We who are in the hospitality work force need to learn how to adapt to each of these modes of communication while keeping an open mind to all others with- in it, regardless of age, gender or back- ground.


There’s no right or wrong when it comes to technology if one is willing to embrace the changes that come with it.


The generational bottom line: the older set should listen to and learn from their youthful counterparts, and the young should look toward mentorship from their elders. It’s all about experiences and how we can learn from them.


Go Team!


When I began my career as a young corporate concierge back in 1994, I was entering the profession at a time when America was just coming out of a pretty- major recession. But the economy start- ed looking up that year and, indeed, the bubble grew blissfully for the next six years. Heck, by 1998 I was booking expensive wine or cigar steakhouses for my clients most every night of the week. The money that companies had back then seemed inexhaustible.


I don’t need to tell you how events unfolded, economically and otherwise, after 9/11, or how during the Great Recession of 2008-10(ish) made the foundations of our coffers shake and waver.


But through the last five years or so we’ve seemed to straighten our course and strengthen our resolve. Things are going well again. Hence, another shift -


Big ticket corporate dinners are still “a thing,” although what’s now in vogue within the workplace is team building.


Want proof? Simply go online and look up “escape room.”


[My own workplace town, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, has three different escape-the-room spaces, an iFly (indoor


90 September z October 2017


skydiving), a trampoline center and a nearby rock gym – and they’re packed with corporations using them daily.]


Most companies are refocusing their spending and energies by investing more in their own employees, as much (and sometimes more) than what they spend on their clients, which is really kind of cool and quite a practical approach. Happy Employees = Happy Customers.


As we all [try to] stay healthy by eating right and exercising at home, in the work place this mindset continues through programs and incentives aimed toward employee health, happiness and their overall retention.


I love this trend, and I hope it remains an ongoing one.


Men are from Mars and Women are from Instagram


I’m going to appear sexist when I state the following duel-observation. Ready? Some men are becoming more plan- ning-savvy than ever before. But some women are now less detailed-oriented.


How can I make this assertion? Through simple, daily observation of my request logs. I call it “The Valentine’s Day” approach.


You see, most guys (not all) typically have been remiss when it comes to planning for a romantic Valentine’s Day with their paramour. Simply stated, guys have relied on the opposite sex to plan their own days and to make sure that we got to where we’ve needed to go, whether it was to that big meeting, the cruise ship terminal or the dentist’s office.


Today, though, because they’re tasked with controlling so many more aspects within their own lives, and doing so by starting at a younger age - the smart phone has, in my opinion, helped men to become far better planners, with the


likes of “Siri” and “Alexa” and apps- galore to help guide us gently along, all from within the palm of our Y chromo- some-laden hands.


But there’s a flip-side: Some women (not all!) seem to be losing their own detail-oriented mojo.


I’m certainly not referring to every single woman I know, but my own empirical data (namely, observing scads of emailed requests throughout the years) shows me how the ladies are tending to leave out important details within their communiques, namely days, dates, peripheral contacts or special requests.


Examples:


A few weeks back a client wanted me to help her to set up a family dinner, which was to occur – as she stated in her email to me – “next Saturday” (no actual date was listed). Is “next” Saturday this coming Saturday or is it the next Saturday after this one? (She had meant two Saturdays from now.)


Client: I’d like a 6pm reservation to cele- brate my mother’s birthday. Please put it under my name. Thanks.


Me: Certainly. Can you kindly provide your mother’s name? If so, I’ll be sure let the restaurant know it so the team can personalize the meal on her special occasion.


[A couple years ago, that same client would have surely put together a mini- dossier for me containing menu requests, her mother’s favorite dessert, a preferred table location and other variables about the reservation.)


Or: Ken, I’d like a reservation on October 28 at 8pm.


When I made the reservation for Saturday, October 28 at 8pm, I was told, “Sorry, I meant Friday, October 27th.”


It’s a simple omission. Unfortunately, I see this sort of excising occurring more


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