Hraba Hospitality Consulting

LEED compliancy is often an expensive, and frustrating, process.   Many hoteliers feel it just means a sterile, ugly building; others think it is imperative – not for the good of the earth – but the marketability of their brand. Whatever reason people use, one thing is for certain – it is relevant, it is part of the standardization of the green movement, and it is something that is here to stay.  In what form, I am not too sure, but the need to abide environmentally aware construction and renovation is paramount in our eco-hungry clients’ eyes.  The Green Movement isn’t a movement anymore, it’s just the way business should be done.  This isn’t just about guests, nor industry trends.   This is just about smart business.

After two decades of slowly getting there, the practice of being ecological in the hotel industry has gripped us at every angle.  One of the reasons green has finally been benchmarked into the hotel industry is that people caught on that “green” can often mean “saving money”.  Many aspects of being green are really just about being conscious about how you use your resources, and conserving.  That is what a good GM is doing all the time! Many of these things significantly increase savings, and general managers seem to be getting it.   Less wasted paper, reusing and readapting office furniture, I have even seen products from craigslist for back of house operations.  The hotel industry has finally settled into being green aware and acquiescing to guests’ desire to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Just a few of these powerful tools that are environmentally friendly as well as create savings: In room Energy Management Systems (needs room key to have lights work), refrigerator’s with absorption technology, CFL lightbulbs, thin client networks, laundry water recycling systems, cogen heat capture systems, bathroom amenities’ current trend moving away from small bottles to refillable dispensers, installing solar at properties (Cavallo Point in Sausalito has panels on their contemporary buildings, while Wilbur Hot Springs is 100% solar). All these things are, primarily, about savings for the hotel. If that is the way you need to sell it to the owners, then so be it. You can simply relax and enjoy the added benefit of helping the environment, as well as catering to your guests, echoing their ideals, creating a brand they can identify with, endorse, and come back to.

Now let’s look at some ways this becomes incredibly complex. There are some design issues that come into play when you are designing with something like LEED in mind. This isn’t necessarily about saving money or resources. This is about building responsibly. However, there are many people that aren’t sure LEED is all that responsible themselves. It comes under intense scrutiny from equity and construction people, as well as environmentalists. Construction types think it is an out of date, inefficient system. Equity people think it is too expensive. Green people think it is too wasteful, and full of endless missed opportunities. Most agree it needs overhauling.

It isn’t an option with building at this point… you must go green. You *want* to go green, but going LEED creates a conundrum for project managers. You need the designation so that people know you are legitimate. If you didn’t have it, and kept saying “we are really eco conscious with design” it doesn’t mean anything for consumers. They can’t identify with it or understand it, and prefer something tangible that verifies any “green” claims made. Hence the popularity and near necessity for people to passionately campaign for LEED accreditation, a process that can take years of planning, and years of operating before status is granted. What is problematic is that the cost associated with creating this marketable aspect to your green building limits how green you can be. When you spend $200K on a LEED architectural consultant just to vet the complex process, it becomes pretty obvious you *could* spend that on actually being more green. The arcane regulations are difficult to get through, and it is an inefficient process. The costs associated with abiding a frustrating, and at times arbitrary and muddy, process such as becoming LEED compliant. I have seen some projects that got into the millions in pursuit of the title LEED. I think it is important to build and operate green, and for now the only thing we have is LEED. I just find it an obvious “throw the hands in the air and shrug” moment in regards to whether LEED needs an overhaul. By spending money to be green, you limit your ability to be green. This is a problem, and LEED needs to address it if they want to stay the industry leader in green certification. If it isn’t addressed, someone else will and we will have a brilliant new process to vet the altruism of equity, architect, design, and management.

I am excited about the future of all this, and thought I would just address some of the majour points. Green has been done to death, but not by me. I think it is just the way business is happening at this point, and if you aren’t aware of that…. get hip and go green!

The below is overkill, but here are some thoughts on LEED from treehugger and grist, as well as a couple others. I just raise the point because I apparently like adding complexity to an already dizzying issue. =)

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/slate_on_decide.php

“The point system creates perverse incentives to design around the checklist rather than to build the greenest building possible.”

http://www.grist.org/comments/soapbox/2005/10/26/leed/index1.html

Grist says “Let’s fix it”

http://www.icsc.org/srch/government/briefs/200810_leedtalking.pdf

council on shopping centers doesn’t like it, but does have a few good, key points

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4184/is_20041028/ai_n10047515

3 key problems

If I had to carry a torch for an environmental issue (and I am sure I do), it would have to be getting people to see the problem of plastic water bottles. Or more directly, helping hoteliers and the ENTIRE travel and hospitality industry rid of this needlessly expensive problem.

SO!

My one, isolated, professional recommendation to EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THE ENTIRETY OF HOSPITALITY – all hoteliers, general managers, managing groups, executive committees, DOS, DOM, Banquets and more – needs to say *NO MORE* to water bottles at property level. If you don’t think you can, breathe deep and just figure it out. Sell them in the gift shop if you have to (along side metal or reusable containers), keep some in case of an emergency…

…but get them out of guest rooms, restaurants, bars, and meeting rooms. They are one of the most pervasive and damaging environmental problems, whether in the state of California or country-wide. What’s more is that it is a needless expense, and can easily be changed. I know it can be an interesting revenue stream for banquets ($1.50-$2 at times per bottle), but just get rid of them.  If not for environmental reasons, just do it because we are being fleeced like mindless zombies/consumers (one in the same).  If you need some proof, Penn & Teller did a brilliant expose about bottle water being a scam.

People cling to water bottles like a security blanket and it is time to grow up.

The bottles are clogging our landfills and recycling plants, and it is about time to start talking out loud about this idiotic and worthless addiction to these things. They pile high in office recycle bins, they litter the floors after conferences. It is unnecessary, and you may be able to make this into a marketable and profitable enterprise.

I have seen some properties install tap filters in rooms, kitchens, banquet, and service areas. Guests are encourage to carry a bottle or canteen. Many restaurants are not only installing reverse osmosis, but are making carbonated sparkling water for their guests as well. There are many ways to save money… one is to charge for water that is already coming out of your taps, and banishing that earth choking plastic bottle.

I am sort of thinking green today, from an industry vantage point. This could save money, have a marketable “message”, impress your green conscious clients, and create less waste (not to mention the savings in not having employees constantly pilfering the stock)

Update! Here we have the Cisco Innovator Forum podcast that goes along with the article – How to sell to hotels.  Jess’ article appears *here*.

Also, and interesting article since the publishing of this post: Loew’s to source from local farmers for inventory

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As we sit and hope and pray for the economy to be bolstered by these stimulus packages, bailouts, plans, and overwhelming fray… it is always good to realize that some of the best times to start or grow your business is during a recession. One way to grow is to talk to businesses in your back yard, and see if they understand what you offer.

For lack of any sort of witty word like “widget” or “doohicky”, I am simply going to say the word “product”. Frankly.. that is what you have. Whether it is a space saving device in a bathroom, or a piece of art, soap, souvenirs, or more…. you are trying to sell your product. I am sorry I don’t know what yours is, specifically…. but I am sure I would love it. =)

Remember… you make your product because you think it’s pretty good. You believe in it, and you know others will eat it up if you can find the right fit. When you are cold calling, or thinking of appropriate selling ideas…. don’t be in a defensive position, trying to prove the value of your product. Your approach should be more self aware, and enthusiastic. You know people want it… and it’s there loss if they don’t buy from you.

So let’s specifically talk about the first people you should be calling in your community: HOTELS.

Hotels, Motels, Bed and Breakfasts, Inns, Lodges (shall I go on) dot the gentle landscape of the Unite States, and often out people’s backdoors they can see one towering in the distance or across the highway. Hotels generate a huge percentage of the commerce in this country, with the Tourism and Hospitality GDP around 9.5%, or $1,357 Billion dollars. Those are dollars that you can be part of, and here is why.

A hotel is like a city, that needs constant upkeep and amenities. From paint, shower rings, art, soaps, food service products… you name it, a hotel needs it. It might help you to figure out where you fit by thinking of the hotel by departments. The largest have housekeeping and tailoring, engineering, rooms, restaurants, bars, banquets, room service, bell stand, valet, gift shop… it is endless. I have seen hotels with $100,000 works of art in their gift shop, all the way down to a $2 idea for a new style doorstopper – there is definitely a place for what you make in local hotels.

It is true that many properties have established relationships with preferred vendors, but are quickly becoming open to new ideas and new ways of doing business. The green movement has impacted hospitality deeply, and there is always a savvy hotelier looking to their local community to find ethically and earth friendly products for the bathroom, or artisan locally crafted art or handmade local furniture.

In fact, if you meet a hotelier that is closed off to ideas like locally sourced food or supplies, or enviornmentally friendly production – frankly you don’t even want to be in that property. It just means that the people are way behind, and you probably wouldn’t want to showcase your product with a brand that out of step with industry standard practices.

Most hotel brands that are really “getting it” are looking to their community to offer forth products, art, or amenities that not only support the local community, but help the guest discover more about the town, it’s people, and it’s heritage. Hotels clamour at the ability to connect the guest with the place, as it will envigorate our guests to return time and time again. When you have a quaint town that is full of innovators, artists, or entreprenurs… it is only natural to want to celebrate that and champion the members of your community.

Hotels are sitting, waiting for your product. They don’t even know how excited they are going to be until you help them find it. Realize that a hotel is an incredible opportunity to develop your business, and root it in the community along side it so that people start recognizing what you offer.

If you have something, a hotel needs it, and they might be buying. It doesn’t just take a good product, it takes a talented business owner to help a hotel manager understand what they are missing out on.

So go let the properties in your community know, and help them make the experience for their guests even better – through the partnership and commerce of local business!

The answer is simple. It is, unfortunately, all of them.

You need to respond to every single review that goes up in regards to your property.

You can’t reply to just one, because you will look defensive.

You can’t reply to negative ones only, because you will look more defensive and possibly just imbue a dower, negative image.

So the only real answer is that you reply to all of them. Don’t think of them as some task, or problem.  The Trip Advisor ones are a fantastic opportunity to speak to *potential* guests. We are of course mitigating the experience with our less than pleased guests, but it is truly about creating a personality and existence online. For one, by existing online you create empathy for your business as an obvious human is reading and responding to the reviews, instead of it being a faceless brick and mortar business to hurl anger at. It also helps you to learn, grow, and change management or service. It is vital as a real time temperature gauge of your services and offerings, and if you look closely you can spot trends and react to them before they become bigger issues.

But you are also speaking to the voyeurs reading the reviews, and searching for hotels in your specific area. Every word you say, and how you react, is to be scrutinized by future (potential) guests. It is an amazing way to speak about your property, to reinforce your brand, and to really get your hooks into guests.

The happy guest reviews are easiest, because you simply celebrate what they loved about the property… a pastry chef, the sommelier, the spa director, the property dog… it is a great way to take people’s offhanded comment and help market what you offer, and help prospective guests get a better idea about all the value that they might be missing.  The negative guest reviews are great because you simply say “sorry” and then use it as a springboard to talk to potential guests about making sure they are clear about requests, needs, etc.  If the room was noisy, remind potential bookers that the cheapest rooms are near a road that trucks come by in the morning.  I have been able to sound professional, engaging, and breezy in responding to an unhappy guest, all the while really focusing writing the review for a prospective booker.

There are other tricks you can use that I daren’t get into.  I can’t give you all my secrets.  =)

Here is something incredibly important, and widely overlooked, by businesses big and small.

It is great to be sailing, right?  Lovely 13 knots, gliding along water that looks like glass. But where are you going?  What is your destination?  I know, as it is so often stated, that it is about the journey, not the destination. Sometimes, however, you need to prepare for the course and what provisions are necessary to get where you are going.

These are questions I don’t ask myself very often, and are something I think many of us overlook in our panic to check 3 voicemails and 5 email accounts, twitter, facebook, ad naseoum.

So…. Where are *YOU* going? Where is your company — from a business of thousands to a home office of one — headed? Do you have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal?

It is an incredible concept, and I just worked through it with my family’s business in a wonderful exercise setting realistic, yet daunting and challenging, goals for the future.  I have never been one to set goals, knowing that reality has a way of choosing what track you are on.  I always just tried to work hard and live in the moment while preparing for the future, knowing I would reach some destination in the end.

However relaxing that approach can seem, it doesn’t necessarily challenge you to live life better, or focus on what you are best at.  I am a fan of being very “in the now” and not worrying about rough seas ahead, or fixating on possibilities that I cannot control.  I enjoy the sailing when it is smooth, and deal with the rough seas in the thick of it.

BUT… you need to chart your course no matter the journey, and this is what these goals are about.  Knowing that life throws curve balls and wrenches in the works is a matter of fact, but it doesn’t change the invetiable – you need to plan regardless of the “what if’s”.

This isn’t about ignoring the plausible so much as defining the probable.  At the very least, it is an exercise in self reflection, and gauging what you are doing, and where you are going.  The articles below talk of a couple things, beyond setting a corporate goal.

They mention the 20/10 exercise:  Say that you got two phone calls today.  One says you have inherited 20 Million dollars, and the other says you have a terminal disease and only 10 years to live.

So what would you do differently?

They also ask some fairly tough questions, such as:

1) What are you deeply passionate about?
2) What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just “made to do”?
3) What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?

I know that they might seem rudimentary, or even simplistic.  But these are incredibly important questions to consider, and often times incredibly difficult to answer.  In fact, they can knock the wind out of you if you answer yourself honestly.

Jim Collin’s work is incredible, and I have been able to really find a focus and a rudder to the course I have set in this metaphoric sea.  For skeptics that need real time results, I have seen this effectively used in hospitality & property level management settings, Hotel Design and Construction settings, and even in small, family-business settings.

So where will I be in 10 years?  Even whimsically writing the most extreme (and possibly silly) ambitions, I was able to really learn a lot about myself, what I am doing, and where I am going.  I wish companies and people engaged each other on this philosophical level, so as to better understand precisely why we do what we do.

I really encourage people to read the below, and start considering some of these bigger questions.  It might get you on the right course.  Consider it a compass to help you make sure the direction you are pointed in is really the one you want to be going.

Enjoy!

http://www.jimcollins.com/lab/buildingVision/p2.html

Jim Collin’s “what is your company goal”

http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/articles/12_03.html

A wonderful new year’s resolution – Make a “stop doing list”. STOP DOING NOW! =)

The Economist bolstered Hulu’s incredible success, and their ad model that seems to be catching on.

http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13059735

I adore Hulu’s real TV spots… Alec Baldwin deriding us as dimwit orangutangs or what have you.  I prefer Berkeley Breathed’s “Tv Brainmushed Ambulatory Vacuum Tubes”.

Whatever the case, I heard about “Spotify” launching in the UK today.  It is a similar ad model…. basically itunes for free, other than a quick add every 15 minutes or so.  FCC regs sure make it hard to work in the US, but it should be coming.  And it may be revolutionizing how we accept, use, and voluntarily pay for music.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7913959.stm

Of course, with being hacked recently… it is surely that Spotify is relevant that people are spending the time to mess around with them.  Naughty boys and girls at Itunes having off hours fun?

I kid I kid.

Cheers!

I couldn’t post a comment for some odd javascript reason… from this article here:
http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/facebook-for-hotel-marketing/

I think it is a great thought, and well done for saying so. 

Personally, I think you *need* to be there… set up a page, add some nice content, and let people chit chat about how they wistfully remember their time, or look forward to their next stay.  I don’t see much activity, but it is there.  What’s more your link is out there a bit more on a high pageranked site, so it helps a bit with SEO.  Equally if not more important, you end up having a way for guests or fans or general public to reach you…. at least there’s that. 

But I ran some low level ad experiments with some fairly reputable boutique hotels I work with, and the results of FB “highly targeted” marketing with their ad model was… I mean… laughable.  People just don’t click on internet ads anymore.  There is actually something called “banner blindness” to the ad guys.  Whatever it is… people visually blocking ads out or just not caring… people aren’t clicking.  (In my experience at least)

Only when I stopped trying to promote the pages and let them sit, and organically get discovered, is the point I started seeing 100’s of fans and conversations.  Of course, this might only be for specific brands that have a specific offering.  It might be hard to get a budget roadside in the middle of nowhere to get a following, but a lot of brands spark loyalty, interest and even curiosity.  Many of the pages I work on have 100’s of fans.

But still…. they don’t actually *DO* anything.  They don’t interact in meaningful ways. They certainly don’t book rooms off the FB page.  They might book elsewhere, then chat about their upcmoing stay on FB…. but there isn’t any meaningful traffic through to the booking engine, to say the least.

I wouldn’t spend a dime, but I think you need to at least have a page there.  Just let it reinforce the brand, be another place with your link, and another point of accessibility for guests. 

Great article. Thanks for the thoughts.  This had been back in my mind for a bit I think.  A few months ago I was thinking they might play a big role, but boy that fell apart fast. =)

Direct ROI from social media, such as tracking someone from a review page to your booking engine is only one small component of the overall ROI.  Your analytic program can find the dollar amount in those conversions incredibly efficiently.  You can even have a graph.  I like graphs, and charts. and lots and lots of data… great stuff.

But frankly, I am nearly done with the ROI conversation (except that my clients are not there yet, so here we go again). It is IMPOSSIBLE to measure EVERY aspect of how valuable it is, at least so far.  We can provide relevant insight into what we are doing from time to time, sort of like taking a snapshot of an electron.  What we show you now might not be what we are working on in the next nanosecond, but you can see one scintillating aspect of how we build your brand, create business, and return on your investment in us “hired gun” online concierges.  I am constantly thinking and developing better reporting tools for my client, but it sometimes works better just to show what I am doing.

We want and need a lot of freedom to work on all these channels.  It is a lot to manage, and sometimes you get lost in 20 projects… so this is not a short term thing.  For social media campaigns to work you need to be experimental, playful, trusting, and patient.  But framing that with a long term and consistent approach is paramount.  Once you start this thing, you can’t stop.  Not that you would want to, but it might have a damaging effect.  If people expect you to be there, and you are not…. the online word of mouth can go south really quick (as you can read HERE and throughout my blog).

On a popular review site, there was a “thread” (IE conversation) about local hotels with large bathtubs.  One of my clients fit the bill, and being an active community member my suggestion of the hotel wasn’t looked at as spam or solicitation… it was just another of my many recommendations (or annoying remarks, depends what user you are).  This wasn’t in official capacity of the hotel, this was in a personal capacity while online.  As I said, this job is like an online concierge, and I am often talking about much more than just the properties… it is about the community.  Hiking, rentals, theatres, the weather and more.  So I simply told her that might be able to get a deal, because I was part of the team that opened it, straightforward and honest.

The person that asked the question messaged me privately, and I got more information about her needs.  For the sake of argument your hotel is empty.  She basically needs a $600 RACK rate room type for $200, which isn’t much above our Friends & Family, with the CPOR being $129 or so (yeah it’s large luxury property).  If you accept the $200 rate *and* are able to give them a room with a 2 person or larger style bathtub… she is *very*likely to write a good review on her preferred review network, as long as the services are up to snuff.  What’s more, she will be a willing and receptive social media advocate… and likely post her review to her facebook account, make a second review on tripadvisor, and twitter about her stay (in fact, you can ask engaged participants in social media to review you…they don’t mind at all).  These people are helping grow our online footprint.. keywords, optimizing, etc.

It is possible they deserve a discount, but you have to release yourself to the fact that you can’t control the message.  You are simply, in earnest, trying to get an eager guest to stay at your property.  You can’t be disappointed when she is honest about her stay, or says something you don’t like.  In all likelihood it *will* be positive because you engaged them, and created a positive, enthusiastic climate of your brand from start to finish.  In essence, a rate that might make a revenue manager cringe, or that a desk agent would never give a walk-in, is worth considering due to the amplified voice your online guest has.

An active person in social media that becomes an endorser is a huge brand advocate.  Beyond $200 of revenue that may have not previously existed, she will virally and offhandedly promote Cavallo for years to come with reviews and indexed search keywords.

What’s more… the more keywords, and the more “real” conversation that exists about you… the better you are indexed and the more relevant you become in search engines.  As search indexing changes in the next few years – aggregating pictures, videos, reviews, and other content – it will be paramount to start creating as much corporate or property level specific content as possible.  Everyone should be uploading photos of themselves to photo sharing sites – constantly.  We should be in chat groups talking about our brand – constantly.  Buy Flip Video cameras for the Executive team and have them load videos on youtube.  Have your pastry chef do a demo.  Have your spa manager tour the spa.  EVERY employee diggs articles about the hotel.  You need to add as much content as possible to get way out ahead of these other hotels that… well, frankly… aren’t reading this right now.

But this isn’t a science, and this is where experimentation and patience come in.  Would you take a lower ADR for that nicer room type with the bathtub, investing in your online reputation?  There are no sure things, of course.  If she has a bad stay, you can’t control the message…. But extending yourselves to an active participant should bode very well for your online reputation.

Let me know what you think, and expect one or two more of these “social media optimization” snapshots in the coming days.

Remember being a young buck in the industry?  Remember when they didn’t have solitaire, or even windows based PMS?  Standing at the desk in an empty lobby gazing into nowhere, or on the overnight sneaking away from the desk to create a makeshift sandwich from the walk in?  Remember thinking you always did more work than managers?  I consider myself a pretty nice guy; amicable, easy, and good at communicating with almost everyone.  But there was a manager or two… I would find myself muttering things under my breath.  Bad things.

But as a manager, my ears became bionic.  I think they would *actually* curve towards the direction of the whispers or furtive eyes having a private conversation.  You know those moments…. when you walk in and *KNOW* line employees were talking about you.

It makes you think, what the hell are they saying when I am not in the room?

I knew I was an awesome manager, and even if they were speaking kindly (**”oh he’s cute”**, no doubt) I would be suspicious as all get out.  I am an insecure type, so it would eat me up.  I think it was good in the end, because I became an even more hands on manager, and really worked in the trenches with my staff.

So part of my philosophy was always being available, present and accessible.  Being visible, and letting others know I was there for them prevented a lot of unfortunate situations.  I was able to resolve situations immediately upon noticing them, reinforce the quality of the brand, improve morale, root us in the community (long chats with locals about this and that), and probably prevented some bad talk about me, and more…. just by being an active, present manager.

What’s more, if you leave the room and don’t come back, people start speaking pretty freely when they know no one can hear them.  This, of course, is not good.  This is that guest or employee unleashing tirades with impunity.  You need to be there for them.

Well think of a twitter account like that.  Think of all your social media accounts like that.  It’s your online concierge department, and you are the manager.  A good manager is present, and available.  When you are, people know they can go to you, interact with you, utilize and trust you.  If you aren’t available (hiding in the back office reading the paper), you are missing opportunities and not doing your job… employees and guests alike are feeling ignored. 

This is why you need to establish your social media presence.  This is why you need to reply to reviews… so reviewers know you are there and will review you more professionally.  This is why you need to search social networking sites, so you can assist in people’s conversations about you, or questions in regards to your offerings.  This is why RSS feeds become important, piping updates from Blogs to Facebook and more.

Otherwise, all your employees and guests that are online will know you aren’t in the room.  They will say whatever they please, and possibly consider you irrelevant.  What’s worse, they might not consider you at all.  You don’t want people knocking on your lobby door, asking questions and choosing their next stay when you aren’t listening. It isn’t just about missing out on an opportunity, it’s that ignoring it could be a real disaster.

My friend Marc inspired me to post the links and lessons so we can learn from the @ryanaironline spoof.  My blog article is a few posts down, but here is the fun stuff with the Telegraph, Times Online, etc.  I am including Marc’s comments too.  It was really fun, and I think I feel mighty comfortable sharing this on a professional level.  No it won’t be on my resume, but I will have a private smirk about it in the future.  Remember… creative pranks aren’t just fun… it’s healthy!   What started as an innocent, scotch fueled dabbled into creative pranksterism…. turned into a valuable lesson about brand mitigation, awareness, and accountability and verification needs in social media!

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I’ve got to say.  I have always wondered just exactly who it was that had the spare time to play these social media tricks.  It’s not surprise that it is Hraba.

But this experiment and the impact it had on the larger community is truly amazing. I’m not sure you can put it on your resume. But it clearly is something not nothing

Marc

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Articles… I think this is most of them:

Remember that ryan air thing? I had them so confused they claimed it was there twitter account.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article5851864.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=1491494

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4943871/Ryanair-caught-up-in-fake-Twitter-account-controversy.html

http://www.travolution.co.uk/blog/2009/03/official–-ryanair-joins-twitt.php

http://www.daxthink.com/2009/03/ryanaironline-abusing-other-airlines.html

http://journeysthroughtravel.com/2009/03/05/a-warm-welcome-for-ryanaironline/

http://gettincarriedaway.com/?p=189

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thingsinthesky/

http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=13161

http://www.joeblogs.net/?p=269

http://twitter.com/Gadling/statuses/1283209392