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As hard as it is to believe, we’re just under two months away from the CD/NLA Show at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand from March 5-8. With the 2023 show expected to be our biggest ever, we have an incredible slate of sessions, seminars, and roundtables designed to bring instant ROI to operations of all sizes. But education isn’t just what happens in the classroom.
For the first time since 2020, we’re thrilled to bring a Keynote Speaker to the CD/NLA Show. In the past we’ve presented experts from travel, sales, and finance, but fresh for 2023, we’re thrilled to present renowned customer service expert John DiJulius as our esteemed Keynote.
John DiJulius 2023 CD/NLA Keynote Speaker
DiJulius didn’t read the books on customer service, he wrote them: Secret Service, Hidden Systems That Deliver Unforgettable Customer Service, What’s The Secret? To Being a World Class Customer Service Organization, The Customer Service Revolution, The Best Customer Service Quotes Ever Said, and The Relationship Economy. One of the most captivating and charismatic speakers today, DiJulius’s keynotes and workshops are used by service companies across the country to provide unforgettable and top-notch customer service every day and offer real-life practical ideas for your daily business.
“John DiJulius is the master at making price irrelevant. Let him take your customer service to next level,” says Scott Woodruff of Majestic Limousine & Coach.
DiJulius isn’t just telling others how to do it. He not only has the experience of working with extremely large companies—including The Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks, Marriott, and Nordstrom, to name a few—but knows how to translate those processes to fit small business models as well. He’s also an entrepreneur just like you: DiJulius is the owner, president, and chief revolution officer of The DiJulius Group as well as the founder, president, and owner of John Robert’s Spa, which was named one of the Top 20 Salons in America with multiple locations (and over 150 employees) and where he tests and improves his philosophies every day. You can expect a high-energy presentation as he discusses his 10 commandments of customer service and explains how to improve the service aptitude of employees at all levels. Make sure this is on your itinerary this show!
“DiJulius is the expert in making price irrelevant by creating a great customer experience or CX. He was very engaging, funny, relevant, and what is needed right now in this economy. He teaches you not only about creating an experience, but training your employees in CX. DiJulius gives you an action plan to take your business to the next level,” raves Thomas Halsnik of Walsh Chauffeured Transportation.
In the meantime, have you registered for the show and booked your stay? Our early-bird registration rate of $495 is in full effect. But wait! NLA members save another $100 off that price. What’s more, we have an absolutely incredible room block available for only $135/night (Sun-Wed). That’s cheaper than the discount travel sites! Take advantage now to save some massive coin.
Visit.cdnlavegas.com for more information.
[01.18.23]
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It’s looking good for meetings in 2023, at least according to the latest (December 2022) poll conducted by Northstar Meetings Group and Cvent. Overall, the semi-monthly survey, which included more than 400 meeting planners nationwide, found that optimism for the coming year is increasing as more in-person events are expected. COVID concerns are ticking downward and budgets are expected to at least match or exceed cost increases. In fact, 41 percent of those surveyed mentioned that they are booking new events for the upcoming months, and 67 percent expect to produce more meetings (up from 59 percent in the previous poll in September/October 2022).
Hybrid and Zoom Meetings?
Another positive note is that the hybrid/virtual meetings trend seems to have peaked, with 47 percent saying they will produce none in 2023, while 39 percent say it will only represent about 50 percent or fewer of their events. Just 3 percent say they will only host hybrid or online meetings.
Hotel Staffing
The question about concern over the lack of hotel staffing had been on the rise since January 2022, but ticked down slightly for the first time in the December poll.
Inflation and Spending
It seems that most planners have made peace with the skyrocketing costs of everything, and while they cite cost-cutting as an important concern, most planners (61 percent) indicate that they are increasing or matching their budgets in 2023.
Attendance Is Still an Issue
The one area that is still dogging event planners is attendance. Fewer than one-third of respondents expect to have more attendance at their events in 2023 compared to last year. Based on a previous 2022 survey, only 10 percent indicated that annual attendance was 90 percent or greater than pre-pandemic levels.
Results from the full poll are available for download here.
If you are a meeting planner or work with one who would be interested in participating, Northstar and Cvent are collecting data for its next survey now.
[01.17.23]
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Air traffic was snarled on the evening of January 10 when the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system failed, preventing important real-time messages and updates from reaching flights. By the next day, the Federal Air Administration (FAA) halted all air traffic until the crashed system could be restored—which ultimately ended up delaying or canceling more than 10,000 flights in the process. The issue was blamed on a data file that was allegedly damaged by personnel who failed to follow procedures, according to a release from the FAA, despite the system’s redundancies designed to prevent such occurrences. Outlets like The Washington Post have independently confirmed that the corrupted data was the likely cause, allaying initial fears that it could have been sabotage or terrorism related. The Post also reported that the outage impacted military flights.
While the catastrophe is rare incident—the last time the US cleared the air space was during 9/11, an intentional action driven by the terrorist attacks—many in the travel industry are calling for more funding for the agency to ensure that its equipment, reported to be up to 30 years old, is adequate.
US Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman
“Today’s FAA catastrophic system failure is a clear sign that America’s transportation network desperately needs significant upgrades. Americans deserve an end-to-end travel experience that is seamless and secure. And our nation’s economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. We call on federal policymakers to modernize our vital air travel infrastructure to ensure our systems are able to meet demand safely and efficiently,” said US Travel Association President & CEO Geoff Freeman on the day of the outage.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian was a bit more pointed in his criticism during an interview with CNBC—but of Washington rather than the FAA: “It was a difficult day on [January 11] for our customers as well or our own employees. And candidly, it’s unacceptable. … I lay this on the fact that we are not giving [the FAA] the resources, the funding, the staffing, the tools, the technology they need. Hopefully this will be the call to our political leaders in Washington that we need to do better.”
Others, including American Airlines CEO Rob Isom, echoed Bastian’s sentiments by calling on the federal government to do more to shore up the technology that keeps air travel safe.
While the grounding of jets was a headache for many, the motorcoach industry was one of the winners in helping get passengers to their destinations. The American Bus Association (ABA) was quick to release a PSA for stranded travelers: “As the major airlines expect further delays after more than 7,000 flights in and out of the US were delayed and more than 800 were canceled as of [January 11], we remind the traveling public that travel by motorcoach is a safe and reliable alternative to get you where you need to be.”
[01.17.23]