At the beginning of the new decade, January 2020 provided our brand with many opportunities to remind ourselves of the hard work that went in to making 2019 unforgettable and why 2020 is destined to be incredible. In the latest installment of The Monthly Rewind, we highlight the opportunities that defined a momentous month and begin picking up speed as we work to make 2020 our most memorable year yet.
From the jump, the new decade reminded us of the kindness of the individuals we have the pleasure to call our partners when we received word from Avondale that the hotel’s owners had bought lunch for the entire construction crew on-site in Arizona.
No matter the size of the gesture, it’s always great to be reminded of just how caring and generous our owners are to the individuals working to construct our latest and greatest hotels to perfection.
Days later, in continuation of our brand’s call to action to provide all hotel operators with free access to the industry’s most comprehensive human trafficking training through our partnership with Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking (BEST), we formally released the itinerary for the My Place is No Place for Human Trafficking Awareness Week and the newly announced R.O.L.E.S. Training Week!
First mentioned when we announced our partnership with BEST in June 2019, the Awareness Week was launched with the intention of encouraging all hotel operators to complete BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking Training over the course of the week of January 6-10 and beyond.
To say we are proud of our operators’ commitment to the Awareness Week is understatement.
With a focus on re-training on a variety of operations-related topics, the R.O.L.E.S. Training Week, held January 13-17, was also a great success and set a precedent for 2020 which quickly defined itself as the year of training and growing our resource tool-kits.
On January 10th, we released the long-awaited recap from an unforgettable evening in Washington at the Groundbreaking of the future My Place Hotel-Wenatchee, WA this past November!
Days later, we shared the latest installment of The Guest Post, highlighting our top ten favorite destinations to visit this Winter with a My Place Hotel nearby. Whether you’re looking to go Winter zip-lining down a mountain or want to ski until you fall over from exhaustion, our list has got you covered!
The following day, we took our readers down memory lane as we recapped our experience at the Grand Opening of latest hotel in Plainfield, Indiana this past December!
Here’s an excerpt from the recap:
As the ultimate conclusion to a booming 2019 that was marked by record-breaking strides in brand-wide growth and franchise development, ending our year of events in Plainfield felt just right. For a rapidly-growing town in the middle of so much activity, Plainfield has managed to preserve a culture that feels much like home to us.
Before we knew it, the month was already halfway over and our excitement was just getting started.
On January 20th, the team from Superior Oasis in Marquette, Michigan hosted a company-wide training through BEST in observance of National Human Trafficking Awareness month which was led by the staff My Place Hotel-Marquette, MI GM Lee Brown!
The team’s efforts were highlighted throughout the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan as Team Marquette’s hard work brought the importance of human trafficking in hotels to the forefront across news-stations and newspapers
As January began to wind down, the My Place HQ team made their way to Pierre, South Dakota to attend the 2020 South Dakota Governor’s Conference on Tourism for the second year in a row.
As keynote sponsors of the conference, our team had a lovely time getting to share our brand’s story with so many hospitality and tourism professionals from throughout our home state of South Dakota and learn about the incredible importance of the tourism industry in our state!
While in Pierre, My Place VP of Franchise Sales & Development Eric Myers jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. Make sure you go and follow him!
While the HQ team eventually had to return home to Aberdeen, the excitement didn’t stop there as My Place EVP/General Counsel Matt Campbell made his way to Los Angeles to serve on a panel at the 2020 ALIS Law Conference!
Matt and the entire Executive Team had a wonderful time in LA taking in all of the excitement at ALIS and ALIS Law!
Before we could officially close out the first month of the new decade, My Place Social’s Jay Kirschenmann provided our readers with an opportunity to take in all of the excitement our team felt in Pierre at the 2020 SD Tourism Conference, complemented by a spread of vibrant photos and quotes.
Here’s an excerpt from Jay’s article, titled “Great Faces and Great Places”:
“The state is not only where we were founded and headquartered, it’s a part our DNA,” she said. “So, it was incredible to hear how that story has connected with the people we share so much with. Whether they were guests, potential franchisees, or sometimes both, we had a blast discussing the ways My Place can be theirs too.”
While we eventually had to bid adieu to January, we ended the month feeling extremely grateful and inspired by our hotel operators, owners, and My Place HQ team members who continue to motivate us to work harder, do more, and be more for our guests and for one another, especially as we make our way into the new year. No matter how you paint it, 2020 is already off to a great start and our hopes are high for the year to come!
