Coming Together While We’re Apart

During this stay-at-home period of time due to the current pandemic, we’re all not only trying to navigate just how to do that, we’re also trying to discover new ways to be alone together. This is especially important for a media outlet, and, in particular, a media brand covering the hospitality industry—a pair of entities, that, by their very nature, are focused on engagement and community.

During a time where six-foot degrees of separation has become the norm, Hotel Business has been delivering the news, as we always have—albeit the majority is focused on COVID-19’s effect on the industry—but we’ve also been launching initiatives to bring us together. And, to help our readers and industry partners through this health—and, by extension, economic—crisis.

Perhaps you were one of the roughly 400 attendees at our recent virtual conference—which we launched in partnership with sister brand InspireDesign and NEXT Events—but if you weren’t, I encourage you to watch the video of the Zoom session. You can find it on our website. I moderated an in-depth discussion of the coronavirus’ impact on the hotel industry, getting perspectives on financial and legal implications, as well as marketing solutions, from five experts in their respective fields. You can also read about it on page 3 of the April 21 issue.

One of the most significant things that came from the session was the need for answers to questions from attendees.

And while we only were able to get to a few, it sparked the idea for our next virtual dialogue: an industry town hall, to be held April 22, where another impressive group of industry experts will gather to answer your top-of-mind questions live. I realize the date is the day after the print date of this issue, so if you’re finding out about it for first time here (we promoted it via our websites/social) and missed the chance to register, don’t worry, there will be a recap online and in the May 15 issue, and the entire video will be available on hotelbusiness.com. And, we’ll be doing more.

We’ve also gathered expert insight in a new section on our website, called just that: Expert Insight. My inbox has been flooded with people from all areas of our industry—and beyond—offering guidance to help get us through this pandemic, whether to mitigate negative consequences or manage the effects of the crisis. It’s not surprising that so many of our colleagues want to give back to their colleagues by sharing experiences and expertise. But above and beyond the professional advice, my favorite type of communication has been from those who reach out to offer a positive perspective and share a smile (see page 34 of the April 21 issue). Optimism, no matter how simple, in a time of crisis is a very key element in remaining strong, resilient and hopeful.