Gold Coast 600 in style!

I get some pretty cool invites and this ranks right up there. Last Friday I was lucky enough to be invited by Palazzo Versace to their trackside corporate suite for the Gold Coast 600 (formerly Indy).

Now, I'm not a petrol head by any stretch but when the invite is for a sporting event and there's a corporate suite involved, I'm there!

I went to the Indy many years ago for my brother's buck's day but Friday was definitely more about doing it in style! Good food, great view (see below), wait-staff bringing you drinks all day and some celebrities as well. In the suite we had Tom Williams (briefly), Haley Bateup (iron woman ... so fit!) as well as Travis Cloke and Cameron Wood from Collingwood. There were also a few of the drivers wives and girlfriends.

A massive thank you to Andrew who is the DOSM at Palazzo Versace for the invite and his generous hospitality.

Perth and October don't mix

Perth is NOT the place to be in October if you can help it!

Everyone knows about CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and the visit of the Queen but its now every week in October that the Perth hotels are full.

October started a little slowly for Perth due to the school holidays in QLD, VIC and NSW. Not as many corporates travelling so for once the city didn't actually fill midweek. Every other week has been nuts and next week is one of the worst. The reason? Well, its the week before CHOGM so everyone that doesn't want to pay $500/night for a 4 star hotel is coming next week and now every hotel is sold out on Tuesday, Wednesday and many on Thursday as well.

Normally for Perth, I suggest booking two weeks in advance to ensure you can get availability at a decent price, this month I just recommend postponing your travel until November.

Diamant Hotel Brisbane

What's in a name?

What is now the Diamant Hotel Brisbane has been The Portal Hotel, the Best Western Portal Hotel, back to The Portal Hotel and now the Diamant!

I visited the hotel back in the Best Western stage and reviewing that post I notice I compared it to the Kirketon Hotel in Sydney. Well, the reason its now called the Diamant Hotel is that its been taken over by the 8 Hotels Group which in fact manage the Kirketon!

With the change in name and ownership came new management and since we do a bit of work with the hotel Adam and I received an invite to have a look around and meet the team. I had seen the rooms before but it was good for Adam so he knew exactly what he was talking about when describing the hotel to clients.

After having a look around we sat down with Branka (the GM) and Tamara (reservations) in the restaurant and enjoyed a glass of wine and an array of finger food. Its always great to actually meet people that you talk to so often so it was a very enjoyable afternoon.

To celebrate the new name (and new management) the hotel is currently running a weekend promotion where you receive a celebratory bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne when you stay on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night ("neighbour rates" package).

Sydney conference

I've been lucky enough to be able to do a bit of travel this year and that continued last week when I went down to a three day conference in Sydney.

The conference was being held at the Masonic Centre which is at the south end of the CBD and since I was with a couple of friends the best option was a 2 bedroom apartment at Meriton Kent Street. I've stayed at the hotel previously so I knew what to expect and since we were there for a couple of days I upgraded to a sky view apartment (higher floors). The weather was terrible on the first day but thankfully it cleared up over the next few days so we could actually admire the view (see pictures below).

Thankfully we booked a couple of weeks early as two bedroom apartments sell out virtually every weekend in Sydney. That didn't stop us having to pay top dollar for the apartment on Saturday night ... which hurts as I'm obviously used to being "looked after" by hotels when I travel!

Perth trip

Considering the amount of bookings we make in Perth it was a little embarassing to admit that I hadn't been there in 30 years and certainly hadn't seen any of the hotels (other than online).

Thankfully I remedied this in the last week of July when I spent two days looking through hotels, introducing myself to sales managers and thanking a number of reservations staff that have been so helpful for us.

I stayed at the Mantra on Murray and was pleasantly surprised to find out when I checked in that I had been upgraded to an executive studio suite (pictured below), had a welcome note from the GM and a bottle of wine.

Here is the list of hotels I visited in Perth:

Aarons All Suites
Mantra on Hay
Mantra on Murray
Citigate Perth
Perth Ambassador

It was interesting to hear that despite the WA economy smashing it on the back of the mining boom, it was a case of the haves (the mining industry) and the have nots (anyone not linked to the mining industry). From our perspective, the Perth hotel market has been doing extremely well this year but after speaking to the sales managers you find out that they sell out every Tuesday and Wednesday night, sometimes Thursdays but the rest of the week is pretty quiet. I also learnt that regional WA Tourism (and course retail) is struggling at the moment like the rest of the country.

Lessons from Disney

Disney has always been renowned for their excellence in customer service. Thanks to his twitter feed, I came across a good story by legendary entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki and what he learned from a recent trip to Disneyland.


What I Learned From A Mouse With Big Ears

Guy Kawasaki Co-Founder, Alltop

According to Bruce Kimbrell, a facilitator for the West Coast operations of the Disney Institute, people come back to Disneyland for three reasons: cleanliness, friendliness and safety. A few weeks ago Bruce took me on a behind-the-scenes tour of Disneyland to show me how Disneyland employees make the enchantment happen.


This is what I learned:


1. Focus on the right stuff and the money will come


The top three priorities of Disneyland management is leadership excellence, cast excellence and guest satisfaction. The fourth priority is financial results. My interpretation is that if you do the first three things right, money is a natural outcome.


2. Take care of your employees (cast members)


Disneyland has “team centers” to serve the needs of its employees. These centers provide insurance, discounts, tickets, transportation services and payroll services. The message I picked up was “be good to your employees, and they’ll be good to your customers.”


3. Everybody should do the “dirty jobs”


How many people are there in the park sweeping up trash? Take a guess. The right answer is an astoundingly low number: eight. (I guessed 250 when Bruce asked me.) This is possible because every employee is supposed to keep the park clean, not just the janitors.


4. Everybody is customer service.


Here’s another question for you: How long do you think the training is for the people with brooms sweeping up the trash? The right answer is an astoundingly high number: six weeks. This is necessary because guests ask janitors questions, so the folks with brooms must be experts about the park. By the way, the training for parking lot attendants can be as long as eight weeks.


5. Pay attention to the details


Bruce told me that Walt Disney himself specified the type of trash can for the park. These cans are currently swapped out every two years and Disney repaints them every four months. Steve Jobs was a perfectionist about the Macintosh trash can icon—the similarity between Steve Jobs and Walt Disney is not a coincidence.


6. Pay attention to even more details


A hairdresser in the wig department told me that it takes 30-45 minutes to wash and set the wig for Ariel. Then it takes 90-120 minutes to dry it. Finally, there’s another 30 minutes to comb it out. This is for a wig. Most entrepreneurs don’t spend this much time practicing their pitch for venture capitalists.


7. Make your customers feel close and important


The buildings on Main Street are 5/8th scale. This is to make people feel like they are closer to the action and important. Most companies erect edifices to make their customers feel small, and their bosses feel big. Disneyland does the opposite. Walt Disney used to crouch down to see Disneyland from a child’s perspective.


8. Know the facts


Here’s yet-another question for you: What is the ratio of adults to kids at any given moment in the park? Believe it or not, there are four adults for every kid. I would have never guessed that. This has big ramifications: Disneyland can’t just be a place for kids since kids are only 20 percent of the customers.


9. Green is good


The floats are all battery-powered. The fireworks are launched with compressed air, not explosive charges. The trains are bio-diesel and burn the oil from the park’s restaurants. Currently, 80 percent of the 1.3 pounds of trash that each guest produces per day is recycled.


10. Keep customers coming back


The Star Wars inspired ride called Star Tours has six different destinations, two beginning scenes and three holograms. This means that there are 54 different combinations. If you’re very lucky, you can see all the combinations in three rides—or, much more likely, you’ll have to keep coming back for more.


You should check out the Disney Institute for its seminar offerings. The institute covers topics such as leadership, brand loyalty, creativity and service quality. Many programs include behind-the-scenes tours like the one I went on. And the next time you schedule an event, consider a Disney meeting facility because of the blend of inspiration, education and entertainment that’s offered. There are few institutions that can put theories into practice like Disney can.

Corporate suite - Lions vs Power

I was lucky enough to get an invite from Mirvac Hotels & Resorts to their corporate suite for the Brisbane Lions AFL game against the Port Adelaide Power. I'm a die-hard Bombers fan so while I don't follow the Lions it was the first AFL invite I've received for a while and I jumped at the chance!

The suite was hosted by the GM from Quay West Suites Brisbane (Anthony Carter) and Mirvac's Regional BDM for conference & events (Rachael Hopkins). I actually used to work with Rachael many years ago at the Sheraton Brisbane so it was great to catch up.

Mirvac went all out with the suite, PLENTY of food throughout the game, a steady flow of drinks and obviously a great spot to watch the game itself. They even managed to organise a rare win by the Brisbane Lions!