PAII newsletter October 2015

Board Members’ Note
In the words of Mark Twain, the rumors of PAII’s demise
are greatly exaggerated. Instead, through the efforts of a
dedicated Executive Director, a supportive Board of Directors
(comprised only of current innkeepers who have no
ownership stake or direct financial interest in PAII), and the
loyalty of you – PAII’s members - we have worked hard to
“right the ship,” revitalize & reinvigorate PAII. PAII is well
on its way to returning it to its position of prominence in the
professional Innkeeping industry.
It is important for you to know that PAII is alive and well
because of the strong support by those mentioned above –
we have been blessed with an extremely loyal and supportive
group of vendors. Many of those vendors have supported
PAII for years and are quite familiar to you. We have also
been able to add a new group of vendors who represent the
changing nature of our industry – Wedding and Event Planning
groups, “Green” suppliers, are just a few of the many
new additions.
Since March of 2015, an independent, 100% volunteer
Board of Directors - separate from DIA and in complete
control of PAII’s daily operations – has committed itself to
positioning PAII to meet the current and future need of you,
the Innkeeper. The Board inherited an organization burdened
by a significant amount of debt, and one that had lost
money in eight of the last 10 fiscal years. Unbeknownst to its
members, PAII was forced to incur this debt during the past
decade simply to balance the book. Expenses had gotten out
of control but we have been able to reign them in.
It is important to note that, with the exception of Pat Hardy
and JoAnn Bell, (who sold PAII to DIA for a handsome
profit), no one has ever made a dime off any investment in
PAII. Those who put up the money to buy PAII from Pat
and JoAnn have been left with a worthless investment (most
have contributed their shares back to PAII at no cost).
Examples of the strategic issues we have been focusing on
include:
• Taking on Airbnb with the goal of seeking a level the playing
field for all Innkeepers at every level - Federal, State, and Local.
We don’t fear the competition; we simply want them to operate in
a legal and safe manner.
• We are addressing the OTA dominance issues and working
with other "like minded" organizations to lessen the negative impact
of their ever-rising commissions and sometimes deceptive
practices.
• PAII is also working with many State and Local Innkeeping
organizations seeking to standardize and liberalize fire, building
and safety codes and health department regulations across the industry
and across the county.
• We have formed a strong working relationship with the
American Hotel and Lodging Association (Katherine Luger, the
CEO of AH&LA will be the keynote speaker at the Austin Conference
in January). This partnership allows PAII to leverage off
the vast advocacy and educational resources of AH&LA. In turn,
the Innkeeping community provides AH&LA with “boots on the
ground” that can help with advocacy at the grassroots levels.
• Continually providing members with timely and valuable information.
We have been working to improve The PAII "News
You Can Use,” Monthly Newsletters, Quarterly Innkeeping
Magazines, Weekly Webinars, member forums, and Social Media
sites.
• The 2016 Conference (Austin, TX, 10-14 Jan 2016) is shaping
up to be a spectacular event with all the old favorite vendors
and many new ones. We are combining forces with Acorn and
White Stone Marketing to include their very successful HMS
Conference with ours.
• All this is proof of the vitality of PAII.
We encourage you to join in the BedandBreakfast.com/PAII
webinar on Tuesday, October 20th (more information coming
shortly) The Board of Directors will provide an update
on its progress and outline the vision for the future.
The new leadership team members are all experienced Innkeepers
who care about this industry, have extensive experience
in their respective state B&B organizations, and have
the vision and energy to take PAII to the next level. The
Board’s sole goal is to foster the continuation of PAII as the
world’s leading Bed and Breakfast Association that puts the
interests of Innkeepers first and foremost. We are dedicated
to making Advocacy, Education, Training, and the Support
of B&Bs and Innkeepers across the County and across the
World our top strategic initiatives.
To get an even fuller understanding and have the opportunity
to add your support and advice to PAII’s strategic plans
– please sign up for the "PAII – Past, Present, and Future"
session at Annual Conference in Austin. We will have plenty
of financial data from the past decade, including the Tax Returns
filed with the IRS. We will also be presenting
a balanced budget for 2016. In the spirit of full transparency,
we want to provide you with information and data that
shows where we have been, how we stabilized the operations,
and where PAII is going.