MH_017 === Alan Young: [00:00:00] And so if you can take. Certain things that you do and apply them to a business and focus on those things that you do really, really well. Then I think you have a really good chance of being successful. What David Millili: Welcome to the, The Modern Hotelier you're presented by Stayflexi. I'm your host, David Millili. Steve Carran: And I'm Steve Carran. David Millili: Steve, who do we have on the program today? Steve Carran: David today we have on Alan Young,~ uh,~ Alan is the co-founder of puzzle partner, puzzle partners, a leading PR and marketing firm focused on hospitality and travel verticals. He also sits on several hotel and travel technology advisory boards. He's also a professor for the tour and hospitality program at Georgia college. Welcome to the show Alan.[00:01:00] Alan Young: Thank you very much. I'm glad to be here. How you both doing David Millili: Doing good. Steve Carran: Doing great. David Millili: Very excited to have you, Alan. So we're gonna have three, three sections. We're gonna get to know you a little bit. We're gonna talk about your career and then we're gonna get your thought thoughts on the industry. And like I told you, pre-recording we have a little surprise for you, so we'll get started. --- David Millili: So what was your first job? Alan Young: ~Uh, ~cutting the tails off of pigs. David Millili: Really? Alan Young: Yep. David Millili: Wow. What would you be doing if what would you be doing if you weren't in marketing or hospitality market? Alan Young: ~uh, ~I probably would've gone into the military to be very honest, David Millili: Hmm. What's the weirdest thing you've seen in a hotel. Alan Young: a goat. David Millili: who did you admire growing up? Alan Young: Buzz Aldrin, David Millili: ~Uh, ~if you could switch places with someone for a day, who would it be? Alan Young: living your David Millili: I'll let you choose. Alan Young: Gandhi David Millili: That's a good one. That's the best piece of advice you've ever received. Alan Young: focus.[00:02:00] David Millili: Do you have a secret talent that most of us don't know that you have? Alan Young: ~ uh,~ I play guitar a lot, David Millili: ~Uh, ~Uh, what's on your bucket list. Alan Young: ~um, ~going to Iceland, uh,~ uh,~ jumping out of a plane and eating raw oysters off a mermaid. David Millili: What's what scares you? Alan Young: ~Um,~ That's a good question. I think failure scares me, but failure from the unknown scares me more David Millili: ~Um, ~what's something you wish you were better at? Alan Young: marketing. No, no, no, no. Uh,~ Uh, ~fishing, definitely fishing. David Millili: Seen the pictures, but you're pretty good. ~Um, ~if you could pick one, which one would you be? Batman Spiderman or Superman? Alan Young: Spiderman. David Millili: We get a mixed bag on that, but we get a lot of Spiderman. Alan Young: His movies are so fun. They're so fun. It's fun. David Millili: All right. So now this is where we throw a little surprise at you. So we're gonna play a quick. Round of family feud. The final [00:03:00] part of family feud. If you get the number one answer on each three questions, we'll donate a hundred dollars, a hundred dollars to the charity of your choice from Stayflexi. So Steve is gonna track the answers even though it's three. My memory's not that great. Are you ready? Alan Young: Yep. David Millili: Name something. You might see a commercial Ford during a baseball game. Alan Young: Under arm DEO. David Millili: Name. Something that might get rained. Alan Young: Baseball game David Millili: Name a term used in a, in the game of bowling. Alan Young: strike. David Millili: Yeah, that was pretty good. Steve Carran: They're pretty David Millili: So the first one you said Delors right, Steve. Steve Carran: Yep. David Millili: ~ Uh, ~that was not one of the answers. Number one is car or truck. That was the number one,~ uh,~ name something that might get rained out. You got that right in sporting event. And you got the next one, right? ~Uh, ~name a term used in the game of bowling strike. So, Alan Young: so the difference is the fact that I'm up here in Canada and our commercials aren't the same as yours. So we get a lot of old spice [00:04:00] commercials, like a lot during ball games, hockey games, and CFO games. So. David Millili: That's fair. Okay. We'll we'll donate Steve Carran: So David Millili: Well, I'll, we'll get the, Alan Young: There you go. There you David Millili: get the charity. We'll the charity. Um, we'll get the charity from you offline. Okay. Good. It's all yours. Steve Carran: pulls the Canadian card. I love it. I love it. So now, now this is a part of the show where we get to know you a little bit more. Allen. ~ Um, ~Um, so you were born in Montreal, is that correct? Alan Young: that's correct. I feel like I'm being interrogated. I feel like I'm being interrogated. David Millili: Yeah. Steve Carran: how did that shape you growing up to who you are? Alan Young: Well, I was an Anglophone in, in Quebec. So, it's really weird. I was born fairly early in, many, many moons ago. And during,~ uh,~ my time in Quebec,~ uh,~ I was very young, but there was something called the FLQ crisis that came on in the 1970s where our prime minister brought in something called the war measures act, which enabled. All of the military to basically take over cities [00:05:00] because there was a terrorist group,~ uh,~ that really wanted the French language to become prominent and the only language to be spoken in Quebec. So I guess what it's done, that's kind of a, a drastic, Kind of visual, but I guess what it's done is it's created, you know, the world's very cosmopolitan and, when you look at Quebec as a whole, it's, a two language province. ~Uh, ~French is the prominent language today, but also there's a certain kind of cosmopolitan nature to the entire field of the cities, et cetera. And what it taught me was. Hey, not, not everybody's the same. You gotta be able to listen. You gotta be able to learn. And, uh,~ uh, ~to this day I still kind of do that when I travel. But, uh,~ uh,~ I think it was a great education growing up in that,~ uh,~ environment. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you lived and quit a few different places as well. Right? You lived in Australia, Bermuda, The Bahamas and, California as well. ~Um, ~did you have a favorite Alan Young: ~Uh, ~Bermuda bar, none. Steve Carran: bar? None. Why? What might, what about Bermuda? Alan Young: well, I [00:06:00] was there working for digital systems Bahamas, which was at that time, was selling,~ uh,~ the micro suite of products. it was kind of my first for, to hotel and hospitality technology. ~uh, ~but what was really cool about the island was other than wearing shorts and silly socks, which everybody has to wear there,~ uh,~ and a suit to work, After work, I would go back to where I was living, you know, stripped down to the, my bathing sit and, snorkel for the rest of the day. So it was, it was idyllic. it was a little bit smaller. It was less politically oriented than it is today. But back in those days, it was, it was fantastic. It was, uh,~ uh, ~It was like living on vacation constantly. ~ uh,~ it was phenomenal. And, we were lucky because we, we had a great product and we were also doing digital system stuff at the same time. And so I got to see every aspect of the island and meet everybody there, which was fabulous. Steve Carran: That's awesome. Do you have a favorite memory from there or, um,~ um,~ anything like that? Alan Young: Her hurricane [00:07:00] Frederick, probably,~ uh,~ my first H. ~ uh,~ it's favorite because it, I was. dating a woman who was running, who was the CFO of a property called the properties or resorts or something. And,~ uh,~ during the hurricane, we all got together as, a group of,~ uh,~ employees and the owners and everybody. And it was ~ uh,~ pretty awesome, pretty scary, but,~ uh,~ it was really interesting. Everybody brought their families together and we boarded up and stuck together for a day and a half. And it was a pretty awesome experie. Steve Carran: Wow. David Millili: Yeah, it is. Steve Carran: won't forget there. David Millili: Yeah. I was hurricane Andrew, so it's very similar thing. It was scary, but you felt like this, everybody was like together and kind of protecting each other. So, ~uh, ~you went to Bishop. Ridley college, Alan Young: Bishop Ridley college David Millili: Is there anything that you did any outside, you know, sports or any extracurricular events, things you did? Alan Young: Yeah, I, I played varsity basketball. I was a point guard in basketball. ~Uh, ~it was a British oriented college. ~Uh, ~so I played cricket, which was a blast, believe it or not.[00:08:00] ~Um, ~and I was also on the tennis team. So those are the three things that we did. And funnily enough, my 40th, my 40th reunion is this month later on this month. Steve Carran: Awesome.~ ~ David Millili: ~Uh, ~ Steve Carran: was your favorite sport? Oh, sorry, sorry, David, go ahead. I just wanna wonder what sport was your favorite or, or what, when you, you were best at, out of all the three of those Alan Young: Basketball. Yeah. Steve Carran: any any did your game take after anybody's. Alan Young: Oh God, no, there was nobody around back then. You know, literally there was, you'd watch the game on TV every once in a while, but you know, it wasn't, wasn't like there was social media that, that you bitten pounded by LeBron stuff all the Steve Carran: Hey, I didn't know if you had like a, a Canadian street ball legend that you looked up to or something Alan Young: ~Uh, ~no, maybe a Canadian curling legend, but not a street ball. Legend. David Millili: Um, so your,~ Um, ~passion for cars, motorcycles, where, did that come? Alan Young: ~uh, ~it's all my wife's fault. ~Uh, ~when I turned to specific age, she sent me on a trip to go race cars for a while. Which was a blast and I got [00:09:00] the bug and then all of a sudden I, uh, started.~ uh,~ sponsoring cars that raced, uh, the SIS series in the us and Canada and, uh, my son and I got racing go-karts that~ uh,~ we played around with. And then I was lucky during one of my jobs,~ uh,~ in four. And I worked for them for a while. ~Um, ~they were sponsoring the Ferrari F one team and I was. Part of their, massive marketing department. So I was lucky enough to go and go to some of the races and stuff and meet some of the drivers. And that was awesome. but it's always been a passion, uh, you know,~ uh,~ Sunday mornings in Canada, usually we're watching a race. Steve Carran: Awesome. Have you ever done any extreme races at all? Alan Young: No, no. Other than, I did, what's called in cross motorcycle, which is like running up Hills and going through forests and stuff and Steve Carran: Yeah. Alan Young: broken bones and things like that. So, uh,~ uh,~ Steve Carran: now? You were involved in Gora as well, right? Alan Young: that's a rider's association. So eventually it's a whole bunch of old guys that can afford [00:10:00] motorcycles. ~Um, ~that believe we're a lot younger than we are and we go into the woods and, uh, race the hell outta them.~ uh,~ So, yes. ~Uh, ~There's about 3000 members in that group, but,~ uh, ~it's all around where I live, so we have trails and about four. 400 kilometers of trails that we use. So it's pretty cool. I don't do it anymore. I gave up my bike this year, but, yeah, it was a lot of fun. Steve Carran: Very cool. Very cool. so after you graduated from, Bishop Ridley college,~ uh,~ what did you do? did you get into hospitality right way and get into marketing right away. Or did you, Alan Young: So, Bishop Ridley college, I have to go back is a boarding school. It It was kind of like a, an English sporting school. There was a vein of the military aspect to it and, sports and stuff like that. So it wasn't a college, as you would say in the us. So I went to university in Canada and that lasted for about six months, I guess, cause I drank too much beer and watched days of our lives constantly. Um,~ Um,~ So from there, I [00:11:00] got right into the hotel business. Um, literally,~ Um, ~my brother was nice enough. He was working with a company called four seasons and he was nice enough to find me a gig. And so that's how I started. ~Uh, ~I got right into it. I didn't, you know, there's no papers behind me, Steve Carran: Yeah, what was your position? What was your job? Alan Young: I did two. I was the mini bar guy and ~ uh,~ did night audit. Steve Carran: Very cool. Very Alan Young: Yeah. David Millili: You advise for a few companies, you're an advisor to several companies. ~ ~ ~uh, Um, ~I'm very interested in this answer cuz I do some advisory work also. ~Uh, ~what's the most rewarding part of doing that for you. Alan Young: Giving people advice and actually them acting on it, I guess, is, is rewarding. Because a lot of times you give people advice and they don't do it. ~Um, ~which is normal. Right. I give people advice all the time and they don't, Work and kind of follow it through, but I think it's giving them advice, seeing it acted upon, and then seeing it, you know, the outcomes of that,~ uh,~ from an advisory perspective, a lot of time you're talking to the CEO or the ownership group or stuff like that, as you know, and [00:12:00] that doesn't necessarily filter down to the people on the front lines. But when you're talking with startups, you know, those people are also on the frontline. So that, to me is, something that, uh,~ uh,~ at least all the hard work and effort you've put into your career and you give somebody advice and it works. It's like, whew, thank goodness that I was able to pull that up. Steve Carran: you, uh, co-founded puzzle partner. How did that, that idea came to be and you know, what was that process like of get starting your own company? Alan Young: I was a complete fluke. ~Um, ~so at the time I was working for that big, huge company called Infor and I was traveling a lot. ~ uh,~ to the point of, I thought I would completely miss my son growing up. ~uh, ~I felt I needed a bit of a change and I wasn't sure. And I've been lucky enough to surround myself with mentors during my career. And I was talking to one of them and they said, you know, maybe you need to take what you've learned and figure out how to apply it. But also at that time, I was sitting on the advisory boards of a few companies and they were [00:13:00] constantly pinging me for marketing advice and sales advice and all this kind of stuff, which I thought was great. ~Uh, ~but by complete luck,~ uh,~ my partner, who is the bedrock of our business, her name is IANA Johnston. She was in charge of marketing over at, uh,~ uh,~ property management systems and CRS, and a whole bunch of other stuff. Company called north wind Meister out of Toronto. And she was just leaving her job. And I think if I remember correctly, I was playing golf with Warren who runs ~uh ~Myro and he told me about Yana. Might be looking to do something different. And so the two of us chatted and I took those advisory positions and moved them over into clients. And so they were the first clients, a puzzle partner, and that's kind of how we started,~ uh,~ literally we didn't sit down with a business plan and say, let's go ahead and do this. We're gonna take over this world and do that. ~Um, ~but yeah, that's how it started. It was a bit of a fluke. Steve Carran: Awesome. David Millili: There's other out others out there. I think you're the best. I'm not just saying that. Cuz you're on the, the show, but what do you think makes puzzle partners [00:14:00] different from some of these other marketing C. Alan Young: Well, I agree with you. I think there's some awesome ones out there that do a great job. ~Um, ~and a lot of them have a great deal of knowledge of what's going on in the industry and apply themselves accordingly. We've become fairly formulaic in our approach to trying to generate visibility interest and, and thus top line top of the funnel kind of interest in the company. ~Um, ~it really is about, ensuring that the messaging and content is correct. So by having. ~Um, ~incredible writers that we work with,~ uh,~ that enables us to create content,~ uh,~ that I think resonates with the market. And I think that's been our success point is by leveraging really, really smart people within our own company to create amazing content that helps our clients gain notoriety visibility in this pipeline. And we keep a fairly small stable. Of clients I'm not in the, market to grow this thing crazy. And then have lots of employees been there, [00:15:00] done that. ~Um, ~so we also pride ourselves on keeping,~ uh,~ our client rostered at a fairly steady state, but then that enables us to focus on them and give them the attention that they deserve, cuz they're paying us to, to help them. David Millili: And what I like in working with you is that, you know, you're also concerned about the sales, the end result, whereas I've actually. been in companies where even the internal marketing departments don't ask questions about sales. So that can be frustrating when you're in those situations. So that's one of the things I, see that you know, is enjoyable. So Alan Young: Marketing and sales have to be completely aligned and, and in larger companies, they're not right. and even in smaller companies, they're not, but marketing has become a substantial amount of science related to, you know, Clicks and you name it to ensure the fact that you're gaining visibility, but our industry is kind of goofy because it's incestuous, it's myopic, And there are lots of people that know lots of people in our industry. So you've gotta make sure that you, leverage all of that, you know, amazing infrastructure to [00:16:00] also help clients out at the same time. So we steal a lot of stuff. Basically we steal it from other smart industries and apply it to our industry. It's about it. Steve Carran: Hey, it's working. It's working. Alan Young: Hey, there you go. Steve Carran: It's good. It's good. So, ~um, ~advice would you give to somebody who's looking to maybe go out on their own, like you did and, and start their own company. Alan Young: Don't do it when you're 20. ~Um, ~cuz you wanna be able to buy a house at some point, but I think it, you know, utilize the strengths that you have in order to add value to your target. Right. I think that really is it. and as I said, I, you asked me a question earlier on, and I said, my answer was focus throughout my career. Not throughout, probably halfway through. There was a gentleman that I respected a great deal and, he was talking startups and all that kind of stuff. And it was focus, focus, focus, and I've kind of lived that ever since. And so if you can take. Certain things that you do and apply them to a business and focus [00:17:00] on those things that you do really, really well. Then I think you have a really good chance of being successful. What I find is when companies diversify so much in their product offering that they kind of lose touch with who they were and what their focus and vision should have been. David Millili: It does seem like our industry is kind of headed towards there's a lot of these companies that are trying to be everything to everyone, they're gobbling up all these companies, which, ~ ~ ends up always resulting in. They're not good at any one of those things or maybe just their original core product. They're good at. So it's a good point. Alan Young: Well, yeah, and there's not a lot of land and occupy kind of mentality. Right. ~Um, ~which used to be the way you would walk through the door with a great property management system and sell it or a great CRS and sell it, and then you'd build the trust and the relationship with the client. And then through that trust and relationship, you could build other things for them, or maybe you already had them in your kitty and they would buy them from you when it was kind of land and expand A [00:18:00] lot of companies, unless they have the technological wherewithal are gonna have a very challenging time to build it all and then deliver it all. Because our industry doesn't like to eat that way. Steve Carran: what are issues that you're seeing, you know, from your side, from the marketing size perspective that, you know, maybe folks in our industry are having problem. Alan Young: with the hospitality technology side of things, we're getting into discussions about machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning metaverse and now it's getting Wilder and Wilder. ~Um, ~when you. Peeling away the layers of each one of those elements, it's fairly complicated. ~Um, ~and even the development, you know, deployment, implementation, et cetera, of a property management system is very intricate and complicated. And I think technologists at times try to make the messaging too complicated. They try to. Tell the marketplace, how great they are from a technology perspective, but they don't necessarily tell the marketplace how wonderful they are related to the business [00:19:00] element of what they offer to the market and how that can be advantageous. Now you do see some companies doing that these days, for sure. ~Um, ~ I still think companies need to simplify their messaging because the audience,~ uh,~ the decision making audience now is incredibly. broad Steve Carran: Simplify messaging. I feel like that kind of goes to almost like the, Instagram or tic-tac phase. Like you have to keep your messaging short, simple, concise, so it's easy to understand. it, you know? Alan Young: Oh, for sure. For sure. You know, and, and, rifling through any one of those images or videos, you know, people's brains are getting rewired and we don't even know it. Right. They're getting physically rewired and you have that consumption of, of information, which people get pretty goofy about, but then you also have the element of a pandemic that just occurred and people are their expectations. Once again, they've been, they've educated and, taught and trained how to do something differently. And I think our industry is [00:20:00] gonna have to figure out exactly what that is. Steve Carran: have you seen marketing and how, companies are marketing change, since you've started puzzle partner or even before. Alan Young: Oh, yeah, I think you're right, Steven. I think, There's a whole bunch of differing types of media out there that people are now starting to acclimate themselves with. And thus companies, you know, I believe wholeheartedly that every company that sells something into a market should be its own media company these days. There's no, reason why you can't. and as such, I think that whole evolution is, has changed. the consumer is, is changing all the time and, and we've gotta keep up with. But if you look at a huge quantum shift, the quantum shift was, you know, going from faxes to email marketing from email marketing, to social media marketing and who knows where it's gonna go next. Right. it's pretty wild. It's, it's tough to keep up Steve Carran: Yeah, absolutely. there was one thing that you said earlier that I just want to go back to, you talked about how,~ um,~ you've had mentors throughout your [00:21:00] career. Can you talk about kind of how important that was to you and kind of how your mentors have helped you get to where you are today. And then kind of my follow up question on that is how do you get a mentor? what is your, I guess from your experience or any advice you have for, you know, folks like me or other younger folks out there that don't have 20, 30 years of experience, how do we find somebody that's a good fit for us? Alan Young: so I've always gotten them once again, just Through sheer kind of proximity. ~Um, ~You know, you start working with people, you find people that, you know, or you find people that you like, and all of a sudden they bring a completely different viewpoint to something that you don't have. And so I don't think you say hi, you know, my name's Alan and I need a mentor, but but I do think that that's kind of how it works. ~Um, ~Larry Hall who's since passed,~ um,~ Was an amazing mentor to me. And we fought like cats and dogs. ~Um, ~and there were times that we didn't like each other, but to be very honest, it was, he brought a sense [00:22:00] to me and there were challenging times startups, et cetera. That's kind of how Larry and I worked together. But. He brought a sense of calm. I think when I was kind of running off the rails at times, and I think that's what a, a lot of times a mentor can do is they kind of reenter you and, help you out. So, from that perspective, Larry always did that for me. If I was loose in my mind, he was there. ~Um, ~for younger people, I would use the same road. I find people that you like. To hang out with find people that maybe have some more experience. But one thing I've learned is, people much younger than I can be a whole lot smarter. ~Um, ~so, sometimes those relationships can be, symbiotic in, in nature. For sure. ~um, ~but if there's people within your orbit that you, you know, wanna hook yourself onto for a while, just ask them, can we have a call every few weeks? And you know, I'd like to give you an update on what I'm doing, and I'd like to hear what you're doing. And then just for those conversations, you know, they start giving you advice and, and guidance, et cetera. But [00:23:00] sometimes it flows the other way I found it. It definitely does. I'm learning a lot from, from the younger folks these days more than I ever thought. Steve Carran: now moving into the last section here, where we're talking about industry trends, kind of, ~uh, ~what your thoughts are,~ uh,~ on best practices, things like that. But one thing I'd like to hear your thoughts on, besides getting a mentor, what's your advice for somebody who's just getting into,~ um,~ the hospitality industry, whether that's hospitality or the hospitality tech side as well. Alan Young: Just getting into. Steve Carran: Yeah. Alan Young: Plan on working a heck of a lot and enjoy your work. ~Um, ~the hospitality industry has to be part of your blood. If you're looking to the hospitality industry as a job, then that's gonna be problematic. Because it's about service, right? And you've got to also make sure that you, you put your ego in your pocket as a provider of service and make sure the fact that you're there is to help other people enjoy themselves. So to me, that's the essence of, our industry. ~Um, ~and try to build long lasting relationships. If you [00:24:00] can, with the people that happen across your paths with the hospitality technologies industry. And this is, this is my big miff if you're gonna go into hospitality, technology, understand hospitality, Don't go into it because you stayed in a hotel a few times and thought you have it down. David Millili: Yeah, no, I've heard. I, I, one person I said, so why did you, um, build a property management system? What got you into that? And he said, oh, I was checking in to a hotel. And the guy behind desk was complaining about his system. And I just thought, how hard could it be to make a better one and it was Alan Young: Exactly David Millili: like, okay. Alan Young: it's really wild and there was a great. guy in Toronto. ~Um, ~I'm not gonna plug his company cuz I don't think that's the right thing to do, but I will plug his idea. If you think about all the pools in the world in hotels, there's a lot of them and the utilization of pools is like early in the morning and in the evening. So the pools are vacant during the day [00:25:00] and this guy who was a lifeguard at the local, you. Public pool. and he started teaching people on the side. And so he said, but I can't teach enough people. My roster's full cuz I don't have a place to, teach them. So he started going to hotels and asking if he could rent their pool from 10 o'clock in the morning, till four o'clock in the afternoon and give swimming lessons. and I don't know how well he's doing now, but what he did was take something that was applicable to our industry, but wasn't necessarily part of the overall infrastructure. So he was then able to go ahead and, give money to Hotelier for their pool, that they got a heap heat and keep a, clean and all that stuff. Even if people aren't using it. And he gave them a bit of a revenue stream and he gave himself a revenue stream, cuz he had a stable of people that. His instructors. And so he used pools all over Toronto, where he was teaching people how to swim, which is great. So I do think you can come into the industry if it's not too [00:26:00] disruptive to the overall bedrock infrastructure of our space. But if you, if you're gonna start playing around with property management systems or CRSs or channel management, or, you even POS you can't take a retail POS and plug it into a restaurant, Then you've gotta really understand what's going on. David Millili: So the thought process. Behind this podcast was for people to get to know people like you, who are very active on LinkedIn. ~Um, ~so you know, you see people, max has been on the show where you might say, wow, this guy's really grumpy. What's wrong with, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but then you meet him and you talk to him and you're like, well, he's just really passionate. He's got a strong opinion. And he cares. He really does. And you, we learned about his background and learned a lot of things that, that I didn't know. So. Alan Young: And he's supposed to be retired. Right. I don't know like what he's doing, but he's very busy, David Millili: the equivalent, the LinkedIn of somebody getting the, the guy sitting on the porch and the ball goes into that neighbor's yard. he's that guy on LinkedIn um, Alan Young: right. That's right. David Millili: so specifically on, LinkedIn and really just amongst us at trade [00:27:00] shows outside of C labor issues, what should we be talking about that we're not talking. Alan Young: Anger. And the reason I say anger, well, maybe that's too strong of a word. I guess I could change it to, change period. The word change. people's mindsets have changed. People's expectations have changed both as operators of hotels as employees of hotels and as guests of hotels. And what I find really, really interesting is the blow back that our frontline employees are receiving in the industry from people that their expectations are pretty high. And the airline industry is, is very similar. So the risk mitigation, part of that whole dynamic, better be vetted fairly well because there's an election coming up a midterm election. There's gonna be a general election. In two years, we have the same thing up here in Canada. There's, uh, ~ uh,~ a substantial divide in Canada between ideologies and, vision, et cetera. and I think [00:28:00] that is going to change people's way of doing business. ~Um, ~we're even seeing it up here where there's one group of people only doing business with that group of people. Because of the divisive nature and our industry, I think,~ uh,~ has gotta deal with that anger and that change in individuals and understand how to do it. So I think the hotel industry needs to really get on the risk mitigation bandwagon and try to figure out how do they train their employees to deal with these types of clients that maybe they never had to deal with before. How do they make sure that their employees are safe? How do they make sure their guests are safe? ~Um, ~it's not a great thing to discuss to be very honest, but I think it's gonna become front and center. Our industry should be about fun going out and enjoying ourselves or doing business. Right. I get it. But I do think there's, a change and we're even seeing it, you know? I'll give you an example. My wife and I were talking about this the other day, coming back from a restaurant, the way people in my [00:29:00] little town up here in north of Toronto drive, it's gotten crazy over it is it's nuts and there's no because people have just gotten more aggressive before we were taught, growing up, driving defensive, driving. Gotta be careful. You gotta be defensive driving, cuz people are driving as if their life depends on it for some reason. And if that's the mentality behind the wheel and I think that's gaining momentum all over the place within different what people do then it's gonna trickle down into our industry. And so we better be ready. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Alan Young: I don't wanna belabor the point, but I do think we try to go ahead and talk about personalization in our industry, which I think is very important, you know, understanding the preferences of what Alan wants to buy versus what Alan wants to buy when he is doing something different. I get that, but then we also have to understand personalities. And I think that is gonna be really, really interesting. And maybe the introduction of, AI [00:30:00] will help us do that. And maybe there'll be somebody that'll come in and say, okay, based upon Alan's rants on, this platform or that platform, and he's coming into your hotel room, your hotel heads up, ~um, ~who knows, but I do think that,~ uh,~ a lot of the stuff that's going on out there is weird. We have a client. Basically is involved in employees, safety,~ uh,~ with panic buttons and, and all of that kind of stuff. And it's crazy what, clients are seeing out there, dramatically. So pre yeah, I think that'll be interesting to see how the industry grabs hold. Steve Carran: what's one of the best ways that hotels can either utilize technology to create a better guest experience or also bring in more revenue? Alan Young: well, creating a better guest experience in my. Point of view,~ um,~ is once again, just making the guests happy,~ uh,~ with whatever they want,~ um, ~I think at the end of the day, the guest experience is changing and is changing dynamically all the time. And it really depends upon location. It [00:31:00] depends upon. Specific needs wants and desires. And it depends upon,~ uh,~ the type of travel. So there's lots of great companies out there that are now developing technology to kind of deal with those scenarios where they can deliver things to the guests, whether that's,~ um,~ things that they guests didn't know they needed, but. They wanted. And so, you know, the hotel can offer that to them or conversely,~ uh,~ if a hotel could just greet me by name, I would be happy, so happy. So, ~um, ~it could be that simple,~ uh,~ in creating great guest engagement and a great experiences by just, recognizing the guest for whom they are. ~Um, ~but. When it comes to driving revenue, that's where it gets really interesting is because a lot of the primary systems that we have in the marketplace, they were never set up to drive revenue. They were set up to monitor revenue. ~Um, ~So there are lots of players out there, like Nor1 with Oracle and Roomdex And those guys that are trying to drive revenue, which I think all make [00:32:00] sense. But what they're doing is there's no rocket surgery there as I mangle my metaphors. It's just, an extension of what they should already be doing. So if you can give the guests, the choice. And make them happy, then you're gonna drive more revenue and giving them the choice of what they wanna do, giving them the choice of where they can do it. It doesn't have to be on property. It can be within the, surrounding location, all these different things. ~Um, ~but if anything, it's giving the, guests the choice to do what they want to do, whether it's high touch, low touch, whether they want buy in-house out-of-house whether they want something delivered or they want, you know, a new pair of flip flops. if there's a way to do it, then a hotel should be able to do it. And if they can pull that off, then they'll make money and make people happy. Steve Carran: Absolutely. And it's all about the choice, right? And I love that you said that because some guests don't want anything. They just wanna go to their. hotel Room and chill out and that's it. But other guests wanna customize their experience, build a hyperlocal experience or add things onto their stay [00:33:00] throughout it. And it's all about giving that choice. So I love that choice, like that choice of words. ~ Uh,~ love that. That's great. David Millili: Alan, we had a conversation before high tech and you made a great observation that I shared with many, many people,~ um,~ how there was really only one robot robotic type vendor,~ um,~ at the show. and yet when I walked around, I least saw two or three people selling in room phones, which still, I don't understand how in. 22, you would exhibit a, a 10 by 20 booth for a, a guest phone, which I haven't picked up one. The only time you ever pick up one is when there's something really wrong. ~Um, ~so what trend, and that might have been at your observation, but what trend or upcoming trend you think is kind of here to stay in hospitality? Alan Young: I think it's gonna be hotels that there's nobody and not an Airbnb it's gonna be a physical structure that we all deem that we know it's a hotel, but it's gonna be autonomous. And the only people that we will see on that property are people that will assist us. Maybe I wouldn't say [00:34:00] concierge, because that's probably too highfalutin a guide. Somebody that can kind of help us if we have questions and security and housekeeping,~ um,~ unless there's an F&B outlet, there's a company in Finland right now running five properties,~ um, ~with four FTEs. full-time equivalent So that's unbelievable. Right? he's built the system himself. Everything's automated, the guest arrives. They know what they're doing. They open the room, they know, they understand the expectation. ~Um,~ this is what they're getting. So I think there will be at some point. A market segment that will be devoted solely to the autonomous kind of hotel. ~Um, ~you know, you've got pods and those kind of things going on and people are, digging that, and there's, it's not too different, but when you look at the infrastructure of a hotel, the infrastructure's pretty nuts. And if you can go ahead and labor is the. Piece of the equation. If you can utilize the infrastructure in order through technology to deliver the guest what they need, whether that's, you [00:35:00] know, casting or really super duper wifi and all that kind of stuff, and all of those needs are met. And if they know that's what they're getting, that's the type of hotel they've chosen, then you're not gonna have the expectation slap in the face. I think there are lots of companies, Aimbridge could be working with this other companies that, you know, have properties that they want to reflag de-flag do whatever. And go ahead and, do something different because if anything, the consumer has showed us the fact that they're quite capable of managing their own world and thus our industry should embrace that and let them do it. And it should be, you know, it's not luxury, it's not limited service. It's. like No service plus a little bit. Steve Carran: Sure. and you mentioned that like, There is a market for this. What's gonna be that final pushing point. Is it going to be one of these, you think larger groups or brands that, shows us, Hey, this is gonna happen, or do you think it's gonna come from, new player that's gonna come in and say, Hey, these are [00:36:00] new type of hotels and this is what we do. Alan Young: I think if it's an innovative brand enough or one, that's willing to take a risk, you could see that. But I think more likely it's gonna be somebody that comes in and, gives our industry a good punch in the face. and I think it's just because how they're managing the overall revenue and capitalization of their, entire company and what they're doing. Their infrastructure and their people and all that kind of stuff. I think it's probably gonna be a new player, but, I've made a lot of, prognostications in the past and I haven't even been close. So, I do believe that this is coming and, uh, Europe it'll probably hit first in Europe just because they're more open. ~Uh, ~but I could definitely see 150 room property in a downtown core. ~Um, ~do this tomorrow and fully booked, David Millili: I think you're a hundred percent, right. I don't, I don't think the, the ownership groups or the management companies are incentivized to do it, but I think it's gonna be somebody who's owned hotels whose. Hired of paying either, you know, whatever fees or the [00:37:00] staffing issues. So, yeah, I agree. A hundred percent. Alan Young: Cuz there's so much stuff you can outsource, right? There's just so much stuff. And at a much, much lower price. And if you had to do it internally, Steve Carran: And kind of along that future technology,~ uh,~ how do you think the metaverses and web three are going to affect hospitality? Alan Young: geez, I should probably find an emoji or something to answer that question. Um, David Millili: we can do that. John~ ~ Alan Young: ~Um,~ I think the older you get, the less you believe it's gonna happen to be very, very honest. I think it's a, seasonal thing. If you wanna, if I can say it nicely, I personally wouldn't even think about doing it. ~Um, ~but that's just because that's me, right. ~Uh, ~I see my 18 year old son online doing things I never thought were capable online. So. I think the adoption of the metaverse is going to happen. I don't think any of us knows truly how it's going to be adopted or what industry verticals are going to [00:38:00] successfully drive that side of the business for them. but I'm so far out of the loop. That it's really hard for me to answer the question because when I start seeing emojis or, people walking around on the screen and I know they're not there and I know I could talk to them on the phone or see them in a zoom call or whatever, I don't know why we've taken them from here and stuck them there. But I also don't know why I'm gonna pay for clothing over there, that I've gotta put on something that's not real. And I see, I, once again, I think it's an age thing, but, it confuses the hell outta me, but our industry, hopefully, hopefully somebody in our industry will run with it and do amazing things. But,~ uh,~ I am not close enough other than to tell you, I. I have no idea other than the fact that I know I wouldn't do it. Steve Carran: Fair enough. Fair enough. So no, no puzzle partner. T-shirt for your avatar. Alan Young: that's what it is. Avatar. I kept on saying emoji my [00:39:00] bad. Yeah. The, the only avatar I've ever had was on my son's we and from what I'm seeing, a lot of the metaphors avatars look very similar to the wee ones. Steve Carran: similar, a Alan Young: So, uh, David Millili: yeah, I would, Yeah. Alan Young: Everybody's yeah, I don't get it, David Millili: Yeah. I would say that would be the one thing I've been. disappointed. I dunno if that's the right word, but like, to your point, you see some of these avatars and you're like, really that's as good as it, you know, this is supposed to be a whole like new world. And then, I guess I kind of get it because I, got a 14 year old and he was into Minecraft and it's like, these graphics are horrible. Like, what are you doing? This is like worse than in television or Atari, like back in the day. and he's in there for hours, you know, building stuff and I'm. Man the graphics have gotten so good. You're in you're playing with this, so, Alan Young: you know, what's really interesting about that. I was just at the college before I came here and we were, we kick off college next week. ~Um, ~I was talking to some other people that teach there as well. And one of the things we're gonna be doing at the [00:40:00] end of this semester is making our students present,~ um,~ and present as groups. It's a sustainability class. And so last year, and I wasn't around last year, this is my first year teaching. ~Um, ~one of the groups basically said, no, we're not gonna present. And they said, no, cuz they just didn't feel comfortable. ~Um, ~But I do believe the metaverse makes people feel more comfortable because it's not them standing up in front of something and doing whatever. ~Uh, ~and maybe once again to how our world is changing so dramatically, there's a substantial segment of the market. I would imagine that doesn't feel comfortable talking in front of people or meeting people or doing all that kind of stuff. And thus, maybe the metaverse will give them the capability to do stuff. That's fantastic that maybe they wouldn't have done, walking down the street or sitting up in front of a classroom. Steve Carran: Absolutely. Alan Young: it's crazy. I love the, we, I don't know where it's gone, but it's, it's gone. I Steve Carran: It's David Millili: yeah, it was good. It was good. Unless you didn't have the strap on your arm. and you let it fly. Steve Carran: Broken Alan Young: [00:41:00] right. That's right. David Millili: So we're, we're, we're basically at the, the end, Alan, is there anything that we Alan Young: Ah, David Millili: that you think we should talk about while we have you Alan Young: ~um, ~no, other than I think. What you guys are doing is awesome. You know, our industry's all about people. And if we don't keep on talking to each other in a way that people like dislike or can go ahead and, give them their 2 cents worth, I think it's, great what you're doing and, I'm glad travels back and I'm glad I'm gonna be traveling again and all that kind of stuff. I live up here in Canada. So as I said, we were stuck up here for two years. ~Um, ~I hope people never lose sight of the fact that that's what our industry's all about. People in relationships. David Millili: Great. Steve Carran: I love Alan Young: uh, that's the only thing I would say. David Millili: Appreciate that. Steve Carran: There we go. David Millili: yeah, this is the part where you can plug, tell us how to find where we should go for puzzle partner or anything else you wanna plug or any event you're gonna be going to, that people should come find you. Alan Young: Well, because we couldn't get the.com for our website because somebody,~ uh,~ [00:42:00] who had more money than I did had it,~ uh,~ it's just puzzle partner.co. Or puzzle partner CA and it's not puzzle partners with an S drives me David Millili: used to always do that. Yeah. Alan Young: to do David Millili: to do it all the time. Cause I was thinking of you and your team. So I always thought there's more like Alan Young: right, right. You know, it was funny. It's it's, uh, it's like spelling my name incorrectly. You can spell it 23 different ways, but, uh, yes. Puzzle partner.co yeah. Reach out to us. And if you've got some interesting stuff you wanna market, maybe we can help. David Millili: Sounds good. That brings us to the end of the, The Modern Hotelier you're presented by, by Stayflexi. ~Uh, I~ I want to thank you, Alan, for your friendship and for joining the program. And we had a good time. Alan Young: Yeah. Well, thank you so much. And thanks. Uh, Steve, it's been a pleasure~ Uh, ~and, Steve Carran: you, Ellen. Alan Young: see you all on the road soon, Steve Carran: yeah. forward to it. Alan Young: right? Okay. Cheers. David Millili: All right, [00:43:00] Steve Carran: ~ ~ ~you,~