PAII newsletter September 2015.pdf

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Board Members’ Note The first “Board Members’ Note" kicks off a new Members’ Monthly feature. This month, Jack North on right (Mayhurst Inn, Orange VA) and John P Finneran, Jr. on left (Caldwell House Bed and Breakfast, Salisbury Mills NY) review PAII past, present, and future In the past couple of years PAII has been mired in change, has tried new initiatives that have had varying degrees of success and significant costs, has delved into marketing versus the traditional PAII roles of Advocacy, Education and Training, Information Dissemination and Support, has had several leadership changes, and to quote one of our members, has seemingly “been a ship wandering without a rudder.” Without effective leadership, it often seemed that PAII would self-destruct and that a new organization would have to be created. Most of us also knew that creating a brand new organization would be significantly more work than fixing an existing organization that already had national and international recognition. We have heard from members who have wondered how this happened to such a vibrant organization. We’ve also heard the membership repeatedly say that what they really wanted “their PAII” to do was to help them successfully compete in a radically changing accommodations market. It is time to end the rollercoaster ride. Your PAII Board is committed to re-invigorating and re-creating PAII to respond to the ever changing and expanding needs of its membership. We’ve all felt the positive and negative impacts of the WEB. Yes, having a great web site with excellent SEO ratings, creating a fascinating Facebook, maintaining an interesting Blog, creating a large Twitter following and exploiting other web based tools like Pinterest can bring in more business. However, all of these have dramatically increased Innkeepers marketing costs while consuming our most valuable resource – TIME. We all need simpler, easier, cheaper, less time-consuming tools to manage our businesses and have been waiting for PAII to help all of us find and use them. Your PAII, and our Industry partners are doing this now. We’ve all felt the huge impact of the OTA’s (e.g., Expedia, Priceline, etc.) who undercut the real value of B&Bs while either charging exorbitant rates to list our properties or who collect huge commissions – or both. Attempts to “negotiate” better terms are ignored because of the lack of a national voice that speaks forcefully for all B&Bs. PAII will lead this effort The number of bookings from the traditional B&B listing sites has significantly decreased over the past several years (and some former big names no longer exist). All this while their listing cost has increased. We all understand that the OTA’s have hurt them too, but PAII should, and will be, pushing for answers, solutions and lowers costs and not simply standing by watching things happen. Your PAII can do this. Playing the “ratings game” is being felt throughout our industry and it is not just Trip Advisor; it's Google, Yelp, BedandBreakfast.com and several others. We have all had to learn how to encourage good reviews and deal with bad ones. All of which takes more of our most valuable resource - time. To make matters worse many of the rating organizations have become part of, or partners with, the OTA’s and expect B&B’s to pay – and pay a lot – to be “listed on their sites”. While PAII has had some positive impact in this arena, the efforts were often diluted with other on-going marketing efforts. Your PAII will provide a concentrated effort in this area. The latest trend of “Airbnb” listings is having a significant and negative effect on all legitimate B&Bs (and hotels). Many Airbnb hosts don’t play by the same “rules” we do – like paying taxes, multiple fees, adhering to building, fire and safety codes, health department regulations, zoning limitations, annual inspections, special use permits, Liquor Authority Regulations, business licenses and commercial insurance - to name a few. With the right kind of information and advocacy, we can provide, legitimate B&Bs with the information and tools they need to eliminate this double standard – and some already have.
Your PAII can give you the training, information, and tools so that you can lobby your local governments and “take on” illegal, noncompliant “innkeepers” and win. Your PAII will also help state Associations work to successfully change state laws, codes, and regulations in order to level the playing fields. Who are “We”? We – the PAII Board - are all PAII members who currently run an Inn. We are not outside investors. We too got tired of not getting answers, tired of wondering where our PAII was going, concerned that our PAII had lost its way. We decided it was time to do something about it. So, working with some DIA members, we gathered a group of unpaid volunteers and started the effort to re-create PAII. “We” are an all-volunteer, temporary, Board of Directors who are creating your “Non-Profit PAII”. We are working to ensure that PAII remains the Innkeeping Industry’s leading national Advocate, Educator, Trainer, and B&B Supporter. We, the Board, do not have all the answers. We don’t have all the solutions. We’re not sure we even know what all the questions and concerns you may have are. We are not perfect – and we are not pretentious. We need your input and help. Got an opinion? Got issues? Then volunteer to serve now! Be part of the solution and be ready to work! To make your “Non-Profit PAII” a reality we have gone to DIA, essentially asked that the remaining shareholders release their shares, received a favorable response, and have started the process to make PAII a standalone Non-Profit organization. . We have already taken some big steps to create a debt free, non-profit, PAII. We had a great start with the 2015 PAII Conference which, for the first time in many years, actually finished “in the black”. This allowed us to pay off some debt. We have also further reduced the red ink accrued over the past several years by negotiating very favorable reductions. Our goal is to give PAII back to the members – with all the “transparency” a non-profit should have, including the financial transparency that has obviously been lacking. We are in the midst of a new beginning but one that harkens back to the original goals of PAII - Advocacy, Education and Training, Information Dissemination, Comradery, and Support Your PAII Ship has a rudder again and a new/old compass reading to follow. So what does this mean to an existing member or a prospective member? • First, we will keep Innkeepers and Industry Partners informed. You are seeing a steady stream of messages from PAII. We know that many of you have questions, suggestions and, even a few complaints. We will try to answer these questions in a timely manner. We will also watch the Forums and try to be responsive to any problems, issues, questions raised by the members. • Second, none of the temporary Board of Directors, or the Executive Director, comes from DIA, nor were any of us on the Board prior to the last year. To some questions we may have to simply respond that “we don’t know” because we are new to this too. Since the separation process from DIA is ongoing and is not yet final, we do not have a lot of history to look back at nor do we have access to all historic Records. We do have PAII Financials and know where the money went, what is still owed, what is coming in, and what is going to be spent. It is important to note that, despite what you may have heard otherwise, DIA Investors have never received any return of, or on, their investment in PAII. • Third, your PAII is not a marketing organization so we are not going to be running ads and spending member money on marketing. We are going to concentrate on doing the original mission of PAII – and doing it well. • Fourth, we need the continued membership and participation of B&Bs and Industry Partners in all aspects of the organization - including the 2016 PAII Conference. This should be a VERY interesting conference for a revitalized, restructured, and vibrant PAII. • Fifth, we need your ideas, comments, criticism, but most of all a willingness to help. Together we can make PAII the kind of organization that other innkeepers and industry partners want to join because it truly provides value to its members.
Page 1: Executive Director‘s Welcome Sept
Page 5 and 6: Association Corner Recommended Read
Page 7 and 8: “This was the Best Conference Eve
Page 9 and 10: The Argument for Loyalty Programs c
Page 11 and 12: EMV/Chip Card Information EMV or ch
Page 13: 10 Marketing Tips to Boost Profitab
Page 17 and 18: Upcoming Webinars (more dates and t
Page 19: PAII Innkeeping Show - January 10-1

PAII newsletter September 2015.pdf

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