Improve My Business

I recently got the opportunity to spend time with Glenda Watson Hyatt when she was in Austin presenting at SXSWi.  We chatted via email ahead of time and set up a time to visit on the day she was departing; I also told her to list my phone number if she needed a local contact or assistance.  [If you don't know Glenda, she has CP which makes her speech difficult for those not familiar with Glenda-ish.]

Since SXSW tends to overwhelm the taxis, Glenda asked me to call a cab for her early in her stay.  I called for one at 10:30 or so; and was surprised to get a note back at 11:15 saying the taxi, promised in 20 mins, hadn’t shown up yet.  I re-called for the cab, and was told that they were backlogged because of SXSW, and to continue to call every twenty minutes to keep in the queue. HUH?? I understand that folks may decide not to wait for a taxi, and so the taxis want to verify you’re there prior to driving over to pick you up; however, when ordering an accessible taxi (Glenda is in a scooter that she drives into the cab), I’m pretty sure she’s going to wait for the taxi.  I resigned myself to dialing every 20 minutes.

In addition to remembering to do this, I also had to sit through hold for 10 mins at a time, before talking to a dispatcher.  I stressed that she was waiting outside her hotel (and it was pretty warm outside) and that they really should go pick her up.  At one point, about 2.5 - 3 hours into this, she politely asked me again for status (we chat via email - her iPad), and mentioned she was parched.  I called the hotel to have them bring her out some water, and then decided to make the 30 min cross-town ride myself to bring her some food.  Luckily, by the time we got there, the taxi had already come and brought her downtown, so we left the food for her at the front desk.

It’s inconceivable to me that it would take almost 4 hours for an accessible taxi to pick up a passenger.  I know that there are constraints during large music festivals such as SXSW and ACL in Austin; but something needs to be done to help those who need specialized transportation to get that transportation in a reasonable amount of time.

This is just one small cog in the travel hell that Glenda unfortunately experienced during her latest visit - to read more, you can click on this link.

As a result of knowing Glenda, I now notice hotels that claim they are accessible, and mentally rate them.  There are some good hotels out there - and some that are not so good.  I now speak to front desk personnel (and encourage  you to do the same) if you are in accessible room that does not have handrails near the toilet, does not have accessible entry to the shower or tub, etc. and encourage them to upgrade their rooms.  Something as basic as using the bathroom should not be a trial for a traveler.

Technorati Tags: accessibility, Austin, Glenda Watson Hyatt, SXSW, travel

If you’re like me, a road warrior, you will appreciate this new traveler site from Chris Brogan entitled Man On The Go.  Although not every post resonates with me like his main blog does, I still find it useful to pick up tips (and disagree with enough of the posts to realize that I have my own definite travel preferences, as my blog comments indicate).

Chris provides reviews of places he’s gone (hotels, and the services like limos he’s used to get there); product reviews; and also helpful travel tips (in one post he shows you how he unpacks when he gets there…)

For the occasional traveler, there still may be nuggets that will interest you… but probably not as much.

Technorati Tags: travel

I’ve recently returned from a business trip in South Africa (I was a keynote speaker at an occupational health and safety (OHS) conference there) and the trip was truly a life-changing experience. I was a bit apprehensive about going there on my own; and since I didn’t want to be traveling more than I was working (2 days in each direction for a 3 day conference) I added on a safari at the beginning of the trip (so I could time zone adjust, rather than go at the end of the trip).

I found out several things about myself, and thought I’d share some of that here with you both today and in the next several posts.

Lesson #1: When something is new, it’s usually interesting.

I drove 4.5 hours from Johannesburg to Ladysmith to start the safari. Before departing on the trip, I thought the long drive would be a good opportunity to write some blog posts, start working on a presentation that would be due soon after I returned from the trip, etc. I dutifully packed my laptop in my small bag that was to accompany me in the seat rather than be stowed in the rear of the van. I had my camera, too, in case I came across anything I wanted to snap.

Fast forward 4 hours, and almost 100 pictures, later… I found the drive to be fascinating. Parts of South Africa in the winter reminded me of California (everything is a golden brown); other parts reminded me of a former vacation in Zion National Park; and other parts were purely South African in nature, and in the future other sceneries like this will remind me of “my first trip to South Africa”.

Lesson #1A: Make whatever you’re teaching interesting or relevant.

If you are trying to get a new concept across to others, it may be a bit scary to them (uncharted territory). If you can make the concepts interesting, or help them relate it to something that they are already familiar with (this looks like the rock formations in Zion!), then they will become more comfortable with the concepts quickly. But don’t be afraid to introduce new concepts into the mix (this is pure South African!) as it will also give your intended audience something to carry away with them.

Lesson #2: It’s not always about the destination; sometimes it’s about the journey as well.

I spent 4 hours talking to Thamba, my driver. I learned about typical South African life – family, housing, jobs, training, schooling – during our conversation. I also learned about controlled burning – the practice of burning the thick and inedible thatching hay in order to stimulate growth of new green shoots, which are edible by livestock. Accordingly, there were controlled burns going on all around us during the drive.

Lesson #2A: the more interesting you can make the journey, the better the journey will be.

Although I was ready to get out of the vehicle after 4.5 hours, I didn’t consider that portion of my vacation to be ‘wasted’. The more interesting you can make the delivery of your message, the higher the probability that the message will be heard, understood, and absorbed. Make the delivery of the message as important as the message itself. Can you use graphics, visuals? Do you have an audio portion? Do you engage the listener? Whatever you can do to make the message heard more easily, the better received the message will be.

Technorati Tags: living your life, preparation, Streamlining, travel

As summer plans get underway, what improvement techniques can you consider?  What will make a difference to your company (or you)?

1)  Shopping for the best lodging rate - this can be done by using an aggregator site that compares hotels for you; or you can go to a favorite brand and shop them.  However, look at ALL rates when booking - often the ‘best rate’ doesn’t take into account pay-in-advance pricing, corporate discounts, or discounts for groups such as AAA or AARP.

2)  Flexible pays off - if your travel plans are flexible, and you are flying, many airlines now allow you to see up to 3 days before and after, and compare rates.  This is great if you can control your destiny (can pick your own travel dates).

3)  Ask the hotel to service your room less - many hotels tell you that they care for the environment, yet still change out towels daily although they state that if they are “hung up” they will not.  Spend an extra minute to provide feedback to the housekeeping management staff that you’d like them to honor that (if you don’t mind using the same towel for a few days in a row - since all I do is towel off a clean-from-the-shower body, I never mind…).  Ditto for changing sheets daily.  I don’t do that at home; why do I need it on the road?

4)  Do you really need to lug the laptop?  When traveling remotely, clients will often provide a workstation (complete with computer) for me; so a USB flash drive is really all I need to be productive.  Hotel business centers often have 2-3 workstations available for evening work, and even have a great printer in most cases.  So consider whether the “less is more” mantra can be applied to your carry-on, and leave the laptop (unplugged) at home.

Technorati Tags: preparation, Streamlining, travel

I was potentially stranded by two natural events during my return flight from China - the typhoon threatening to hit Taipei, Taiwan; and the hurricane (Ike) threatening Texas.  Turns out that Ike was no threat since I wasn’t flying through Houston; however, the typhoon delayed me in Hong Kong (transit city only - just ‘flying through’ as I had no business in HK this trip).

Long story short - EVA Airlines would do nothing for me - not even give me 1 HK dollar for a phone call although they gave me a non-toll-free number to call to rebook since they ‘couldn’t help me’ at the counter (WTF?!!?).  [Image:  Mary wandering through airport asking "do you speak English?" and finally finding someone who does, who explains why I can't dial the phone number correctly - the number provided included the area code, but since it was a local number, I was dialing too many digits...]

I went to travelers aid and found out that Cathay Pacific had a flight leaving in 2 hrs, directly to San Francisco.   After getting a persistent busy signal from EVA, I went to Cathay, whipped out the ol’ AmEx Gold Card, and bought a one-way coach ticket for a whopping $1600+.  My reasoning:

• I didn’t have anyplace to stay in Hong Kong, and delays were predicted at 2-3 days.  So, that’s 2-3 days at a HK hotel, with attendant food, transportation, etc.
• I had clients to service on Monday, and if I was delayed, would have to cancel or postpone.
• To top it off, it’s the mid-Autumn festival this weekend in China, which means that everyone travels, hotels, transit, etc. are all super-busy (imagine 3 day weekends in the US, to get an idea of airline lines/hotel bookings) so I was concerned that I’d be gouged for a hotel while waiting for the flights to clear (predicted at 1-3 days, I’m guessing 2-3 at a minimum).

Sometimes you just gotta bite the bullet and make something happen - even if it’s not in the original plan.

Technorati Tags: china, flexibility, hong kong, travel