual.  The operative word in that sentence is “collective.”  You cannot have a collective effort when only four or five are doing everything…every year.

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• ABC News picked up "B&B for Vets" story. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wirestory?id=11745672 Go to http://www.bnbsforvets.org to sign up. #

This is the year that Kathleen Panek, owner of the Gillum House B&B in Shinnston, West Virginia, took a local idea and made it international.  Through the West Virginia Bed and Breakfast Association in 2009, Kathleen breathed life into the campaign that had innkeepers giving complimentary rooms to U.S. military veterans in honor of Veterans Day.  This year, participating B&Bs in “B&Bs for Vets” are donating at least one room on the night of Wednesday, November 10th to any active duty or retired veterans.

Kathleen first approached me about supporting the campaign many months ago.  After bringing it up to a few folks, there was concern that some innkeepers might not be in a position to give up important room revenue – especially those who may be in high season during the second week of November.  And, there were some who felt that the campaign should allow innkeepers to choose the discount or added value for veterans – not be required to give free rooms.  One innkeeper, a professed veteran himself, said that if he determined he couldn’t give away any free rooms that night, he might end up looking like a “jerk” for not participating.  I thought that if this campaign really grew legs, there certainly could be that peer pressure element to participate – even if you were hesitant or reluctant.  All of those concerns are legitimate, but I think the generosity of the campaign is its shining asset.

We’ve shared information about the campaign in a few of our email newsletters, and you might have overlooked the call for participants.  I wanted to focus my column this month on the promotion, because it deserves more attention than PAII has been giving it.  I sympathize with some of the innkeepers who have expressed some reluctance to participate, but I think the way Kathleen has structured the promotion makes sense for a few reasons.  First , it’s easy to understand.  It’s simple – a free night - for only one night – for military veterans.  If an inn wants to donate one room to the promotion, that’s all they have to give.  If the innkeeper wants to donate some or all rooms that night, he or she can indeed do that.  But to the veterans, they know it’s a free room on Wednesday, November 10th – plain and simple.  If the special varied inn-to-inn, then it could get confusing and difficult to manage.  From a branding and PR standpoint, simple is good.  Secondly, it could turn out to be fantastic exposure for our corner of the hospitality and travel world.  As we close in on November, it could turn out that some major media will pick up the story of the promotion.  That’s not the purpose of the promotion, but it could be a welcome benefit.  Thirdly and foremost, it’s a worthy cause.  Have you heard the occasional story about how someone randomly or anonymously picks up the tab at a restaurant for a veteran in uniform?  How airlines often give upgrades to available first class seats to men and women in uniform?  Those anecdotes are always inspiring.  The B&Bs for Vets promotion is one fantastic way to show that our industry and our innkeepers value the sacrifices made by our military.

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