Left to Right...Pat Curran (Maple Street Inn - West Barnstable), Vince Toreno (Ashley Manor - Barnstable), Katherine Sanderson (Isaiah Jones Homestead - Sandwich), Yours Truly, Carol Edmondson (Innkeeping Specialists - Cape Cod), Bill O'Connell (Palmer House Inn - Falmouth), Wendy Northcross (CEO - Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce), Mary Singleton (One Centre Street Inn - Yarmouth Port). Not shown: Jerry Neal (Isaiah Hall B&B Inn - Dennia), Tom Dott (Lamb and Lion Inn - Barnstable), Kate Singletary, (Long Dell Inn - Centerville) Karen Keevers (Old Manse Inn - Brewster)

I left Brewster, MA, this morning after spending some time with almost 70 innkeepers at the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce Bed and Breakfast Conference. What a great time! A big thank you goes to Carol Edmondson if Innkeeping Specialists (President of the CCCC Bed and Breakfast Committee) and Wendy Norcross (CEO of the Chamber) for inviting me…and to Charlotte and Stu Fyfe at the Candleberry Inn for hosting me on my two-night stay at the Cape.

I delivered a presentation on “Innkeeping Today and Tomorrow,” which covered innkeeping industry performance, the economy’s impact on our industry and trends in lodging and traveler behaviors and wishes. I delved into a bit of reputation management and online reviews, seeing that I was on my way to the TripAdvisor headquarters the next day (meeting was today…and a blog post is forthcoming).

The innkeepers at the conference all seemed very eager to learn. Folks from the Chamber did a little 101 session on some of the social networking sites, i.e. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Carol discussed the why’s and how’s of writing for a blog. I loved how she stressed to NOT just write about what’s happening with your B&B, but rather pick a passion or some other interesting topics that you’ll ENJOY writing about. There are clever ways you can still bring it all back to the inn.

What I absent-mindedly failed to mention to all the Cape Cod innkeepers is that we’re about to announce the location and dates for our first New England Innkeeping Show. We haven’t signed a contract yet with a hotel, but it’s pretty safe to tell folks to mark off November 17th and 18th, 2009.

With Tom and Carol Edmondson (Innkeeping Specialists) at their home in Brewster, MA. The halo is appearing over the one who is obviously the holiest of the three.