I’m midway through a 10-day, 9-night trip, with stops in 4 cities and 3 states. At this midpoint, I’m spending a couple of days in an airport hotel, getting some rest, recharging my batteries and doing some work.

There aren’t many intrusions, so while it’s not terribly scenic or romantic, it’s an ideal situation to dig in for the last leg of the speaking tour.

I’ve had a pretty good experience at this hotel, but this morning, while trying to enjoy the complimentary hot breakfast, I thought my head was going to explode. Some guests, depending on their hotel book, receive coupons for the free breakfast, hosted in Houlihan’s Restaurant, in the hotel.

The problem was simple. The restaurant was understaffed. Only one server, Pam, to attend to any and all patrons. There appeared to be low level staffing in the kitchen, who were one or two steps behind. At one time or another, they ran out of hot food, milk, coffee, bread and rolls, silverware… the works.

Poor Pam was overwhelmed as hotel guests kept arriving in bunches. I’d observed the situation for long enough, picked myself up and went to the front desk. I explained the situation, rather emphatically, that Pam needed assistance, and it was needed NOW! The front desk attendant still didn’t quite read my urgency. I suggested that they were lucky Pam hadn’t walked off the job, and she still might. Now, I had her attention.

About 10 minutes later, the cavalry arrived, in the form of one, recently hired chef (I found his identity out later). Behind the kitchen area, he berated Pam about something related to the coffee. I was about to have a New York moment.

I caught his eye, and with one finger (my index figure), I waived him over to my table. Mr. Clueless asked if he could clear my cereal bowl. No, I suggested he shut up and listen. Now, he was fully engaged.

Essentially, I told him that berating Pam, under these circumstances, was completely inappropriate. He apologized that I had overheard it. I explained, sharply, that what I heard was not the point.

The point was that he had been called in to assist, not supervise. The room was understaffed, and Pam was doing the best she could, in an impossible situation. He needed to bus tables, stock the buffet or wash dishes. Whatever Pam wanted him to do, was what he should be doing. He should be thanking her up and down for having to deal with this untenable situation, and knock off the superiority act.

He thanked me for the attitude adjustment, and I departed.

At dinner, I found the actual restaurant manager, and made sure she had the first hand story, for the record. Maybe I felt the need to insert myself is because I live in Las Vegas and see working stiffs, every day, being overwhelmed by understaffing. Big corporate management stupidity is evident in too many places.

Most people don’t take the time to analyze why they received bad service. I do.

Avoidable problems should be…well…. avoided. Hopefully, I had some small lasting impact on the restaurant scene, at the Ramada Milwaukee Airport.

Berating an employee, in private, or worse, in public, is not management. It’s stupidity. When a customer observes it, it’s marketing…. of the worst kind.

Care to share your observations?

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Networking situations have interesting dynamics. What makes people gravitate toward others? Why do certain individuals stand out and others become invisible?

Last night, Singer/SongWriter/Performance Artist, Lady Gaga, appeared at the Pearl Showroom, in the Palms, Las Vegas. There was a positive review in the paper, this morning. No review of Lady Gaga would be written without a thorough discussion of her wardrobe (costuming). Her ever-changing glam fashion facade recalls breakthrough presences of performers such as Madonna and David Bowie.

Eyes can be on you, without having to be ostentatious. Here are two examples.

DJ Marcello Pedalino is the first. I first met Marcello six years ago at DJ Conference. What stood out about him was that he was impeccably dressed. Suit and tie; neat as pin.

DJ Marcello Pedalino

In a gather of mobile DJ’s, who all to often sported T-shirts and jeans, accessorized by expanding waistlines, Marcello always stands out. If you didn’t know him, you would think, “I wonder who HE is. he must be somebody important.”

Over the long term, this has created what I’ve termed The Marcello Effect. Year by year, I see more and more mobile DJ’s decked out in suit and tie, even when it might not be absolutely necessary. Hopefully, they are continuing that fashion statement in their local networking opportunities, not just at national DJ conference, because it looks good.

Darcy Anderson, Fashion Director, JC Penney’s: Darcy was a client of mine about 30 years ago when my company, Music Man, was providing music for many fashion shows in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Darcy was a stylish dresser, but what stood out was her singular fashion accessory, a bumble bee pin. Actually what stood was not the pin, itself, but where she wore it. Darcy always wore it on her right shoulder, on the back of her jacket.

Invariably, people would see the pin from a distance, and come up to her to let her know she had ‘something on her shoulder.’ only to see that this was not a mistake, but a fashion accessory.

This simple staple of Darcy’s wardrobe made her distinctly memorable. Here I am, blogging about it thirty years later.

What are you doing to make yourself distinct and memorable? In this case, not your company, YOU. When you walk into a room of 125 people, many of whom you haven’t met, is there anything you’re doing by your presence or actions that makes you memorable?

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

Start by being a second or third rate blogger, and become great, over time.

Sound strange? Ponder this quotation.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly until you learn to do it well.

– Steve Brown

We get better at things with training, practice, and more repetition. Just like learning an instrument or playing tennis.

In the case of publishing a blog, if you do it effectively, it will be the single most powerful arrow in your wedding marketing quiver.

A great blog isn’t easy. If it was, everyone would have one. If you develop and maintain one, you will be heads above your competition, in many things, including search engine ranking and business image.

And once you’re out in front, you’ll find it’s easier to stay out in front.

That’s it, that’s all.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority

This post is the fourth of a recap series about a meeting of the Las Vegas Wedding Network. Seven brides spoke and answered questions about their wedding planning experience.

Jazmine told a story about a vendor she met a bridal show who took the time to look up her Facebook profile, find out a little bit about her, and connected with her. The vendor was able to look her up, using the email address she provided.

One of the meeting attendees was aghast and agitated, shouting out her question: “Isn’t that stalking?”

Calmly, Jazmine responded with the following… paraphrasing:

“At the time, my profile was public, so anyone on Facebook could have seen my complete profile. I have since made much of my profile less public, until I’ve made a friend-connection. I thought it was ‘sweet’ that the vendor took a little time to learn a little about me, see I had a child from a previous marriage, and more. It showed me they were interested in me.”

More than once, during the evening, Jazmine pointed out the importance of people remembering names and faces, particularly at bridal shows and showcases. She remembered a specific instance where one exhibitor at a bridal show had shoved a business card at her, three separate times. Other people, seeing her on multiple occasions, remembered her by name.

Opinion – What to make of this: First of all, it’s not stalking. Not by a long shot. If some approaches you to friend them on Facebook, if you don’t want that to happen, just press ignore. If they persist, and annoy you, it’s one click to BLOCK them.

If you approached 100 brides via Facebook to follow your business group page or connect as a friend, some percentage would connect with you and others would not. Your approach might go like this:

Dear Jazmine,

Enjoyed meeting you at the Bridal Spectacular. I know you’re still in the decision making process, and thought you might want to follow my business fan page, and learn more about what my company is about, and see what we’re doing. Hope you’ll become a fan.

Andy

That’s a pretty benign approach, and, again, some brides will become a fan, others won’t. Don’t over analyze it. Having a soft Facebook strategy is a perfectly reasonable marketing move.

It’s important to remember that what YOU prefer as a customer, is not relevant when you are the business owner. Don’t project your likes and dislikes on the bride. This is an opt-in approach. Those brides that choose to follow you are exercising Permission Marketing.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Blog

When it comes to social media, one of the biggest mistakes is the imbalance in communication. We tend to post far more than we read. Reading, or in my metaphor, “listening”, is far more effective in focusing your attention to peers that count.

As your friends list continues to grow on Facebook (or followers on Twitter), you should take advantage of the tool, called Lists. You can create up to 100 lists on Facebook, 20 on Twitter, to create sub-groups from your friends. This is, essentially, a simple database function that allow you to assign any friend to one or more groups.

For example:

• Venues in your market
• Businesses in your industry (regionally, nationally)
• Members of different local associations (in separate groups)

Once you have set up various groups, you can click on a particular group and just see the news feed on that group. This function enables you to focus on any sub-group, individually, filtering out all else. You can read what people are talking about and respond as appropriate.

Manage your friends, listen with two ears, and speak with one.

Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority