July 20, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

As part of the Crash Course Seminar, we do an entire section about working together, and it’s heavy on my mind today.

Here in Lancaster County, we’re having a day-long meeting next week to talk about getting ready for the “big three” conventions coming up…NTA, OMCA and ABA. Sure there are plenty of other important shows, conventions, meetings, and the like, but to be brutally honest, these three are head and shoulders above the rest in terms of scope, import, and results.

For many years, when I got into this business, I heard the same thing over and over…”Oh, you’re from Lancaster County. You all work together so well.” And we did…we cross sold other properties, promoted entire itineraries, and even promoted our direct competition. We understood that none of us is “IT”. From the biggest Theatre to the smallest shop, it’s everything that Lancaster County offers that brings people to town. Sure, certain properties are big draws, and certain attractions are the center-point of a trip, but on the whole, it is the whole the attracts.

Somewhere along the line, we either forgot or lost touch with this fact, and the working together dwindled. It didn’t go away, and never will, as there are enough of us that still do it to keep the flame burning. But it’s not the beacon it used to be. Instead, someone stole our flame! For a while, it was Branson, then it moved around for a while. Right now, the flame rests in the fringes of the Smoky Mountains at Pigeon Forge, TN. And this continues to surprise me endlessly…no offense to my friends down south!

See, when I was a kid (yes, that many years ago), Pigeon Forge was the traffic light you passed through to get to Gatlinburg, the REAL destination in the Tennessee Smokies. Sure, we rode the Rebel Railroad every year, and that was in Pigeon Forge, but there was NOTHING else there to attract people. Instead, we spent our time (when not on the trails in the mountains) playing miniature golf, shopping, and climbing on rocks out back of Zoder’s Motel (with the red railings…some childhood memories are incredibly vivid!).

So you can imagine my surprise to drive in to PF this past February for the North Carolina Motorcoach Association convention at Music Road Hospitality (Hey, Sorge…where’s my sponsorship money for mentioning you?). This was no longer the one-horse burg of my youth. Theatre after theatre, shop after shop, go-cart track after go-cart track (NOW you’re talkin’)…and I was even more impressed watching how they all worked together so well.

They did it again at the Pennsylvania Bus Marketplace in March…the majority of the Pigeon Forge delegation came up together on a motorcoach, making stops on the way up, and on the way home, making it a real promotional effort for all involved. And, as I stepped on their coach to congratulate them, it dawned on me. They were eating our lunch! The mantle has passed (or been swiped), and the fine folk of Tennessee have it, because they “get it”.

They understand that to sell yourself, you must sell your area. To sell your property, you must sell all properties. To book people to your show, you have to sell other shows. It’s the essence of this entire industry…unless you are Disney, you ain’t the only game going! And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will achieve success in this industry.

So I’m going into our meeting next week ready to try to swipe the flame back from my friends in Tennessee…or at least see if we can share it, and get some of our glow back. Maybe I can bring some home with me from the Virginia Motorcoach Association convention there in September? You can count on me trying!

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July 12, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

There’s a certain level of excitement in the air in the Group Sales world, and a lot of the people I know are getting stirred up.

What is it? It’s ABA Fever, and the first round comes this Monday, when ABA registration opens at Noon. Prior to last year, I always saw people “suffering” from ABA Fever, but never really understood what they were doing, or why they were so nutz over just another trade show. Then I went to Grapevine, TX last February, and experienced the biggest show in the game for myself, and found I immediately contracted a severe case of ABA Fever of my own!

Amazing…absolutely amazing. Now I’m exchanging emails with my “gang”, making sure we’re all ready for Monday, arranging which hotel we’re going to try to register with, and coordinating what promises to be the best ABA Dine-Around Party in the history of the American Bus Association!

It came to a head last night, when my wife was talking to me about one of the children, and I was working on the website that goes with that party. She finally said “I can’t talk to you when you’re dealing with THAT convention…you’ve got the fever, or something!”. And she was right…

If you’ve never been to ABA, and you can justify about $4,000 in expenses (between annual dues, convention registrations, lodging, transportation, meals, and such), I can’t recommend it enough. I was totally blown away by how much business I was able to do during those days in Texas, and I’m even more excited about Virginia Beach, as the first-show jitters and amazement will not be there, and I can work on more networking and relationship-building. If you’re interested in joining ABA, please let me know, and I can get them to send you a packet of information (and I can get a prize myself for signing you up…hey, at least I’m honest about it!).

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July 2, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

Boy, is THIS a sore subject with a lot of people I know!

Now, I’m a patriot, so don’t take me the wrong way. I cry when the kids carry the flag before my children’s horse shows, and I cry when they play “God Bless The USA”. I love this country, and would do anything and everything to defend her from the scum of the earth over there.

But let’s be real here…do you REALLY think that requiring passports to enter the country are going to stop the knuckleheads? They’ve had theirs since the law was just a concept, just in case. Instead, we’re grossly inconveniencing thousands upon uncounted thousands of travelers up and down the northern hemisphere by requiring that they fatten the treasury by $100.00, and for what? For the vague promise of more secure borders? C’mon…as the local talk show host loves to say, “Give me a physical break!”

I’m sure that al queda will be storming our borders via those Canadian Fanciful Holiday Tours motorcoaches (no, it’s not a real company…didn’t want to offend any of my friends with “real names”!), bringing their explosive devices in the luggage compartments below. Instead, we’re going to drastically cut off tourism across three sets of borders, and cause a bunch of motorcoach companies to stop traveling to Canada, Mexico, and back here (or to here from there). And can you imagine the scene at the border when a full coach of 55 passengers, plus escort and driver pull up for those highly paid, skilled technicians to check their passports. 3 hours later (if they’re lucky!), when the coach finally pulls away, even the most fervent travel supporter will be swearing off border crossings for the rest of their natural days!

We should be contacting our Congressmen and Senators NOW to request that the law, currently being considered for postponement for another six months, be permanently postponed! Or at least exempt motorcoach travel from having to present passports. Let’s keep the wheels rolling across our shared borders for good!

“Of course, that’s just my opinion…I could be wrong!” (thank you, Dennis Miller)

-Chris

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July 2, 2007 by Chris Harrower, CTIS.

Welcome to my new Blog!  Hey, everyone else had one, so why can’t I?

Here, I’ll talk about what’s going on with the Seminar program, along with observations and comments on Group Sales from my rather skewed perspective.  Feel free to comment back, ask questions, and let me know what you’d like to see here.

Thanks for visiting!

-Chris

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