In a recent conversation with Bill Fisher, President of the American Hotel & Motel Association (AH&MA) about membership and the value of membership, Bill made a comment which I thought was particularly noteworthy. He said, "The industry and its trade associations can only be as strong as those in the industry let it be." The first step in supporting the industry is joining a state association affiliated with the AH&MA. The second step is being active in taking advantage of its benefits, volunteering time on its committees and being an active leader so the association addresses the issues you feel are important.
When you avidly support the AH&MA and its affiliated state associations, great things happen: You grow professionally; you advance the well-being of your industry; and, you generate renewed enthusiasm for your own job or profession.
The best news is this: You can support the work of your industry's trade associations almost any time, with modest effort on your part. Here are 30 ways to do just that. (Not all programs and benefits are available in all states.)
1. Take advantage of association programs designed to improve your bottom line, pare your expenses and extend your education.
2. Independent hotels & motels and smaller management companies can expand the benefits offered employees with the state association's insurance, retirement and other benefit programs where they are available.
3. Update your workers' compensation insurance program and risk-management policies by comparing your current carrier to the association's partner in your state.
4. Observe national and state Tourism Week (usually in May) with special recognition or "thank you" promotions for guests and employees.
5. Many state association have school-to-work programs to area high schools and their students. Support them and promote them so young people think of our industry as a possible career just as you did when you started.
6. Make a tax-deductible donation to association's educational trust fund and the AH&MA's American Hotel Foundation which supports scholarship and industry research like the Best Practices survey currently underway.
7. Drop a note to your state association's conference coordinator offering ideas for the next events. They are, after all, your events!
8. Call your state association's headquarters or the AH&MA's resource center when you need information on a topic of interest; and, say "thanks" after you receive it.
9. Keep the names of your state's association officers and staffers handy. When you meet someone who might be a prospective member, pass the names along right away.
10. Send news releases and other positive information about yourself or your business to both your state association's publications director and Phil Hayward, Editor of Lodging, the AH&MA's management and trade magazine.
11. Display your membership plaque at your place of business, along with any association awards you've received.
12. Let your employees know about continuing education and certification opportunities available in their areas of responsibility, through the Educational Institute, now located in Orlando. Consider paying for their courses (when they pass them) and giving pay increases when they complete certification programs.
13. Renew your annual membership promptly.
14. When you have occasion to meet legislators and other public officials, speak about the value of tourism to local, state and national revenue coffers ($67 Billion in taxes in 1996). Support both your state association's Political Action Committee (PAC) and the AH&MA's AHMPAC by giving any amount. It is your right and obligation to speak out and the two best ways to do that are directly to legislators in person or in writing and by donating to our PACs.
15. Volunteer to serve on one committee and there are plenty of them at the state and national level to keep an organization like our running smoothly. You will influence the issues important to you by serving on a committee!
16. When colleagues make the news, drop them congratulatory notes (if the news is good) or notes of encouragement (if the news is bad).
17. Pass along copies of relevant newspaper or periodical articles to other members.
18. Schedule lunch with a nearby member (or non-member) every once in a while.
19. Leave your association publications in your office waiting area for others to read.
20. Write a "letter to the editor" of your state association's trade journal or Phil Hayward at LODGING or any other trade publication on a topic near and dear to you about the lodging industry or what they may have recently published.
21. Encourage properties or companies related to lodging to become members in their appropriate categories. Always give Allied Members an opportunity to quote along with other vendors. They are supporting us, we should support them.
22. Offer to serve as a mentor to an association newcomer or a student considering a career in hospitality.
23. Mention your association's (industry's) deeds and principles whenever you speak in front of civic or business groups. These include our supporting over 6.8 million jobs, paying over $121.6 Billion in salary and wages and creating nearly 200,000 new jobs a year for our national economy.
24. Publicize your association affiliation when participating in media-covered events.
25. Schedule upcoming dates for association activities-chapter meetings, national conventions, committee meetings-and block out time for professional reading and study.
26. Evaluate your participation in association activities from time to time. What have you done well? Where can you improve?
28. Add association membership and certification to your biography or resume.
29. Encourage subordinates you are developing to attend industry trade events and to serve on committees, too, so they learn valuable leadership and civic skills that will serve you and them well as they grow in this industry.
30. When considering purchases of products and services, please consult the various annual Buyer's Guide for your state association and the AH&MA and encourage vendors to participate in association membership and trade shows. Recognize Master Hotel Suppliers (MHS) just as you would CHAs.
Our industry is a great industry with proud traditions. It is a profession that people look up to in every community. We are the hosts, the civic leaders and in many cases the shapers of some local opinion for both the public and our government leaders. We do this individually in our communities and as we develop skills we do it at the state and national level. Our trade associations facilitate that effort.
Our trade associations are not a club, but a commitment to profit. Your properties' memberships in their respective state associations and the AH&MA provides opportunities for generating business for all hotels on the international, national and local levels. Forty-eight million room nights per year are filled via listings in the AH&MA's directory, the OAG Business Travel Planner Hotel & Motel Redbook. AH&MA's state associations help fill millions of rooms through their effective directories which are distributed at convention and visitors bureaus and state welcome centers. And finally, our strong and unified voice helps increase national and state tourism budgets. Because growth is the key to a prosperous hospitality industry, our primary focus is to help you keep costs down and profitability up.
SOURCE:http://www.hotel-online.com/Neo/Trends/Payne/Articles/ThirtyWays.html
When you avidly support the AH&MA and its affiliated state associations, great things happen: You grow professionally; you advance the well-being of your industry; and, you generate renewed enthusiasm for your own job or profession.
The best news is this: You can support the work of your industry's trade associations almost any time, with modest effort on your part. Here are 30 ways to do just that. (Not all programs and benefits are available in all states.)
1. Take advantage of association programs designed to improve your bottom line, pare your expenses and extend your education.
2. Independent hotels & motels and smaller management companies can expand the benefits offered employees with the state association's insurance, retirement and other benefit programs where they are available.
3. Update your workers' compensation insurance program and risk-management policies by comparing your current carrier to the association's partner in your state.
4. Observe national and state Tourism Week (usually in May) with special recognition or "thank you" promotions for guests and employees.
5. Many state association have school-to-work programs to area high schools and their students. Support them and promote them so young people think of our industry as a possible career just as you did when you started.
6. Make a tax-deductible donation to association's educational trust fund and the AH&MA's American Hotel Foundation which supports scholarship and industry research like the Best Practices survey currently underway.
7. Drop a note to your state association's conference coordinator offering ideas for the next events. They are, after all, your events!
8. Call your state association's headquarters or the AH&MA's resource center when you need information on a topic of interest; and, say "thanks" after you receive it.
9. Keep the names of your state's association officers and staffers handy. When you meet someone who might be a prospective member, pass the names along right away.
10. Send news releases and other positive information about yourself or your business to both your state association's publications director and Phil Hayward, Editor of Lodging, the AH&MA's management and trade magazine.
11. Display your membership plaque at your place of business, along with any association awards you've received.
12. Let your employees know about continuing education and certification opportunities available in their areas of responsibility, through the Educational Institute, now located in Orlando. Consider paying for their courses (when they pass them) and giving pay increases when they complete certification programs.
13. Renew your annual membership promptly.
14. When you have occasion to meet legislators and other public officials, speak about the value of tourism to local, state and national revenue coffers ($67 Billion in taxes in 1996). Support both your state association's Political Action Committee (PAC) and the AH&MA's AHMPAC by giving any amount. It is your right and obligation to speak out and the two best ways to do that are directly to legislators in person or in writing and by donating to our PACs.
15. Volunteer to serve on one committee and there are plenty of them at the state and national level to keep an organization like our running smoothly. You will influence the issues important to you by serving on a committee!
16. When colleagues make the news, drop them congratulatory notes (if the news is good) or notes of encouragement (if the news is bad).
17. Pass along copies of relevant newspaper or periodical articles to other members.
18. Schedule lunch with a nearby member (or non-member) every once in a while.
19. Leave your association publications in your office waiting area for others to read.
20. Write a "letter to the editor" of your state association's trade journal or Phil Hayward at LODGING or any other trade publication on a topic near and dear to you about the lodging industry or what they may have recently published.
21. Encourage properties or companies related to lodging to become members in their appropriate categories. Always give Allied Members an opportunity to quote along with other vendors. They are supporting us, we should support them.
22. Offer to serve as a mentor to an association newcomer or a student considering a career in hospitality.
23. Mention your association's (industry's) deeds and principles whenever you speak in front of civic or business groups. These include our supporting over 6.8 million jobs, paying over $121.6 Billion in salary and wages and creating nearly 200,000 new jobs a year for our national economy.
24. Publicize your association affiliation when participating in media-covered events.
25. Schedule upcoming dates for association activities-chapter meetings, national conventions, committee meetings-and block out time for professional reading and study.
26. Evaluate your participation in association activities from time to time. What have you done well? Where can you improve?
28. Add association membership and certification to your biography or resume.
29. Encourage subordinates you are developing to attend industry trade events and to serve on committees, too, so they learn valuable leadership and civic skills that will serve you and them well as they grow in this industry.
30. When considering purchases of products and services, please consult the various annual Buyer's Guide for your state association and the AH&MA and encourage vendors to participate in association membership and trade shows. Recognize Master Hotel Suppliers (MHS) just as you would CHAs.
Our industry is a great industry with proud traditions. It is a profession that people look up to in every community. We are the hosts, the civic leaders and in many cases the shapers of some local opinion for both the public and our government leaders. We do this individually in our communities and as we develop skills we do it at the state and national level. Our trade associations facilitate that effort.
Our trade associations are not a club, but a commitment to profit. Your properties' memberships in their respective state associations and the AH&MA provides opportunities for generating business for all hotels on the international, national and local levels. Forty-eight million room nights per year are filled via listings in the AH&MA's directory, the OAG Business Travel Planner Hotel & Motel Redbook. AH&MA's state associations help fill millions of rooms through their effective directories which are distributed at convention and visitors bureaus and state welcome centers. And finally, our strong and unified voice helps increase national and state tourism budgets. Because growth is the key to a prosperous hospitality industry, our primary focus is to help you keep costs down and profitability up.
SOURCE:http://www.hotel-online.com/Neo/Trends/Payne/Articles/ThirtyWays.html
No comments:
Post a Comment