This article is a great guide for how a bar or restaurant can best use facebook to promote their business. Most of us are personal users of facebook but there are tools especially useful for businesses that will make your page more visited and legitimate for your guests. The article lists 20 tips for maximizing facebook, I think the most impactful would be how your page interacts with other pages. The business page can interact regularly with others, vendors, guests, neighborhood businesses. Participate in discussions that are relevant with sincere comments (not just shameless plugs) and participate in paid facebook marketing. Facebook is a marketing tool that can be more than superficial and can help businesses reach their customers where they are. Spending time on this communication channel is a valuable use of resources if done with strategy.

The article discusses different ways that events can maximize the use of their data pre, during and post event. Using their registration software analytics, you should pay attention to which channels are most successful and monitor abandonments, which can be followed up on individually. Skipping a lengthy registration questionnaire at the beginning makes it easier for guests to sign up and then its recommended to follow up with an invitation to 'join the community' where you can dig deeper into their details and find out what they are really interested in. Utilizing a social component allows guests to promote different activities to each other and those not yet signed up. I think the most important take away from the article is to have software that can be compatible with other functions that are taking place around the event including payment, sponsor management, merchandise sales, early bird and walk up registrations. Having all of this data in one place allows an event organizer to analyze and share it with internal stakeholders on the sales and marketing teams but also sponsors that want detailed guest information to show the ROI on their sponsorship.

The article discusses ransomware attacks on hospitality properties. A 2016 attack left guests locked out of their rooms but the threat could affect different areas of a hospitality business and cause significant disruption to their business. Properties need to be prepared for a security breach with an action plan to prevent cyber-attack. The article points out that it's important to act quickly to segment the network and try to prevent any new devices from being infected. Best practice recommends regular backups and a recovery plan, using anti malware software and being cautious with employee installed software. The most important thing a company can do is to be proactive and prepared for an attack.

This article touches on how it is critical for restaurants to embrace technology in order to maintain a loyal customer base. What I found to be the most important point was the importance of compatible technology. The article recommends having technology that can track inventory, reservations, sell, manage employees. The value of this is measured and 2.1 times the ROI of a traditional onsite POS. The article recommends online ordering, points out that 2/3 of fast casual customers plan to order online this year, and that the average ticket size is 26% over the regular order. I agree with the author that a restaurant owner's choice to embrace technology can make or break their business.

The article talks about a new integration between three platforms already used in restaurants and other independent businesses; Lightspeed, Intuit QuickBooks Online, and Planday. This collaboration allows for the three components to communicate and report on inventory, sales information, ledger accounts, employee shifts, payroll and more. Having these tools combined will allow operators to save time, increase accuracy, but also to have insight into their business performance to make better decisions. The integrated solution is only available on iOS at roll out. I think a series of tools like this could greatly simplify the accounting process for restaurants and allow them to be more accurate with their accounting. This integration will allow even very small companies to make strategic decisions regarding pricing, staffing, inventory and other expense centers improving the overall business.

This article focuses specifically on online ordering and take out (not dine in properties). The strongest point made is that the POS should be able to take online, mobile, phone and in person orders. Flexibility and options for ordering onling shoudl be user friendly and be customer focused. The system should have features for suggestive selling and add-ons, something that a customer is likely to do when ordering from home. Additional features like delivery dispatch and tracking are also recommended. The final item noted by the article for restaurant owners to be mindful of is the hardware needed to operate the POS. Making sure that each in store POS has all of the peripherals necessary to complete the order process and that any employees who may be using their own devices can all connect appropriately. A full service restaurant would have different requirements in a POS so I think it's important to note that a takeout place has unique needs and more impressed on speed and accuracy than other styles of service may be.

The article talks about the increased innovation in PMS and hotel systems overall and how technology is necessary to meet guest expectations. The integration of all hotel systems including the PMS allows for an enhanced guest experience. Hoteliers will have a better perspective of their guests and be better able to anticipate requests and manage pricing etc. A suggested new technology in the article is artificial intelligence chat-bots that can respond and assist with customer inquiries. Additionally the use of mobile is a tool that can empower hotel guests to communicate with the property the same way they use their smartphone for so many other activities. With the proper mobile integration with the PMS a guest could order room service to any location on property, view media and make requests. A combination of highly integrated PMS and hotel software with top notch customer service will provide an exceptional experience that will exceed guest expectations.

The article about "smart glass" discusses a new glass product that has Internet protocol and electrical power connections that allow the tinting to be adjusted or follow a program. Mentioned briefly in the article is another electrochromatic glass, SageGlass, produced by the French materials giant, Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA. The pitch of the American company reviewed in the article, View, is that it will lower temperature control costs by 20% and that installation is also significantly less expensive than traditional glass. When installed as a test for DFW airport the restaurant in that area benefited from the more confortable atmosphere and lingering customers with an increase in alcohol sales of 80%. The intended benefit of saving on cooling cost and customer satisfaction is actually resulting in improved profits, this is the type of green technology that companies will gladly implement, because it helps their bottom line. I think this product is an all around win and improvement for airports, hotels, stadiums and any desitnation that has lots of large windows, the product is cost effective, improves customer satisfaction and increases revenue while using less energy for cooling.

This article contains an interview with the CEO of the payments technology company Affirm, Max Levchin. Affirm, established in 2012, is a payment technology firm that allows for travelers to pay for trips via a monthly payment plan. The company fully pays the travel provider and then is responsible for collecting the funds from the traveler. The payment does not need to be paid in full prior to travel. Levchin says that this product is attractive to companies because airline and hotels don't have to worry about interchange, processing fees and fraud. It benefits consumers because they are able to book early when prices are lower instead of "saving up" to book closer to the date of travel, when the trip is more expensive. They have seen an increase in advance bookings with Affirm for trips over $250. He suggests that this will disrupt traditional travel industry e-commerce and make travel more accessible.

This article reviews a survey conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association which reveals that 23% of consumers say they have been misled by third-party traveler re-sellers. The article further explains the Federal Trade Commission's investigation of one of these companies, Reservation Counter, LLC which resulted in legal action. The article concludes that to protect consumers AHLA will support legislation known as the Stop Online Booking Scams Acts and strongly encourages travelers to book directly through the hotel or trusted travel agent. I think we are seeing the AHLA's opposition to OTA's in defense of hotel properties that want direct booking. The protection of customers is important, but it seems like an implied warning of ligitimate OTA's like www.booking.com.

This weekend at the National Restaurant Association conference Coca-Cola has unveiled a Bluetooth enabled fountain drink machine. The beverage market is highly competitive and Coke thinks that Smartphone ordering could give them an advantage. The previous version of this machine which is installed in 50,000 locations used an app and QR codes for ordering. The new Freestyle 9100 relies on Bluetooth and has other capabilities that are not yet activated including a microphone for voice ordering. This machine will allow guests to customize their beverages and is expected to build more meaningful customer relationships between them and the brand. A stronger relationship could lead to more purchases. Coca-cola will also gain valuable insight on their consumers drinking habits, the original iteration of the machine reported a popular combination of sprite and cherry soda, Coke has now introduced this mix in packaged form. I think that this technology has so far proven that it brings Coke closer to their consumers and simplifying the use process by going from an app to Bluetooth will only make it more accessible to consumers.