David J.
Danto
Business travel
thoughts in my own, personal opinion
eMail: ddanto@IMCCA.org Follow Industry News: @NJDavidD
NOT Traveling Blog, 1st
Week Of May
In 2014 I was voted
by USA Today readers as one of the top ten business travel bloggers in the
USA. Now mind you, I turned out to be number ten on the list of ten, but I did
make it on (with my thanks to all those who voted.) Now that we’re all stuck at home and not
traveling, I had to think about what to do with my blogs. I could stop writing them entirely – waiting
till we all get through the current COVID19 pandemic / crisis. I could wax nostalgic and/or complain about
past trips. Or, I could focus all of my
efforts on my day job – growing the use of collaboration technologies –
especially in light of how many people are now forced to use those tools for
the first time. In reflecting upon those
choices, what I decided to do is compile an ongoing list of observations during
the crisis. Some of these may amuse,
some may inform, some may sadden and others may help. My goal will be for you to have seen
something in a different light than you did before you stopped to read the
blog. I was going to apologize for how
disjointed these thoughts may seem when put together, but then it dawned on me
that feeling disjointed is our new normal – at least for a little while.
So, in no particular
order:
· I know that throughout the COVID19
pandemic we’ve been worried about a lot of things – our health, our families,
the economy, etc. – but thanks to the CEO of Wynn Resorts, Matt Maddox, we can
now let-out a sigh of relief that casino firms have created a plan for
reopening Las Vegas. Detailed in a local
Nevada newspaper’s Op-Ed section, Mr.
Maddox explains that we can rest easy knowing that his resorts are ready to
keep taking our money. Guests would be
scanned with thermal cameras, and ones with temperatures would be pulled-away
for “secondary screening.” The plan goes
on: ‘The resorts would cut down on limousine and taxi use to and from the
properties. When guests do arrive via transportation provided by the resort,
the number of riders would be limited. Employees would be asked not to touch
cars or door handles, which means no valet service....The resort, which
includes the Wynn and Encore casinos, would give guests a package of sanitation
amenities upon arrival, “containing masks, hand sanitizer and a COVID-19
awareness card,” with information about cleaning protocols and rules for public
spaces...Inside the casinos, restaurant tables, slot machines and other
fixtures will be rearranged to allow at least six feet of physical distance.
Signs will encourage guests to do the same when standing in lines, using the
elevators and moving around…Areas like pools will be sectioned off so that
groups can swim while being kept at a distance from other parties.’ I can’t
begin to tell you what a relief it is to know that they’ve thought this whole
thing out. I mean, except for the fact
that people will need to take taxis to
airports, need to be in crowded
airports, fly in questionably
cleaned planes, pick-up luggage
handled by who knows who, stay in
rooms that have never been reliably sanitized, and be provided extended treatment if found sick while away from home,
they’ve apparently covered everything. It just stuns me how oblivious some corporate
leaders can be to what is really important when their profits are in
jeopardy. It’s a good thing that the
similarly out-of-touch Mayor of Las Vegas put
the onus of safe openings right onto the casino owners. They certainly inspire trust.
· It’s interesting to look at things in
both first-person and third-person tenses as we discuss re-opening the world –
especially before there is a Coronavirus vaccine or mostly effective
treatment. When you think in the
third-person – what should we do – then people tend to push
more toward opening quickly. People should be allowed to go to the movies,
restaurants, stadiums, etc. But,
when phrased in the first-person, maybe not so much. I
won’t be going to the movies or a sporting event anytime soon. We’re apparently always willing to take risks
with other people’s welfare.
· I wanted to take a few moments to
discuss the airlines in this week’s blogs, but I’m way too confused. Some of them are blocking middle seats, some
of them have said they’re giving out masks and because of that they will now
stop blocking seats. Some have required
the masks be worn by everyone, some have made it optional. American Airlines was specifically called-out
this week when they inadvertently announced that starting in May they’re now
going to clean the aircraft thoroughly, whereas apparently before this pandemic
the first class section was more thoroughly cleaned at every turn then coach
was. Really? Having a clean seat and tray was revenue
issue? I have to keep coming back to my
thought that these airline businesses should just be allowed to fail and new
leadership should be the ones rebuilding.
The people who own and run the major US airlines have continuously shown
that they cannot be trusted with anything (from safety to cleaning to fees to
refunds) and they shouldn’t be trusted to do the right thing now. I reiterate that it’s time for government
ownership and/or significant re-regulation.
· I admittedly dislike change (and abhor change
for change’s sake) but if you want to see real resistance to change look no
further than the AMC movie theater chain.
With all theaters closed, Universal Studios released their new movie
“Trolls: World Tour” directly to home video on demand. Guess what?
They made a boatload of money ($100 million) from people at home who
paid to watch the move. Home viewers now
typically have huge, high quality flat-panel TVs, have a full kitchen that
doesn’t charge them eight bucks for a “small” drink (which is big enough to
drown a housecat), and have a comfortable seat that didn’t need to be purchased
in advance. Some people will still want
to go to movies for the social interaction, but many won’t. Universal said they were pleased with the
results and would release more movies direct to home. Well, as you might expect, the AMC
theater chain freaked-out. They said
they’ll refuse to show any Universal films from now on. Um, so their threat is that they’ll push the
studio to send more of their films direct-to-home? That’s like that
scene in Blazing Saddles when Sheriff Bart takes himself hostage to prevent
himself from being lynched. Who is the
loser with a threat like that?
· I’m working on creating a new T-shirt
with a design similar to this:
Once I find a
T-shirt company that is safely open and shipping and will allow individuals to
pay for their own shirts I’ll let everyone know. I do a lot of things in life, but opening a
T-shirt business is not something I want or need to add to my resume. (UPDATE: you can order
one here. I don’t make any money
with this, it all goes to the printer – and I can’t believe how hard this was
to do.)
As always please feel free to write to me with comments or
items I should add to a future Not Traveling blog (or if you just need someone
to write to.) Stay safe, be well, hug
those you’re sheltering with (but no one else) and do your best to stay
positive. We’re going to be in this for
a long while.
This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.
All image and links provided above as reference under
prevailing fair use statutes.