I was in beautiful Los Angeles this week at the 7^th Annual Americas Lodging Investment Conference (ALIS), truly the most enjoyable, valuable conference I have attended in my short life.  

Never mind the slabs of sweet tasting honeycomb nestled in between ornate pans of warm brie and other cheeses at the opening night reception; or the actress on stilts, dressed like a green ivy vine, who oozed and wound her way through the crowd to highlight the conference’s Green track. 

The main show was throngs of “dark suits” – astute hotel executives, investors and developers making deals, and making one feel as if “the economy isn’t so bad after all,” said my friend, Carlo Wolff.   (The sub-show was the magical staff at Hyatt’s Century Plaza who repeatedly turned the famed Los Angeles Ballroom from plenary session to lunch and back again for 3,000 people.)  

Even though it was not a technology show, Rule #9 of the Networked Economy was evident in spades at ALIS: 

“9) Relationship Tech. As the soft trumps the hard, the most powerful technologies are those that enhance, amplify, extend, augment, distill, recall, expand, and develop soft relationships of all types.” 

ALIS was all about relationships; a few people and vignettes stood out for me. 

In a keynote address, Jean-Claude Baumgarten, president of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), weighed in on the four million-person decline in overseas travel to the U.S, during the past eight years. “In the first 100 steps when people leave the plane, you have a chance to make an impression.” 

Panelist Jay Rasulo, chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, agreed.  “Foreign tourists are very hesitant to come to the United States, mainly feeling that they are not wanted, not welcome.  This is reinforced at the borders. We should be having a boom.”   

To help address this issue, Disney productions teamed with the U.S. State Department to produce and release the ”Welcome: Portraits of America” video to encourage international travel.  (It includes no mention of Disney logos, products or attractions.)  Already playing in Washington Dulles International Airport and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the seven-minute video will soon be released to other major international U.S. airports. Take a look, it’s stirring.

Also of note was Stanley Selengut, engineer and developer of the highly successful ecotourism destination Maho Bay Camps and Estate Concordia on St. John, US Virgin Islands.  Stan uses technology to turn “trash into treasures” at the resort’s Trash to Treasures Art Center.  There, guests can recycle, transform and then buy the waste they created. Tie-dyeing, ceramics, glass blowing, watercolor painting, and paper making classes are taught. Check out Audubon Magazine’s article on the resort  and video clips.   

  

Glass figurine from recycled trash.

Speaking on a Green track panel on “How to Operate a Green Hotel,” Stan shared:

“I try to deal with the kind of human beings I want to attract, who care about the environment, who want to learn rather than to be indulged.  I also want to bring people into nature.  I developed the resort with the goal of attracting people I would enjoy hosting; it’s a combination of camping and a luxury resort.” 

Later, during his brief acceptance speech for being honored with the International Society of Hospitality Consultants’ Pioneer Award  at ALIS, the understated Selengut thanked his wife of 54 years, Irma, for “putting up with me, and the industry for giving me 30 years to develop green resorts.”

All in all, it was an inspiring time in the Networked Economy.