The Innkeeping Blog

Let me tell you a little bit about why I love association management, and how I just know I’m going to love the innkeeping industry. First, association management: Few professions allow an individual to make such a positive impact on an entire industry like my profession. From an office in a small corner of the country, a dedicated group of people can deliver programs, education, and research to a critical mass of people that allow them to be more successful. We can meet with those who are part of and who influence the industry, and we can encourage them to move in line with our industry’s objectives. My work at PAII goes way beyond collecting dues, offering sponsorship opportunities, and organizing an annual meeting—it is about impacting your businesses and lives in a good way. That is satisfying work.

While PAII is here to help you operate a successful business, the people behind the inns are what motivate me. Thousands of you put your hard-earned money, heart, soul, sweat and tears into providing a unique and wonderful experience for your guests. I think of you when I think about the direction in which this organization must go. For most of you, the inn is everything to you—a place to raise your family, a full-time job, and/or your life savings. For others, it might be a second career. Regardless of what brought you to this place, the success of your inns impacts your lives and personal happiness in a significant way, and that means a great deal to me.

Each and every experience at a country inn or bed and breakfast, and every innkeeper, is unique. By no means do I represent a commodity business, and that is why I love innkeeping. When your board of directors interviewed me for this position, they asked why I wanted the job at PAII, because, as an association executive, I could work in just about any industry imaginable. I said I wanted to work with people who are in hospitality and who love what they do. I want to be around people who get the most out of life (and from the innkeepers I’ve met so far, that is true), and who help others do the same through their livelihoods.

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