AH&LA TECHNOLOGY & E-BUSINESS COMMITTEE Monday, November 10, 2008 / 12:00pm 2:00pm Jacob K. Javits Convention Center New York, NY MINUTES MEMBERS Technology & E-Business Committee Present James Abrams William Folkerts Laurence Barron Mark Haley Dr. Kathleen Pearl Brewer Pam Inman Dennis Carpenter Mike Kistner Dr. Daniel Connolly David Kong Clay Dickinson Robert Mueller Gregory Dugal Laura Powers Rich Ehlers Tina Reese Bernard Ellis Kevin Smith Absent Stephen Barth Carol Beggs Larry Beiderman Art Bouffard Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu Patton Conner George Conrade Brian Garavuso Gary Haynes Richard Jackson Scott Joslove Deena Kaufman Mike Keppler Doug Linkowski Daniel Murphy Frank Nardozza Monika Nerger William Ott Buggsi Patel Kirby Payne Darrin Pinkham Douglas Rice Jeffrey Senior Jules Sieburgh Richard Siegel Chris Wichers ISHAE REPRESENTATIVE Gregory Dugal 1
AH&LA STAFF Lee Ann Lonsdale, Executive Assistant of Marketing CALL TO ORDER Dan Connolly called the meeting to order. A quorum of members was present, and the meeting, having been duly convened, was ready to proceed with business. ANTI-TRUST STATEMENT James Abrams reminded the group about antitrust laws and reviewed the statement. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Dan Connolly presented minutes of August 18, 2008 teleconference for approval, whereupon MOTION duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted; the minutes were approved as presented. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this meeting was to determine the issues and topics that the Committee needs to address in the next 3-5 years. Significant achievements have been made with regards to primers, but the Committee must go beyond educational sessions and primer projects. The Committee should seek other technology educational opportunities and make better business decisions. Building a direction for the Committee is Dan and Clay s aim during their remaining tenure. AH&LA/EI/FOUNDATION UPDATE Pam Inman, EVP & COO for AH&LA updated the committee on recent developments of the Association and membership relations. Pam thanked Daniel Connolly for generously giving his time and talents serving as Co- Chair on the Committee. Membership (3.4% ) as of Oct. 30. End of year target: 4%. 9, 404 property members / 11,000 total members (1.4m rooms). Under 30 Gateway membership category launched on July 1, 2008, has 205 members Celebrating 100 th Anniversary in 2010 launching inauguration with David Kong as Chair AH&LA will address branding of the association in the next millennium Lodging Magazine is doing different decade every month for a year promoting coffee table book to be published December 2009. Partnering with National Association of Black Owners (NABHOOD) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) in helping with their legislative issues. AH&LEF has funded $1.3 million dollars in academic scholarships, research grants, school-to-career and workforce development programs Roy Kennington, President & COO, The Educational Institute to will be retiring at the end of the year Incoming president & COO Robert Steele will be joining AH&LA in November. 2
Brad Aldrich, VP of Business Development updated the committee on recent developments of the Association and membership relations. OLD BUSINESS Committee Organization Committee Structure and Tenure Pearl Brewer on behalf of the Task Force Committee, provided overview of Committee Structure and Tenure Guidelines developed in Sept. 2008. Committee discussed possible steps to insure active membership: 1. AH&LA contact members that have missed three consecutive meetings to confirm they want to continue as a member. 2. AH&LA to do annual invites to confirm active membership. 3. Post minutes on Technology page of AH&LA website. Laurence will get approval from executive management to develop technology page on AH&LA website - Committee to develop concepts for the site. o Succession Planning Changes to the Committee Tenure Structure were made - approval, whereupon MOTION duly made, seconded and unanimously adopted. It was decided to not to form Director and Secretary positions. o Recap of Fall Proposals and Status of Grants Laurence provided update on Grants and Research proposals: Approved funding Revise/Update Contingency Planning Primer Revise/Update System Selection Primer Revise/Update F&B Primer Funding Amount: $5,000 / Mark Haley Revise/Update Privacy Primer Unapproved funding Information Systems Security in Hotels Funding Amount: $6,500 / Dr. Pearl Brewer IT and The Guest Experience Funding Amount: $7,600 / Dr. Pearl Brewer 3
How to Make a Hotel Website Accessible to the Disabled Funding Amount: $10,000 / Jim Abrams Green Technology Best Practices Funding Amount: $15,200 / Daniel Norris PCI Primer Phase II Funding Amount: $18,500 / Dr. Daniel Connolly & Mark Haley Research Proposal Deadline: March 1 and September 1. Submit all requests utilizing the online research application on AH&LEF s Website. Primer Updates The primers are hard to find on AH&LA website - search engine isn t helpful. Laurence will properly index primers on website. Credit Card - Fee Schedule and Rates o Effective Rate of Processing Jim Abrams gave overview on issues merchants are facing regarding interchange rates, charge back fees, and processing rates. Log on www.merchantsbillofrights.com.committee suggested doing Best Practices Guidelines for Technology page on AH&LA website. Task Force - Jim, Dennis, Laurence, Mike and Tina will design, create content, do campaign and provide measurement (i.e., website page hits, etc.). NEW BUSINESS American with Disabilities Act/ADA (Jim Abrams) provided information on ADA standards that is impacting business practices. Some of the technology related issues are website accessibility policies/standards, point of sale (POS), fare and ATM machines, hotel reservations mechanism and touch screen kiosks. Many states are now required to make community emergency preparedness and response programs accessible to people with disabilities. The U.S. Dept. of Justice and the National Association of Attorneys General have formed a Disability Rights Task Force to promote and protect the rights of individuals with disabilities. Since the ADA Act was passed in 1990, thousands of lawsuits have been filed nationwide by disabled plaintiffs. For more ADA Legislative information log on www.ahla.com, click Governmental Affairs, Legislative, ADA. Review/Recap of Show Events Agenda Items for Strategic Planning Session 4
Recognition for Jim Abrams James Abrams, President & CEO of the California Hotel & Motel Association, was honored by AH&LA for his commitment and dedication on the Credit Card Committee (now known as the Technology & E- Business Committee). Jim is retiring as of December 2008. He will continue as active member of the Technology & E-Business Committee. New Vice Chair The Committee voted Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu as Vice Chair. Dan and Clay will continue to serve as co-chairs until June. Terms will now be 2-years. Technology Survey OTHER BUSINESS Committee briefly discussed presenting at least one initiative session each year. Need to check schedules of other sessions and possibly branching into other conferences for greater visibility. ACTION ITEMS Laurence present to executive management for construction of technology page on AH&LA website - Technology & E-Business Committee to develop concepts for site. Laurence to inquire declined proposals with AH&LA Grant Committee Laurence to properly index Primers on AH&LA website Dennis to do Best Practices educational page and possible primer Task Force / Best Practices Guidelines - Jim, Dennis, Laurence, Mike and Tina will design, create content, do campaign and provide measurement (page hits, etc.) Laurence to inquire AH&LA regarding presenting technology initiatives at other conferences. Jim Abrams to provide ADA website analysis to Committee NEXT MEETING Strategic Planning Session: Tuesday, November 11 th @ 8:00am 3:00pm Teleconference: Tuesday, February 3 rd @ 11:00am EST ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Phyllis Burton, Recording Secretary 5