Here it is Monday noon and the entire week beginning last Monday seems like a nonstop event....sound familiar?  Monday and Tuesday, Jan & I were attending and participating in the 86th Annual Meeting & Conference of the Maine Innkeepers Association.  Kudos to our association's Executive Director Greg Dugal and his capable staff for mounting another successful and informative conference. 

Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the conference was the presentation by Peter Yesawich, Chairman and CEO of Ypartnertship.com.  As one of the leading sources for information on travel trends and preferences, Peter's dynamic presence and the information shared was truly informative and enlightening.  After the presentation, I had the opportunity to spend some time, one on one, with Peter. I shared some ideas about The B&B Team's approach to our own research and how from his macro view of the travel industry we drill down to more of a micro view of the small lodging industry...always with an eye towards the big picture travel trends and how they effect our unique segment of the lodging industry.  You'll soon be hearing more about our research and the i.guest.

Tuesday found me in an all day seminar relating to the practices and laws of Maine Real Estate as a part of continuing and expanding our areas of expertise in this important area of our business.

Our partner Peter Scherman arrived from Virginia Thursday as we prepped for our Aspiring Innkeeper's Seminar which began Friday and concluded last evening.  We had a wonderful group of Aspirer's and were well cared for by our host inn, English Meadows Inn and innkeepers Bruce & Valerie Jackson.

It was at our seminar that the launch presentation, based upon our own research and compilations, of the i.guest was presented to our group and our special guest, Sandy Soule, the renowned travel writer and VP of bedandbreakfast.com.

So as an ex-innkeeper I felt right at home with this exciting, busy and productive week. Please keep tuned in as we share more about the i.guest...today's informed, intelligent, independent, and internet savvy traveler.  A question for you...have you identified this guest? If so, we'd love to hear from you and how you are marketing your inn to today's contemporary traveler.

Have a great week!

Rick