Author: Taylor Kennedy

How Hotels Can Measure Internal Communication Efforts

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

INTRODUCTIONHotel reception

A study by Staffbase revealed that good internal communication provides constant feedback and purpose, which increases employee engagement, which in turn decreases turnover rates and ultimately saves the company money.

At the same time, when your hotel employees are happy, so are your guests, according to Forbes.

Here are ways hotels can measure its internal communication efforts.

COLLECT OUTPUT METRICS

Communication efforts–specifically output metrics–need to be measurable. For example, did your hotel’s employee newsletter have a high open rate? Did your hotel’s employee group on Facebook have an increase in page views? Knowing these key performance indicators (KPIs) will help see if progress is being made toward your goals.

Here are various metrics you can collect and how to collect them: 

  • Awareness: Post/page views (Insights on Facebook, Google Analytics for your website)
  • Interest: Open and click rates (all third-party email providers, like MailChimp, offer analytics for each email)
  • Engagement: Comments and feedback (if you use tools such as Trello, Yammer or Slack, how often are employees adding input?)

Make sure to act on this data. For example, if you see a downward trend in open rates, experiment with sending communications at different times of day, or change the subject line.

SET YOUR OUTCOMES

Metrics by themselves mean nothing. For example, did a higher open-rate for your internal emails lead to staff better parroting your key messages? Ultimately, you’re looking for behavior changes that benefit your hotel.

As Dr. Stephen Covey once said, “begin with the end in mind.” Create your outcomes clearly, prior to executing any internal communication strategies. What does your hotel want to achieve? Win a Torchbearer Award? Keep turnover to less than 31 percent? The more and more your KPIs improve, the more likely you are to reach your outcomes.

Let’s say you wanted to increase morale and employees’ confidence in management. Your HR and communications teams could survey employees or conduct focus groups to gain deeper insight into their feelings and what resonates with them. The results can help you make informed decisions and steer you in the right direction. A tactic could include a weekly employee showcase on the Intranet site, and a KPI could include reduced complaints.

In a case study by Marriott, one of its business models showcases how they value its employees/internal communication, ultimately leading to financial success: “Take care of the associates, the associates will take care of the guests and the guests will come back again and again.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Revelation PR, Advertising & Social Media offers hotels, B&Bs and resorts services related to media relations, community relations, branding, group sales, SEO/SEM and social media management. Please contact Brian Lee, brian [at] experiencerevelation.com or 608-622-7767.

Three Steps to Building Online Engagement with the Healthcare Community

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

INTRODUCTION

healthcareResearch by the Commonwealth Fund shows that community partnerships and initiatives improve a health plan’s image and helps build relationships with providers.

These days, it’s even more important to build engagement with the community because the Affordable Care Act requires some hospitals (nonprofit) to perform a community health needs assessment every three years.

Following are three steps to building online engagement with the healthcare community:

  1. Get the community onto your platforms. Promoting your hospital’s communication platforms allows for improved care and increased transparency throughout the patient’s care journey. For example, if your hospital is a sponsor of a local 5K, consider asking the participants to engage with your social media channels.
  2. Have doctors and/or subject matter experts use social media to share expertise. Eighty percent of patients are using the Internet, social media and blogs to get healthcare information, according to PewResearch. Share good health habits and answer common or topical questions patients are asking. To stay abreast of content ideas, your hospital’s communications department should subscribe to other blogs, follow influencers and follow competitors. When possible, take a national or AP health story and localize it for your online community.
  3. Two-way communication. Not only does partnering with the community build general awareness of the provider, it also can help the hospital serve its patients better. To complete the aforementioned community health needs assessment, you should survey community stakeholders (e.g. through Facebook, email marketing, forums, your blog, etc.), aggregate the data and then implement a plan to meet the community’s top needs. Make sure to be as inclusive and transparent as possible during the entire process.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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Writer of ‘Hoosiers’ and ‘Rudy’ to Do Screenplay About Girls’ Basketball

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2017

Contact:
Brian J. Borland
608-444-9002

Writer of ‘Hoosiers’ and ‘Rudy’ to Do Screenplay About Girls’ Basketball

(MADISON, Wis.)—Angelo Pizzo, the screenwriter for the epic Indiana basketball movie “Hoosiers” as well as the popular Notre Dame Football movie “Rudy,” has signed on to write a movie script based on Maynard 8 Miles, a book by Brian J. Borland about Iowa high school girls’ basketball in the 1950s.

“I loved Brian’s book and thought immediately that here was an opportunity to write a sports story from the female vantage point, something I’ve never done,” Pizzo said. “Very few people know how special girls’ basketball was in Iowa during the ’50s. This book captures that uniqueness in a heartfelt and triumphant way.”

A graduate of Indiana University, Pizzo also studied at the University of Southern California’s film school. “Hoosiers” garnered two Academy Award nominations, and ESPN and USA Today both chose it as the best sports movie ever.

Mark Halloran and Tom Fowler of Mark Halloran Law Corp., and Reno Simonini of Simonini & Johnson brokered the deal for Borland. David Greenblatt of Greenlit Management and Eric Brooks of Bloom, Hergott represented Pizzo.

Maynard 8 Miles tells the true story of a family of four farmgirl sisters from the small, 350-person town of Maynard, Iowa, who overcame all odds to win the state girls’ basketball championship in 1956. The girls ended up dominating Iowa’s popular and now-defunct six-on-six basketball (three girls on offense, three girls on defense).

Borland, who’s also serving as co-producer of the film project, has partnered with former University of Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Bo Ryan on the project. Ryan, who retired in 2015 shortly after leading his Wisconsin team to two consecutive Final Four appearances in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, has a keen interest in girls’ basketball, even conducting seminars and basketball camps for girls in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

“The story is better than ‘Hoosiers’,” Ryan said.“It’s a tremendous human-interest story featuring great life lessons told through exciting basketball action. I read the book in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for the movie.”

Borland and Ryan plan to produce the project in 2018.

“When I first met with Angelo we connected immediately, and I knew I wanted him to write the screenplay,” Borland said. “Bo and I couldn’t be more delighted with Angelo’s decision to partner with us. He brings a passion for the story, a tremendous amount of experience and success, along with a perfect balance of artistic and commercial sensibilities. He’s a huge basketball fan, and it shows in his screenplays.”

More information about the book and the project can be found at Maynard8miles.com.

About the book
Maynard 8 Miles tells the story of Carolyn Nicholson, one of the four farmgirl sisters. At the tender age of 9 she had big dreams. Even though Maynard High School did not have a girls’ team then she carved onto her bedroom wall “Maynard State Champs 1956.”

Carolyn would blossom into a 5’4” blonde who set scoring records with her 5’11” sister Glenda, and led her Maynard High School team to unbelievable success (including that 1956 championship she had predicted when she was nine years old). She is credited with changing the game of girls’ six-on-six basketball forever.

Along the way, she met the love of her life, Glenn Borland, who was the star boys’ basketball player at Oelwein High, just eight miles down the road from Maynard. After high school Glenn continued his basketball success, becoming a starter and two-year captain of the Wisconsin Badgers. Carolyn and Glenn Borland eventually married and became the parents of the Maynard 8 Miles author Brian J. Borland, who lives in Madison, Wis.

Maynard 8 Miles by Brian J. Borland is available on Amazon.com

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