Defining Hospitality

DH - IndieConFab
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[00:00:00] What I do is inconsequential. Why I do what I do is I get to shorten people's journeys every day. What I love about our hospitality industry is that it's our mission to make people feel cared for while on their journeys. Together we'll explore what hospitality means in the built environment, in business, and in our daily lives.

I'm Dan Ryan and this is Defining Hospitality.

Hey everybody, I wanted to do something a little bit different this week. I just emceed and just finished, got back from the Independent Lodging Congress, IndyConFab in Asheville, North Carolina, and I know there's usually a delay in getting content out because we have to record it, edit it, get it out.

but I wanted to just experiment with getting some real time thoughts, uh, more as close to real time thoughts on, you know, what my experience was and why I love these independent launching Congress events so much. so. Here we go. Uh, the first day, um, I went for [00:01:00] a run. I woke up, we stayed at the Radical Hotel.

I went for a run, um, It was great. The hotel was designed by Mike Sumi and Sumi Design Works. And as I was running under the bridge, uh, next to the river, I saw this huge black bear come across the path in front of me. And it was wild and it was hot and it was very unusual and super exciting to, to see that.

And I think it really set the tone for what would be a very unusual and interesting day or two days. on the first day they do this, uh, think it's called an immersive experience. And one of the things I love about Independent Launching Congress is that there's this intentionality about having these kind of disorganized moments.

So for instance, we walked, um, along the river and we went to this wedge brewing company, so it was really hot. So you're talking, you're meeting people and talking to them that you might not have met before, sweating, walking to the wedge brewing company where we met, a pretty cool GM there named Lucius [00:02:00] T.

Wilson. And he shared that, the brewery was originally an artist driven business. And what, what was really funny is, um, they started with a passion for making great beer, not to make money. And then as so many businesses are, when you start, you're, you know, you're following a passion. You're, you're trying to make something out of nothing.

And then Lucius has come in and really focused on turning it into a really great business. And he gave us a tour. Um, we got to sample some of the beer and then I was very intrigued because we went back into where they brew it and we saw their brewmaster doing all the stuff that the brewmaster does.

But it inspired me to not only want to drink more beer but also experiment with brewing. Um, I also really want to have Lucius on the podcast at some point because he was a really great storyteller. after that, we walked up the road a bit more sweating and we went to this, um, I guess it would be a camp, a campground, but it's more of a hotel.

It's very hybrid and we'll talk about that a bit more in the experiential hospitality, [00:03:00] um, segment. But, um, it's called the Wrong Way River Lodging Cabins and it opened about two years ago and it's Shelton and Joe were the owners and developers and chefs and cooks. Bottle washers and cooks and, um, basically the developers, operators, and true entrepreneurs at heart.

And they built this really cool, um, they're almost like these, uh, elevated A frames on these huge, on these big concrete pillars, um, that's built in the floodplain of the river. And it's a northward flowing river, which is why they called it the wrong way river lodging cabins. Um, um, But it was really fascinating to see how such innovative and thoughtful design could make A frames cool.

And I'm not, historically, I'm not a big fan of A frames, but they did it in a really neat way. And Joe's daughter actually painted the murals in each of the rooms. If you have a chance, I'll try and get the links to that, uh, in the website. Again, I'd like [00:04:00] to have them on because I think hearing their origin story and the success that they've had over their first two years, I think it would be really cool to share with everyone.

So after the wrong way, River Lodge, uh, we went to Plebe, P L E B, with a line over the east of the Long E, uh, urban winery. And. The wine was good. It was different than anything I had. So, it's all wine that's made and grown. The grapes are grown in North Carolina. and then we also had pizza. And the pizza, it was thick, thick dough pizza.

Um, it was really fantastic. It was really, really good. So, I apologize to all my New Haven friends. But, um, they had a peach flavored pizza, which I never had before. Never imagined, but it was really good. Good. So Plebe Winery, I suggest you check it out. And I think also what I appreciated is they, they were very sure and certain about who they are, what they do, how they roll.

And, um, they said, uh, if you like California wine, that's great. If you like French wine or Italian wine, that's [00:05:00] also fantastic, but we're going to make our own North Carolina wine and we're going to be unapologetic about it. And this opened my mind out to trying something new and appreciating that, you know, Hey, different is okay.

It was really a cool tour. And the, the, the wine that North Carolina wine, the first one we had, it was like a, a bubbly white, but it went really, really well with the, um, with the pizza. So recommend it. Um, these immersive experiences are just, um, It's a great way to get to know people. You're walking, you're talking.

It actually also inspired me to get some wireless mics so I could do this podcast and interview people while walking down the street of a city or in the country or wherever I might be. Because I think walking and talking or walking and getting to know someone, you're just aware of different things.

It's a different energy. Your, the guard, your guard is more down and the other person's guard is more down. So you can have some really cool, deep and meaningful conversations. Day two was the main event at the CONFAB. So, I [00:06:00] got to MC that day. So I was both honored and excited and not so nervous because I've done it a couple of times now.

It is a challenging role cause you have to keep your energy and I'm just always so exhausted at the end of the day of doing it cause the radar is on the whole time. And just. I got to pay attention and keep the show going smoothly and, you know, add commentary in my own kind of impression on what's happening without detracting from really the subject matter of these incredible industry experts, um, so that they can share and impact everyone sitting in front of them.

Um, so. While it is exhausting and it's a lot of work, it's a very rewarding experience and I'm looking forward to doing it again, um, for the Radical Innovation Tour, which is in October at Chelsea Pier. So, I don't know, I'll put a link for that in the shows, in the notes as well. Um, so the different segments, I'll just run through what they were talking about in a really quick summary of each one.

So the first one [00:07:00] was managing with an owner's mindset. So. Uh, Brigette Herenda from B& Co, a branding agency, interviewed Rob Blood from Lark Hotels, who just won Design Firm of the Year at the Gold Key Awards, and Jennifer Krapp from the Indigo Road Hospitality Group. And, I don't know, my takeaway from this was really how managing a team with an owner's mindset, And that is really, from their opinion, was really just about transparency and continual realignment of priorities.

And not just with the owners of the properties that they're managing. And in many cases, they are the owners of the properties they're managing or their partners. but also with the guests and all the other stakeholders from employees to owners to guests and vendors. And it was really interesting to see how they manage these relationships effectively and almost have a self correcting check in measure so that everything is always aligning because whatever gets us to where we are today and whatever [00:08:00] got a success to where we are today, it's not going to necessarily, um, Service well in the future.

So we always have to be evolving. the next panel was, um, the power of mentorship and hospitality. And this was where, Greg Smith, from Preferred Hotels, uh, interviewed Ralph Mahana from the Windsor Court Hotel, which was like a top three hotel in, uh, the country or North America, maybe, uh, it's in New Orleans and Soneh Ahabe from Four Walls Interior Design. So they're based in Philadelphia and Leslie Anderson, um, from Loden Hospitality spoke about how mentorship can make such a profound impact in their industry, in our industry, any industry, any business.

and they emphasize that mentorship can be formalized formalized mentor mentee agreement, but it can also be about just making space for someone else, meeting them where they are and having a little cultural competency about the [00:09:00] interactions with them. But really as a mentor, just being genuinely curious and wanting to help others.

And really that curiosity and caring is the most powerful mentor mentee agreement. mechanism. And if you have those two traits and you approach everything open hearted, it's okay to have a trusted conversation and open up, um, between those two. And the other takeaway was, you know, sometimes a mentee within an organization, that seat that they want might be filled by someone who is so good at it and is never leaving.

So as a mentor, it's okay to. Have that confidential conversation and say, you know what? That person's not going anywhere and let me help you on your path. And maybe your path is somewhere else in the future or another company. And, um, our paths will cross paths in the future. one of the most impactful talks I [00:10:00] felt was from Kimberly McGlone, um, who was also on this podcast, but she's the CEO of Grant Boulevard and Black Ivy out of Philadelphia, and she delivered a powerful talk on leadership, hospitality and exceptional design.

And I'm not sure if you're familiar with Dieter Rams and his idea of good product design, but he has these 10 bullet points of what makes good product design. And I remember studying that a long time ago, but also to think about like what the iPhone is and think about those 10 things. it checks all the boxes, but what does that mean as far as hospitality and society?

So she took it the next step and said, instead of good, why don't we make exceptional design as we're designing for society? Um, and it includes making space for quiet, communicating tenderness, and extending services to neighbor, neighbors. And, um, that was just some of them. She came up with 10, but it was, uh, it was really fantastic.

And I, and I, she's writing a book about it, [00:11:00] so I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but, um, Again, always good to see her and she always, um, helps me think about things a little bit differently. So I thank her and Andrew and the whole ILC team for getting her there to do her talk. Um, the next one was fun.

Uh, it's called Neighborhood Transformation and Development Emily Eisenberg from Eisenberg Projects moderated the panel with Amy Mickelson Kelley, who I just met, and she is really cool, and I definitely want to have her on. Uh, she also is the owner and developer of the Radical Hotel that I mentioned earlier, where most of us stayed.

Um, Sean Chopra and Carolyn Schneider were also there. Uh, they discussed innovative approaches to neighborhood transformation and development. And the key takeaway for me was When you do an independent hotel in a neighborhood, oftentimes you can tell like what makes them cool is the, is the funkiness or the, like the real, like wherever they are, they're, whatever neighborhood they're in, they're bringing [00:12:00] elements of that, or flavors of that element into the hotel.

And they said it was like, how do you not fake the funk? So, and ensuring performance of the asset, um, that they build is by not faking the funk. the financial performance will outperform whatever the performer was that really was the inspiration for getting this financial asset, a hotel to function. And it was, uh, it was really fascinating to hear how the developers are staying true to their visions and delivering exceptional results by not faking the funk, but also, you know, Hey, sometimes they, they miss the mark and they need to also allow space to evolve and kind of, you know, So, between the Neighborhood Transformation and the next section, we played a really fun impromptu game called the Wheel of Hospitality.

And I got to live up to a childhood dream of mine of being both Pat Sajak and Vanna White in one, um, with Jennifer Parks. So I was kind of like the Vanna and the Pat. [00:13:00] Spinning the wheel and then talking to Jennifer Parks, uh, Alexis Landman and Daniel Del Olmo from Sage. So Jennifer with Curator and Alexis with, uh, with New Waterloo out of Austin.

And we got into a debate about whether hot dogs are sandwiches or not. Um, it was super fun. We had tequila shots, which are never good in the middle of the day. And, uh, it made for quite a fun night. But one of the other questions, and it kind of ties into this mentor, mentee and the theme throughout is how do we define business success?

And I think in all of our careers, it was, you know, growth, revenue, profit, whatever other KPIs you could think of that are these metrics of what makes a business successful. But I think we all came to this really cool realization that. i Um, it's also about the relationships and maybe more so as we get older, the relationships that [00:14:00] we build and the impact that we make and the experiences that we create for others.

Uh, and what I mean by that is, you know how when you have a conversation with someone, it could be in passing, you're offering maybe some advice or some life experience and then that conversation, it goes away. That person you talk to goes somewhere else. Um, they go on with their life. And maybe a few years later, you've forgotten about that conversation, but you meet up with that person that you had that conversation with and they said, Oh, when we talked, you really changed the way I think about things.

Or I listened to your podcast and you asked a question of one of the guests and it helped me get the courage to start a business. Or it made me rethink what my career path was. If each one of those impactful moments could be like a firefly and like a flicker. To me, my big KPI is imagine all those flickers being out and [00:15:00] sometimes you don't even know what they are.

So it might not be rewarding in many ways, but if you were, if they were to all come back and you fill up like a glass, um, orb and it becomes a light or a beacon to me somehow, and I need to think about this more, it's like more of a thought experiment, but, um, However bright or big that, that, that orb is growing to me is, I think, what is driving me to think about what success looks like.

Uh, finally, we had a panel on experiential hospitality where, uh, Sheena Brittingham from Vita Design interviewed David Better from Castle Peak Holdings. Uh, Chris Osaka from Tomu, which is a prefab, Kind of cabin, housing unit, hotel rooms, uh, that are prefabbed in a factory and shipped to site and put on, foundation of some kind.

And then Laren Turley from Lodge Camps. Um, my takeaway from that one was a couple different things, but really like, I thought everything was called [00:16:00] outdoor leisure for these. hospitality experiences that are outside, whether it is camps, cabins, hotels, um, near parks, near golf courses, um, near ski resorts.

But somehow it's turned into this idea of experiential hospitality, not necessarily outdoor leisure. And I'm just intrigued by that. And I want to dig into that a bit more. And I have a guest coming up soon, uh, to talk about that as well. Named Nathan Nichols with, from StoryCo, so we'll jump into that one.

And I guess overall, the independent lodging Congress and Indycomfab

and all the different events that they do, it's, I don't know, they're just an experience, uh, always, never a letdown that, you know, they always Outperform whatever my expectations were with just really, um, great insightful discussions, but more these meaningful conversations [00:17:00] that happen. outside. And for instance, this year they experimented with everyone gets a name tag at a conference and then they had one that was a newbie.

So if it was your first time, and just getting everyone from sponsors to people who are raving fans like myself, um, who have been there more just to really make an effort to go meet the newbies and, uh, ask them what their biggest need is. Like, what do they want to get from this? And I don't know, just get to learn more about people and connect with people on like a real level.

It's not as transactional and passing as many other conferences. Um, so I'm just grateful to have been a part of it and also to have been on the advisory board and to really just be a raving fan and still being asked to come, um, and be a part of it. And the other great thing about ILC, and I would also say other conferences is you get out of it what you put into it.

And what I mean by that is if you have an idea for a panel, for a guest, for someone to come, I'm like, [00:18:00] Ask the organizers, because I bet you oftentimes, sometimes they're, they're looking for new content. They, they want to hear about this and it might work, it might not work, but usually, especially at ILC, if you have a really good idea, they're like, great, let's, uh, let's make that work.

So, thank you for all of you for letting me experiment and kind of give my thoughts. And I guess in final closing, Thank you to Andrew Benioff, but also Andrew, as you know, the founder and leader of ILC. It really couldn't have been done without his awesome team of Meg, Julia, Shannon, Susanna, and Susanna.

So, um, it was great to have fun with all of you and finish, up at the bar on top of the Radical, as I thought a tornado was going to come in, but it was just a torrential downpour, and it was, uh, It was like getting sprayed with, uh, champagne at the, at the end of a big game or something. So, uh, it was just a great way to end.

And thank you all very [00:19:00] much.