That was
among the advice offered by hospitality industry icon Mike Leven yesterday to
hotel owners who gathered at the America ’s
Best Franchising annual owners meeting at Emory Conference
Center
Other tips
from Leven included: Be willing to do things differently than they’ve been done
in the past and be unwilling to accept that things can’t be done better.
The lessons
were part of almost 60 minutes in anecdotal recollections and reminisces that
Leven shared from his 50-year career, which started in sales promotion at the
Roosevelt Hotel in New York City
Leven’s
remarks were the climax to a two-day conference of about 200 owners, who also
heard from Katherine Lugar, president and CEO of AH&LA; Chip Rogers,
director of government affairs for AAHOA; and Dr. Rajeev Dhawan, director of
economic forecasting at Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of
Business. The agenda also featured panels about online marketing and
deal-making.
The
conference was a celebration of the company’s 20th anniversary, which began modestly with
four properties in Ohio and has grown to 256
properties operating primarily in the United
States and also in China ,
India , Nigeria , Canada
and Belize under five
brands: America
