A blogger is born

As a few of you may have noticed, I’ve sorely neglected updating you on the life and antics at Opus Hotels via the blog. I have a long list of fabulous excuses but will spare you most of them. Suffice it to say, life has been on fast forward here since my boss, mentor and dear friend Daniel left to become a full time ‘auteur’ and left me trying (impossibly) to fill his large and stylish shoes.

When Dan pushed the daunting list of activities across his desk that I needed to pick up after his departure, he made me promise to blog often, wittily and well. While I’d had fun subbing in for him in the past, I’d never considered the pressure of actually coming up with (relevant and interesting) things to say on a regular basis. Needless to say, I’m suffering a case of mild inadequateness that comes from attempting to follow his blogger footsteps. Hm, let’s see … he left to pursue writing as a full time career; media have gushed over his witty blog; students in hotel schools have been assigned to read his blog; and now I have to step up to perform? But here I am, on my 4th flight from Montreal in 8 weeks, resolutely starting my first solo post. It feels good.

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently at Opus Montreal planning the usual spate of marketing and communication activities. In this case, they’re directed at the spring 08 opening of what will be Montreal’s hottest, newest drinking and eating establishment. (More on that next post). As most marketers will tell you, it’s no longer enough to take out a couple of ads and hope the masses will come. Nope, it’s all about social marketing nowadays. I imagine I’m speaking to the knowledgeable and converted, but in the past year I’ve turned away from all but the most nominal advertising efforts (to the dismay of persistent sales people flogging ad space) and have become a convert to the merits of SEO, social marketing, viral campaigns and more. As head of marketing for a couple of stylish and contemporary boutique hotels, it’s my job to stay current on the latest trends. If Opus doesn’t chart this territory, who will – the Ritz?

I confess I’m still grappling to understand these various mediums though. For gawd’s sake, I must be the last person standing who hasn’t succumbed to Facebook - yet. [I’ve been informed there’s a user group for people who swore they’d never join … like me.] Fortunately I have some really smart (and patient) people around me that guide me ever so slowly through the differentiators between Facebook and Myspace, Flickr and Youtube, Ebooks and Widgets, the list goes on! Last week, we created a Facebook Business Page for the Opus Hotel and had almost 300 fans join in less than a week! Our page features an events calendar, photos from previous parties, reviews and a discussion board. (Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, you may want to check out our rocking Valentine’s event featuring London’s own Housexy by Ministry of Sound.)

As I plan the much anticipated spring launch at Opus Montreal, I’m actually getting excited about building our Facebook business profiles and sharing up-to-date information with you through this blog. We’ll even have a weekly video showing the progress of construction. If you come across hotels or bars that demonstrate particular Facebook or blogging brilliance, I’d love to hear from you.

I’m looking forward to adding ‘blogger’ to my bio. Stay tuned for my soon-to-be-created Facebook profile. Look for it under “Groups for people who swore they’d never join”.

See you on the flipside

December 28 will be my last day at Opus. And wow, what an amazing six years it’s been. For those not interested in hearing me get all sentimental, feel free to fast-forward to previous posts about misbehaving guests, mini-bar sex toys, and makeup-smearing drag queens. For the rest of you, kindly allow me a moment.

There’s one major reason why I’ve come to this place every day for six years, the same reason it’s so hard to leave: the staff. Never before have I worked with such a talented team of dedicated professionals. It’s been a privilege to work with them every day. I’ve learned so much and, most importantly, I’ve had a blast along the way.

I’m proud to be leaving Opus while it leads the boutique hotel market in service, financial performance and reputation. Opus Vancouver is once again named on of the World's Best 500 Hotels in the January 2008 issue of Travel + Leisure magazine. How has a little independent hotel achieved such success? Great location, style, and quality, yes, but more than anything it’s all about the people.

Of course, it it weren’t for our guests none of us would be here. They have been fiercely loyal, inspiring and totally cool. The media has also played a critical part in our success. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting writers from around the world, and they’ve told glowing stories about Opus in every medium. Finally, we couldn’t have come this far without the resources, support and expertise provided by hotel ownership. With Opus Montreal now open, this success is now being duplicated in one of the world’s most vibrant cities—en français et à la Montréalaise.

What becomes of me? I plan to take a few months off to write.
Murder at the Universe, my first novel in the Five-Star Mystery Series featuring hotel-manager-turned-house-detective Trevor Lambert, is now in its second printing. Murder at Hotel Cinema hits the shelves in June 2008. Now I’m on to #3. So I’ll be at home plotting my next murder over champagne and caviar. After that, who knows. I might pursue my lifelong ambition to fold towels at Linens N’ Things.

What becomes of the GM Blog? It will carry on in infamy in Katrina’s capable hands. Should you wish to keep tabs on me, I plan to start my own blog on my website. There, no longer constrained by the conventions of being a hotel manager, I’ll be able to speak even more candidly. If you thought hookers and drag queens were risqué, stay tuned.

My departure opens up opportunities for my colleagues, including Nicholas Gandossi, who becomes general manager of Opus Vancouver, Jacques Fortier, who becomes general manager of Opus Montreal, and Katrina Carroll-Foster, who is now Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Opus Hotels. It gives me great peace of mind to know that these highly capable individuals will be carrying the torch into the future.

To my colleagues, guests, clients, suppliers, media and friends in Vancouver, Montreal and around the world, thank you for the privilege and the pleasure. It's been a fantastic party, but it’s now time for me to go home and write about it.

I will miss you. All the best in 2008 and beyond. Au revoir et a bientôt.

Daniel Craig

Photo courtesy of Out Traveler

Look Who's Blogging

Dan finally succumbed to the vicious flu bug which seems to have felled half my office this week, so the charge of blogging rests with me. Always a daunting task, but one must blog on. As I thought about what I might ‘blog’ today, what kept coming to mind was, well, blogs. It seems like everyone is blogging nowadays. The President of Iran recently blogged a Merry Christmas message, the Prince of Wales offered up a day in the life of HRH, and Posh (sorry, Mrs. Beckham) shared her various ramblings on L.A.: it’s officical – blogging’s gone mainstream.

Once the “domain of angst-ridden teens and doomed presidential candidates”, according to Fast Company, there are now well over 2 million bloggers tap-tap-tapping away- never during work hours of course. Blogging has further democratized the sharing of information. In a world where many feel increasingly isolated by technology, blogging has a grassroots, town hall feel to it. Sort of the Speakers Corner of the 21st century. No longer is the act of writing relegated to the rarified and qualified (read authors, journalists and academics). Every Tom, Dick and Mary Kate & Ashley can share their latest pearls of wisdom. What thankfully used to be confined to a tattered and private little black book is now published for the world to see.

Inevitably enough, with the utterance of ‘grassroots’, Corporate America’s ears perk up. What? A CHEAP marketing channel? And so now, it seems, amidst all the fervent blogger-auteurs, every industry is getting ‘hip’ to the blog movement.

The travel industry has embraced blogging with a fervour not seen since the airline industry invented “revenue management”, and made charging wildly different prices for the exact same seat a respectable and normal practice. Nowadays, thousands of intrepid travelers are chronicling their adventures with the help of sites such as travelblog.org, travelblogs.com and travelpod.com. Many are painfully dull –the literary equivalent of sifting through thousands of (someone else’s) travel photos. Some entrepreneurs have cleverly turned personal ramblings previously relegated to postcards into lucrative business ventures. Last weekend I read about 3 different globetrotters who have scored various corporate endorsements based on their writings. Bliss! This proves there IS a way to combine soul-fulfilling travel with pocket-filling cash. (Anyone out there looking to endorse me?). Forbes has even compiled their “best of” list of travel blogs.

Hoteliers have latched onto blogging as an informal (and inexpensive) channel with which to communicate with (and subtly market to) their guests. Hotels seeking to differentiate themselves from their competition, or to establish their ‘cool cred’, have all started blogging. We added the popular “GM’s Blog” to the Opus website in 2006. No marketing spin here: our blog gives guests and curiosity-seekers a peek behind the luxurious and implacable façade of the hotel. Where else can you read the real life antics of misbehaving drag queens or ice cold divas? (Of course I remain convinced the real lure of our blog is the intimate look inside the life and times of the sales and marketing department. Who wouldn’t want to read about that?!)

One of the most recent and alarming additions to the hotel blog community is Bill Marriott’s blog. At 75, and a self-confessed Luddite, Marriott has become a prolific blogger. (To give begrudging credit where it's due, he has quite a following of readers.) With Marriott blogging about the history of his hotel chain it’s clear to blog is now the norm . Clearly to stay ahead of the pack we need to come up with something new now. Maybe weekly podcasts from the Admin offices of Opus? Hm, no. That would entail maintaining a tidy office and eradicating all the tell tale open cookie and chocolate boxes littering our desks. Or perhaps vlogs (video logging) from guestrooms? I hear certain hotels in Vegas have live feeds beaming from poolside to website. Now THAT could prove interesting.

(Dan will be back next week!)