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12, June 26, 2001 Special Post-Conference Edition A special e-mail newsletter of the International Association of Reservation Executives. Please visit us on-line at http://www.iare.comIN THIS ISSUE
President's Message The 2001-2002 initiatives have begun! If your committee has not yet met, look forward to hearing from your chair within the next week or so. The newly elected IARE Board of Directors has already convened via conference call and we plan to have our Board Affiliates join the next conference call scheduled on Thursday, July 19th. For those of you who expressed an interest in serving as a Board Affiliate, you will soon be hearing from Klaus Buellesbach and will need to complete the Board Affiliate Nomination form to serve in this position. Planning has already begun for our 2002 Conference and two properties in Charleston, South Carolina are in contention to host next year's event. Site inspections have been completed by Board members Keith Brender and Lori Copes, and our IARE staff will further review both venues for meeting and exhibit space requirements, contract terms and rates. Once the decision is made, the Conference Committee will take over and begin designing the next Conference agenda. Finally, I wanted to offer special congratulations to our 2001 IARE Excellence Award winners. Manager of
Excellence Award:
Ronda Trog, Best Western International Warm regards, Kate Wolfe
* * * * * * * * * * IARE 2001 Annual Conference and Exhibition May
5-9, 2001 This year's conference in Scottsdale featured 19 exhibitors and a record number of sponsor companies who hosted activities such as the Golf Tournament and Chili Cook-Off to name a few. Our annual conference would not be possible without this generous support from these companies. Please take a moment to review the list of exhibitors and check the links to their company websites. A big
thanks to all these companies for their support to the IARE
organization! If you have met with a vendor for whom you believe our association would prove beneficial, please provide their contact information to the IARE office using the 'Contact Us' link on the IARE web site, or email to mailto:iare@assnoffice.com A
2001 Conference Photo scrapbook available on-line
* * * * * * * * * * What is the one thing you learned from the IARE 2001 Annual Conference?A quick survey was sent out to our membership who attended conference this past year in Scottsdale. We received more than 25 responses to this question. Thank you to everyone for your feedback and Ah Ha's! The Communication Committee plans to continue sending these types of surveys out in the future to solicit your response during the year. Your feedback and involvement is what keeps this association moving in the right direction. After reviewing the responses, we really had some great feedback and have come to the reality that the conference can offer a wide scope of learning depending upon the level and type of information you company is looking for. Below are noted a few of the comments that were sent anonymously, they really cover the depths of what we are ALL looking for each year. "I learned that my concerns regarding employee performance are echoed throughout the industry, regardless of the size of call center and location. It put things into perspective to realize this rather than attribute it to our location, market, hiring process, etc. This was a worthwhile conference that I will be looking forward to attending in the future." "I learned that some call centers are gravitating towards rewarding agents based upon performance, as opposed to production. The theory being if they are doing their jobs correctly, results will naturally follow." "I learned that call volume is down throughout the hospitality industry." "The 2001 Conference in Scottsdale was my first experience with IARE, so I learned much more than just one thing. I was able to benchmark my call center against other operations and was able to contemplate and envision the future direction of our industry. I gained valuable insights that will fuel my creative energy." "There are several different ways to manage schedules in call centers; what works for one call center may not necessarily work for another, but learning what others do may help you in developing a plan for yours." "Make sure to include your employees in the decision making processes of policy making, hiring, etc. Their opinions and input count!" "I don't think there was just ONE thing...except maybe that we're all in the same boat! What I always get out of the conference is a feeling of 'refreshment'...meaning I come away feeling refreshed. Knowing that what we are doing in our center is evolving to keep up just like everyone else! Thanks for a wonderful three days!" Thank you again to everyone for your open and candid feedback. Your support and feedback are greatly appreciated! * * * * * * * * * * IARE 2001 Conference & Exhibition Charleston, South Carolina U.S.A. With the 2001 meeting just behind us, next year's IARE meeting seems far away. But for many members, the 2002 budget season is about to start. No better time to give next year's meeting some thought!
The IARE 2002 Conference will take place in Charleston, South Carolina U.S.A. from May 4 through May 8, 2002. Final decisions on the host hotel and program features are still pending and therefore participation fees are not yet known. A reminder that might be helpful in your budgeting process this year's participation fee was $425 U.S. per attendee. Please watch upcoming issues of IARE-News for more information or visit our web site at www.iare.com.
Spring is a beautiful time in historic
Charleston... * * * * * * * * * * IARE PRINCIPAL MEMBER BIOGRAPHY MeriStar
Each edition of the IARE-News this year will feature an in-depth article submitted by one of our members regarding their company and overall call center operation. The first article was supplied by Mark Dickson from Vacation Planning Center for MeriStar Hotels and Resorts, Inc. Mark is the General Manager of their office in southwest Florida. The Vacation Planning Center (VPC) was opened in 1994 by South Seas Resort Company as a consolidated reservation sales office for seven destination resorts in SW Florida. In 1998, MeriStar Hotels and Resorts purchased South Seas Resort Co. and, almost immediately the VPC began to take on MeriStar's independent portfolio of properties, thus eliminating MeriStar's dependence on third-party voice reservation providers. Today, the VPC serves 20 properties in Florida, Georgia, Washington DC, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, California and the Caribbean. The VPC has 40 agent workstations, a ten-station training lab and three stations on the supervisors "bump." The call center operates from 730 a.m. to 100 a.m., seven day a week. The call center is driven by two basic principles; production (a.k.a. conversion, call volume, revenue or all of the above) and FUN. The FISH philosophy (based on the program inspired by the Pike's Place Fish Market in Seattle and developed by Charthouse Learning) has been a part of the VPC culture for more than two years and its success has contributed to an annual turnover rate of less than 20%. The cornerstone of the VPC growth plan revolves around the future development of the Doral brand. Currently, there are three Doral properties under MeriStar control -- Doral Forrestal in Princeton, NJ; Doral Palm Springs in California and Doral Palmas Del Mar in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Another MeriStar property, the Nordic Hills Conference Center in Itasca, IL will re-open in 2002 as a Doral. The company has plans to re-flag or acquire additional properties that will fly the Doral flag. Throughout this development process, the VPC will serve as Doral Central Rez. * * * * * * * * * * Watch for the next issue of IARE-News in September 2001.
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Last Edit 12/02/02