Salute to volunteers by former NY Giant great George Martin

I recently attended my second Super Community Spirit Showcase hosted by the Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce (http://www.mahwah.com/).  The Chamber invites non-profit organizations to set up table top displays to share their mission with the Chamber of Commerce members in attendance. The theme of the event was related to the Super Bowl as it took place the week before the big event and probably less than 15 miles from the Stadium.  There were numerous organizations represented including a homeless shelter for battered women, a community food bank and our job seekers networking and support group (http://www.neighbors-helping-neighbors.com/). Attendance was great in the large hotel ballroom and there were several former pro football players in attendance to give out autographs. 

Following introductions of the Chamber Board of Directors and other VIPs in attendance, the keynote speaker was introduced.  It was George Martin, former all pro defensive lineman for the NY Giants (https://www.facebook.com/GMartinNFLAA). He started his remarks by sending a Giant thank you to all the volunteers in the room and to all the attendees for supporting these organizations. He did not single out any one group but acknowledged the important work of all non-profit organizations and the selfless contributions of the many volunteers in these organizations.  He went on to say that he would not have become who he is without the work and support of a non-profit early in his life. He did not elaborate but you got the sense it either changed his life dramatically or perhaps even saved his life.

Then he shared a brief story about recently being asked to speak to a group about civility in sports. He said while he agrees this is an important topic, he would rather speak about civility in society.  I wish I could have been there when he gave that speech.

He went on to close his remarks by recognizing his former teammate and two time cancer survivor, Karl Nelson. Karl was there representing one of the many charities he supports. George said Karl was the bravest person he ever met. (http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/q-a-with-karl-nelson/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0).

I did some research on George Martin following the event and found an amazing story about a charity he founded following the tragic events of 9-11. It’s worth a read: Ex-Giants DE Martin finishes 3,000-mile walk for 9/11 charity  (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3455370).

Before that evening I really didn’t know much about George Martin other than his pro football success.  I now know he can inspire an entire room full of people in less than ten minutes. Thank you George.

Can Knowing Hotel Secrets Really Lower Your Costs?

I recently read an article posted on a social media site that suggests there are secret ways to work with hotels to lower your event costs. I wondered how significant these secrets were and asked an industry expert for his analysis. Tom Berkman, President and CEO of Omnia Housing Services is our industry expert. Tom is a 36-year hospitality and housing company veteran that created and has overseen the operation of the THS Company, the nation’s premier sports housing service and Omnia's parent company.

Fill Need Dates was number one - This seemed obvious to the author and our industry expert but not me. They explained this applies to event space not guest rooms.  If a hotel is full due to a large city wide event, its event space (meeting rooms) are likely not being used. The hotel may be willing to negotiate better rates for this unused space which can come in handy as long as you don’t need guest rooms.

Check Cancellation Clauses – the author of the article says to be careful about this important item as it may result in steep penalties should you need to cancel less than six months from your arrival date.  Our industry expert says his firm never agrees to cancellation clauses more than 30 days from arrival.

Both the article’s author and our expert agreed the next several items were standard so we won’t devote much time to them but felt they should be noted here.  They are: Be Aware of Food and Beverage (F&B) minimum.  Seems reasonable but be aware F&B calculations do not include gratuity or tax; Understand audiovisual (AV) requirements. Some hotels have a preferred vendor and may charge you a fee if you use your own;  Contract internet upfront. Until recently, this has been a major cost to your event.  Hotels are better equipped today but be aware of these hidden charges.

Attrition-Lower it – The article’s author suggests a variety of tips and tricks for calculating attrition penalties should they occur. Our industry expert tells me they never agree to attrition penalties in their contracts and feels they could be avoided all together.

Ask for a Resell Clause – This refers to your attrition penalty but our industry expert reminds us they have no attrition so this clause is unnecessary.

Leverage Sales Manager – this was more of a tip on how to work with a sales manager to get the best deal. It sounded more like shopping for a car as it was suggested it’s better to call at certain times of the month or quarter when they have to report sales to quota.

While the article offers some things to consider when negotiating a hotel contract, it seems more complicated than that to me. A housing services vendor can be a great partner in working through the hotel selection process and execution of an agreement. If you want to remove the risk from your organization and increase your reward, that is my best suggestion.

Don Sciolaro

D ESolutions

Innovative solutions, strategic planning & management partner

Inspiration from Thomas Edison

December 9, 1914: Edison Sees His Vast Plant Burn

On December 9, 1914 a spectacular fire destroyed over half the buildings in Thomas Edison’s West Orange Laboratory after an explosion in the film inspection building. Damages reached seven million dollars, with only two million covered by insurance, according to The New York Times article.  Two hundred fifty workers were in the buildings at 5:20P.M. when the blaze erupted.  Edison and his wife rushed to the scene and stayed until midnight when firefighters were finally able to contain the blaze, saving the important Experimental Laboratory and Storage Battery buildings. 

Edison vowed, “Although I am over 67 years old, I‘ll start all over again tomorrow.”   

Indeed he did!

Cleanup work at the devastated site began the next day when all 7,000 employees  reported for duty. Reconstruction plans quickly followed. 

What struck me as amazing was  a footnote to the story that within two days, Edison had also finalized design of a portable searchlight whose three million candlepower beam would be visible for miles. In the midst of the catastrophe, Edison had noticed how the firefighters were hampered by the loss of power and light.  He puzzled over the problem and came up  with the battery driven light source idea and design. At age 67, Edison’s pace of work and inventions had slowed, but they could hardly be described as declining years. Within six months, Edison was demonstrating his latest invention in a nearby park,  attracting curious onlookers who wondered where the bright light was coming from!  The old adage that “every cloud has a silver lining” certainly applies here.

The newer West Orange Edison laboratory had replaced the initial site at Menlo Park , where Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 and the incandescent light bulb and electric system in 1878.   Edison, nicknamed the Wizard of Menlo Park, lived to age 84. The prolific inventor with 1093 patents, born in Milan Ohio, was homeschooled by his mother. He was deaf  from  age 12. In addition to the light bulb and the phonograph, he is most famous for the motion picture camera and improvements to the telephone and telegraph.

His home in West Orange, named Glenmont, is run by the National Park Service and is open to the public.  The West Orange Edison Works Laboratory is currently under renovation.  The Park Service has not yet posted a reopening date. Pictures from Edison Historic Site 

For more information about 

Thomas Edison: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/edhtml/edbio.html