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laurenperdomo

https://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/finance/recognizing-signs-embezzlement - 1 views

  • “Things to look out for are uneven income flows, changes in patterns of income or net profits, and odd tipping patterns on credit cards,”
  • “Other unusual activity can include people who are adamant about working together or picking certain shifts, shipments paid for that aren’t delivered, and straight-out theft of product, cash, or drinks.”
  • Looking for things such as stacks of quarters by a bar till and unmarked bottles in a bar break can signal that an employee is keeping track of money in the register.”
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  • “There’s often skimming of the register, voiding of tickets, and wasting of food,” he said. “As you move to the back office, there’s a lot more opportunity to handle cash and receipts, create phony vendor companies, and use company cards for personal purchases.”
  • At the end of the day, the only way you’ll ever know if there’s a thief among the ranks is by performing regular checks and audits.
  • The owner should have a firm hand on all activities, change shifts and responsibilities, and a firm hand on the cash and checkbook,”
  • “Other recommended tactics include paid professional spotters, and, of course, security cameras, especially at the bar.”
  • “It’s important to have a bookkeeper in charge of the everyday numbers and an accountant, preferable a CPA, to review the books. This provides a nice check and balance if the owner is not overly hands-on or proficient with numbers.”
  • “Simply monitoring employees and ensuring a system of oversight will lessen the likelihood that a normally compliant employee will be tempted into a crime of opportunity,”
  • “Run a transparent inventory to ensure employees know you are tracking usage. Beware of employees wearing large coats or clothing out of season and suspicious behavior.”
  • “It’s easy to look at the bookkeeper, but it can come from anywhere. Start by looking through the profit-and-loss statement every few weeks; it will show symptoms. And don’t have a set routine; show up to work randomly.”
  •  
    This article mentions ways in which an owner can detect if theft is taking place at his restaurant, ways in which this could be prevented and also what do in the case of an actual theft.
  •  
    This article have mentioned the reality that restaurant theft and embezzlement are pretty common and are causing problems, yet the most owners and managers are not willing to deal with the issues with law enforcement. The reasons include unwilling to ruin the employees' lives and the threshold of establishing a theft case. However, the article suggested that seeking advice from accountants (preferably CPAs) and lawyers is a brilliant way of dealing with these issues. It can give the owner better understandings of the situation, and deal with the wrongdoers in a cleverer way.
cleon087

Three Ways to Overcome Hotel Accounting Challenges - 3 views

  • Adopting a cloud-based reporting system can offer seamless labor monitoring and management from clock-in to paycheck while giving hoteliers on-demand management of earnings to manage transactions in real time.
  • Adopting an operations management platform that allows hoteliers to import data into one centralized dashboard combines critical accounting and performance data to aid hoteliers in identifying trends and making more informed decisions.
  • . The global travel industry shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, so hotels must incorporate cutting-edge technology to streamline operations, optimize labor management, and access critical data while preparing for the next unexpected event.
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  • Whether the needs are short-term or necessitate a longer plan, hotel-specific accountants can scale on demand to offer the needed expertise and ramp up quickly.
  • oteliers are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners to balance these challenges. Below are three ways that smart accounting solutions can address unique needs of hotels.
  • Most hoteliers have access to an array of data sets, including STR reports, PMS data, guest satisfaction surveys, comments, and financial data from multiple properties.
  • Managing payroll is a constant challenge, so it’s critical for hoteliers to have a way to monitor daily labor costs, manage overtime, oversee daily payroll transactions, and have access to simple reporting functions
  • Hotels live or die on the ebb and flow of fluctuations in their business. In-house accounting teams are regularly affected by a variety of foreseeable events such as seasonality, portfolio turn-over, and one-time events, but also unexpected events such natural disasters.
  • fastest growing sectors in the world
  • to threats from multiple fronts
  • ncreased importance on price, quality, and the level of services
    • cleon087
       
      They're looking for more value for their buck and being more critical.
  • can help increase revenue, minimize costs, and maximize profits without affecting service quality.
  • . One hotel can have part-time, full-time, and tipped employees
    • cleon087
       
      This is what makes our business so unique. Every employee, even IT should be prepared for interacting with a guest.
  • Hoteliers may have a difficult time deciphering what story the data is telling and which levers to pull to remedy an issue or to replicate success.
    • cleon087
       
      Sometimes too much data can also be a negative thing. You want to focus on the numbers that are crucial.
  • Adopting an operations management platform that allows hoteliers to import data into one centralized dashboard combines critical accounting and performance data to aid hoteliers in identifying trends and making more informed decisions.
    • cleon087
       
      Receiving the information in one place can really impact the business for the better in order to make better decisions.
  •  
    This article jumps into some challenges facing the hotel industry with respects to accounting. It touches on various topics we have gone through as a course, and ends with an emphasis on technology.
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  •  
    Thank you for sharing. I found it a good read as it gives a brief description on some of the different platforms that are out there.
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    The article goes into detail about ways to overcome accounting challenges in the hotel industry, ranging from Cloud based programs to report labor, to having back-up accounting teams as workloads can increase due to seasonality and holiday stays.
  •  
    Due to the changes in the industry the accounting branch of hospitality has had to encounter several changes. They are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners in order to figure out all aspects. Accounting information is now mostly online and all digital therefore changes need to be made since the common way of keeping records was papers.
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    Hospitality businesses are becoming more and more profit-focused and guests are thinking that higher prices mean higher level of service. This simply isnt so. Perhaps not all hotels have the same amenities and activities, however, all hotels and resorts should have more or less the same exemplary service so that prices become less of an issue in the future.
  •  
    This article is about the hospitality businesses are becoming more cost- and profit-conscious and guests are placing increased importance on price, quality, and the level of services they receive. These unique challenges require hotels to be nimble, educated, and equipped with the latest technology to streamline processes and drive financial performance. Owners rely more and more on financial benchmarking data to ensure they are getting the most out of each asset and each management contract. Hoteliers are turning to robust accounting tools and hotel-specific accounting partners to balance these challenges.
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    Accounting for hotel properties is the backbone that holds the property to its up filling standard in the hospitality industry. These departments are often faced with major setbacks on a daily bases that require special attention, whether its to balance book, handle unexpected turn overs and natural disasters. However due to many technology advances many properties are installing software that easily and better assists the accounting department from constant overwhelming situations. Systems that allow other department to help with monitoring overtime, payroll and transactions.
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    This article talks about the need for hoteliers to be up to date with technology. By having systems that have all the data in one place, helps owners make better decisions. Also having an accounting system that helps with making decisions and offer the proper tools is imperative. When it comes to accounting it is important to be prepared for the worst case scenario.
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    Although I'm not a 100 percent fan on the cloud base systems, technology is ever changing and i somewhat believe that we should keep up with it providing that it is in out best benefit personally or from a business security point of view. We see how this article reveal to us challenges and how technology helps alleviate some of them.
abroo041

The Advantages of Hotels Using a Global Distribution System (GDS) - 0 views

    • abroo041
       
      This article discusses the advantages of GDS in the hospitality industry. It allows companies to update their data in real-time and allows travel agents and online travel agents to share this information with their customers. GDS's are beneficial to companies because they can reach new markets, and increase revenue. They are beneficial to travel agents because they provide instant updates, growth in their businesses, and a heightened ability to reach and serve the corporate market.
  • it places the hotel’s information, availability and rates in prominent locations where it is easy for travel agents to find. It helps hotels maximise their bookings during any given time period while also reaching powerful travel markets that are willing to spend money in order to book the best room available.
  • It is a business-to-business system used by companies to stay on top of real-time data about the availability of travel arrangements, such as hotel rooms, to sell them to customers planning to travel.
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  • help hotel managers uncover new market segments to promote their products.
  • GDS Hotel bookings often result in multiple nights stays.
  • The main purpose of a global distribution system is to help travel agents search for hotel accommodations that fit a set of criteria.
  • Agent increase in use of GDS systems over the past 2 years:USA- 30%, Latin America- 49% , Europe & Middle East-47%, APAC-64%.
  • agents have access to live rates and availability
  • The number of bookings generated through a GDS generally outpaces that of direct bookings.
  • GDS is an important mix into larger properties’ distribution channels.
jwilc019

MultiBrief: How hospitality will become more sustainable in 2020 - 1 views

  • It seems that hotel sustainability is going to top all hospitality trends in 2020.
  • creating innovations to contain the current wasteful way of living. The development and deployment of green technology will help proactive businesses drive change.
  • Preventing waste will be a predominant theme across all sub-sectors.
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  • “three-zero-concept” approach, which entails prioritizing energy management and lower emissions; using local construction materials and skills; and introducing life-cycle management into the building process.
  • According to research, hotels must reduce their carbon emissions by 66% by 2030 to ensure that growth in the sector is sustainable
  • Heat exchangers that use the exhaust heat to preheat water — an innovative way to achieve waste heat recovery — will grow in number.
  • To achieve the goal of reducing resource use, pollution, and waste hotels are installing high-resolution resource monitoring. They are also coming up with more apps that can engage staff and guests in sustainability and food waste reduction.
  • Eco-friendliness is no longer a nice-to-have concept. It has now evolved into a must-have
  • According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, the number of eco-inspired trips taken by the end of this year will be close to 1.6 billion worldwide.
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    This article was pre-COVID and budgetary restraints I fear will force many initiatives to be placed on the back burner for a while. What I really liked about this article is that it shows the hospitality industry being a driving force in sustainability technologies and taking accountability for amount of resources it uses and waste it produces. I found the "three-zero-concept" particularly interesting for new builds, since it takes a ground-up approach to sustainability. It talks about education and training for staff, which is extremely important for sustainability initiatives to be successful. The article highlights different protocols being used to lower waste, emissions, pollution, and natural resources used.
mtedd003

Event Technology: The 2019 Guide - 0 views

  • Event technology is any digital tool that helps planners complete tasks pertaining to their work as event organizers. Types of event technology include but are not limited to event marketing software, event management software and mobile event apps.
  • Before event technology, hosting an event was a very manual process. Attendee lists needed to be drafted contact by contact in Excel or on-paper.
  • Today, event marketers have a complex array of technologies to choose from. Everything from marketing to ticket sales to data collection can easily be added to an organized event tech stack.
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  • Things like building websites, increasing event registrations, and email promotion are all made possible thanks to event technology.
  • While some event tools require manual data entry, others might automatically capture information for you. Some tools might perform competing tasks while other might actually work better together.
  • consider your business goals
  • Venue sourcing tools are any event technology program that allows event planners to search, browse, and filter through venue options
  • There are many tools for finding event venues and spaces but here are some options to consider:
  • EventUP allows organizers to directly message venue owners. They have a wide selection ranging from corporate event venues to private dinner party spaces.
  • Your event website is an important digital portal for prospects and attendees to get acquainted with your upcoming affair. Important details, registration and ticketing options, and additional marketing materials are all located here. These tools help you create this important piece of your event puzzle.
  • Tools for event registration offer users different ways to increase and facilitate attendee conversions. Some event registration tools specialize specifically in event registration but can integrate with other event technologies.
  • Event agenda tools help attendees learn about, select, customize and navigate their activities during your event.
  • If you want to drive people to your event, you will need a strong event promotion strategy. It also helps to have the help of event technology that was built just for this purpose.
  • email list segmentation and social media leveraging that turns attendees into brand ambassadors.
  • Getting feedback from event stakeholders is made possible with the help of live event surveys and polls.
  • Software integrations are what ultimately create a seamless workflow for your event planning process. There are three main types: open API integrations, native integrations, and third-party integrations.
  • s the competition within the event technology industry has grown, so too has the importance of providing easy to use tools for event marketers.
  • event ROI (51% according to the 2018 Event Marketing Benchmarks and Trends Report). This means that working towards event ROI clarity is a high priority task for many planners.
  • In addition to increasing labor productivity by 40%, organizers will be able to use artificial intelligence to efficiently allocate and spend their time.
  • Choose wisely.
  • Consider market trends
  • Sort through the noise.
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    Event Technology is constantly being innovated in order to keep up with current market trends. AI is now becoming a future trend in event management software but with so many new technologies for events out there it becomes critical to keep up with also considering ROI. User-friendliness for example reflects both the consumer and the event company. When deciding a new product it is important to consider all the strengths and weaknesses of the product.
tredunbar

10 Best E-commerce Practices for Hotels - SmartGuests.com Blog - 0 views

  • Make sure your photos accurately represent your property
  • Invest in a good professional photographer
  • Regularly update your photos
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  • Link your website to your social media networks
  • Display guest testimonials
  • in ecommerce, the goal is to minimize friction in the buying process, or in the case of hotels, in the booking process
  • Avoid long checkout forms and asking for too much information
  • Having an easy to understand URL structure
  • you should always be reachable to answer questions
  • hotel’s customer service hotline or 1-800 number
  • customer support email
  • Live chat tab
  • Use autofill for your forms
  • Scarcity.
  • A lot of hotel bookings are now taking place via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Majority of these bookings are last minute bookings, which means those who book via mobile devices are those who are in need of a hotel accommodation on the same day.
  • it is important for you to demonstrate that your website can handle financial transactions safely.
  • Prominently display your SSL certificate and display security icons on your checkout page
  • Provide a guarantee statement that you won’t save any of the financial information
  • Only use payment gateways or ecommerce systems that are proven secure
  • email still produces the highest return on investment (ROI) compared to other marketing platforms.
  • marketing experts say that the money is in the list
  • Whatever technique you use, make sure that you offer a guarantee that you will respect their privacy
  • Persuasion elements are basically marketing techniques that you can use to compel travelers to book with your hotel and not with your competitors
  • Urgency
  • Base your call to action on the content of the page
  • Extraordinary proof points
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    This article focuses on the important drivers that hotels can employ to seal the deal with online booking. Hotels should consistently update their websites with links to their social media, guest testimonials and high quality photos while also making it easy to book a room. It is also suggested that websites be mobile friendly, easy to navigate and secure in processing financial transactions. Prominently featuring contact information along with a way to collect email information, ensures that the property can reach out to the guest and vice versa. A hotel can seal a booking transaction with a call to action by using techniques such as urgency and scarcity as persuasion points.
esuarezrijsdijk

Trends in Events and Meetings That Will Shape 2020 - By Lauren Hall, Founder & CEO, IVvy - 1 views

  • we’ve pieced together those innovations and trends across the event and event planning industry that are positioned to shape the next decade
  • it’s important to remember that the experience doesn’t begin and end with the stay or the event itself; instead, it starts before a planner books your venue, long before that first attendee checks-in.
  • When hotels and venue spaces utilize a venue management platform, they’re able to effectively market their space globally, while catering specifically to the needs and process of modern planners.
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  • In the modern world of events, it’s not just about large-scale experiences and conferences. In fact, meeting and small group travel make up a significant portion of the growing demand.
  • Ensure your venue space is equipped for events and meetings of various scale, and work closely with planners to ensure an attentive, personalized experience while bringing their event or meeting to life.
  • event planners are frequently opting for non-traditional settings for their events
  • Hotels should keep in mind that the nature of events may be “non-traditional” as well.
  • In that same breath, we’re witnessing the rapid rise in popularity of wellness-focused events, interactive live experiences, experiencing enhancing AI and VR components, Instagram-worthy backdrops, events centered around sustainability, and more.
  • event planners and venue owners are implored to leverage event technology in a way that strikes a balance between face-to-face and virtual elements. It’s not about using technology for every moment or touch-point, but about using new-age features and platforms to create a frictionless event, engage attendees on a deeper level, and create meaningful, memorable experiences.
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    This article provides a concise overview of trends in event planning. First, the importance of the pre-stay experience is addressed, with a mention of venue management technology as an important tool in this regard. Secondly, being prepared to host events of various scales is discussed. Thirdly, alternative venue spaces and experiences are mentioned as fundamental aspects of the current event planning sphere. Finally, the balance between state of the art technology and a personal human touch is brought up as being a defining features of events going forward.
jamigovaerts

How proximity marketing can help the high street | The Drum - 0 views

  • beacons haven’t taken over the marketing world in the way so many predicted, however, some of the world’s biggest brands are redefining the customer experience with proximity marketing - with or without beacons.
  • Amazon is trying to reshape the in-store customer experience with a fleet of Amazon Go stores where customers can simply walk in, pick the items they want and walk right out - no queues and no physical payments action whatsoever.
  • One of the most successful uses of proximity marketing also happens to be one of the oldest, though. The Starbucks mobile app allows customers to place orders, pay in-store, collect rewards and receive custom offers from the biggest name in high street coffee.
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  • shopping habits are changing and online spending continues to increase. Yet, there are parts of the consumer journey that online-only technology can’t fulfil - and this is where retailers need to innovate most.
  • The technology that powers proximity marketing is only going to improve as smart cities grow and IoT becomes a part of our everyday lives. But the technology, in its current state, is already there to redefine customer experiences and the way consumers engage with brands, based on their immediate location.
  • When Apple launched iBeacons in 2013, proximity marketing became the industry’s favourite trend. With the right technology, this hyper-localised strategy was supposed to bridge the divide between online content and offline consumer action but Apple’s iBeacon platform ultimately failed to take off.
  •  
    Module 6: Proximity Marketing This article focuses on the use of proximity marketing in 2020, and discusses how beacons have not taken over the offline and online market like Apple and Google originally hoped they would. Discussed in the article is how Amazon is utilizing proximity marketing in their Amazon Go stores This technology in a COVID-19 world will allow shoppers the flexibility to go outside of their homes and continue to social distance as all payments occur as, " customers can simply walk in, pick the items they want and walk right out - no queues and no physical payments action whatsoever." Similar to Starbucks where guests pay directly on their phones, the proximity marketing market will continue to grow as technology continues to advance. According to the article, "The technology, in its current state, is already there to redefine customer experiences and the way consumers engage with brands, based on their immediate location."
khadija2050

What is an Human Resources Information System (HRIS)? A Full Guide - 1 views

  • used to collect and store data on an organization’s employees.
  • be cloud-based
  • . This means that the software is running outside of the company’s premises, making it much easier to update.
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  • these systems are also called Human Capital Management systems, or HCM. In this article, we will use the terms HRIS and HRIS systems interchangeably.
  • keeps track of changes to anything related to employees
  • ability to offer self-service HR to employees and managers.
  • This includes material for the identification for employees in case of theft, fraud, or other misbehaviors, first contact information in case of accidents, citizens identification information for the tax
  • one plac
  • the tracking of data required to advance the HR and business strategy. Depending on the priorities of the organization, different data will be essential to track. This is where the HRIS comes in.
  • Record-keeping
  • time and attendance data from employees
  • Payroll automates the pay process of employee
  • is benefits management
  • This software handles all the company’s recruiting needs. It tracks candidate information and resumes,
  • allows HR to track qualification, certification, and skills of the employees, as well as an outline of available courses for company employees. This module is often referred to as an LMS, or Learning Management System, when it’s a stand-alone
  • talent pipeline and having replacements available
  • having employees and their direct supervisors manage their own data
  • involves the analysis of this data for better-informed decision making. We’ll explain more about this in the section below.
  • databases that record a company’s transactions. An example of a transaction is when an employee joins the company.
  • It includes modules on talent management, workforce rewards, workforce management, and work-life solutions.
  • They simply haven’t been designed for this. In addition, not all HRIS systems have all the above functionalities build-in.
  • as it means that data is dispersed into multiple systems. In order to report data, a new layer needs to be added on top of all HR systems to report and analyze the HR data.
  • These include Workday, Oracle, SAP, ADP, Ceridian, Kronos, and more. Listing all the HRIS suppliers would be impossible, so we decided to explicitly mention the four HCMs that are considered to be leaders.
  • they offer different suites including recruiting, learning, performance management, and an e-learning LMS.
  • Workday is arguably one of the best-known HRIS out there
  • These are systems that keep track of a company’s resources, which include among other things financial assets, orders, and people. In 2011, SAP acquired SuccessFactors,
  • . They are
  • HR, payroll, and talent management. Systems include time and attendance, onboarding, performance management, compensation, succession
  • on-the-job training to HR professionals in the use of the system. This function is usually in the IT arm of the HR department.
  • provides support for the HRIS. This includes researching and resolving HRIS problems and being a liaison with other parts of the business, like finance/payroll.
  • This means improving the employee experience in using the systems, coming up with user-friendly innovations, and implementing new policies to be reflected in the system.
  • IT is useful to understand the intricacies of the system while HRM helps to understand the processes that the HRIS is supporting.
  • the specific demands of the different stakeholders inside the company are inquired about.
  • you choose an implementation partner,
  • Here the functional and technical requirements for infrastructure,
  • a core test team is created.
  • communication plans need to be created, and Frequently Asked Question and other support documents created to benefit the software implementation and uptake.
  • the system can Go-Live. Feedback needs to be constantly collected and training material updated with the evolving systems. Cons
  •  
    the articles gives a detailed definition of the HRIS and the benefits it presents to companies . it also touches on different platforms that companies decide to choose to work on the HRIS.
sdavi111

How Augmented Reality (AR) is Reshaping the Food Service Industry | by echoAR | echoAR | Medium - 0 views

  • AR is applied in a variety of cases, from streamlining staff training, through visualizing dishes and menus, to enhancing the customer
  • experienc
  • food s
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  • Restaurants can use AR to present of their dishes, promote their menu, and upsell items by offering true-to-scale 3D visual representations of their food.
  • 19 Crimes has used AR to enhance their wine bottles and provide more information on the pictures of 18th century British prisoners
  • highlighted on their bottle label
  • Bud Light partnered with the Washington Capitals to provide fans with AR games using Bud Light coasters in local bars near the Capital One
  •  
    Coming from a catering and cooking background I was happy to discover how many ways AR is being used. As soon as we started exploring this topic the first thing that came to mind was what an amazing selling tool this would be. Whenever i sit with clients they always ask me if I have pictures of parties we have done and food we have served. Being able to show it to them with a 3D perspective will make it all the more appealing. The goal of your first meeting with a client is to make them excited about what you have to offer and make not decide not to meet with any other caterers! Take it a step further and what an amazing selling tool it would be if you could say take a picture of a persons backyard where the party is being held and you could place a picture of your buffet so they can actually visualize what it will look like. I am very excited about the potential of this technology
kmill139

Why the U.S. is Terrible at Recycling Electronics | Digital Trends - 0 views

  • E-waste in the United States is out of control.
  • You may assume America has to at least be on par with the rest of the first world when finding a forever home for computers, phones, and printers, but you’d be wrong.
  • Those millions of old motherboards and TVs consoles rotting in landfills and warehouses aren’t just eyesores. They amount to a massive health hazard. While electronics waste comprises only 2-3 percent of America’s solid waste stream, the lead, cadmium, chromium, and other materials in aging circuitry account for 70 percent of the hazardous material in landfills, according to an EPA report.
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  • Others go belly up, leaving behind millions of pounds of old gadgets piled in mountainous heaps atop land which has lead levels many times normal.
  • You’re probably not screaming into a paper bag about the $20 billion or so of gold that’s trashed in electronics every year worldwide. Precious metals come and go. But if you care about the soil that comprises the land of the brave, you should start thinking about what happened to last year’s smartphone (even if it’s just sitting in the garage).
  • This list of reasons isn’t exhaustive, but serves as a solid starting point for understanding the United States’ e-waste dilemma and what can be done.
  • U.S. e-waste recycling laws are often outdated or nonexistent
  • Only 25 states (plus Washington, D.C.) have legislation that addresses e-waste recycling. The other 25 don’t have comprehensive programs, and don’t report what happens to the electronics beyond occasional voluntary numbers, says Jason Linnell, head of the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER). Federal laws don’t explicitly address e-waste recycling.
  • The U.S. isn’t good at recycling
  • The current level and effectiveness of e-waste recycling depends on which state you live in and whether or not you trust locals to “do the right thing.” The hope for improvement sits with congressional reps, state lawmakers, manufacturers, and gadget freaks (yes, you).
  • Single-stream recycling hasn’t helped
  • Between 2005 and 2014, single stream recycling programs increased from 29 to 80 percent in American towns and cities. During that same time period, material contamination rates increased from 7 to 25 percent.
  • E-waste legislation regularly disappears in Congress
  • This is not the first Congressional session in which similar bills have been introduced and allowed to die like a first grade classroom goldfish on summer break. SEERA currently sits with the house’s Foreign Affairs Committee. Why is it so tough to pass e-waste legislation?
  • The U.S. is an environmental rogue
  • As of late 2018, 186 states and the European Union have ratified it and follow its legal framework. The United States has signed the Basel Convention, indicating an intent to ratify, but is the only developed nation that hasn’t actually done so, which
  • After the initial Basel Convention was adopted in 1989, many organizations said the treaty didn’t do enough to address the disposal of waste from first world countries into the developing world, and pressed for an update, which eventually became 1995’s Basel Ban Amendment. The tweak — which was attacked by many industrial powers, including the U.S., Canada, and Japan — needed three decades before it was accepted by enough countries to go into effect. In August 2019, Croatia became the 97th country to ratify it, which transformed the updated stipulations into international law in December 2019.
  • EPA regulations are incomplete
  • Federal attempts at regulation have stalled, been killed
  • U.S. pushes back against international efforts
  • As a part of the 2003 Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive), the public was guaranteed free recycling services, and conveniently located collection centers. Around the same time, the EU also passed the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS), aka the “lead-free directive,” which restricts the use of several toxic materials in the manufacture of circuitry and electronic products.
  • In Japan, the Association for Electric Home Appliances requires consumers to help pay for the processing of their goods and manufacturers to set up recycling programs. Electronics recycling has been promoted as such a point of national pride — because Japan is both a huge consumer of gadgets and the country has few indigenous precious metals — that there’s serious talk of making the 2020 Tokyo Olympic metals out of recycled materials. An estimated 80,000 cell phones need to be pulled apart and picked over to complete the plan.
  • State-level e-cycling programs are uneven
  • Certified e-cycling programs are important, but also confusing
  • If you’re the compliance officer who has to make sure the company’s used servers don’t wind up getting tossed in an Indonesian landfill, and you won’t have to nervously answer questions in a “60 Minutes” exposé, you probably want to get that e-waste removed by a disposal team with one of these
  • That all sounds great until you listen to Puckett, who helped create the e-Stewards protocols. He’s one of several people who took part in the development of R2 for over two years and then refused to continue when the proposed guidelines seemed to be too tainted by lobbyists, including ones at the Institute of Scrap Recycling (ISRI), an organization that favors a free market approach over regulation. Puckett and 13 recyclers created e-Stewards, which describes itself as the “the cleanest, most globally responsible standard for e-waste recycling.” He points out that the R2 certification still allows recyclers to export to developing countries. E-Stewards’ doesn’t. R2 recyclers can drop toxic e-waste in landfills or incinerators in the event of “circumstances beyond their
  • Scrap recycling lobby doesn’t like regulations
  • The announcer proudly explains e-cycling is a vibrant industry that adds 20.6 billion to the U.S. economy and supports 45,000 jobs domestically, “safeguarding our environment,” along the way.
  • Can anything be done? Possibly
  • Recycling isn’t the only answer for fewer landfills filled with decaying circuits. Chris Wellise, Chief Sustainability Officer for Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which installs and recovers tech, emphasizes the importance of designing products for longevity, disassembly, and reuse.
  • “On average, 85 percent of the environmental impacts can be addressed in the design phase,” estimates Wellise.
  • Similar challenges exist for smartphones. Review IFixit’s guide for repairability and you can expect the phones that are easy to disassemble are also easier to refurbish or scrap. In an unusual display of transparency, eco-minded electronics company Fairphone sells spare parts on its site and has visual cues printed on the pieces to help novices figure out where everything goes. In case you’re wondering, it’s possible to make a Fairphone work in America, but most of the company’s sales are in Europe.
  • In 2018, Apple gave birth to Daisy, a robot that can disassemble 200 of the company’s phones in an hour — 1.2 million a year. The company has an installation of the machine in Austin, Texas, and another in the Netherlands. Daisy’s supply chain of used products comes from the company’s in-store trade-in program and a partnership with Best Buy.
  • Pretty awe-inspiring, right? Keep in mind that Apple sold over 217 million phones just in 2018 and has moved 2.2 billion iPhone units since the product line launched in 2007. The two Daisy divisions aren’t even working at capacity. Apple is willing to license the robot technology so any company can use it to disassemble phones, but none have approached them yet.
  •  
    "Maybe it's easy to ignore the huge percentage of vintage gadgets that wind up torched in dicey scrap heaps in developing countries". This article was written on Feb-27-2020. The problem we saw on the old video is still very much a problem now, only bigger.
  •  
    This article was super informative in the realm of E-waste. It covered every aspect of the issue and most definitely is relevant in today's world.
sdavi111

How To Use Social Media To Build Your Catering Company - Convert With Content - 0 views

  • You’ve already committed a sin in the social media world. It’s the personal page vs. fan page debate, and it’s a hot one.
  • how will your new
  • fans tag you in posts if they aren’t your “friend”
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  • The next thing I want you to work on is your online
  • distribution
  • work on building your Instagram presence
  • Food is killer on Instagram,
  • because people love to look at photos of food
  • Use the new video feature to
  • enrapture your audience and make them want to buy your products.
  • start branding yourself on Pinterest.
  • Since you are a content creator (hello, you create food for a living!) you can pin your own images and edit them to link to your site from the backend of your Pinterest account.
  • One thing that will be very important to help brand yourself on Pinterest is creating keyword-friendly board
  • names. Things like “food” and “beverages” won’t cut it. Create boards that are more original and that people will search for online. Board names like “DIY Party Ideas” or “Summer BBQ Appetizers” are going to bring your brand more value and more search traffic.
  • create a blog
  •  
    Although technically this is not an article per say it is a tremendous piece of advice on how best to market your company especially if you don't have the budget for a marketing/PR firm or you don't have people within your organization to dedicate the hours needed to create a campaign. This article has simple ways that you can boost your business and it can truly be done while drinking your first cup of coffee! I know it is what I did with my company!
rhera004

Is it safe to go on a cruise during Covid pandemic? 2021 restrictions - 0 views

  • Are cruises safe right now? Experts say they’re ‘a recipe for Covid transmission’Published Sat, Aug 28 20219:30 AM EDT
  • The cruise required vaccination,
  • approximately 96% of all
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • but nobody was required to present a negative Covid test before boarding.
  • the first such reported death since cruises restarted in the United States in June.
  • Travel of any kind is currently a very high-risk activity
  • And even with safety measures in place, cruises come with residual risks that can’t be ignored, like unavoidable close quarters and potential for breakthrough infections.
  • cruises are challenging environments from an infection-control standpoint
  • indoors
  • touch all kinds of surfaces,
  • you’re restricted to the boat, which can make the outbreak harder to contain and treat.
  • more opportunities for prolonged exposure
  • It’s a good start, experts say 60— but not enough.
  • like wearing masks and maintaining social distance
  • The level of community spread in the place where you live — or, in this case, where a cruise is departing from
  • — significantly affects your risk level.
  • Norwegian Cruise Line sued Florida’s top health official in July, requesting a preliminary injunction to let the company implement its vaccine mandate for all passengers and crew
  • The company won the case earlier this month, with U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams writing that Norwegian “demonstrated that public health will be jeopardized if it is required to suspend its vaccination requirement.”
  • To make cruises genuinely safe, he says, companies would need to require mandatory two-week quarantines for each passenger and crew member, negative Covid tests 24 to 48 hours before boarding and another negative Covid test immediately after boarding.
  • regain a sense of normalcy by spring 2022. But even then, travel and cruises will likely be high-risk activities.
  • no matter what happens, you’re taking a risk.
  • Then, look for cruises that require vaccination proof and only allow reduced capacity 60
  • always dining outdoors.
  • Are cruises safe right now? Experts say they’re ‘a recipe for Covid transmission’
  • they’re
  •  
    Insight on cruising. Will we be able to cruise anytime soon? How can we make cruises safer?
rhera004

How Augmented Reality Is Revolutionizing Hospitality Industry (From Inside Out) | ARPost - 0 views

  • Augmented reality gives hoteliers unlimited potential to engage their guests. Since today everyone is carrying a smartphone in their pockets, you can leverage it to connect with your guests deeply.
  • AR has risen as an essential technology for the hospitality industry recently because it allows it to improve the physical environments and experiences and hence the sales.
  • One way in which hoteliers can use AR to boost their offering is by using interactive elements within their hotel rooms. Such experiences can add value to a customer’s stay at the hotel.
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  • It is high time now for the hospitality industry to consider building gamification apps to engage their customers. You can create games that help customers win discount coupons of the nearby restaurants or theme parks.
  • Using augmented and mixed reality headsets,  such as Microsoft Hololens, companies can show all this information to the manager and employees in real-time.
  • Many hoteliers have leveraged augmented reality to make the hotel environment more enjoyable to customers. For example, one of the leading hotel chains,
  • Augmented reality can help facility managers to increase their engineers’ productivity and decrease costs to keep them safe. Incorporating AR mobile app into EAM and CMMS solutions can help them work more efficiently.
  • Hoteliers can use this technology to create virtual keys that allow customers to unlock their rooms when they come near one.
    • rhera004
       
      Incredibly important in collecting consumer generated data
  • T
  • history of the city or video traveling guide.
    • rhera004
       
      Interesting! I think it would depend on how this tool is used. For example, sounds like it would be perfect in a haunted house!
  • explore the hotel and your other establishments.
    • rhera004
       
      Can be used for scavenger hunts around the property to engage younger guests
  • Beacon technology is all about providing information to customers when they reach a particular location. It works using Bluetooth technology.
  • The CMMS can provide maintenance and service staff with an automated tool capable of preventive maintenance, scheduling inspections, work orders, managing inventory, and retrieval of recorded data. Technicians can enter various instructions explaining how long a task takes to complete work orders, filter through previous work orders, and closeout of the system.
    • rhera004
       
      Holding maintenance and technicians accountable for completing tasks in the estimated amount of time will save the property more money in the long run.
  • help them to improve their back-office operations.
  • It will help them to increase their revenue by saving maintenance costs.
  • d
  • eliver a great customer experience.
  • he second one is that you can get more insights by integrating the app with CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) or EAM (Enterprise Asset Management).
  •  
    This article depicts how AR (augmented reality) is being implemented in the hospitality industry to improve the physical environment and experiences the hotels are offering to the consumer. It provides a real time data feed to customers at the right time and place giving great customer service in the end result. Some examples how it is being implemented is that with AR you are able to transport the customer directly to the room they want to explore in real-time and in real retrospective as if they were there. With the creating of AR apps like "Pokemon Go" hotels can create similar games in which it rewards the customers with discounts and other incentives. So with the rise of technology we can definitely look forward to how technology can hep us prior to our choice of booking experience the outcome of what to expect without leaving the comfort of our living room.
kmill139

Big Brother is watching: Chinese city with 2.6m cameras is world's most heavily surveilled | Cities | The Guardian - 0 views

  • The city’s surveillance system scans facial features of people on the streets from frames of video footage in real time, creating a virtual map of the face. It can then match this information against scanned faces of suspects in a police database. If there is a match that passes a preset threshold, typically 60% or higher, the system immediately notifies officers. Three days later the police captured the man, who eventually admitted that he was the suspect.
  • With 2.58m cameras covering 15.35 million people – equal to one camera for every six residents – Chongqing has more surveillance cameras than any other city in the world for its population, beating even Beijing, Shanghai and tech hub Shenzhen.
    • kmill139
       
      In the near future you will be able to find camera anywhere you go
  • Eight of the 10 most surveilled cities in the analysis are in China. London ranked sixth with 627,707 cameras covering 9 million residents and Atlanta, Georgia, came 10th with 7,800 cameras for 501,178 people.
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  • Many crimes committed in a certain area of Chongqing were committed by non-residents, so facial recognition cameras were seen as a way to combat this.
  • But critics warn such widespread surveillance violates internationally guaranteed rights to privacy. To meet international privacy standards enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both collection and use of biometric data should be limited to people found to be involved in wrongdoing, and not broad populations who have no specific link to crime. Individuals should have the right to know what biometric data the government holds on them. China’s automated facial recognition systems violate those standards.
  • “These systems are being developed and implemented without meaningful privacy protections against state surveillance. The depth, breadth and intrusiveness of the Chinese government’s mass surveillance on its citizens may be unprecedented in modern history.”
  • Cities elsewhere may not be too far behind China’s mass surveillance.
  • media access control address of users’ smartphone devices, a request sent when a device is searching for a wifi connection, to track their travel journeys precisely. It was only after the media raised awareness of the project that TfL widely informed its passengers.
  • “With the rise of things like facial recognition, that is why we need new legislation that decides what is in the public’s interest and the legal structure within which they can be used. We shouldn’t drift there by accident.”
  • And part of that is building trust with the community based on good community information, not on Big Brother technology.”
  • Since then, two more Californian cities, Oakland and Berkeley, have also passed bans on all government use of facial recognition technology. Somerville, Massachusetts, passed a similar law this summer.
  • Some people support facial recognition on the basis that technology has always driven change and is a force for good if used responsibly and proportionately.
  • Omanovic argues that live facial recognition fundamentally threatens free societies. “It might start with the monitoring of just a few thousand people but it definitely won’t end there,” says Omanovic. “Authorities need to permanently ban its roll out now before it’s too late.”
  • “Singapore has plans to install 100,000 facial-recognition cameras on lampposts, Chicago police have asked for 30,000 more, and Moscow intends to have 174,000 by the end of this year.”
  •  
    Super important and relevant article about how big brother is watching us
mjbengo04

How technology is changing the way we plan and experience events - 4 views

  • Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.
  • Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.
  • planners can use the tech-augmented action to direct traffic to spots and programming that they want to emphasize.
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  • The ways attendees' expectations have changed is due largely to technology in the event space.
  • "The expectation for attendees is that they can be engaged. From the easy stuff — polling, contests, social curation — to environmental changes, such as how IBM has changed their product-demonstration approach at events, or a recent augmented-reality experience we created for UPS … to nuances like RFID tags that personalize digital signage, people expect to see themselves as part of an event."
  • With that as a given, now comes a newer drive on the planner's side: To place more control of events in their audience's hands.
  • She's talking about app and online tools that allow for text-to-screen and text-to-moderator communications, so that moderators have more control over what questions are being asked and who's asking them while on the podium.
  • "We started using apps for all of our events: No paper, no welcome book, no paper agendas — everything digital. That way no one has anything in their hands, which encourages them to interact."
  • "We use live polling at our events via social media. In our workshops, we tell people to tweet at the speaker or use a hashtag when they ask a question. That way the speaker can constantly receive and answer questions in real time."
  • already key to the personalized experience is the advent of beacon technology within the event space. In essence, beacons detect attendees' mobile devices and then push relevant information to those screens
  • "While GPS and geocaching are still popular for scavenger hunts, augmented reality has proven to be a huge step forward in location-based mixed-reality games for corporate team building," Shackman says, regarding how AR intersects with event activities.
  • From on-site wristbands that allow participants to capture moments and information — say you like a sample of a dish at a food event and the wristband can send the recipe to you — to BYOD opportunities surrounding devices such as Google Glass, we're at the front end of a potentially profound shift toward hands-free tech at events.
  • Mobile-app usage in the messaging and social-media space increased some 203% last year. Recently, this kind of functionality is "becoming geo-enabled," says Shackman, "which helps attendees enhance their experience based on their location at a given moment.
  • Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.
  • Using an app during the events, she says, makes everything more seamless.
  • Camera drones are becoming an incredible technology used in various industries, and the event space is one that will soon take full advantage.
  • Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work.
  • "With this kind of technology, attendees can now ask unlimited questions, and moderators can quickly filter out ones that don't make sense or that disrupt the flow. Furthermore, because speakers can clearly see the questions being asked, they do not get lost among the noise of status updates."
  • "When anyone who has a Bluetooth-enabled device walks past the hotspot, it automatically triggers some sort of video, push notification or message. It's particularly great for welcome tables, so you can send a welcome message, or if you want to announce a retail opportunity, like a special product on sale, somewhere at your event."
  • "Instead of playing on a [map layout], you can walk around in the real world as you look at your screen. And you can do more than simply collect items: You can take over territory, collect virtual items and use them to become more influential."
  • Wearable tech
  •  
    Events and event planning are evolving into new, dynamic formats. Old models are falling away and technology is giving both planners and event participants an opportunity to grow and revisit the underlying ideas about how event spaces work. "It's been fascinating watching just how fast things have changed," said Brian Solis, principal at Altimeter Group, at a New York conference this year.
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  •  
    This articles shows the dramatic shift in technology for event planning. Customers' expectations are high; they want something interactive and fast. Audiences want to be engaged with the event and with technology such as wifi, mobile devices and tablets everyone can communicate in real time all at once. Social Media is also playing a big part in events. Not opnly can an organizer promote their event prior to it taking place but they can also communicate through social media during the event. As an event planner myself I can tell you how important this is. It has taken some time to adjust to this new time consuming demand but the payoff for the event is worth it. Some other trends mentioned in the article are: Data personalization, augmented reality on the floor, wearable technology, mobile apps and my personal favorite Drones. The Drone technology allows an event planner to see their event from a bird's eye view which allows them to know how the setup of traffic flow went, where they need to add attractions and/or vendors, what time was the busiest at the event and analyze why people are gravitating to certain locations of the event. It is also a great marketing tool; to show the entire event all at once is a great way to showcase the event.
  •  
    Technology is taking over all aspects of the hospitality world especially event planning. Not only does it change things for the event planner but for the attendees as well. One of the biggest changes with technology and event planning is having engaged attendees. Before attendees were thought of as very passive but now with technology it is easy to participate in contests and polls. Another big technology game changer is wearable tech. Attendees can wear wristbands that allow you to gather information about the event you are attending. Disney is a great example with wearable tech with the wristbands that connect everything including payments to your trip. As you can see tech and event planning has come a long way. Technology effects every step of the event planning processes including planning and post event.I feel this is just the start of options the technology world will provide for the hospitality industry.
  •  
    This article talks about the ways that technology is changing event planning and events themselves. Event attendees are now looking for more engaged experiences, rather than the old way of merely attending an event passively. Social media plays a huge role in how attendees interact with and even plan an event. Participants can interact with and engage with event speakers now more than ever, with participants sending questions to the speaker via social media or other technology that allows for the speaker to answer audience questions in real time. Data personalization allows for event attendees to receive information about the event, allowing them to be involved in the planning process and during the event itself, whether it's through Bluetooth or geofencing technology. Event attendees can take advantage of augmented reality technology to engage in activities. Wearable technology is becoming increasingly popular, as it allows attendees to get information quickly and easily without any real input on the attendee's part. Mobile apps are now becoming more commonplace for events, as it's easy, efficient, and convenient. Drone technology is now being used at events, whether to take pictures or to stream the event to people who could not attend.
  •  
    As the world has moved forward with technology, so to has the world of events and event planning. Planners are able to connect with the guests on a whole different level and events have the technology to be able to keep the attendees engaged and interacted. From flying drones to social media, technology has helped selling events a much easier process.
anonymous

Digital Disruption Is Shaking Up the Travel Industry: Here's How to Stay Ahead | Mastercard Data & Services - 0 views

  • Digital disruption has streamlined her entire journey — and this frictionless, convenient experience will likely encourage her to make a return stay.
  • According to the International Air Transport Association, today's travelers expect digital technology to provide them with more personal control over their travel experiences
  • By leveraging data-driven insights and analytics to gain a better understanding of past guest behavior, and employing new digital technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, beacons, chatbots and the Internet of Things (IoT), you can deliver on travelers' expectations for guest-centricity and personalization
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Disruption comes in many sizes. It can make a huge splash, like self-driving cars, or it can make ripples in the form of chatbot service agents and robotic room service delivery. But all new ideas should have the common goal of making travelers' lives easier and their experiences more enjoyable in order to ultimately drive loyalty and spend
  •  
    The article breakdowns how digital disruptions has ignited innovation especially in the travel space. Data is showing how travelers expect digital technology to help with enhancing their travel experiences. Using digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) you can deliver on these travelers expectations in technology.
rhera004

Technology in the hospitality industry - exploring the very latest trends - 5 views

  • Digital conference facilities
  • hotels also need to be able to offer access to audio-visual (AV) and digital facilities for conferences.
  • If a hotel has extensive conference facilities, network design becomes critical to ensure indoor mobile phone coverage, Wi-Fi connectivity, VoIP, real time location services (RTLS) and internet protocol television (IPTV)
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  • When investing in digital apps for check-ins, room service and other customer-oriented digital interactions, hotel operators are investing in systems and technologies that can personalise the experience for guests, including a guest’s name being displayed on the welcome desk at a digital check-in station;
  • hotel staff can take a more innovative approach by using infrared scanners that will detect body heat within a room and tell cleaning staff that they should rather come back later if the room is currently occupied.
  • NFC technology can also be used to personalise a guest’s experience at a hotel or resort.
  • A boutique hotel that is nestled between Apple’s headquarters and other tech companies, called Aloft Cupertino, has a robot butler called Botlr that is able to move between the various floors of the hotel in order to take items such as toothbrushes, chargers and snacks to guests.
  • Near field communication (NFC) technology is the next-generation short-range high frequency wireless communication technology that gives users the ability to exchange data between devices.
  • Retina scanning is even more accurate and secure
  • than fingerprint scans and hotels like the Nine Zero Hotel in Boston have already installed an iris scan system
  • Marketing, management and hotel developers can no longer work in silos and these technology trends are giving them the opportunities, tools and solutions they need to create memorable experiences
  • 81% of respondents wanted access to mobile video content at hotels and 55% said that mobile content availability at a hotel would influence where they choose to stay.
  • Being able to provide entertainment on tap and mobile content has led to the trend of hotels investing in cloud services.
  • gives hotels the flexibility to expand and adjust their IT needs along with business growth
  • Cloud computing is becoming the norm and we will continue to see hotel groups replacing their legacy IT infrastructure with cloud solutions.
  • take full advantage of technology in this space is using it to communicate how well they are doing (in real time) with respect to their various environmental initiatives (such as real time electricity/water usage reporting, etc.)
  • local area networks (LANs)
  • building services can be automated in order to control lighting, refrigeration, air-conditioning and heating.
  • Besides reducing energy consumption, converged LANs can also be set up to provide a smarter, more personal experience.
  • Another innovative way to offer a keyless experience is through fingerprint-activated room entry systems and retina scanning devices.
  • Installing and maintaining a hotel-wide wireless network may be coupled with costs, but many leading hotel groups have started to install high density Wi-Fi and started to offer in-building mobile phone coverage as guests have come to expect these services during their stay (not only for themselves, but also for their guests if they are hosting a conference or function at the hotel).
  • While the amount of AV and digital equipment that goes into a typical conference room is fairly minimal, staging companies are often hired for various projects in order to equip the facility as required.
  • Guests want to be able to do everything from checking in at a venue’s automated kiosk to ordering room service with a digital device instead of standing in queues and moving around the hotel premises to order food.
  • investing in a check-in/cocierge app requires a small initial investment and can lead to greater efficiency and savings as hotel staff are able to focus on customer service and property developers don’t have to create large static reception desks at each entrance and hotel location.
  • can transfer data at up to 424 kbits/second and the communication is enabled when two devices touch each other, which makes mobile payments (by touching the smart phone to a credit card) an instant, secure process.
  • this technology could also be used to track loyalty points from a guest’s use of the conference facilities or room service.
  • Infrared scanners are now also used to minimise disruptions relating to housekeeping (which is a common complaint from customers).
  • All of these experiences need to be part of an integrated, dynamic system so that the guests’ experiences are at the forefront of the marketing and operational team’s mind.
  • Starwood (owner of the Sheraton, Weston and “W” hotel chains) has already upgraded 30,000 room locks across 150 hotels with this system and Hilton will be implementing a similar system at 10 of their US properties this year. In 2016, they will be deploying the smart room key technology globally.
  • This technology will mean that guests don’t have to worry about picking up keys and front desk staff won’t have to issue new keys in the event that a guest loses their room key.
  • The hotel room’s television, radio and clock are taking a backseat as travellers use their own technology to keep themselves entertained.
  • Many companies in the hospitality industry are already using social media to their advantage as guests check-in on location-based social media apps, tweet about their experience on Twitter and share their holiday photos with friends and followers on Instagram and Facebook.
  • his shift has led to many hotel and leisure groups developing active social media monitoring and communication strategies in order to stay on top of what’s being said about them online
  • Hotels will increasingly install smart room access systems that allow guests to unlock their doors by simply swiping their phones across a keyless pad on the door.
    • rhera004
       
      This section is talking about designing effective conference facilities/ ensuring your hotel/ facility can accommodate clients technological needs. My thought on this is how can we in the hospitality field accommodate this when we do not yet know the scope of need. We do not know what is to come. Ex. Roads in Europe are incredibly narrow as no one knew cars would be a thing in the future. It's crazy to think buildings and infrastructure can also become obsolete.
  • medical facilities;
    • rhera004
       
      Super important given the state of things
    • rhera004
       
      This freaks me out a bit b/c of devices which can aid people in stealing your credit card information in close proximity to you.
  • For example, advertising can be targeted based on gender and age (so if a child walks by a digital sign in the lobby, the advertisement can change to promote a local theme park or the hotel’s kids club
  • hanging a ‘Do Not Disturb
    • rhera004
       
      Eco-friendly option. I like this!
    • rhera004
       
      Wireless = More sanitary. No one really thinks about the amount of hands that have been on room key cards...
    • rhera004
       
      This may be a hard sell for some people. Ex. Conspiracy theorists etc.
  • almost any person checking in at a hotel, resort, spa or lodge, will have a smartphone in their pockets.
    • rhera004
       
      Social Media is such a powerful advertising tool as well. Have clients work for you. This can also be dangerous if your facility is not running at 100%
    • rhera004
       
      Can be creepy- but will definitely optimize guest experience.
  • hen processes should be put in place to ensure the right person follows up by communicating with the guest and solving the problem at the hotel.
  • ead to positive change and growth in the industry.
  • l
  • computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel.
  • computers no longer see Wi-Fi as a perk, but as a must-have when they check in at a hotel.
  • I
  • t might not yet be financially feasible for hotels to completely abandon the user pay model, but many of them are re-thinking their current infrastructure and pricing models.
    • rhera004
       
      Bluetooth speaker system connectivity would be a good idea for hotel rooms.
  •  
    The article lists the varies new technology that are becoming more and more of the norm in modern hotels. The first and most important is WIFI. Ten years ago every hotel you went would make you pay for WIFI nowadays guests look for hotels that offer free wifi. Conference facilities are a big thing in larger hotels but they need to be digital. Everyone has a mobile device so making as much as possible available on a guests mobile phone will go a long way. Entertain and clod services are all new technologies being used in hotels as well. Of course social media is a huge part of our day to day world.
  •  
    This article talks about how technology is affecting the hospitality industry. There have been several small technological advances in the industry. Recently, advances have been skyrocketing, especially in the hotel sector. Hotels have been updating their technology year after year striving to stay relevant. Businesses are looking for Digital conference facilities for their conferences/meetings. Where skype and zoom calls can be conducted in a business fashion. There are also hotels that are looking to put in finger scanning devices for room access and infrared scanners for staff members to monitor room activity. This article has several other fantastic advances in technology that could be used in the hospitality industry as a whole.
  •  
    Technology evolves everyday it keeps getting better and making lives even easier. Guests are attracted to hotels who have the latest technology. This week I saw in social media a friend of mine is currently in Las Vegas and her room had an Echo Dot and she was asking Alexa to turn off the lights and close the shades. That got my attention and is proving the point on how the Hospitality industry has to be at the very top of the latest technology trends.
ldevaul

8 Disruptive Hotel Technology Trends to Watch in 2021 - 6 views

  • For those of us keeping an eye on technology in hotels, it can be difficult to discern what trends are here to stay and what trends are simply a marketing stunt.
  • Venture capitalists are finally starting to recognize the opportunity to invest in tools and platforms that allow hotels to capture new levels of hotel operations efficiency and revenue growth.
  • Cloudbeds offers an all-in-one suite of tools, including a property management system, channel manager, booking engine, and revenue manager, growing revenue and automating workflows at more than 20,000 properties.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is definitely something to look into. SaaS programs, nowadays, are super robust and offer so much data and opportunity for large and small businesses.
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  • Despite being one of the largest and most dynamic segments of the US and global economy, penetration of cloud-based technologies in the segment remains incredibly low, and the vendor landscape remains tremendously fragmented on a global basis,” says Matt Melymuka, co-founder and partner at PeakSpan Capital.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is very interesting...one of the largest industries and they are the slowest to invest in cloud-based technologies. A lot of companies clearly prefer to print everything and leave an actual paper trail!
  • Hotels use Zingle’s messaging tools to deliver five-star service at scale; Medallia’s investment in Zingle gives hotels the opportunity to provide frictionless guest service and streamline time-consuming interactions, such as check-in.
    • ldevaul
       
      I'm sure companies who invested in this program during the height of pandemic were very thankful!
  • Life House, a tech-first hotel experience, shows proof-of-concept: that hotels that invest in technology drive higher revenue, better guest reviews, and a higher star-rating.
  • Hotels are catching on, adding convenience through streaming, voice activation, guest-room tablets, and food ordering tech.
    • ldevaul
       
      The guest room tablets that can order room service and manage the operating system in the room is a game changer. Hotel Mousai in PV Mexico has this installed in all of their suites and it was super impressive!
  • White labeling is a practice in which a product – in this case, hotel software – is manufactured by a third party and uses branding by the purchaser, or marketer, so that the end product appears to have been produced by the purchaser.
  • Oaky, one of the industry’s leading upselling tools, raised a Series A funding round of $9.5 million led by PeakScan Capital. Oaky’s appeal to investors stems from the app’s data-driven approach to driving incremental revenue. Their deep understanding of customer behavior makes Oaky one of the top-rated upselling tools on the market today.
    • ldevaul
       
      This would be great for hotels who are struggling to increase their revenue.
  • For instance, feeding data from your PMS into a business intelligence tool leads to real, operational data to analyze trends and provide recommendations for better marketing campaigns, smarter staffing decisions, seasonal trends, and market competition. Hotels that are comfortable using APIs can automate tasks that take up much of their employee’s time with manual data entry.
  • On-demand convenience dominates our lives, and guests expect this level of ease from their hotel experience as well.
  • An API, application programming interface, is simply a messenger of data between applications. APIs allow your various hotel technology tools and programs to work together, connecting your RMS to a PMS, or your PMS to your upsell software, or your business intelligence software to your PMS. An API makes your technology user-friendly and efficient; when your tools work together, you capture each platform’s full capabilities.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is super useful! When all of your software can speak to each other it improves productivity so much!
  • Hilton is taking a different approach, partnering with Netflix to allow guests to control their streaming straight from the Hilton Honors mobile app.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is genius! Definitely will be trying this at my next Hilton stay.
  • As far as voice-activation, Volara is leading the way in providing a thoughtful, Alexa-esque guest-room solution. Volara integrates with the most popular work order management systems so that guests can make requests and get confirmation when the item or service they need will be delivered.
  • And for savvy marketing managers, tablets provide a new channel through which to send targeted, automated messages generating $5,000 per month in additional revenue.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is great for hotel marketers! Proving their value and having the company invest in tech that shows an huge ROI. Love this!
  • 2nd Kitchen is a godsend for hotels without a kitchen on-site: guests can order room service from restaurants near your hotel, taking care of care of orders, menus, payment, fulfillment, and customer support for your property.
  • Hotels are a prime target for hackers. “Only about 25% of all U.S. businesses, including hotel operators, are fully compliant with current data security best practices. That means that three out of four are not and are potential disasters waiting to happen,” reported one cybersecurity expert.
    • ldevaul
       
      This is definitely worth exploring more!
  • Numerous high-profile malware attacks on the hotel industry have led to hundreds of millions of guests’ data being compromised and millions of dollars in damage. Just this February, MGM Resorts revealed they were the target of a massive data breach that compromised personal information for more than 10.6 million guests. Files leaked in the MGM attack included information on celebrities, chief executives of technology companies, reporters and government officials, according to Skift.
  • Expedia and Booking have taken some pretty big hits in recent months.
  • Why the dive in stock price? There are two factors outside Coronavirus that are impacting OTAs. First, hotels are getting better at capturing direct bookings. Hotel tech like direct booking platforms, metasearch ad managers, and messaging integrations help properties draw more visitors to their site and convert more direct bookings, circumventing the high OTA commissions in the process.
  • Secondly, Google has entered the travel market in a big way. Google has expanded from traditional AdWords to include hotels everywhere via its Hotel Ads product.
  • 5G may be getting all the buzz, but for property owners, WiFi 6 is much more relevant. WiFi 6 is the term used to describe the next iteration of Wifi, a faster, more efficient connection enabled through new technologies. WiFi 6 is about 30% faster than our current WiFi.
  • With WiFi 6, your property can leverage in-room technology to provide better service, driving positive guest reviews and repeat business. Smart thermostats, smart speakers, and smart locks will all perform better with the adoption of WiFi 6 over the next five years.
  • Investors in Oaky already recognize this next insight: data has become the world’s most valuable resource. The sooner you start to mine guest data for better customer insights, the better positioned your property will be against your competition.
  • Data can fuel smarter marketing campaigns, inform your pricing, and help you capture a higher market share than your competitors by knowing your guests on a deeper level.
  • Earlier this year, Revinate launched the hotel industry's first Guest Data Platform to aggregate, clean and deliver rich guest profiles for hotels and property groups of all sizes. The platform combines data from multiple sources to provide a complete picture of a hotel’s guests, delivering the information needed to increase guest satisfaction scores, direct bookings, and ultimately, profit.
  • Brands in the alternative lodging sector include Stay Alfred, Sonder, The Guild Hotels and to some extent groups such as Selina and OYO. 
  • The biggest distraction or barrier these next-gen hotels face is that they’re taking the wrong approach to tech. The companies that win will be the ones who stop acting like tech companies – using buzzwords like AI and virtual concierge – and focus on being more innovative and agile real estate businesses than traditional market players today. Those that succeed will be tech-enabled businesses; not tech businesses.
  • Smart hotel rooms use technology to allow guests to personalize their stay experiences.
  • Technology is becoming more important to hotel operations because it can deliver increasingly high value for hoteliers and guests.
  • The most important software in the hotel industry is the property management system, which acts as “mission control” for hotel operations. Hoteliers use a PMS to manage reservations, check guests in and out, and handle billing.
  • While exciting technologies present new options for hoteliers to enhance their offerings, these new innovations also mean hoteliers must focus on data security and continued training when implementing the technology that guests expect.
  •  
    This article takes a deep dive into the emerging tech trends in 2021. They briefly touched on how SaaS is slowly taking over the traditional PMS and how venture capitalist can't get enough of these programs. Another honorable mention in this article is the explosion of guest room tech such as streaming services, voice activation, and guest room tablets. OTAs that have traditionally been top dogs when it came to hotel bookings are slowly declining and big data is becoming super insightful to hoteliers. This article touches on so many avenues of tech and it's definitely a must read!
teallemejia

Cloud Computing in the Travel Industry | Accenture - 0 views

  • Before the pandemic, companies were managing under legacy on-premise technology, hesitant to make big investments in cloud due to concerns about cost, time and security. But in a world after the pandemic, the travel industry must adapt fast to survive
  • The value it delivers goes beyond technology to organizational transformation, making the journey through cloud in travel a key CEO priority.
  • Airlines and airports reinventing airport experiences: From contactless, smooth passage, through bag drop and security to airside shopping for travelers who have pre-filled biometric data
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Travel companies must future-proof their businesses built upon living systems and processes enabled by agility and scale. They need to take a deep relook at strategy, organization, practices, technology and talent functions.
  • Compete for investment capital Cloud-related investments drive business changes needed for increased productivity, smoother traveler experience, vertical integration & resilience.
  • Rehost scalable functions Rehost high-volume, scalable functions on Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).
  • Cloud is central to the travel industry’s survival and future growth. There’s no time for delay. Companies must use this crisis as a springboard to scale up cloud adoption, improve resilience and innovation capabilities, and create the seamless, contactless and effortless experiences travelers demand
  •  
    Before the pandemic, companies were afraid to invest in cloud due to the concerns of the cost, time, and security. But in today's world technology is something companies need to adopt. It's time for travel companies to see the cloud for what it is, the passport to future value. All sections can benefit from this technology including hotels, airlines, and airports. This is the best time to invest into technology to benefit the industry by taking a deep relook at strategy, organization, practices, technology, and talent function. As travel is being rebuilt, cloud-related investments will deliver higher returns on capital than investment in new aircraft, new hotels, and new ships. This is the perfect time to invest into cloud adoption.
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