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The author of this article, Tara Thomas, summarizes the top five technologies for event planners. The first technology that she mentions is smart phones. She writes that this is the most obvious technology that event planners can't live without. Planners can do things like set alarms, look up information, communicate instantly, and use social media to promote the event. The second technology that Thomas mentions is SaaS cloud applications. Software as a service allows planners to access all details and execution aspects of an event from any web enabled device, eliminating printed or emailed reports. Thirdly, Thomas talks about virtual events. Virtual events save the planner and the attendee valuable time, money, and resources. Thomas next talks about social media and viral marketing. Using sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to share event details is a great way to communicate to a very large group of people. The fifth and last technology that Thomas speaks of is Ipads and tablets. Through event management applications, planners have all of the information they could possibly need right at their fingertips. Ipads and tablets also make it possible to communicate in real time if needed.

This article was about the 5 technologies event planners can't live without. These technologies are: smart phones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social media and viral marketing, and finally iPads and tablets. Smart phones are important to the daily activities of an event planner because they are able to look up phone numbers, response to emails, update a status on a social media site, review or add to lists for events, and so much more all on the go. SaaS cloud apps let planner take advantage of accessing all devices and execute aspects of an event for any web enabled device. With SaaS cloud apps you are also able to link up your event management system with a customer relationship management system. Virtual events allow planners to fill seats at a cost that won't cost a burden. Social media and viral marketing allows event planners to market themselves and get event details to different consumers. iPads and tablets get rid of the need for a large heavy binder stuffed with event details. Now event planner can carry a tablet that allows you to access anything you need. In conjunction with the SaaS cloud apps you can also access contracts, registrations, and room blocks and also link up a CRM system as mentioned before. The technology advances we have now let event planners do even more on the day to day, but also make it easier for them to do so.

The article lists five technological necessities that used by the event planners. They are smartphones, SaaS cloud apps, virtual events, social medial and viral marketing, ipads and tablets. All of these technologies can save time and costs for the event planners. What`s more, they provide a more simplified life for the human beings. 

A new method that might help E-waste recycling become more green and safe for the environment.

This article is basically the rules and regulations of how to write an email. Netiquette is important because if you make yourself seem professional, the people whom you send these emails to will reply and treat you with respect. Especially if its a business email. The article teaches you about how to write a subject line and the difference between cc and bc. It also teaches you not to use lol and thesmiley face emoticon unless the email is personal. This article also teaches you on how to relax on the punctuations. Too many exclamation marks might seem like your going crazy screaming at someone. It also teaches you about how to properly send signatures. I think everyone should read this article to perfect their emails. Especially students because now and days , there is no need to go to your teachers office. You just shoot your teacher an email and it will make your life easier.

This article is about the basic rules of netiquette. It breaks down from everything from the subject to the signature. It shows you differences of writing a business email and a personal email.

This article discusses how the traditional vendor RFP (Request for Proposal) model is no longer the ideal way to integrate the right technology marketing that a hotel needs. The traditional vendor RFP model is time-consuming and expensive, and with the way that technology is constantly expanding and changing, hotels need to stay up-to-date with technology more and more frequently, which can mean this process is wasting time and money on an ever-increasing scale. Furthermore, it is not always an accurate indicator of the kinds of technology a hotel might need, especially what a hotel might need in the future, and it is difficult to determine who would best be capable of knowing what the property will need or what exactly to ask for in an RFP. The article talks about three alternatives to the traditional model: the Scorecard model, the Digital Marketing Partner Interview model, and the Trusted Partner model. With the Scorecard model, hotels have a checklist of things they need and can check off each point from each potential vendor. With the Digital Marketing Partner Interview model, which is similar to the traditional vendor RFP process, except that the interview focused on finding a Digital Marketing Partner that aligns with the hotel's management philosophy, values, and culture in order to find the right partnership. With the Trusted Partner model, the hotel works with one particular company with whom they share common goals and objectives, and they work together to solve problems and adapt new technology as the hotel's technological needs are manifested over time.

Many of the concerns that a hotelier might have regarding the upgrade of the physical hardware at the base of their information technology system, their cable network, to fiber optic wiring have been addressed in recent years. Fiber has been around since the 70s, and the cable is stronger and more flexible than copper alternatives. In order to determine whether or not a fiber upgrade is right for a specific property, one should first consider the technological needs of the hotel and be sure that the increased bandwidth and speed are really needed. The hotelier should also consider when the switch will be most cost effective and time efficient. This usually coincides with a hotel remodel. Finally, while the cost /foot of fiber installation has become comparable with that of copper over the years, one should educate himself regarding the terminology and mechanics of a fiber network before shopping installation quotes. A solid understanding of interoperability and terminal needs will keep the costs at a minimum while limiting the need to reinstall cable in the future.

This article gives a good short look at the pros and cons of the Aloha POS system. The system is one of the most popular POS systems used in the industry. Aloha is currently used by small independent restaurants, local franchises, and national chains. The system is said to be a blend of many systems. NCR recently purchases Radiant Systems the developer of Aloha. The system includes both hardware and software. Some of the benefits of the system include the large number of training modules. Operationally the system has a "intelligent tracking system including on-screen dashboards that update in real-time to assist in management decisions in both FOH and BOH areas". In addition, the system can "personalized service by identifying repeat customers, remembering their preferences and keeping track of VIP guests". Back office features that are included with the system are labor assignments and work schedules. The systems also can keep track of maintenance, cleaning schedules, and daily duties. On the management side the system is said to provide "complete system control". Some critics of the system say the disadvantages are that the costs are too high and that restaurants pay for every upgrade. The quality of service depends on the quality of the local vender. Hardware may need to be changed with new upgrades is software adding to the high costs than expected by customers. After reading this article my feeling is that for an small independent restaurant the Aloha system might not seem like a good choice after considering the total cost of the system. Smaller, less complex systems seems like the way to go.

Today we will discuss the 6 ways that a cloud based system could change the impact of retail forever. This update will make specific information available in real time, and make the experience better for the guests and the staff members. 1. The system will be able to track the live data from the actual floor of the store. For example, it would be able to tell the items that are actually being tried on, and the ones that are bought. This will be a great advancement in marketing, because it helps the business to figure out what it is that their demographic is attracted to. Second, the employees will have access to this data while they are working. This will make it easier to market items to guests, instead of wasting time trying to figure out what it is that they might be looking for. Third, have a track record of their inventory. Employees will have in depth information of their inventory and the inventory of other stores, all real time. This will allow for custom orders and greater guest satisfaction. Four, the system will be able to track the sales associates who are creating the best sales. The store can use this to create contests and provide rewards to the winners. This increases employee motivation and will to work. Five, mobile point of sales system. We had discussed the convenience of a mobile system with the cloud PMS, and now we can see it with a POS. This will have associates engaging more with guests on the floor, and the guests might not even have to wait a line to receive their products anymore. Lastly, it works for any sized company or store. Pricing and accessibility adapt to the size of the location, and is indeed less expensive than bulky software and hardware.

In this article we discuss the five basic principles of accounting in restaurants. Many people do not like the principle of accounting, and do not know much about it. With these basics, people can have a simplified concept of what they need to know for restaurant management. First you would like to have an accounting chart that discusses inflows and outflows, plus the liabilities and assets that your business has. This is a great way to monitor your finances. Next, is the cost of goods sold. These are the costs for the items that were purchased and then sold. You need to monitor this, in order to calculate the cost you are making per dish in compared to profit. Third, other costs that include fixed costs like operation and occupancy, or labor costs of course. You want to monitor this strictly, in order to see the areas where you might be spending a lot when it comes to employees. Then you want to compare it to the profits you are making. Forth, the prime costs. Prime costs are the total variable costs that you have. Variable costs are those that can be controlled, and you want to keep an eye on these in order to see what needs to be cut to optimize profit. Lastly, you have the cost to sales ratio. Larger restaurants might have higher costs, because they are creating larger sales. You really want to create a ratio of costs to your own sales, to see how well you are doing compared to the competition.

In this article we discuss the issues that airlines are having with the GDS system. They give an example of someone attempting to purchase a ticket through an airline website, and then through a travel agency. The direct airline method was only cheaper, if the guest provided information to a direct bank account. The cost for airlines to sell is a bit less than 10%, and they are sold mostly through indirect channels, like travel agencies. The main reason this can happen, is the integrated GDS system. A GDS system is a data facility that shares inventory information for various airlines to different 3rd party channels. The issue with this, is that the total in fees for the use of the GDS system was around $7billion, which is twice the amount of net profit they are receiving. People state that the airline system cannot survive without the GDS, but is that statement really true? Airlines like Air Asia or Ryanair have really attempted to focus on selling tickets directly, and really expand on their profit. How can this be achieved? Well, airlines are making the booking process easier for guests to manage, which gives them more of a reason to book through there. Also, they are offering greater loyalty rewards for directly booking through the site. Different incentives need to be created to attract guests to book directly. Lastly, they would like to create another distribution system, to put GDS out of business. This new system will work to allow guests to handle meal and baggage fees. Concepts that the GDS cannot handle. With that said, will this new system reduce costs for airlines? I guess they will have to wait and see.

This article talks about how companies make the grave mistake of thinking that cybersecurity is merely an issue that should be addressed by an IT team and that no one else is responsible for addressing risks and understanding them. Most C-suite employees don't understand what the risks are, and usually these risks vary from company to company. It is not that you should only consider that you can get hacked, but you should consider and identify what kinds of information can get hacked and why. The article denotes an example of an Asian automobile company that needed to implement a new system to mitigate security risks and in the process, ended up locking up other companies who needed to use their systems to find out about their products. So those companies started to create fake profiles to try and access the information -- all so that they could just do their job. This showed that people are more interested in just getting their job done than understanding cybersecurity and why certain systems are in place. The way of thinking up security systems should be creative and involve all parts of an organization. Departments won't know what their role is until they identify what information is important to them, what their purpose is in the company, and what is valuable to them. By identifying this, they can come up with ways to secure this information and monitor its delivery. Businesses don't look at cybersecurity as a risk of their business just as a shipping company would look at weather risks as a potential threat to their revenue. It is looked at as more of an abstract concept and this stops people from implementing successful strategies to keep their information safe. Cybersecurity shouldn't be viewed as "so impenetrable" that no one would ever understand it. This requires everyone to get involved and understand the implications of cybersecurity on their own work, specifically, and identify who their main adversaries may be.

This article introduces the role of PMS(property management system) to increase ancillary revenue. PMS encourages hotels to be competitive with high-end technology, and to provide the service beyond guests' expectations, which in turn, increases the top line revenue. The first role of PMS can be related to room upselling. With cloud-based hotel technology, hotel staff can know the guests' preferences, so before check-in, they can figure out the guest preference, and based on that, they can offer upselling. This tactic will be helpful for both guests and hotel because hotel can make ancillary revenue by upselling, and guest can get personalized service. Second, PMS system can track the guest journey through the previous visiting record. PMS has personalized record depending on the guest. It means hotel is able to offer the most attractive journey to guests. Third, PMS helps to solve the problem instantly, which increases guest satisfaction. The Internet and lots of applications at hotel deliver the instant responsiveness, and improve guest gratification. It will be related to better reviews and loyalty toward the hotel. As can be seen here, adopting the developed technology helps the hotel to build a good relationship with guests, and increase the number of loyal guests. Lastly, by having employees use mobile devices to check-in guests and solve special requests smoothly with other departments, it enables to build the strong personal relationship with guests, and enhance trust. Depending on the personality of guests, they might or might not like personalized services. However, it is obvious that hotel should offer the right service based on their need or want, at the right time, without giving any pressure to them. It can be the way to drive ancillary revenue by using property management system properly.

One investment that seems to be going well is the use of keyless entry at hotel properties. We already use our phones for more that just the traditional phone calls and texting, so might as well throw room access in there, as well. Hilton Worldwide has introduced this feature through their mobile app and they seem to have much success with it. They found that with this process being implemented, guests are at the front desk for less time and the conversations with front desk associates are "more conversational and less transactional". Hilton plans to expand this keyless entry feature throughout all of its brands through 2016, with more than 170,000 rooms expected to be upgraded. Of course, with it being a technology, flaws are bound to exist. The first fix that is being worked on is the ability to use the keyless system even in the event of a power outage. Also, properties are looking into how to go about extending the battery life of the technology in the doors to prevent any inconveniences for guests.

This is an interesting article that is written by a Data Privacy Lawyer. He outlines the complexity of data privacy in travel given that there are so many different interpretations of what it means in different countries. He also highlights that when privacy might be violated by another individual, there is almost no recourse.

Capterra is a webiste that offers the proper research for businesses to look for a software that works best for them. The article discusses the most popular software solutions that works best for small hotels. The list of the software's discussed already included what reviewers loved, their advice for improvement, and cost. This is a great article for small hotels to look at because it is an easier way for them to select a software that suits them best.

These are the most popular software that are used by small hotels specifically

Smaller hotels run with tighter profit margins. This article discusses the 7 top softwares that are available to a small hotel that have many features i.e. front desk, bookings, food and beverage - all in one software application.

This article is on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) and what the future of the work environment could be. Based on the information published, employers would have the ability to leverage brain activities to effect greater productivity in the workplace. However, since BCIs are capable of detecting the mental state and thoughts of employees, there are many privacy and ethical issues that will certainly be derived from the use of these types of technologies.

"One goal of the new guidelines was to recognize the increasing globalization of the hotel industry, Temling said. "Many of the changes are reflective of what's happening in the world in our industry," he said. "Chains based in the (United States) have generally adopted the guidelines; that's not the problem. But we also hope chains domiciled outside this country will accept the changes outlined in the book." Some of the changes are small, but symbolic, Temling said. In previous editions of the book, accounting for some employee benefits reflected terminologies used by U.S. companies. "Up through the 10th edition, we called it FICA or social security for employees' benefits," Temling said. "This time around we call it social benefit contribution, which is more universally acceptable." Large hotel companies might have more difficulty adopting the new guidelines than will smaller ones, said Michelle Russo, founder and CEO of Hotel Asset Value Enhancement, a hotel asset management and real estate advisory company. She is a member of the financial committee that created the latest edition. "It's actually harder for larger operators because they often have many divisions," she said. Examples she cited affect reporting of telecommunications, labor and segmentation data. "We created a new (information technology) department, and in a large company that is worldwide that operates on multiple accounting platforms, the mapping process is massive," she said, adding that some companies have decided to defer adopting the new IT department guideline until 2016."

This article discuses the changesin technology and increasing globalization in the world with a highlight on the hotel industry. It explains the guidelines large are small hotels take to adjust.

This article explains the changes and increasing globaliztion in the world and hotel industry. It explains the new guidelines and the procedures large and small hotels take.

In Dallas, hotels are trying to bring in technology to make things easier while bringing in a CRS system has just made it more complicated. Since there are so many online requests for hotel rooms the Central Reservation System cannot necessarily keep up with that which could be problem because if it cannot keep up then it is not going to be in a search for a new guest. InterContinental Hotels Groups is updating their CRS with a newer one that can handle the large amount of requests at one time but there is still a problem of speed. We like to see things happen immediately when we want it done and if it does not happen like that we might decide to leave the page and go somewhere else to book causing the company to lose out business. Before the internet when people needed to book hotel rooms and they went to a travel agent the agent would have to call around to see which property had availability, then find out if they property they wanted had specific rooms and rates they are looking for and then finally book the room at the specified rate. As soon as the internet came along the process became easier because it was all right there except not that much easier because it still could not do everything that we wanted it to.

Central Reservation Systems via the internet are good when they want to be and bad when they want to be. If there is a huge meeting booked last minute in a popular city during peak time there is going to be a huge influx of people trying to book hotels online at the same time and the CRS might not work as people would like it to causing people to get angry and not want to go to that specific hotel.

Central Reservation System is really a very good system which can improve the efficiency and speed of the hotel reservation.

This article pretty much outlines the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computers in general, but it speaks of how hoteliers don't fully understand what a cloud is, much less trust to use one. It goes on to explain how cost effective the start up for a cloud network is in terms of hardware, software and time. But, in long term, the monthly payments for web hosting, software hosting, storage, etc are never ending. Although at least these costs are such that you can plan ahead for. There is also a greater vulnerability to hacker attacks in the cloud. Redundancy is an issue as well, since clouds are hosted in a single data center. The article ends with a warning on service providers and the importance of finding the right one for you and your needs.

This is a very informative article and a good source that gives me basic understanding of cloud computing. Some of the aspects of the cloud are same as I expected and some are not. As companies or people using cloud computing don't have to purchase software and equipment to store or manage data, and to upgrade servers frequently, the cloud is a cost effective and efficient alternative. However, it will increase companies operating expenses as it requires monthly bills which might be costly depending on usage.