Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

Amie Parnes at POLITICO.com interviewed an event planner in Dufour & Company Productions, the event planning company in charge of the MSNBC’s “afterparty” after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The purpose of this article is not to describe the detail of this “after-event” event. Instead, I would like to discuss what it really takes behind the glamour of event planning. · Event planning means hard work. Even for a “small” MSNBC reception after the “big” White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the event planners in Dufour have been working diligently for six months to finalize every detail. One can imagine how much time and efforts it will take to plan a real “big deal.” · “Events aren’t really just events … Events typically have a purpose.” Some organizations plan an event just because they are doing that every year. In this case, professional event planners need to help an organization to re-define the purpose of an event and work towards to the goals. · “Most important busines...

Daniel Craig provides some useful advices of managing social media for hotels at HospitalityNet.org and Hotel-Online.com. I agree with him for the most part, except for the first two ideas. · LESS IS MORE. Certainly, a company should spend its resource wisely and focus on a limited number of selected channels. For independent hotels or restaurants, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube may seem plenty. However, I believe picture-sharing media like Flickr and Snapfish are also important. A hotel or restaurant may find advantages over others by having some “searchable” pictures online --- the key here is to label every picture with the right “key words.” · SHOULD YOU START A BLOG? Daniel says no, but I argue that blogs may still play an important role in communications, especially in the corporate level. Marriott and McDonald’s are using blogs to communicate with captive audience (including internal and external customers) about their strategies and policies. · LISTEN FIRST. Listen to what peop...

Years ago, the luxury fashion icon Bulgari opened its own boutique-style Bulgari Hotels & Resorts in Bali and Milan. In February, W Hotels hired a corporate Fashion Director to oversee the styling and retail collections of the brand. Today, Giorgio Armani opened its first Armani Hotel in Dubai and is planning to open a second one in Milan in 2011 and a third one in Marrakech in 2012. Armani brand, no matter as a fashion icon or a hotel/resort product  promotes luxury lifestyle. Here are some facts of the Armani Hotel in Dubai:   · Located in Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. · Designed by Armani (of course). · The property has 160 rooms, 8 restaurants, a spa, a lounge, and a chocolate & flower shop. · Rates range from 4,000 dirhams ($1,100) to 40,000 dirhams ($11,000) a night. · A table in “Armani Prive,” a nightclub equipped with the world’s biggest LCD screen, costs 3,000 dirhams. I expect Armani Hotels & Resorts also sell Armani’s signa...

Bruce Horovitz at USA Today reported that Houlihan’s just introduced 23 small-plate items and California Pizza Kitchen rolled out small cravings items that top at $4.99. In the past several years, restaurants have been trying to put small items like mini burgers, bite-size dessert, and sampler platter on the menu. “Downsizing” becomes another big trend in restaurants because tiny foods can bring in big bucks. Downsizing items can appeal to customers in a variety of ways. For example: 1. Smaller portion can make “unhealthy” choice become less “harmful” --- people may feel less “guilty” or more comfortable by having small portion of snacks or dessert. 2. Smaller portion often means a smaller price tag --- this sounds perfect during recession. 3. Customers may feel more willing to try new bite-size items --- finally, people don’t need to find somebody to share food or dessert with them. Of course, down-sizing does not mean “cheap.” Plate presentation and the quality of food are still very...

Travel Game Changer - What does Google's potential acquisition of ITA mean? By Chicke Fitzgerald at Gerson Lehrman Group

A simple Facebook’s “Like” button can create a huge business opportunity for a company. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook offers free “Like” button to other websites, allowing its 400 million registered users to rate if they like the content they read. Then, the users’ endorsement of a content, together with a hyperlink to the website, will show up on their Facebook pages. Companies always want to understand who their existing and/or potential customers are. Facebook can help marketers accomplish this goal by profiling users’ data. Now, with the “magical” “Like” button, marketer can also gather “more explicit information” of a person’s preference about a brand, a product, a service, and more. At this point, Facebook has not launched any new “ad-targeting products in conjunction with the service.” The power of the “Like” button comes from the built-in connection between a company’s website and Facebook. A user’s approval of a content may get the attention from his/h...

By Sarah E. Lockyer @ Nation's Restaurant News (April 22, 2010) First-quarter reports from public restaurant companies rolled in this week and have highlighted a long-awaited return of guest traffic after nearly two years of eateries losing customers who have been reluctant to spend. Restaurant executives from McDonald’s, Chipotle, The Cheesecake Factory and Brinker International all said they have begun to see increased traffic trends, leading to same-store sales improvements and increased bottom lines. Read more: http://www.nrn.com/article.aspx?menu_id=1368&id=382410#ixzz0lsVvs3UF