Trend Watch List

The Self Tending Mushroom Award is given to individuals, companies, entities and even countries who choose the dark over the truth. I was surprised when I stumbled upon this month’s STeMie recipient who displays a subtle but deadly mindset that may spell the end of this internet giant. This month’s STeMie is awarded to Yahoo for perpetuating a decade-old business style that goes from product development to leadership strategy...not an ill-conceived style, but one that has not evolved with the times and is the root of Yahoo being slowly but surely left in the dust of their competitors. Yahoo emerged successful because of their unique product that catered to what people wanted at the time. Leadership was novel as well. Leaders sought to listen, so navigate the information age, and to develop products that helped their customers navigate the information as well. Times change, however, and Yahoo has not changed. Yahoo has, however, with the installation of a new and pedigreed CEO, Carol Bartz, embarked on a new brand campaign. A bright shiny wrapper on what is otherwise the same organization same unimaginative products and last-decade leadership. In a press release for the campaign, Ms. Bartz notes that, “Today the Web and your world are inseparable...Hundreds of millions of people use Yahoo! (R) to get the information they need.” I suspect real authenticity and innovation are hiding within the brilliant minds working at Yahoo, but the old leadership style is so information focused that operating at the pace of the social media age is just not in the cards. In the Economist’s World in 2010, Ms. Bartz puts forth her management philosophy as, “Information will be the greatest opportunity for business leaders in the coming years—and perhaps our biggest headache.” She suggests a solution for handling the situation: “... listening... [and] identify and mentor thought leaders.“ Again, it is not wrong...it is just a decade out of date and in Yahoo’s world, good but old adds up to failure as your world leaves you behind. So join me in awarding this STeMie to Yahoo for staying safely in place with what worked in the 90s while their entire business environment passed them by. Lessons within this STeMie are many. You need not operate at the speed of light, but stay ahead of the pace of your business environment. Assess your business. Update yearly (or quarterly if your industry dictates). Lastly, when introducing new leadership, ensure modern styles are coming on board. Consider it well and the advantage will be yours.

>>>> NOTE TO READERS: Trend Watch List is evolving and joining forces with Trend POV to become the way that forward thinking executives access the people and ideas that drive strategic advantage. See and share what we are planning for the big launch January 1st at http://www.New.TrendPOV.com. <<<<

Wrapping up the year and looking forward, we turn our attention to the trends that will be affecting our favorite precursor industries of travel and food in 2010 and beyond. These trends represent the hospitality industry’s struggle to balance the customer as king with the realities of operating a business to make profit. In 2010 we will explore what micro-purchase strategies are working, what is failing miserably and why. If you have considered micro-purchase strategies for your business, it will pay to take a lesson from the airlines before repeating their mistakes. Vacation rentals are increasing in popularity among consumer travelers but with surprising advantages for the business traveler. We will be innovating practical ways to boost your bottom line with existing and new capabilities. The difference between a win-win situation and a complete disaster when going green is all in the choice of and application of green strategies that are right for your business in your sector, with your specific customer base. Going green is not new but is evolving to develop new industries and advantageous business strategies. Meanwhile, consumers are seeking something from the small and local business - authenticity, agility, responsive service, unique products, local knowledge and more. We will document each and develop practical ways to create these elements within your business and individual teams without significant investment. In line with the paperless office is the cashless operation. In 2010 we will track the evolution of cashless operations within the hospitality industry to innovate new strategies for your own business that may decrease the overall time spent managing contracts and payments, reduce cash flow latency and collection problems and provide a host of other benefits. Stay tuned as we track them all, how they affect each other and how your business can create advantage from each and every one no matter what industry you call home.

Continuing this month’s focus on converging trends, we turn our attention towards trends converging to bring revolutionary change to our favorite precursor industries - Travel and Food. In this article, we cover how global market shifts, evolving tastes, and emerging technologies are converging to affect these industries and how all industries can use the opportunity for advantage. Three major trends are converging to affect the hospitality industry more than most: a global market shift in travel outside of the United States, a globalization of consumer tastes, and emerging technologies used by these increasingly mobile and worldly consumers. In each of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, new ventures are steeped in high levels of service directly to the traveler and a particular focus on the business traveler. Of course you must notice that these regions have little to do with the United States. Travelers are going elsewhere. Going elsewhere is also the theme for restaurant patrons. They are not leaving their favorite restaurants, but they are craving more global fare. A globalization of consumer tastes has accelerated amid an increasingly global economy and increasingly connected world. Technology adoption within the hospitality industry worldwide has focused on catering to the busy and globally savvy business professional. This includes SMS-based interaction and smart phone applications (i.e. mobile apps). Video teleconferencing services in restaurants and hotels, internet access on aircraft, business lounges and more are all increasing as the hospitality industry recognizes that today’s business professional cannot really afford to leave the office, even when they have left the office. The shift outside of the US in travel and increasing globalization of consumer tastes are trends that feed each other as business professionals use mobile and other technologies to act on emerging markets and long for new ideas, more exotic fare and more exotic experiences. It is globalization as modernization and vice versa in the hospitality industry. As your business model within your own industry hangs more and more on service and direct interaction with your customers, a global and/or modern element in your business will be key. Decide what combination of these elements makes the most sense for your brand and organizational culture and enjoy the advantage.

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Restaurants are inherently direct-to-consumer and heavily service oriented. In an age when every industry is moving increasingly in that direction, we can look to the culinary industry to for a sneak peek at the trends we might all be adopting in the near future. In this article, we detail where the nation’s most successful restauranteurs are spending their working capital, and what we can all learn from their smart moves.

The major trends culinary industry investment have included a push towards highly individualized business concepts, high end at low prices, catering to mobility (pun intended) and loads of new technology adoption.

Highly individualized business concepts in the restaurant industry mean local flare, unique experiences, and overall just something different that speaks of the region or city they call home. We live in a customizable society and enjoy finding the unique and sharing it with everyone we know.

Meanwhile, a clash of economic hardship and consumer craving has produced a new trend in the restaurant industry of high end dishes for low prices. With an increasingly mobile clientele, the restaurant industry has responded with an increasing number of concepts that cater to the mobile customer. Understanding that their customers are business professionals, and always working, Ruth’s Hospitality Group went the route of technology adoption by installing video teleconferencing capabilities at over 100 of their Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Mitchell’s Fish Market locations.

To turn these trends into an advantage, consider the following steps. First, when developing new business concepts, make every effort to ensure they are unique in every aspect. If possible, offer a version of your higher end products and services at lower prices. Find a way to address the mobile nature of your customers. Lastly, technology often works well as a differentiator for your products or services. Don’t be shy to comb other industries and unlikely places to find a technology that will work best to help bridge the gap between you and your customers.

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This month, we award the last Self Tending Mushroom Award, or STeMie of the year to the Air Transport Association (ATA) and their members in the category of Travel Trends. The ATA is, “the premier trade group of the principal U.S. airlines” whose members account for 90% of all commercial passenger and cargo air transport in the United States. ATA and its members earn the STeMie for an unwillingness to recognize growing consumer animosity over passenger treatment and failing to lead their industry toward a market solution. The issue was sparked ten years ago during the infamous snow storm of 1999 when Northwest Airlines left thousands stranded in aircraft on tarmacs in Detroit. Those same passengers became the force behind passenger rights legislation.

Over the past decade, the Airline Employees Whistleblowers Association, and the Coalition for an Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights (a.k.a FlyersRights.com) have developed in support of a passenger bill of rights. Recently, the National Business Travel Association (NBTA), the Business Travel Coalition (BTC) and the International Association For Contract & Commercial Management (IACCM) joined the cause. The BTC testified four times in front of congress in opposition to federal passenger rights legislation and in favor of the market forces approach. Now even they have turned.

A major meeting of stakeholders including senators, congressmen, industry representatives, everyday passengers, and more took place on September 22nd in Washington, D.C.. This was an open registration meeting that anyone could attend...anyone at all...but the attendee list did not contain a single current airline executive or ATA representative. They have been hiding under their desks for ten years. No press releases, no statements, no speeches ... and no action to correct the problem that clearly has their customers up in arms. We asked the ATA if they had a position. The ATA representative stated that, “...we continue to believe that a hard-and-fast rule requiring mandatory deplaning of passengers after three hours will have substantial, unintended consequences, leading to even more inconvenience for passengers and ultimately more flight cancellations. “

Passenger rights clauses have now been written into the current FAA reauthorization legislation which means, by New Year’s Day, we could have real laws in place for passenger rights as part of the FAA mandate. Meanwhile, ATA and their member airlines hide in silence telling themselves that it will all be OK in the end.

First, price is important but service is what distinguishes you from your competition. Set your own high standard of service and stick to it. Listen to your customers. Don’t be afraid to hear the bad news along with good ideas. Lastly, when industry leadership fails to lead, don’t be shy to step up and take the role.

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Link: http://www.TrendPOV.com

An awakening, a renaissance of sorts, has come to Utah and there are lessons for all of us in how it came about and where it is going. In this article we detail some of the starts of the Utah culinary and entertainment scenes and how it all came to emerge quite uniquely in Utah.

Let’s start with a small creamery from Ogden Utah that is catching the eye of foodies worldwide: Beehive Cheese Company. Without traditional rules to hold them back, they decided to try an experiment - an espresso and lavender rubbed cheddar. Resulting awards and orders are the result of their customer-centric innovation-based approach.

Amano Chocolate’s 70% Madagascar Premium Dark won the bronze medal from the Academy of Chocolate for overall process “bean to bar”. Digging a bit deeper we discovered that more often than not they produce their product from the beans of a single farm allowing Amano to pick and choose exactly that tastes they want for their products.

The pattern continues on consolidated scale with the culinary master of Culinary Crafts - a catering company that creates innovative combinations using local ingredients. Innovation, inspiration and a splash of adventure are the recipe for great food, and a great business.

The hot topic here worthy of a 5th Monday, is the emergence of Utah as a playground for culinary and artistic innovation. For each of these companies, the reasons for basing out of Utah, staying in Utah, and using the local capabilities were the same: freedom to innovate...no preconceived notions...no limits. Each of these companies had the freedom to try anything, to take a risk, and to innovate along lines that most would not dare.

Businesses and organizations can gain an advantage from Utah’s emerging trend in several ways. No matter what your business is, allowing room for the innovation process, freedom to try and fail, will result in phenomenal products and services. In addition to freedom and an innovative spirit, there is much to learn from Utah businesses that enjoy true work-play balance that keeps employees coming back as often as the customers. Enjoy these amazing Utah talents, and take the lesson for your own organization.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/kof7a7

The travel industry is suffering from the economic downturn more than most as families and business alike cut back on what is perceived as the luxury of travel. Overall growth is negative but with some specific areas of surprising growth. In this article we detail the realities of inbound versus outbound travel thus far this year and shed some light on the growth areas where every business can find an advantage.

According to the US Department of Commerce Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, travel inbound to the United States in the first quarter of 2009 from the rest of the world has decreased. Given the current economic crisis, business belt tightening and luxury-driven scrutiny, the industry does not expect to regain this lost ground for at least a year.

The most surprising statistic was that travel out of the United States to the Middle East and Africa has increased more than 33% from last year’s totals. A significant portion of new property development is taking place in the Middle East and Africa. Airlines, at the same time, are increasing service to these regions at attractive prices.

Couple these trends with recently lifted sanctions in the region and you have the makings of a potent emerging business travel market. The hospitality and travel industries are predicting a mini-boom in 2011. If brighter days are expected in coming two years, it can only be due to an expected increase in business travel beginning in early 2010. However, for businesses to increase travel, they will have to stop feeling the economic pinch and return themselves to brighter days of higher revenues.

The advantage for businesses everywhere can be found in tracking the expectations of the travel industry; for they themselves have carefully measured where your business will go, how much success you will encounter, and therefore how much travel you may undertake. So permanently locked together in the dance of success, you can learn a lot by watching the moves they make and where their eyes are looking.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/kqeqpv

The spotlight award is given to those who trends into a personal and professional advantage. This month, we are shining the spotlight on a unique set of boutique hotels and their trend-driven exploration of one of the first truly mobile guest management services. Allow me to introduce you to the Edward Thomas Collection (or ETC Hotel Group) and Hotel Evolution; this month’s Spotlight Award winners in the category of Travel Trends.

We spoke with Gerald Day, General Manager at Shutters on the Beach, one of three ETC properties. When asked about the rise of the boutique hotel, he notes that, “There’s a real change these days in what guests like to have delivered to them when they stay and it’s more than a very good guest room at a very good property...it's a personal touch.”

At the same time, a proliferation of mobile devices is motivating organizations of all kinds to interact with customers on the go via mobile applications. Enter RunTriz.com with the first major breakout mobile application for the travel industry - Hotel Evolution. Hotel Evolution is, “a mobile touch screen platform that allows guests to quickly and easily order food, drinks, guest services, transportation, entertainment and more; anytime, anywhere.”

We spoke with Runtriz Founder and President, Matthew Allard. He recalls, ”When I was traveling, no matter what the hotel was, I found it mind boggling how hard it was to purchase on-site services and items.” So he solved the problem. He notes that, “The key to the system is that it is completely customizable so it actually functions a bit differently at each property.”

ETC hotels snapped up the chance to customize this platform for their properties. When asked if technology replaces the need for service, Day notes that, “We don’t ever want to loose sight of the fact that we are a customer-centric organization... but If this technology speaks to their style, we want to be able to be that for them.”

The lesson: Don’t be shy in trying out new ways of interacting with your customers. To turn this potent combination of trends into an advantage, consider the capabilities in today’s mobile devices. Determine how you can use these capabilities to serve your customers more effectively, more efficiently and to provide that all important presence.

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Link: http://tinyurl.com/ms4c46

Social media affects our business lives and the travel industry at large in so many ways. One of the most surprising future impacts may be an increase in business travel where most people expect a decrease. In this article, we detail how social media affect business networks and the travel industry and why it will mean an increase in business travel, especially critical business travel.

Social media, originally developed for actual social purposes, has exponentiated the flood of Information on the internet. Because the key to great business is a great relationship, social media is fast becoming business media too.

Along with the internet and social media came another significant communications technology…voice over internet protocol or VOIP. This cheap and often free way to phone, conference, whiteboard and more brought us utilities like Skype, Webex, GoToMeeting and others.

With all of this technology, some types of meetings can take place online instead of face-to-face. However, some meetings, no matter how good the technology becomes, are better carried out in person.

All of this results in a business travel shift where businesses travel to encompass the more critical meeting types and less so for short or routine meetings which can be held online.

However, social media creates large searchable networks of people quickly. Large searchable networks of people make it easy to find not only new team members but new potential markets, clients and partners. All of those new potential clients and partners require critical meetings, negotiations, and deals and not just locally, but all around the world! The result: more business travel and the majority of that travel focused on very important meetings.

There is significant advantage here for the travel industry, and businesses alike. First, for those in the travel industry, understand what your customer will be going through and act on it. For businesses worldwide, prepare now for the onslaught of more prospects than you can possibly pursue. Have a plan in place to prioritize and exploit these new opportunities more efficiently; and pack your bags because you are off to some very important meetings.

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Link: http://www.events.dramyvanderbilt.com

The travel industry is affected by a complicated landscape of technological and economic trends.

In this highly interactive session, Dr. Amy Vanderbilt will walk participants through technology trends affecting the travel industry from booking to communications and economic trends affecting the travel industry including the recent downturn. We will look deeply at how these trends affect personal and business travel and in turn affect the meetings industry. Some of these trends bolster attendance at your meetings, and some seem to deter it.

Dr. Vanderbilt will offer a holistic view of how these trends interact to produce a total effect on your meeting and how to use them to your advantage. Participants will gain insight into how these trends will evolve over the coming years; how that evolution will affect how business travel is booked, and when it is NOT booked; why these technologies will not decrease business travel, but are actually likely to increase it; and how businesses can take advantage of these trends to survive the current economic conditions and prosper!

Participants will tailor techniques to their own events and specialties using handouts and worksheets.

Learner Outcomes

• Techniques For Surviving And Prospering In The Current Economic Conditions By Taking Advantage Of Technological And Economic Trends In The Travel Industry
• A Plan For Implementing Strategies Within Your Own Events And Specialties