TechLife Archives - Page 2 of 2

Passing of the gong

David Bruce and Crystal Ellington — David Bruce, Account Manager and Crystal Ellington, Business Development Representative

At Flip.to, we’re constantly striving to innovate for our hotel partners, aspiring to find new and creative ways to help hotels earn new guests. As we continue to grow, so too does our team. In fact, this constant growth is what helps us serve our hotels even better! That’s why it makes me extremely proud to see two of our members moving up among the Flip.to ranks in the Marketing department.

Thanks to stellar performance and “gong-banging” ability, the one and only David Bruce is being promoted to the Account Management team. Stepping up to fill in for Mr. Bruce is our very own Crystal Ellington, moving from her research role up to the big stage as our new Business Development Representative.

So, what’s all this talk about a gong anyway? Think of it as a badge of honor, a celebration of the little victories along the way, heard loud and clear through the halls of Flip.to. It’s our little reminder of why we’re here—success through collaboration and innovation. As David passes the gong to Crystal for new pastures in the Accounts team, we’re all more inspired and motivated to achieve more. Congratulations to David and Crystal!

(P.S. Flip.to all-stars making moves means that there are more shoes to fill! Check out our openings here .)

#HITECatx is in the books

The books are closed on Flip.to’s third (and my first!) latest HITEC. No one word could describe the entire experience—exciting, fast-paced, entrepreneurial, innovative, and most of all FUN. The mix of age-old exhibitors and new faces, along with the 6000+ attendees made it the biggest HITEC to date. And yet, it remained personal—the face-to-face interactions allowed for immeasurable connections throughout the industry.

For Flip.to, it was a special year for our President, Ed St. Onge. A seasoned HITEC and industry pro, he participated on not one, but two panels over the week.

First up was Entrepreneur 20x—HFTP’s collaboration with Capital Factory that gathered innovative start-ups to pitch transformative hospitality tech to an audience of venture capitalists, super angels, serial entrepreneurs and HITEC attendees. Ed sat on the judge’s panel. Being the industry’s startup expert-at-large, it was of course a perfect fit. Whistle—a startup out of Silicon Beach that connects customers and businesses via SMS and mobile messaging—took off with the prize this year.

Next up was HITEC’s Investing in Technology Super Session, moderated by HFTP’s Lyle Worthington. There Ed, along with the panel of angel investors and thought leaders, got to dive deep on the potential risks and rewards of investing in developing tech and innovations.

As for the rest of the show, big data, mobile demand, and engaging millennials were all hot topics. Our focus was of course advocacy—showing how hotels can reach their guests’ enormous networks of friends and family, and cultivate those brand connections to generate revenue. The idea struck a chord with a lot of folks looking to engage their guests further, as booth traffic was steady. (Our comfy couch helped, too.)

As the exhibit halls closed on a great #HITECatx, our team reflected on an amazing week. The gears are already turning for what’s next for Flip.to.

Oh, and of course there was our event we hosted at the Hangar Lounge with our friends Social Tables and Lanyon. But that’s another post…

Flip.to partners with PAR Springer-Miller’s ATRIO® PMS

Flip.to partners with award winning cloud-based Property Management System

ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 2014 – Flip.to has forged its first strategic partnership with a Property Management System (PMS) provider, by integrating Flip.to with PAR Springer-Miller Systems’s award winning cloud-based ATRIO PMS.

Flip.to, the brand advocate platform, turns hotel guests into a huge, trusted extension of a hotel’s marketing force, boosting brand awareness and earning new guests around the world by encouraging guests to spread the word about their stay with friends, relatives & colleagues. Each social connection then receives a unique, personal experience on the hotel’s website, taking them down the path of becoming a future guest.

With ATRIO PMS, PAR Springer-Miller Systems has pioneered and delivered a new generation of technology for the hospitality industry; moving the hospitality industry to The Cloud, to a new user experience, and to a new way of doing business. ATRIO PMS reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for hoteliers and management companies by embracing true cloud computing, minimizing on-property technology, and reducing implementation and training costs to increase staff efficiency and productivity.

The seamless integration of Flip.to and the ATRIO Online Booking Engine will save hotels both time and effort, resulting in an immediate impact on their bottom line with the help of engaged brand advocates and improved guest retention.

“We are very pleased to have partnered with Flip.to and to deliver a unique and innovative solution for our mutual customers. The tight integration between our products will drive a tremendous return on investment for our clients,” commented Victor Vesnaver, SVP Sales & Marketing at PAR Springer-Miller. “A natural extension of both organizations’ commitment to innovation, the integration of the ATRIO Online Booking Engine with Flip.to, will assist our clients in their efforts to drive more traffic to their own website, resulting in increased bookings and revenue. Our combined solution represents a significant step forward for our customers.”

“This partnership was forged by the shared desire to improve the technology landscape for our customers. A well-thought-out integration can create immense value for hotels. ATRIO and Flip.to drive more value for hotels together,” added Edward St.Onge, President of Global Sales & Strategy for Flip.to.

To find out more about how Flip.to can help create a significant, measurable impact for your hotel, please get in touch with Debi Moses at dmoses@flip.to or visit www.flip.to.

Flip.to is “secret sauce” for The Oliver Hotel’s off the charts guest engagement & room sales boost

The Oliver Hotel joined forces in 2012 with Flip.to to help spread the word about its updated Southern charm, sophistication and amenities

ORLANDO, FL – DECEMBER 2014 – The Oliver Hotel, a historic, boutique hotel in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, underwent renovation and renaming in 2011. The hotel joined forces in 2012 with Flip.to, the brand advocate platform, to help spread the word about its updated Southern charm, sophistication and amenities.

The Oliver Hotel

The partnership has been so successful that the 28-room hotel booked an astounding 430 room nights through Flip.to’s guest advocacy in the past year.

“Flip.to is The Oliver Hotel’s secret sauce. We hate to give away the recipe but Flip.to is the future of hotel social media,” said Mike Riley, GM of The Oliver Hotel. “Our engagement rate is off the charts, and Flip.to has lead to at least a direct 5% increase in total annual room sales, not to mention the word of mouth it creates down the line.

“Furthermore, Flip.to gives us an easy way to immediately gauge guest feedback the moment they step out the front door. If you don’t believe me, check out the front page of our website – it’s like our very own TripAdvisor,” added Riley.

Right at the time of booking, Flip.to encourages guests to share their upcoming trip to The Oliver Hotel with their social connections around the world. This drives friends and relatives to a uniquely personalized hotel website experience and leads them down the path of becoming future guests.

Oliver Royale

“When guests love a hotel, they want to let everyone know,” said Debi Moses, Senior Director of Sales for Flip.to. “And The Oliver Hotel is a hotel guests love. Flip.to offers a way to share that excitement in a way where everybody wins – guests, friends, and the hotel’s bottom line.”

To find out more about how Flip.to can help create a significant, measurable impact for your hotel, please get in touch with Debi Moses at dmoses@flip.to or visit www.flip.to.

Flip.to launches Operation “Bark-away-from-the-trophies”

Duncan, a nearly two-year-old American Foxhound Beagle mix, has joined the team to diligently guard the trophies and awards Flip.to has won.

Duncan came highly recommended by his housemate, Richard Dunbar, who also recently joined the Flip.to team. They’re both confident that working in the same office will not interfere with their home life.

The first European team member!

I recently joined the Flip.to team, and being based out of Madrid, I’m very excited to be the first European team member! With that said, here’s a little bit about my past (and future!)…

Tell us one of your favorite memories from childhood?
I grew up in a large family. I was one of 5 kids. Once we were a bit older my dad created a family tradition. Each weekend he would take one of us on a weekend trip. We traveled all over Spain and Portugal. Each weekend was a mini holiday alone with our parents in hotels both good and bad.

How did that influence you as a grown up?
It gave me a great love of hotels and travel. I knew then that I wanted to do something that let me travel and stay in amazing hotels.

So, is that what drew you to the hospitality industry?
Oddly, that is not how it started. In the 1980’s, I moved to the United States and got a job with the Tourist Office for Spain in Chicago. It was my job to represent Spain to cities in the midwest. It was while doing this that the hospitality bug bit me.

What was your favorite part of that job?
As the junior employee, I had to do the trade shows in smaller cities. I would hop into my old station wagon and drive to places like St. Louis, Minneapolis, and other cities in the midwest. I really enjoyed seeing the US by car.

And you got hooked and stayed in hospitality forever?
Not quite, when I moved back to Spain, I applied for a job with Hertz. Alas, it wasn’t the car rental divisions it was the heavy equipment rental division. I got the job and was the operations manager for a couple of years. But, ultimately, I missed the hospitality industry and I found my way back.

Where else have you worked in the hospitality business?
I worked at an OTA back before they were big. Ultimately, I moved onto EZ Yield and helped hotels better learn how to manage OTAs.

Alfredo, you’ve been around the industry for a while, and you’ve been on the ground floor of some interesting products. What was it about Flip.to that you liked (other than the completely awesome people who work here)?
Over the past 2 years, I’ve seen hotels do more and more on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. However, when I have asked them about it, there were two things that always seemed to be an issue for them.

What’s the first one?
The amount of time it takes to properly manage the social networks. For most hotels this takes hours per week. However, the Flip.to platform isn’t something that needs to be managed constantly. It’s designed so that hotels can turn it on and almost walk away. So, the hotel reaps the benefits of reaching more people via the social networks without having to invest a lot of man hours to do it.

And, the second thing?
The tracking, the platform tracks multiple different metrics for hotels. In the blink of an eye, a hotel can see how many people shared a message, how many social connections were reached and how many people visited their website as a result of their posts. Beyond that, they can tie that to room nights booked.

So, ease of use and tracking, was there anything else that made you excited about Flip.to?
I love that there wasn’t anything else out there like it. Most social networking depends on using another brand to market your brand. Flip.to uses your guests’ networks as a new marketing channel and points their friends over to your hotel’s website in a way that feels personal. So you get to broaden your reach but ultimately drive traffic to your own site. No one else is doing that. I really like being a trailblazer.