"When you go to SignUpGenius.com, you'll find services catering to the needs of eight different groups. There are schools, looking for help with organizing parent-teacher conferences, class volunteers, and events such as book fairs. Churches and temples can get help with scheduling nursery workers and greeters. Nonprofits can organize donations and fundraisers. Other groups are clubs and groups, sports, business, family and college. The idea is to attract a range of users, from parents organizing car pools to businesses coordinating employee training schedules. "By going broad, we still haven't scratched the surface," said Angel Rutledge, who is married to Dan and is the chief marketing officer. SignUpGenius' users are 78 percent female, and 80 percent are between the ages of 25 and 54. "Our primary user is a mom with kids," says marketing strategist Kate White. "Most people tend to find us through their kids' activities." Monthly fees range from free to $49.99, where users can get additional features such as cloud file storage and access by multiple administrators. These subscription services were significant, Dan Rutledge says, "because we jumped into the organizational level, from coach to league, from teacher to school." While the Rutledges don't disclose specific financial information of the private company, other numbers illustrate its growth. Revenue in August 2015 increased 225 percent over August 2014, according to the company. Between 120,000 and 190,000 events are organized per month, with a groundswell in August and September, when the school year begins. In 2014, SignUpGenius says 1.4 million new sign-up pages were created. Traffic rose 35 percent last year, to 39.9 million visitors. And the company has grown from 13 employees this spring, to 20 now." This article illustrates the idea of on the event planning and I.T. programs working handing in handing. As an example, the article uses the company SignUpGenius wh

"In Western Europe, we see a similar trend, and social network ad spending per user will remain about half the amount spent in North America throughout our forecast. By contrast, Asia-Pacific social networkers will command only $8.04 each from advertisers trying to reach them this year, and that figure will increase to just $10.54 by 2017. In that region, user bases are still growing significantly while spending still lags. Social Network Ad Spending per Social Network User Worldwide, by Region, 2013-2017 The US and China will be the leading individual countries in social network ad spending for the foreseeable future, collectively commanding more than half the worldwide market throughout our forecast period. This year, advertisers in the US will spend $9.59 billion on social ads, up 31.0% from 2014 and more than double the amount they spent in 2013. By the end of our forecast period, social network advertising in the US will total $14.40 billion-just shy of 20% of all digital ad spending countrywide. In China, ad spending on social networks will reach $3.41 billion this year and is expected to increase to $6.11 billion in 2017, or 12.5% of all digital ad dollars in the country. At a company level, unsurprisingly, Facebook is dominating the paid social advertising landscape globally. eMarketer estimates that in 2015, the company will make $15.50 billion in ad revenues, or 65.5% of all social network ad spending worldwide. That portion is up from 2014, when Facebook owned 64.5% of the social ad market. Twitter is also gaining share, expected to take 8.8% of global social network ad spending, or $2.09 billion, up from 7.1% share in 2014. LinkedIn, the other major US-based social ad seller for which eMarketer forecasts ad revenues, will make $900 million in advertising this year, but its share of global social ad spend will dip to 3.8%, down from 4.2% last year." This article states the increase in e-marketing expenses companies are willing to pay in order for th

"Indeed, consumer-facing technologies were the highest priority for the surveyed cohort of IT professionals. The other important areas of tech upgrades are adding bandwidth to on-property systems (especially as the industry trends towards personal content consumption), and preparing for the upcoming shift in North America to the chip-and-pin technology. Screen Shot 2015-01-26 at 12.12.53 PM The rise of mobile payments also poses a technology quandary to hotels, as there are currently competing standards without a clear winner. The reality of multi-brand mobile payments is also that there will likely be several winners, and guests might wish to pay via a variety of mobile-first payment systems in the near future. Migrating to the cloud continues to be a priority for many respondents. Services across the boar are being transitioned from on-property to the cloud, including PMS (15% moving to cloud), sales and catering (14%), POS(14%) and CRM (12%). The security of this data is obviously also a concern, with many hotel technologists seeing securing data as a clear priority. As the shift to cloud-based services continues, hotels must spend more money on security to prevent breaches or other embarrassing lapses. Mid-tier brands are the most likely this year to see an increased focus on security, investing 10.39% of budgets in security and PCI compliance. That's compared with only 6.87% last year." Hotels are investing in technology to better serve a more tech savvy consumer. By adding systems who cater to mobile devices and mobile computing, hotels are expanding their customer base. A transition has even begun to cloud based services.

"Today's systems now generally include channel management capabilities, including a web booking engine and global distribution system connectivity to automate transactions with booking agents. Many systems now integrate with third-party technologies like point-of-sale (POS) software, accounting software, keycard and access control systems, self-service kiosks, internet and telephone systems and in-room refreshment (minibar) and entertainment applications. Some systems now come with marketing and sales tools for creating targeted promotions and campaigns based on individual guest profiles, behaviors and preferences. Some systems also include robust data analysis capabilities for generating business intelligence, including insights into emerging trends. Built-in customer relationship management features can help engender higher levels of guest satisfaction, which invariably leads to not only more repeat stays but also a larger volume of positive brand advocacy - e.g., favorable reviews on TripAdvisor and other popular sites - ultimately translating into increased hotel occupancy rates and revenue per available room (RevPAR)." This article explains the advancement of PMS systems in contrast to the traditional POS software and its limitations. Todays PMS systems offer not only booking capabilities but operational room features as well. Market capabilities are now also available directly from these new PMS system which were previously handled elsewhere.

"Recent global data released by TravelClick projects 2015 to be a record year for bookings through global distribution systems, the channel used when guests book through traditional travel agents. TravelClick is projecting 62 million bookings through GDSes in 2015, which is up from 61 million in 2014 and 42 million during the depths of the recession in 2009. According to the data, a total of $12 billion in revenue was booked across all channels in the second quarter in the top 50 global markets, encompassing 69 million roomnights. GDS bookings covered 16.3% of those bookings. The highest portion of bookings came through direct bookings (36.9%), followed by Web bookings (22.5%). Central reservations system bookings (12.8%) and OTA bookings (10.2%) represent the remaining portion. GDS bookings have managed to hold their share of transient bookings through the past two years, staying steady at 19.1% during the second quarter of each year. The total revenue from transient bookings in the top 50 markets during the second quarter grew year over year from $11.5 billion in 2014 to $11.8 billion this year. " This article elaborates the rise in current and predicted bookings by GDS systems in the Hospitality industry. Over 12 billion dollars in revenue has been recorded thanks to the rise of GDS systems. This revenue has managed to hold on to a steady rise since over the last 5 years. If projections are correct, revenue in top markets will only grow larger.

With the demand for sustainability initiatives by consumers, hotel are having to make major changes in order to oblige. Sustainability has become a major concern for many consumers and businesses have taken notice. As a result, major hotel chains across country have begun to put in order plans to make changes to their daily operations. As noted in the article by L.A. Times, changes have been made to features such as water usage, machinery operations and even landscaping design . These changes and updates are in the hopes to attract a wider consumer market which now includes Eco-friendly travelers.

This articles breaks down the importance of a resourceful management system in terms of needs and wants. It also illustrates how management must truly understand their organization before deciding on what system to acquire. Without identifying your organizations' short ends, decisions on a wrong system can not only be costly but hurt your hotel in the long run. The article then continues to break down steps in which rational decision making can be made.