Podcasts about new york hilton

Who was the UnitedHealthcare CEO?

On today's episode of Movie Goodness, we discuss the CEO of UnitedHealthcare who was fatally shot in what police said appears to be a "premeditated, preplanned targeted attack" outside the New York Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan and the review of the 2002 Denzel Washington film, John Q.Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Had Martin Nolan studied engineering instead of accounting, his career might never have intersected with icons like Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, or Michael Jackson. Born and raised in Ireland, Nolan's journey to becoming CFO of Julien's Auctions, the world's leading entertainment auction house, was as unique as it was unpredictable. His path to New York City—and ultimately to Julien's—was made possible by a Green Card lottery, not an accounting degree.Upon arriving in New York in the early 1990s, Nolan worked at the front desk of the New York Hilton, immersing himself in American culture. Through determination and networking, he ascended into the finance world, becoming a stockbroker and investment advisor at firms like JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch. Yet, when he met Darren Julien in 2004, everything changed. Julien was running a Johnny Cash auction and, as Nolan explains, “He was a marketing guy who needed a finance guy, so I joined him.”The following year, Nolan resigned from Merrill Lynch to join Julien's Auctions as CFO—a decision met with surprise from his Wall Street colleagues, who questioned the risks. But Nolan saw no difference between auction halls and stock exchanges, where buyers and sellers converge. By 2010, he became an equal partner in the business, embracing the risks and rewards of the auction world.Today, with Julien's at the forefront of entertainment memorabilia, Nolan's journey highlights a unique blend of finance acumen, adaptability, and an enduring sense of adventure—a career truly shaped by chance and daring choices.

Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas! Betretet mit uns die wohl schillerndste als auch kontroverseste Popmetropole der USA! Schreitet durchs alte und neue Downtown, trefft den King, betretet eine der Hauptattraktionen von Las Vegas in einem epochalen Film, lasst euch von alten und neuen Neonlichtern blenden, zockt mit uns ne Runde Pinball und bewundert am Ende die erste weibliche Magierin von Las Vegas. Wie entstand Las Vegas? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0yt1PP0B_0 The History of Las Vegas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7SaO3lbbfs Downtown Fremont Street like you've never seen it before https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCQmJJ2daMs Luxor Hotel Las Vegas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGZ4s64v3lI The Downtown Project: Tony Hsieh's to revitalize Downtown Las Vegas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEo-XQU2lyc Fremont East Entertainment District https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz2NLt Death In Vegas - Girls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz8vZharnas Elvis Presley - Black Leather Sit-Down Show #1 ('68 Comeback Special - June 27th, 1968) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhlWG6wlEv8 Elvis Presley - Black Leather Stand-Up Show #1 ('68 Comeback Special - June 29th, 1968)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV4L6I8WCY4 Elvis Presley Las Vegas 1969  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8tCyURPfug Elvis opening night at the International Hotel 1970. He was so nervous.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5o4G-giO2k Elvis Presley gives a Press Conference (Fragment) Remastered | June 9, 1972 | New York Hilton  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y6oiUgBJWc ELVIS LIVE AND RARE 1974 IN FULL HD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceQo87pLoRg Elvis Presley - In The Ghetto (Music Video) (1969)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6am8V5KNJ4A Casino - Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJXDMwGWhoA The Beauty Of Casino https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyPAWPnmTLs Casino - Recap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdft0B7TllU Casino - Interview with Martin Scorsese https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftSTZRa-wlg The Moody Blues - Nights In White Satin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4RG9u8IVU 1980s Las Vegas' Neon Lights, Nevada, USA  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDvIpntqz2U Must do tips when visiting Welcome to Las Vegas Sign!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw5V3_3omco Where Las Vegas Neon Goes to Die  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrpKpIqYmcg Las Vegas Sphere - Die 2,3 Mrd Dollar Kugel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1dNQY3T608 So funktioniert die Las Vegas Sphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmwX9uzK0z8 "The Sound of Silence" by Simon&Garfunkel in major key (Oleg Berg) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xthy4VrYHAg Las Vegas Pinball Hall-Of-Fame Museum - Walkthrough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaHlwX838-U Pinball Hall-Of-Fame - Doku & Interview m. Tim Arnold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD2O1seRLYo The Who - Pinball Wizard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpGegoE3Kik Gloria Dea, pioneering Las Vegas magician, dies at 100  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCObDORsds The Lovin' Spoonful - Do You Believe in Magic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnbfuAcCqpY

Weinstein shares why data and technology are crucial to Hilton's customers' experience, the creative philosophy for the hotel's recent campaign with Paris Hilton, and marketing against home-sharing companies. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.Damian: (00:01)I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse: (00:02)And I'm Ilyse Liffreing. AndDamian: (00:03)Welcome to this edition of the current podcast.Ilyse: (00:10)This week we're delighted to talk with Mark Weinstein, the Chief Marketing Officer at Hilton.Damian: (00:16)Mark joined Hilton more than 13 years ago rising to become the CMO in 2020, where he now leads global marketing for the Hilton portfolio of over 7,300 hotels across 22 brands in 123 countries and territoriesIlyse: (00:32)As travel surged. After all that pent up Wonderlust created during the pandemic, the hotel brand unveiled its biggest marketing push in six years. The campaign focuses on the quality of the travel experience with Hilton Brands. So Mark Hilton, of course, has its own loyalty program, the free Hilton Honors. How many Hilton guests currently take part in this program? What does it offer in terms of perks?Mark: (01:02)We have 165 million Hilton Honor members and growing. We're the fastest growing loyalty program in travel. And what we love about Hilton Honors, it allows us to get to know our guests to personalize the experience for them. And it also connects all 22 brands. 'cause what's interesting about our portfolio is each brand serves a travel need, budget and occasion. And you may transverse the brands for your different needs. And so Hilton Honors is that connective tissue, whether you're an infrequent traveler and Hilton Honors is a way to give you the best value for booking through hilton.com directly. So we get to know who you are, things like free wifi and points towards that free stay, a more elite member who can earn additional benefits like automated upgrades that we're delivering so you have even better stay or even that ability to dream for that once in a lifetime experience with our partners at McLaren, uh, F one Racing or Live Nation. Uh, and which you can of course further accelerate with things like our credit cards along the journey. So there's something for everyone, uh, along the Hilton Honors program. And of course, as you said, it's free to join, so you'd be crazy not to get that additional value.Ilyse: (01:56)Now how would you say like technology such as like your digital platforms and mobile app also play a role basically in enhancing the guest experience in order to foster like that loyalty and that wonderlust?Mark: (02:09)Yeah. The interesting thing about our technology, I would say it, it focuses in two different ways. All in service of that wonderlust. In some ways it's taking the friction outta travel so you can focus on doing what you're there to do, which is explore and find a great stay experience. So some of our innovations around digital key and the ability to choose your room in the app before you even get there, you know exactly what room you're gonna have. The ability to book confirm connecting rooms for parents. There's nothing more stressful than wondering if you're gonna get those rooms together. We actually are able to confirm it at time of booking. The ability to personalize the stay and choose things you want, the ability to message with the front desk, those are all friction removing items of the travel journey. They take away that interaction at the front desk where it's highly transactional.Mark: (02:48)That frees you up to then have a human conversation. Where do the locals like to eat? Where's the best place to get that Instagrammable rooftop bar shot, you know, as the sun's coming down. So that's one aspect of our technology is making the guest experience better, uh, and easier. On the other hand, putting the wonderlust back in. So you look at our social media abilities to connect with customers with the things they want to hear most about, to produce content and serve it up, whether it's on the interim TV with our connected room, digital TVs through the app itself or on our websites. The ability to let you personalize choices on Hilton Honors. What benefits you most wanna earn on that trip, or the ability to serve up what interesting experiences you might wanna use your honors points for. And so that Wonder Lust is enabled by both the simplifying the basics and really making it straightforward so we're always reliable and friendly to our guests. And then it also supercharging that, that sort of wonder lust that makes you wanna explore the planet.Ilyse: (03:37)How does like data then come into play from your loyalty program to tailor your marketing efforts and create those very unique experiences?Mark: (03:46)Data plays a critical role in everything we do for our customers. Whether that is for our less frequent travelers, trying to better get them the right content on initial stay. Like lots of people travel very infrequently and when they do, it's the trip of a lifetime. So we wanna make sure we use contextual clues from the data, where they came from, what they're engaging with to serve up the right hotel, the right products, the right experiences for that trip. Our Hilton honors members, our best customers who we know extremely well, we can be even more personalized. We can serve up the dream destinations they most want to go to. When you're looking at our website, you're seeing the kind of rooms you typically book, you know, 'cause we know you so well giving you add-on abilities. Things that we know you always add onto your trip are even easier at the fingertips.Mark: (04:24)So that, that's one aspect of it. Second aspect of it is product innovation. You know, the insights of our customers are telling us where we need to go next. They help us pick the next destinations. You know, we're opening about a hotel a day, they help us build new brands, places where we know our customers are looking for a great product, but maybe we don't have a category. And it becomes our design target, our muse for designing a new brand where we create partnerships, the products that we put in our hotels, the partners we affiliate with to build out that journey. So it's, it's both myopically used to, to give you a personalized experience in the moment itself, but also helping us innovate and build the pipeline of where we go next with who we go next and how we build out the brands.Damian: (05:00)Let's talk a bit about the actual marketing campaigns that you've launched. I know that last year you launched the biggest marketing push in six years. Um, it's the Hilton for the Stay platform. The tagline is, it matters where you stay. And that was a campaign, uh, created by TBWA Jet Day and that features Paris Hilton for the very first time, who's seen giving travel tips. Could you talk a little bit about that campaign and why you launched this big campaign last year? ComingMark: (05:26)Outta the pandemic, it would be really easy to get into that sea of sameness, trpi that was out there. You had this desire to reconnect and of course that was an important message, but every company in travel was gonna say the same thing, is saying the same thing and has done so for, you know, decades that empty, you can picture it, that empty beach with a nobody on the beach chair and the clear blue ocean. You can't tell if it's a credit card, a hotel company, an airline, a travel agency, or anything in between. So we knew there was kinda the sea of sameness. There was a tendency to fall in that trope of re connectivity coming outta the pandemic. So we used that moment, uh, during the pandemic to both double down on our customer relationships, donate a million rooms to frontline medical responders, do all the things you do in that moment, but really look ahead to what the future would be.Mark: (06:04)And what we realized was we had never had a platform to tell our story consistently. And in a sea of sameness of this kind of eat, pray, love wonderlust of travel and people on goji berries and surfboards, that's not my travel experience most of the time. Why were we glorifying the destination but not the thing we provide in this travel experience? The stay itself. And we thought back to our founder, uh, Conrad Hilton over a hundred years ago said it was our job to fill the earth with the light and warmth, the hospitality. So we had this really unique purpose in the world, very different than everyone else, and yet a sea of sameness marketing, uh, environment. And what we realized was we were going from campaign to campaign, getting sick of it before anybody else even saw it, before it even wore in. We needed a platform, we needed our version of what we're gonna stand for.Mark: (06:45)And so as we looked with TBWA, the answer was there all along. It's the stay. It doesn't matter how you travel, it doesn't matter how you live your life. When you come to our hotel and you cross that transom, it just feels different when it's at Hilton and at the heart of every great trip is a great stay. And so the stay became that, that that glue. We then look for stories you could tell on top of it. Uh, it matters where you stay as our first campaign to tell that story. Bringing other influencers and creators in to help tell their authentic story. And who more authentic than the great-granddaughter of the founder of our company, Paris Hilton, who has lived her life literally in our hotels, you know, born and raised in in many of our hotels, traveled the world. So we try to find a lot of different ways in to tell that story all connected back to these 22 brands, how they're all part of Hilton and how ultimately were for this day,Damian: (07:27)How significant was it? Was the fact that you launched this across many different channels?Mark: (07:32)I mean, fir look, first of all, we wanna be where our customers are. I mean that, that's ultimately drives this conversation. And, and you know, just using linear as an example, you know, your go-to oftentimes as a classically trained marketer is to to be on tv. And of course we need to be there. There's some reach and frequency in the saliency that comes with that. But the reality is increasingly our customers are engaging with brands differently. Uh, and whether that's on social media or their favorite creators, our ability to give up control a bit, which is hard as a brand owner, right? As as a brand leader. And you realize very quickly we actually don't own the brand that customers do. Their perception becomes reality. Their reality becomes the brand. So we better meet them where they are. Podcasting and audio is a huge trend coming particularly accelerated outta the pandemic.Mark: (08:09)Uh, social media obviously has been, you know, a rocket ship. Uh, your ability to even functionally serve up search results. SEO is being generated by your ability to be indexable on, you know, YouTube and, and TikTok and other places. So it's, it's a no brainer to be with the customers are. And and what's amazing to me about marketing this great discipline we all get to do is that the fundamentals are the same, right? We're still telling great stories like we're doing for hundreds of years that is just so authentically human, but how we get to do it is rapidly changing it faster than any time in history. And so that's why we went omnichannel duringDamian: (08:40)The pandemic of, of course people stopped traveling, they had to, and we saw a big surge of travel after that based on that wonderlust, that desire to get out of the house. According to the US Travel Association, total travel spending this year is still going up 4% over last year, year over year. Is that your perception? Is that your understanding travel demand is still very strong?Mark: (09:01)Yeah, look, coming, coming outta the crisis, I mean every single year of the last three years has been stronger than the previous. Uh, the reality is there's so much pent up demand and one or lost. I, I think there were some mechanic things like people had record levels of savings. But more importantly we had this golden age of travel going into the pandemic, you know, record levels of middle class all across the world, getting to experience travel for the first time that pause, but it didn't break during the pandemic. There was a very explainable reason, the pandemic to stop doing that. But the demand was still there. The desire was still there. And then it got accelerated when people realized how fragile freedom is, right? That at the end of the day, at any given time, your bucket list comes to a screeching halt. So why is it a bucket list?Mark: (09:37)Why is it not a tomorrow list? Why is it not a today list? Let's go out and do it. And then you started to see flexibility of working, right? This idea that I had to be on this calendar schedule where my kids had to get to back to school at a certain time or I needed back in the office, that dynamic changed as well. And so you have record amount of demand, you had a very acute moment where we all realized, my goodness, the thing I love to do could go away at any time. And then life became more flexible. It has led to record levels of travel all across the world. And our hotels are certainly seeing record levels of customers engaging with us.Ilyse: (10:07)So Hilton has a diverse portfolio, brands 22 to be precise. How does the marketing strategy then differ across these brands to cater to those like various travel segments?Mark: (10:19)It's a great question. Look, each brand has a design target, a ause that we use to design that and, and s sort an archetype that we're really focusing on. We build out that prototype of what it's gonna look like, feel like what brands are gonna appear in the hotel itself, what's the color palette, the look and feel, the logo, all those things that you'd expect us to do. And each brand has to win its category, right? All of 'em have, you know, great competitors that, that are offering options the same price point. So we gotta be differentiated. What's important for us though is that by Hilton or the name Hilton in the brand, which is in all 22 brands, is not a holding company. We're not a, we're not a sort of CPG company that just happens to own these brands and lets 'em all pure play, compete.Mark: (10:55)They all have a purposeful role in the journey. And so you may be at a Hilton resort, you know, having a great trip in Aruba and then suddenly you're at your kid's soccer game or you know, football match at a Hampton Inn somewhere in the world or you know, that you need to be in and then a Walter for story for your honeymoon. So you're transversing those brands by Hilton has to mean something by Hilton has to also be the connective tissue. And so it's this fun challenging balance of having 22 brands each with their own personality that commands premiums in their category, while also reminding customers that it matters that these are by Hilton and that you'll get the benefits of Hilton Honors and all the things we innovate and drive. Uh, along the journey.Ilyse: (11:30)Hilton recently conducted research into how different generations travel. What were like, the major takeaways from the research, for instance is like one generation travel more than the other.Mark: (11:41)You know, some trends you see are about where you are in your lifecycle, right? Obviously the older you get the the more you typically have more disposable income and time just definitionally. When you're younger, you're often in the early stage of your career, maybe your family's younger. So there, there's those dynamics. But we do look at each generation to see what's pervasive and what's what's there. The first was the focus on wellness. People are looking particularly for restorative sleep. Uh, when you looked at I think the lowest end of the, of the spectrum, you know, 55% of Gen Z were saying that's the primary purpose of their trip. All they up to 70% of, uh, boomers and and Gen X were saying the primary purpose of the trip was restorative sleep, right? So we take that responsibility very, very seriously that you need to be rested and relaxed when you come to our hotel.Mark: (12:20)Second trend we saw was a seamless digital experience, right? This ability to dream shop book, experience the entire, stay digitally and personalize that journey for you. And so as you look at our innovation agenda, whether that's putting your mind at ease when you book that, you've got a confirmed connecting room, whether that's knowing you can message the front desk, you know, how many times, uh, I know for me I'm in the room and I don't really wanna go back to the front desk. I don't really wanna call and bother them, but I could use more towels or I could use, uh, a beverage after the, the bars maybe close for the night to build a message to the front desk and have 'em respond back. That's pretty powerful. So how do we digitally engage with our customers all generations? You know, it may start with younger travelers, but I'm telling you that the boomers are just the same in terms of wanting the ease and access of a seamless digital booking experience and engaging experience.Mark: (13:01)The third is, uh, local experiences. So people go somewhere to do something typically. And so they want our hotels to help 'em connect with the neighborhoods. Where's the offbeat path? Yes, you'll see the big museum or the big, you know, sculpture in town or whatever it may be. But tell me what locals do. Where do they eat? Where do I go around here? And maybe some of that's in the hotel. Maybe we have a great, you know, Michelin star restaurant in the hotel and we can get you a reservation that you can otherwise have. So a third trend we saw was connecting with the local experience and not wanting a cookie cutter trip. Even. You know, you want a reliable hotel. And the last, and I mentioned this earlier, the dynamic of business travel has changed wildly. You know, as I think about my career and a lot of our consumers say the same thing, it was an interruption in your life.Mark: (13:41)It was, you know, I had my life at home and then I go do business travel and that's gonna stop my momentum at home. The flexibility we now all have to be virtual for an extra week. It allows us to extend a business trip into a personal trip. The ability to have your kids join you on the weekend. Suddenly now you can use that momentum of a business trip to be the catalyst for bringing your whole family along. 'cause the kids can miss a day of school or take a zoom class instead of having to be back in class. And so that journey has been blended. And so when we look at the trends across all generations, that ability to make it digitally and seamless for them is really important. The ability to be locally connected, that ability to ultimately blend the work in business, travel, uh, business and and leisure at the very top of it, the whole thing. Make sure that when you leave that hotel, you feel rested and restored. Whether that's mind, body or soul.Damian: (14:22)And in terms of your marketing calendar, your marketing cadence, you talk about all these many different streams you're looking at, how do you think about the rollout of campaigns?Mark: (14:31)A lot of markets have a natural pacing to them. There are, you know, there's golden week in China twice a year, right there, there's things that you lean into because that is a natural catalyst. We, despite all the flexibility I talked about earlier, we still in the US have big summer breaks. That's a big time to send people, you know, on holiday. But also watching customer cues, right? We were able to, a lot of the, the channels we talked about earlier are pool channels, not push channels. So as customers are engaging on video, on demand and they're watching programming about travel destinations or food destinations, let's, let's plug into that moment. Let's activate and trigger. We're watching social media all the time for moments to intercept. You know, we've got examples where there was a home sharing customer whose dad thought they booked a house for four.Mark: (15:08)It was a shed that was big enough for one person. They had two dogs and four kids. And it was crazy. We texted them and said, you know, we message 'em on Twitter and TikTok and got ahold of 'em and said, come to our hotel. Uh, we had one the other day who texted her at home sharing host and said, uh, we're at a toilet paper. Where do I find more? And they said, the supermarket. And we said, well that's crazy. Our hotel has come to our hotel, right? So you find these little human moments along the way. And so it takes the pressure outta marketing to some degree 'cause the customers are telling you when they want to hear about you. And we've got ready to go stories. The last example I would give is cultural tent poles. So we've got a long standing partnership with the Grammys.Mark: (15:43)Uh, we have a long history music. Uh, John Lennon wrote, imagine in the New York Hilton on a piece of stationary, had the bed in for peace at the Hilton in Amsterdam. Elvis did residencies. Freddie Mercury wrote a crazy little thing called Love in the Bathtub at the Hilton Frankert. Yeah. And so we belong in music, right? So Grammys becomes a big tent pole to tell our story. Formula one with McLaren and Lando Norris, uh, on a McLaren F one racing team. The big moment in the Vegas race will tell that story. So there, there are these moments where you can lean into culture, where the stay is really at the heart of what's possible and that just becomes an authentic way to connect with our customers.Damian: (16:14)I wanna ask you about sustainability and eco-conscious travel, which should become increasingly important. Can you talk about how Hilton incorporates those concepts and those initiatives into its marketing efforts to resonate with environmentally conscious travelers? ThisMark: (16:27)Is very top of mind. We have a huge responsibility. We have over a million and you know, almost a million and a half rooms across the world. And the decisions we make can make or break products for distribution. And so one of the things we did on the product side is we moved to bulk amenities. This idea that you're not gonna have those tiny little bottles that get thrown out every stay. We've got refillable bottles that are safe and secure and sealed and everything else, but the real driver was environmental impact, right? We, we are big enough that our ability to use reusable bottles for water, the ability to use refillable bottles in the, in the bath amenities, that has a huge impact on our supply chain. And so first and foremost is that second we have the ability for companies that are keeping track of their impact.Mark: (17:02)Or, you know, even for conscious consumers, we're tracking all the energy uses at our hotels and we're giving recommendations to the hotels how to save energy based on consumer behaviors. We're able to turn down the thermostats when the guests leave the room. We're able to do the things that actually make a difference. On the marketing side, it, it's kind of a funny scenario. And that customers care more than ever, as as they should. They'll tell you in a focus group, they'll pay a premium or they want to hear about they, they really don't. They, they want to have a great trip, but they wanna know underneath that great trip, you're doing the right thing. And so we're not necessarily gonna always put it front and center and say, this is an eco-conscious trip, but we better have the proof points for you that you'll know that the trip you're having that not paying a premium, but paying what you already pay includes Hilton's commitment to doing that.Mark: (17:41)So that's really important. And on the marketing side, look, we have to look at sustainable sourcing of things. We have to look at who our supply chain is with what are we buying and who are we buying it from. We built these rooms, these hotel rooms on golf courses, uh, for, you know, big golf activations and they're fun and they're great for three days. We've donated a couple of those to local schools to use as play facilities, right? So are you thinking through the entire journey and then the tricky part to your question coming back to that is just how much do customers really want to hear that story versus just know intuitively and instinctively that your brand stands for it and it's committed and the dollars they're spending are being reinvested in their communities and being reinvested for the environmental impact.Ilyse: (18:17)What emerging trends or channels do you see as having the most significant impact on Hilton's marketing strategy in 2024?Mark: (18:26)I look back to where we are today versus when I studied marketing, uh, you know, a number of years ago in school, too many years ago in school. And, you know, the channels we're using most today didn't even exist. Literally did not exist. Social media was not even really a thing. Uh, and suddenly here it is our number one channel for a number of ways to connect with customers. And so we will rejoice in the fact that marketing is job is always and will continue to be great storytelling. And that's not going anywhere. That is the heart of what we do. What will change and continue to accelerate for us is how we do that more on social, right? More on streaming and video on demand. You know, as you start to pivot from, I think this year was the first year that consumers officially watch more video not on linear TV than than on linear tv.Mark: (19:04)That trend will continue and so we'll need to meet them where they are on streaming and video on demand and YouTube and other platforms. You'll see us show up in TikTok and Instagram and show up on the platforms where we can tell authentic, credible stories. I think the more fun part for us is giving away the keys to the castle a bit, right? So we're gonna be doing more with creators and letting them tell their authentic story about a Hilton's day. And while you might not always have all the brand controls you have, the authenticity outweighs the impact of losing a little bit of your ability to control for every sentence and every, you know, color that they use in in their work. And then lastly, we'll look for ways to activate, um, at big cultural tent pole moments, showing up in an activational way with experiential marketing to let customers truly experience what our brand stands for in the moments that matter most to them, reminding them that it matters where you stay and that Hilton is for this day.Damian: (19:51)That's it for this edition of the current podcast. We'll be back next week. So stay tuned.Ilyse: (19:56)The current podcast is produced by Wonder Media Network. Our theme is by love and caliber. The current team includes Chris Leyer and Cat fei.Damian: (20:05)And remember, youMark: (20:07)Realize very quickly we actually don't own the brand that customers do. Their perception becomes reality. Their reality becomes the brand. So we better meet them where they are.Damian: (20:15)I'm Damien andIlyse: (20:16)I'm AiseDamian: (20:17)And we'll see you next time.

In light of the heated Republican presidential race, we'll focus today on events taking place after Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for President of the United States on November 13, 1979, in the ballroom of the New York Hilton. That was just the beginning. The path to the White House was not an easy one and well, shall we start in Iowa?

Ashley Brown teaches Coastal Kayaking, Stand Up Paddleboarding, and Instructor Development at the College of Charleston. She has developed these paddlesports courses over the past decade to include Sustainability Literacy and a First Year Experience course with a Biology class. Learning about sustainability and sharing it with the students led Ashley to start a Masters of Art at Prescott College in Outdoor Education Leadership. She only has a few more classes before she finishes her degree. Ashley shares her passion for teaching kayaking at all levels and challenging people to test their limits while learning and having a ton of fun. She has been developing a curriculum in Kayaking, SUP, and Instructor Development at the College of Charleston, where Ashley serves as an Adjunct Professor.  Ashley is the recipient of the American Canoe Association 2019 Excellence in Instruction Award.  This award is presented annually to an ACA member for outstanding contributions to paddlesports education and instruction. She earned the prestigious Level 5 American Canoe Association Advanced Open Water Coastal Kayaking Instructor Certification and is also an ACA Level 4 Kayak Instructor Trainer, Canoe Instructor, and L2 Standup Paddleboard Instructor. Ashley serves as a member of the executive committee of the Safety, Education, and Instruction Committee for the American Canoe Association. She loves to travel and has gone from Canada to Mexico and beyond, sharing her talent and knowledge with clubs, groups, schools, outfitters, events, and symposiums. Residing in Charleston, SC, she enjoys welcoming guests from all over the world to paddle in Charleston's beautiful waterways.  One of her favorite venues is the “Edge of America”, the Atlantic Ocean off Folly Beach.  She provides paddlers an opportunity to have an exciting experience and widen their perspectives. Today we're talking about how and why she got diagnosed, how an ADHD/ADD brain can often serve as a prerequisite, and what being buoyant may do for the ADHD in you! Enjoy! ——  In this episode Peter and Ashley discuss:   00:45 - Thank you so much for listening and for subscribing! 00:50 - Apologies for the near horrid audio- Peter is in a tourist-filled lobby today. 01:05 - Intro and welcome Ashley Brown! 01:53 - When were you first diagnosed and how did it happen? 03:00 - What was the first big change you felt after your diagnosis? 03:56 - What inspired you to seek out aquatic sports & activities; and to teach them? 05:33 - Do you experience sort of a rebirth every time you go kayaking; like I do when skydiving or running? 06:00 - On the good kind of exhaustion and a completely focused flow.  07:18 - How does scanning a wave, being outdoors and on the water help your ADHD? 08:56 - I had never thought of ADHD/ADD as a requirement for something! For what else could ADHD possibly be a prerequisite? 09:40 - On the importance of physical movement! 11:30 - How can people find more about you? [Ashley isn't a public figure but you can check into her courses via Web: www.wavepaddler.com and on their Facebook page here] 12:34 - Guys, as always thanks so much for subscribing! Do you have a cool friend with a great story? We'd love to hear. I'm www.petershankman.com and you can reach out anytime via email at peter@shankman.com or @petershankman on all of the socials. You can also find us at @FasterNormal on all of the socials. It really helps when you drop us a review on iTunes and of course, subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already! As you know, the more reviews we get, the more people we can reach. Help us to show the world that ADHD is a gift, not a curse!  19:08 - Faster Than Normal Podcast info & credits  — TRANSCRIPT via Descript and then corrected.. somewhat: [00:00:38] Peter Shankman good morning. I am coming to you today from the lounge at a Hilton in Midtown Manhattan because, uh, my apartment was supposed to be finished two weeks ago for all my renovations and it's not, and I am living the Dylan McKay life here in New York Hilton in Midtown. For those not old enough to understand what the Dylan McKee lifestyle is? Well, look it up. Your parents knew. Anyway, welcome to another episode Faster Than Normal. Uh, I apologize in advance for all the background noise. Ashley Brown is joining us today. Ashley, get this we're going outdoors today, even though I'm sitting in a lounge in mid Manhattan, we're going outdoors. The great big ocean. to the coast. We're gonna talk to Ashley Brown who teaches coastal kayaking standup paddle boarding and instructed development of the college of Charleston. She's ADHD. She's developed these paddle sports courses over the past decade to include sustainability literacy and her first year experience course to the biology class. This is a very, very cool stuff. She got diagnosed when her kid did, as we hear so much about .Ashley, welcome to Faster Than Normal. Let's talk about some outdoors and how it relates to ADHD.  [00:01:39] Ashley: Hi! Hi, thank you so much for having me. And, um, I am really excited to talk to you. I've enjoyed listening to your podcast and I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. I hope that I hope this goes well.  [00:01:51] Peter: . You're gonna be, you're gonna be fine. Don't worry about it. So tell me when you tell me when you first got diagnosed and how did it happen?  [00:01:56] Ashley: Um, my daughter was in around third grade and, um, she had hit like unbelievable benchmarks in, in, in intelligence as a, as a little kid, you know, when they do those, pull you out, testing things to put 'em in gifted and talented and stuff. And then suddenly she couldn't read, you know, she wasn't reading, uh, at her, at her pace had had had just stopped. So we discovered that she had dyslexia and, uh, ADHD, and, uh, as we are moving through all those, those categories, I'm going, yep. That's me. That's me. That's me. And of course, this is something that, um, I, I understand a lot of adults have had that experience. So, so I got diagnosed when she got diagnosed and, uh, same thing, dyslexia, ADHD, and, uh, it's, it's interesting to hit it at, you know, 40 versus eight, you know, so  [00:02:55] Peter: I was gonna say, so you lived your life, not knowing anything about it, sort of similar to the way I did. I didn't get diagnosed in my late thirties and, um, what was the, what was sort of the first cha big changes that you saw in yourself once you, once you got that diagnosis?  [00:03:06] Ashley: Um, changes in myself, I guess, I guess maybe just like forgiving myself for being me, I don't know. Um, like suddenly. [00:03:20] Peter: That's actually a, that's a pretty huge answer. A pretty huge answer. Cause a lot of people don't realize that I, I went through the same thing. [00:03:25] Ashley: Yeah, no, I, uh, I always just, you know, why can't you do your taxes on time? Why can't, why do you have to work at a de at a critical deadline? Like, why can't you do this ahead of time? Like, um, so many of. So many other things that ADHD, people struggle with. Like, um, and I, I guess I cut myself a little more slack, not enough, not, not enough, but a lot more slack than I used to. Like now I have a reason, you know? [00:03:53] Peter: Well, we'll never cut ourselves enough slack that's for darn sure. But, okay. So tell me about how outdoors, how did you, first of all, how'd you get started in, in the classes of paddle boarding and kayak and all that, all that stuff outdoors. And what prompted you to say, Hey, there should be, there should be a school or classes. [00:04:07] Ashley: Well, um, so it, the, all the school and the classes are there it's, um, I didn't create that, but I just brought it in a different venue. So, um, I, um, I was, I, my first career was an artist and an art teacher and I was, uh, teaching. and it, it just, it just, you know, it, it's a pretty punishing, um, field. Uh, and I, I, I never was super successful with it. And then teaching children and then having children, it was just so many children and so much mess in my life that I, uh, I had a neighbor who said, Hey, you should come kayaking. And I went kayaking with a bunch of adults who I didn't have to clean up after. And I was like, ah, I can do this. And I, um, I just made some, made some major changes and I really went. Uh, full force into kayaking and stand and, uh, and then loved it. And I live in a place I live in Charleston, South Carolina, and, um, there is nothing but water around here. So there's so many places to explore and so many, uh, dynamic environments to, uh, get to know. So, um, I shifted from teaching, uh, children to taking people on kayak tours and all this stuff. And then, um, I met an instructor with the College of Charleston and, and. Uh, opened up some doors to me and I, I ended up with a full-time job teaching, uh, paddle sports at, uh, college level.  [00:05:31] Peter: I'm gonna go into a limb and say that paddle boarding or paddle sports or anything like that is similar for the brain as skydiving or running is for me. Would that be correct? Are you, is it a rebirth for you every time you do.  [00:05:42] Ashley: Rebirth. Hmm. I don't know. I don't know, rebirth and it, and it, and it is exciting and fun. And particularly when you do surf, so I'm guessing that skydiving and, and actually hearing that crashing wave behind you kind of stuff is this is similar. [00:05:57] Peter: Tell me how you feel when you're done. You come back to land.  [00:05:59] Ashley: The good exhaustion. Just space, that's it? Yeah. That's yeah. Um, so, and, and when I, when I bring people into it, I love their, uh, reaction to it. And I love the layering cuz. And I think that this is one of the things that I was that I wrote to you and the reason I wanted to, to talk to you, and I think that the layering of, of understanding the environment and watching the student and understanding where the student is is, has it. It it's that flow, right? Where you, where your brain is working on all the levels in the environment you're in. This is, this is probably the only thing I've ever done, where I wasn't also having a conversation with, you know, somebody from a year ago and writing a grocery list, you know, at all three going on at the same time. So, so it is the only place where my entire, where all of my attention is, is layered into there. So, so I love that. And then that puts me in that good exhaustion. [00:06:56] Peter: Well, there's a level of focus there, right? I mean, you absolutely, you have no choice. You have to look at what you're doing. You have to focus on what you're doing. You have to pay attention to what you're doing. You can't do a hundred of those things. It's the same thing with skydiving and, and for people with ADHD, we don't often realize that we realize that is the, the level at which we thrive!  [00:07:11] Ashley: Right. Exactly. Exactly. It's um, it is definitely the level where you thrive. [00:07:18] Peter: Tell me about, um, how it helps, how doing that helps your ADHD. Tell me about, uh, sort of how your brain reacts to that kinda stuff to, to being outdoors, to being on the water, to, to scanning the wave.  [00:07:29] Ashley: Okay. Um, so, so I came in to ADHD later, I did not understand the dopamine thing. Um, Prior to it, but now I understand and I, and I seek the, and I identify the things that give me that pleasure, that dopamine rush. So sometimes you're bored out of your mind of course, but then when you, when you can find the things that are giving you pleasure, like the, like moving very quickly through the water or looking at a reflection of a surface and, and, um, and so seeking those things has, or, or, you know, seeking that experience through somebody else's experience. So I'm watching, I'm watching 20 year olds figure out how to make their body work in a new way and how to make a boat, move, move through waves and stuff in a, in a, um, in a, something that they're not familiar with. It is, it is exciting in, and then that really does feed the, um, that dopamine receptor, I suppose. And, um, gives me a pleasure that, that, uh, I don't know that I, that I, I guess I had is with an art with art, but I had gotten so done with it with art. But anyway, um. [00:08:40] Peter: That's a good answer. I wanna read something that you wrote in, in your email to me, you said, I think that or ADHD is practically a requirement for outdoor educators. They problem solve on the go keep people safe while putting them in intentionally risky situations and manage their expectations to keep it engaging, but not scary. You know, I've never thought of it that way. ADHD is a requirement for something, right. We always look at it as a gift and, and, and something beneficial. I've never thought it as a requirement. I wonder what other things a ADD could be a requirement for? What do you think?  [00:09:08] Ashley: Um, gosh, I don't know. Um, the, the it's back to that multi layering thing, it's, it's, it's seeing some body and their process and a situation that needs your undivided attention as well. So probably teaching someone to skydive or teaching someone to do other things that are risky. Um, Ropes courses. Those are, yeah, those,  [00:09:32] Peter: I mean, I think, I think along the lines that, that, you know, one of the things about ADD & ADHD is we have that incredible power to hyper focus. Right. Right. When we want to focus on something, we are there 100%. And I don't think that a lot of, a lot of people, without ADHD, really understand how that works. And so I think in that regard, it's probably very beneficial for us. Um,  [00:09:50] Ashley: you know, and also the busy bodiness like the, the physical, um, Busyness is, is, uh, is key. So I think a lot of people that, that engage in that, like that come to an outdoor education experience and enjoy it, but don't want to be in it constantly. They need to think while sitting still or being still. And I, and I, I don't know how you are, but I never stop moving so it's a, it's a perfect thing for me to, to keep moving, to keep thinking. I,  [00:10:22] Peter: I think it's the same it's same reason. Yeah. It makes perfect sense. It's the same reason that, you know, my, my parents always told me as a kid, no listening to music while you're studying, but it turns out that listening to music is actually the best possible thing. Someone like us could do. No question about. [00:10:33] Ashley: Absolutely. And like, um, um, teaching kids. Well, my own children. Teaching kids like the multiplication tables or reading stories out loud or whatever, when they were tiny. If they, it, my, my little one was jumping around the whole time and, and I, and I would go, you know, what did I just say? And she could repeat it, back like just like word for word. But if I, you know, she just couldn't sit still to do that. So. No question. And, and I related to that, so I didn't try to get her to sit still. I went to Catholic school and I was required to sit still. So ,  [00:11:09] Peter: I went to school in the seventies and I was, yeah, in the seventies, it was sort of the same way. And lemme tell you something that didn't work really well for me either. No. And that was a public school too.  [00:11:17] Ashley: Not a big fan of the sitting still  [00:11:20] Peter: Ashley, how could people find out more? How can they find you? Do you have an Instagram, you have things where people could find your great, you sent me some great photos of paddle boarding and all that stuff. The places people could find this stuff? [00:11:28] Ashley: Um, so I have a website wave paddler.com and, um, I am, I, I actually am not I'm, I'm not a public personality in the, in this, in the way that you are. I don't have something that I'm trying to convey to people. [Ashley isn't a public figure but you can check into her courses via Web: www.wavepaddler.com and on their Facebook page here] Um, I just loved your show and I wanted to talk with you. And, uh, and, um, I don't know. I really do appreciate my ADHD! [00:11:51] Peter: Good enough. Yeah. As you should, we're trying to change the world. Not everyone has to be a celebrity and everyone has to be, uh, famous. We could be like, you know, regular normal people, just, just doing the best they can with the tools that they've been given. Ashley Brown. Thank you so much for sticking around and coming on the show and, uh, stay on the water and keep having fun! [00:12:07] Ashley: Thank you. You too! Come and paddle with me sometime.  [00:12:09] Peter: Most certainly will. Guys, as always, we've been listening the fast than normal. Sorry again about the background. Apparently every loud person, who's a tourist in New York happens to be in this lounge right at this very moment. But I'm hoping that the next time we talk, I'll be back in my apartment where it's much quieter. We will see you next week. If you like what you heard, leave us a review in any of the stations, any of the places you download your podcasts. My name is Peter Shankman  @PeterShankman all the socials. And thank you for listening. We'll see you next week. ADHD is a gift not a curse. Credits: You've been listening to the Faster Than Normal podcast. We're available on iTunes, Stitcher and Google play and of course at www.FasterThanNormal.com I'm your host, Peter Shankman and you can find me at shankman.com and @petershankman on all of the socials. If you like what you've heard, why not head over to your favorite podcast platform of choice and leave us a review, come more people who leave positive reviews, the more the podcast has shown, and the more people we can help understand that ADHD is a gift, not a curse. Opening and closing themes were composed and produced by Steven Byrom who also produces this podcast, and the opening introduction was recorded by Bernie Wagenblast. Thank you so much for listening. We'll see you next week!

I met Lucio at the judges table at Pizza Expo in 2021. This is a quick and dirty convo on his views on how to win a pizza competition. Let me know if this is an interview you give with- relatively straight to the point. Check out Lucio's newsletter email me: eidref@whatsgooddough.com Buy an Ooni Get your Corto olive oil Lucio has over 40 years' experience in the hospitality industry in all facets of food and beverage operations and has held senior positions with Mandalay Resort Group, Bally's Grand Resort, The Hermitage Hotel, the New York Hilton and Starwood (Sheraton). He currently serves as the CEC of infosys.

Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum co-founder Kent Allen joins Valerie de Charette, Head of International, American Eagle Outfitters and Patrick Bousquet-Chavanne, President & Chief Executive Officer, eShopWorld (ESW) Americas to discuss the complexities of expanding globally through direct-to-consumer channels. Valerie and Patrick's fireside chat will wrap up the morning keynotes at the GELF NYC '21 Global Stage during our Day 1 program on Tuesday, September 28th. Join us at the upcoming GELF event in New York, September 28th and 29th 2021 where we will be co-located with the CommerceNext In real Life conference at the Sheraton New York Times Square hotel!Our guests each talk about their extensive retail ecommerce background, their respective businesses, state of cross-border eCommerce, two starts and one stop advice.  They will also provide a brief overview of what they will be talking about at the GELF NYC '21 event; namely global expansion challenges ranging from localization and logistics to data management, legal compliance, and proving ROI internally. We look forward to getting the GELF community back together in real life after the long layoff since GELF LA 2020, which was our biggest and best West Coast gathering ever! GELF NYC 2021 will bring together leaders from retailers and brands selling direct-to-consumer. Top global consumer brands will join digital natives from the fashion and apparel world, health and beauty, consumer electronics and other leading retail verticals for two days of education, sharing and networking. Digital commerce innovators, cross-border ecommerce experts and global ecommerce thought leaders will debate how the boom in ecommerce translates into international expansion as the retail world comes back online. On September 28th and 29th, the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community returns to New York City live and in person. This year we're bigger and better than ever as we join our friends from the CommerceNext team at the New York Hilton!GELF NYC 2021will co-locate its annual gathering in New York City with CommerceNext In Real Life (IRL) 2021. Join the GELF community for keynotes, breakout sessions, executive roundtable meetups and networking as our global ecommerce programming grows to two full days this September.We look forward to getting the GELF community back together in real life after the long layoff since GELF LA 2020, which was our biggest and best West Coast gathering ever!GELF NYC 2021 will bring together leaders from retailers and brands selling direct-to-consumer. Top global consumer brands will join digital natives from the fashion and apparel world, health and beauty, consumer electronics and other leading retail verticals for two days of education, sharing and networking. Digital commerce innovators, cross-border ecommerce experts and global ecommerce thought leaders will debate how the boom in ecommerce translates into international expansion as the retail world comes back online.     If you liked this podcast you can follow us on Apple iTunes, Spotify,    Amazon music podcast channel or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review with a five star rating and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail and cross-borders commerce industry.I'm Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co, and you can learn more about the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum  and continue to keep up with the latest on cross-border commerce online at https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com/Kent AllenI help innovative digital companies tell their story and build relationships with prospective and established clients and partners. I've spent the last twenty years providing market analysis, research & thought leadership, market development and consulting services within the ecommerce technology and digital marketing community.Current focus: Globalization via cross-border ecommerce, marketplaces and international retail expansion. Co-founded the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum to foster community among and provide education to digital professionals with international growth objectives.My 20+ years of experience in the digital commerce and marketing industry and strong personal connections have provided me with opportunities to stay ahead of the curve and explore "what's next" for my clients and our audiences.My research, content marketing & thought leadership skills coupled with my strong client interface skills allow me to define & execute next-generation marketing and commerce strategies & improve business performance.Specialties/Skills: Market Research, Communications, Strategy, Planning, Best Practices, Trend, Data and Competitive Analysis, Public Speaking, Writing and Expression Michael LeBlanc  is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice.   He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.  Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada's top retail industry podcast,       The Voice of Retail, plus        Global E-Commerce Tech Talks  and       The Food Professor  with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn.  Until next time, have a safe week! 

Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum co-founder Kent Allen  join Kai Li, VP of International at REVOLVE, Agustin Farias, International GM at Everlane and  Matthew Steinbrecher, Vice President, Platforms & Partnerships at Reach to catch up on all thing cross-border and talk about their exciting session at of the upcoming GELF event in New York, September 28th and 29th 2021!  Our guests each talk about their respective businesses, state of cross-border eCommerce, two starts and one stop advice and finally give a brief overview of what they will be talking about at the NYC IRL GELF 2021 event. There's light on the horizon! On September 28th and 29th, the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community returns to New York City live and in person. This year we're bigger and better than ever as we join our friends from the CommerceNext team at the New York Hilton!GELF NYC 2021will co-locate its annual gathering in New York City with CommerceNext In Real Life (IRL) 2021. Join the GELF community for keynotes, breakout sessions, executive roundtable meetups and networking as our global ecommerce programming grows to two full days this September.We look forward to getting the GELF community back together in real life after the long layoff since GELF LA 2020, which was our biggest and best West Coast gathering ever!GELF NYC 2021 will bring together leaders from retailers and brands selling direct-to-consumer. Top global consumer brands will join digital natives from the fashion and apparel world, health and beauty, consumer electronics and other leading retail verticals for two days of education, sharing and networking. Digital commerce innovators, cross-border ecommerce experts and global ecommerce thought leaders will debate how the boom in ecommerce translates into international expansion as the retail world comes back online.     If you liked this podcast you can follow us on Apple iTunes, Spotify,    Amazon music podcast channel or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review with a five star rating and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail and cross-borders commerce industry. I'm Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co, and you can learn more about the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum  and continue to keep up with the latest on cross-border commerce online at https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com/ Until next time, have a safe week! 

Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum co-founders Kent Allen and Scott Silverman join me to catch up on all thing cross-border and talk about the exciting news of the upcoming GELF event in New York, September 28th and 29th 2021!There's light on the horizon! On September 28th and 29th, the Global Ecommerce Leaders Forum (GELF) community returns to New York City live and in person. This year we're bigger and better than ever as we join our friends from the CommerceNext team at the New York Hilton!GELF NYC 2021 will co-locate its annual gathering in New York City with CommerceNext'sIn Real Life (IRL) 2021. Join the GELF community for keynotes, breakout sessions, executive roundtable meetups and networking as our global ecommerce programming grows to two full days this September.We look forward to getting the GELF community back together in real life after the long layoff since GELF LA 2020, which was our biggest and best West Coast gathering ever!GELF NYC 2021 will bring together leaders from retailers and brands selling direct-to-consumer. Top global consumer brands will join digital natives from the fashion and apparel world, health and beauty, consumer electronics and other leading retail verticals for two days of education, sharing and networking. Digital commerce innovators, cross-border ecommerce experts and global ecommerce thought leaders will debate how the boom in ecommerce translates into international expansion as the retail world comes back online.If you liked this podcast you can follow us on Apple iTunes, Spotify,    Amazon music podcast channel or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review with a five star rating and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail and cross-borders commerce industry.I'm Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co, and you can learn more about the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum  and continue to keep up with the latest on cross-border commerce online at https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com/Until next time, have a safe week! 

Had Martin Nolan studied engineering instead of accounting, his career path would likely never have entered the worlds of Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, and Michael Jackson. Still, Irish-born Nolan is quick to point out that it was a Green Card lottery, not his accounting degree, that facilitated his relocation to New York City, where he would meet and ultimately team up with Darren Julien of Julien’s Auctions, the world’s leading entertainment auction house. Before the two men met, Nolan had traveled a remarkable distance from his early days in New York, where in the early 1990s—Green Card in hand—he had landed a job working at the front desk of the New York Hilton. In the years that followed, the determined Irishman had networked his way up into a string of Wall Street jobs, where he found success as a stock broker and investment advisor at such firms as JP Morgan Chase and Merrill Lynch.   “Darren was doing a Johnny Cash auction when I met him—he was a marketing guy who needed a finance guy, so I joined him,” explains Nolan, who met Julien in 2004 and the following year signed on with the auction house as CFO. By 2010 Nolan had become an equal partner in the business. “When I resigned from Merrill Lynch in 2005 and told my colleagues that I was joining Julien’s Auctions, there were looks of dismay—they would say: ‘Why auctions? It’s such a different business. It’s so risky …,’” says Nolan, who pointed out to his colleagues that the buying and selling on the floor of the stock exchange was no different than what takes place inside an auction hall. Fifteen years later, he continues to wield a healthy appetite for risk, a prerequisite for any CFO daring enough to enter the ebb-and-flow of the auction business. For Nolan, the risks are best hedged by using a mix of financial best practices and good humor. Says Nolan: “Darren wakes up in the morning and checks Google and asks: ‘Are we in the news?’ I wake up and check the bank accounts and ask: ‘Are we still in business?’” However, there’s one risk that Nolan may fear more than any other: that a finance career hatched by a lottery win could put Wall Street in its rearview and still someday be deemed as ordinary. – Jack Sweeney  

First up, Krystal Eng, Director of Operations at New York Hilton midtown. Learn what it’s like running one of the largest hotel complexes in New York City. Then, Alan Roberts, Global Head of Embassy Suites gives insight into the state of the brand and it’s customers. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Text hotel to 66866. Visit www.novacancynews.com Send us your thoughts and comments to Glenn@rouse.media, or via Twitter and Instagram @TravelingGlenn. LIKE us on Facebook! Visit our sponsor: Red Roof, Almo Hospitality Subscribe on iTunes: No Vacancy with Glenn Haussman Subscribe on Android: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Ifu34iwhrh7fishlnhiuyv7xlsm Send your comments and questions to Glenn@rouse.media.  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/novacancy Follow Glenn @TravelingGlenn Learn more at www.novacancynews.com Produced by Jeff Polly: http://www.endpointmultimedia.com/

Sitting down with Leslie Mastin was a sheer delight. As one of Manhattan’s preeminent party planners, she comes to us via a somewhat different route from many of our other guests…by way of the hotel business and specifically, The Grand Hyatt, The New York Hilton, The Regent Wall Street, The Mark and The St. Regis.  Until she opened own her own exciting company, she planned countless elegant and glamorous parties for New York’s elite. And with her trademark wit, warmth and wisdom, in this podcast, she shares her stories and incredible insights and inspiration with all of us. This episode was a genuine treat for me. And I know you’ll feel exactly the same way. Enjoy, Doug

"Often imitated, never duplicated, where the elite meet to eat." ~Tommy Jacomo of The Palm Restaurant Tommy Jacomo, The Palm Restaurant, Washington DC A Ockershausen: This is Our Town with Andy Ockershausen. I'm delighted to have a man here that I've known since he came to Washington, and I remember in 1972, Tommy. Tommy Jacomo, as far as I'm concerned, is the mayor of the D.C. restaurant world, and certainly knows more famous people than any ten people I know. Tommy, welcome to Our Town. Tommy Jacomo: Pleasure, thanks for having me Andy. Beginnings A Ockershausen: It's a long way from New York, New York. Tommy Jacomo: It's all downhill. A Ockershausen: You grew up in the Queens, right? Tommy Jacomo: Correct. A Ockershausen: Went to school in New York City? Tommy Jacomo: Yeah, very little schooling, I was hustling most of the time. A Ockershausen: Your family was in, was your family in the restaurant business? Tommy Jacomo: My father was a bartender at Waldorf Astoria for 40 years. He started in the men's bar, in the Waldorf Astoria, those days, no ladies were allowed in the bar. A Ockershausen: Men's bar only? Is that right? Can't do that now, of course. Tommy Jacomo: No. Then he came ... [crosstalk 00:01:05] A Ockershausen: I think that bar on the Mayflower was a men's bar. Tommy Jacomo: Maybe, then they turned it into the Bull and Bear. That's where he worked until the end of his career. A Ockershausen: Your father ran that restaurant all those years? Well that was a great, great place. The Waldorf was the place in New York, correct? Tommy Jacomo: One of the best hotels in the city, yeah. A Ockershausen: I love the Waldorf. We used to go up with Sonny and Margo Jurgensen to the Giants game, Janice and I did, and stayed at the Waldorf, but they were the good old days. Tommy, you worked in New York then, you got into the bar business in New York? Tommy Jacomo: It was 1993, I got a job in the New York Hilton hotel as a barback, that's where you just prepare for the bartenders. You cut the fruit, get ice. A Ockershausen: Was that a new hotel at the time? Tommy Jacomo: Brand new, just opened up, 1963. A Ockershausen: Wow. Tommy Jacomo: Yep. A Ockershausen: I remember the great, great, New York Hilton was a great hotel when it opened. It was one of the jewels in the Hilton crown, along with the Waldorf and so forth. Was anybody else in your family in the bar business? Your dad, of course. Tommy Jacomo: No, my brother's in the catering business. A Ockershausen: Which brother? Tommy Jacomo: Raymond. A Ockershausen: My friend Raymond? He was in the catering business in the city? Tommy Jacomo: Yes. A Ockershausen: Or in Queens? Tommy Jacomo: In Queens, Flushing. A Ockershausen: Very successful, I would imagine. Raymond knew the business side of it, right? The Palm Restaurant - Getting Started, Washington Intelligentsia and Competition (Then and Now) Tommy Jacomo: Yes. I came down to be his personality. A Ockershausen: Then this thing happened, because I lived through part of it with your people. A friend of mine came to me and said, we're putting a group of people together to entice a New York restaurant to open a Washington division. It was, what did he call him, Peter Palm Tree? Tommy Jacomo: Mark Sandground. They put the group together. A Ockershausen: Mark Sandground, and what's I'm thinking, Dickerson, Wyatt Dickerson was in that group. Tommy Jacomo: That's correct, yes. A Ockershausen: That's where I first got close to him. I knew his wife, because she had worked as Nancy Handsman, and then she became Nancy Dickerson. She had worked at WMAL at one time, and Wyatt asked me to get in a group, and I met all you guys, and met the Bozzis and the Ganzis? Tommy Jacomo: Correct. A Ockershausen: What was your connection with the Bozzis and the Ganzis? Tommy Jacomo: My brother Ray and Bruce Bozzi are joined at the hip, just been best friends since kids.

As moderator of a three-hour political forum for Teamsters Local 237, I expected to spend Saturday tending my stopwatch and introducing a parade of candidates for Mayor, Comptroller and Public Advocate. The breakfast event, at the New York Hilton, was for 200 or so shop stewards and business agents. (FYI: the 27,000 members of Local 237, the largest Teamsters local in America, include 9,000 public housing authority employees and 5,000 school safety agents).I was as shocked as anybody when Councilman Eric Gioia of Queens, a candidates for Public Advocate, suddenly lit into Mark Green about 50 minutes into the forum. Here's a transcript of the 2-minute exchange.Eric Gioia: "For too long, politicians have misled us. Politicians have distracted us. Politicians have given us so much B.S. it’s hard to believe. And I have to say, growing up in Woodside, I was always so offended when politicians got up and acted like they knew what my family was going through – like they knew what it was like to put food their family’s table, or not be able to make their rent. "And I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on my colleague Mark Green saying ‘You and I’ in terms of tax rates, saying Bloomberg and Rockefeller pay one rate and ‘You and I’ pay another."Mark, I don’t hold it against you that you’re wealthy, I don’t hold it against you that you live on Park Avenue, I don’t hold it against you that you spend weekends in the Hamptons  and use corporate jets.  I don’t hold that against you. But it’s offensive when you look at this audience and tell them you have any idea what they’re going through, ‘cause you don’t.  I challenge you to tell me how much money they make a year and how much money you make a year.  It is wrong of you."Errol Louis: "Um...I’ll give Mr.  Green an opportunity to respond."Mark Green: "What’s really important, as we all talk about the city and the future, is trying to avoid petty, personal attacks that take away from what’s good for you."Overtalking follows, including me saying “let him finish, Eric," and Gioia saying “you’ve misled the public for a long time, and it’s time it stops, Mark. Be honest with your campaign." Mark Green: "Calm down, Eric. We’ve got a long way to go. "Two points if I could. I haven’t saved money in 10 years because of my public service and public life.  I haven’t. My goal when I got out of law school was to be the lowest income earner in the Harvard Law School class of 1970 – and I succeeded because I’ve never been a private lawyer. I’ve only been a public lawyer. And for Eric to make fun of me and my family who’s always been in public service, I think is odd."If you want to talk about consistency, let’s be careful that we all act honorably and ethically, and that none of us take monies from interests who the City Council gives member items to. I think that’s wrong, I think that’s unethical. I think that should be illegal, Eric."