From 0 to 100 Real Quick: Celebrating 100 Episodes of Alex & Annie Podcast with The 100 Collection

Speaker 1: 0:00

We'll start the show in just a minute, but first a word from our premier brand sponsor, casago, and co-sponsors, guest Ranger and Good Neighbor Tech.

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Casago's founder, steve Schwab, has been quoted as saying you can only be a local in one place. This simple yet profound statement is the basis of Casago's franchise model, which allows locally-owned vacation rental management companies the ability to compete at a national level by leveraging the system's software and support buying power of a much larger organization.

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As a Casago franchisee, you have the freedom to run your business with the support of a community of like-minded professionals, while leveraging the economies of scale and buying power to increase profitability and reduce operating costs.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Guest Ranger is the premier guest screening and charge back protection solution. Leveraging AI, their tool effectively detects fraudulent activity, fake IDs and underage guests, while also performing comprehensive, dynamic background checks. With Guest Ranger, businesses can rest assured that their customers are safe and secure.

Speaker 1: 1:00

Good Neighbor Tech allows you to manage your properties remotely and intelligently, protecting your owners and your guests. Their smart Wi-Fi locks allow you to provide temporary access to home and garage from anywhere and keep track of when guests and service providers are in the property. Good Neighbor Tech provides the ability for you to collect email addresses from all guests staying in a property, not just the one who booked the reservation. Every guest who connects to the internet will see your branded welcome page and be prompted to provide their email address in order to connect to the Wi-Fi.

Speaker 2: 1:29

Visit casagocom forge slash franchise guest rangercom and goodneighbertechcom for more information.

Speaker 3: 1:37

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of vacation rentals. With more than 35 years combined industry experience, alex Hussner and Annie Holcomb have teamed up to connect the dots between inspiration and opportunity, seeking to find the one story, idea, strategy or decision that led to their guest's big aha moment. Join them as they highlight the real stories behind the people and brands that have built vacation rentals into the $100 billion industry. it is today And now it's time to get real and have some fun with your hosts, alex and Annie.

Speaker 1: 2:14

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of vacation rentals. I'm Alex and I'm Annie, and we are joined today for the 100th episode of the podcast with the 100 collection. We have Travis and Rebecca here. It's so good to see you guys.

Speaker 2: 2:31

Hey, good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 4: 2:35

And congratulations. That's a huge milestone 100 episodes.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Yes, amazing to think, To be honest. I mean literally, like we've said. I've said welcome, welcome. I've said that now 100 times, not including the outtakes too. This is true, this is true, so why?

Speaker 2: 2:55

don't you guys give us a little bit? I think everybody knows who Travis and Rebecca are, but why don't you guys tell us a little bit about each of yourselves and then we'll kind of tie it into how the 100 collection came to be.

Speaker 5: 3:07

Thanks. So I am. I'm Rebecca Lombardo and I have a background in storytelling and brandy and marketing And I fell into the 100 collection or was pulled last year when a mutual friend introduced me to Travis Great.

Speaker 1: 3:29

And Travis.

Speaker 4: 3:31

Yeah, and I've been doing. I've been in the vacation run industry since 2007. I was one of those guys that accidentally built guest house behind my main house before it was popular and said I was going to rent it out nightly. And that ended up working out well and then fell into the management company. Just like about the other 99% of our industry, somehow ended up with two than three And just kind of kept my finger on the pulse of what was going on in industry, which was some of the origins of the 100 collection, if you will.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Interesting. So I remember last summer getting on the phone with you, travis, and you were trying to tell me about this project that you had, and I could not understand what you were talking about because you had to be very vague, because it hadn't been announced yet And I remember I didn't know you. So also I was like what is this guy talking about? I'm so confused And it's come a full circle now Obviously I know much more about it And I've gotten to know you well over the past year And I think you guys are on just a great, great mission. But tell us a little bit about the 100 collection. Hopefully you can be a little more clear than you were with me last summer for our audience.

Speaker 4: 4:41

Yeah, absolutely, If not you have Rebecca here to help. It's been a project that's actually been in the works for quite a long time, and the original version of this was supposed to launch in the first quarter of the 2020, which ended up not exactly being the best time. I remember like it was yesterday when I was watching the news and looking at Wuhan, china, completely empty, and I was like, wonder how long this is going to be. In reports the US And it's like is this a good time to start a business or go launch a project? And we had numerous different partners that had signed up to be under a different version of this, and then, obviously, covid happened and we hit the giant pause button, and so the 100 collection is about the people and the properties that are delivering 100%. It's a giant brand, ultimately loyalty project, but I'm a huge believer in the vacation role in the industry. I love our people And I have noticed time and time again that when the people are local and there's boots on the ground, they seem to be really well run companies And ultimately, i also think what's going on in the industry is that it's a lot harder to find these people these days. So Rebecca will tell you a lot of these brands are disappearing, a lot of these local brands. So there's over 17,000 local brands And our mission is to bring those out into the forefront.

Speaker 2: 6:19

And so I remember actually kind of to Alex's point I had a similar conversation. We both didn't know that we had had these conversations with you until later And we both had the same like okay, it sounds really neat, but we're really not sure what it is. And one of the things that I do remember talking with you about is that you guys have a word for the person that represents your local market. Can you explain a little bit about that and like what that kind of signifies and the differentiator that you think that brings to your business Back up.

Speaker 5: 6:50

The word is Doyan, d-o-y-e, and the word means a most well-respected person in that space. So if you think about one of your peers or one of the thought leaders in vacation rental industries, that would be that's another way to say a Doyan. There's a male and a female version of the word, doyan being the female version. But yeah, travis was working to distinguish the vacation rental manager who was a professional versus like a host, right? So like we can get into the nomenclature debate that's taking place in the industry right now. A little later, but that was clearly the universe was calling for some kind of distinguishing among the different types of managers in vacation rental, so he capitalized on that.

Speaker 4: 7:44

Well, yeah, i feel like you think about some of the people that are a part of this right. So, like Lance and Elaine Stitcher over on Chick-A-Tig Island, it's hard to argue that they're not the king and queen of the island And you just kind of want to sit there and hang out with them and have a cocktail on the back of the boat Where you have. Tom Goodwin, with Mount Laurel Chalets, which is a 50 year old company in Gatlinburg, recently got to go to the owner's meeting that he was hosting And he had, i think, 150 of his owners there. He had the meeting the owner's meeting for Mount Laurel Chalets opened up with the mayor of Gatlinburg. Like we're like ginger and hunter with beach ball properties. that just did. I hope it all messes up art for the heart down in Warden Beach, alabama, and they shared a fundraiser raised over $300,000 something dollars. And you know those are the people that, hey, i just absolutely love being around anyway. It's like they really make great community. And what a better word than doyen I mean, it's by definition. nobody's ever heard of it. These are really the most respected people in their community. And you know, rebecca brought this amazing PR person to the table who, while we were on the phone, she's like why aren't you using the female version? It's doyen. I'm like wait, i love it.

Speaker 1: 9:03

I love it, i love it?

Speaker 2: 9:05

I have no idea.

Speaker 1: 9:08

Wow. So do you use that in your approach? when you talk to managers, Do you say you know, we want to invite you to this, to be the doyen and doyen of your area, Or like how are you using that in your communications?

Speaker 4: 9:22

It's a great question. We're using it softly because I think it takes a while for people to absorb, if you will, and some people like seeing it and some people don't know how to say it, some people question it. But I mean, most importantly, i think you know, in regards to the approach of like approaching managers, often it's people just like yourselves or people that are a part of our community, that have their finger on the pulse and they're like you really should go talk to Lance and Elaine. They are, you know, the partner for you and you know said location. So it's been kind of a joke. But you know, ryan Dane, that we all know from Costco, on a regular basis, goes around. You know it's invite only And that's essentially what it is. Is that? we're, you know, trying, you know, very hard to like filter to make sure that people are really much represented in their community, first and foremost, followed by these properties that are best serving the guests as well.

Speaker 5: 10:12

I think it's the first time in my life I've not had any business cards and people will ask me for one And I'm like can I have one of yours? Cause it's kind of a don't call us, we'll call you such a person.

Speaker 2: 10:20

Oh really, Oh, that's funny What a great position to be in, though You don't have that roll of decks that's like overflowing on your desk.

Speaker 1: 10:28

Yeah, oh, that's interesting, Yeah, and I think you know, from a timeliness perspective for sure, that's a conversation that's being had in multiple different arenas about. You know, why do we need to say that we're professional? Of course we're professional. You wouldn't say that you're a professional plumber. I mean, like, would you want an unprofessional plumber? Like it's, but it does mean something, though, And the difference is maybe it's not the best way to say it, Maybe Doyan is the way to describe it, but it does signify that these are people that have been in the business for a somewhat of a significant amount of time. They have ties, are local, community, They're involved with their chambers of commerce, They're involved with, you know, city councils and elected officials, and they're looking after tourism as a whole. And it's not just I just put a property on Airbnb and I'm a professional. I mean, you can run a professional hosting business professional. You run a hosting business professionally, but are you the same type of a vocational manager that you know has this business that has been longstanding? That's a different thing.

Speaker 4: 11:30

I 100% agree, and you know I take a lot of taking ourselves out of our own industry for a minute. Imagine if you book with your family a plane ticket on kayak, yet you don't know who's going to fly you, and so you don't know if it's the Delta Jet or if it's the Cessna and the pilot just got his license the day before. Do you want to go jump on that plane? Do you want to gamble your family's vacation Like it's not that different within our own industry And you know I you know I talk about this a lot I ultimately think that people are tired of gambling with their family vacations. You know the average American has it two, three weeks And I, you know, personally. You know we went on a first family vacation as a family, god knows, like 10 years, top to Vancouver, and I looked at the property, i saw all the photos online, i read all the reviews, did all the right things, and when I got there I was like I wouldn't even let this property in my inventory. It was such a letdown, but it's like our family vacation. So I didn't say anything, kept my mouth shut And I violated it. And when my mom ripped off the sheets to the bed, because that's what she thought you were supposed to do. It looked like three people had died there, and that's when the filter of her thoughts came off And I think, we have been talking about it as an industry, but it's like there are a lot of people who do a really great job creating different standards. We shouldn't even have to say it. Like Justin Ford brings it up on a regular basis. Smoke detectors in a bedroom Like it shouldn't even be thought of.

Speaker 5: 13:07

But everybody's been trained to book, coming from the gas side, to book through an OTA in mass right Other than these localized experiences. And so when you book blindly, there's no way to see the brand, there's no way to see a Delta or American Airlines Like. You don't see that brand at all, you just you see a seat And you see like a price and a timeline. So taking the brand out of the equation to Travis's point doesn't do the purchaser any favors. It's quite a disservice.

Speaker 2: 13:44

Yeah. So going back to you, know you're elevating a local. They're doyant, doyant. How does somebody get to that? So, rebecca, you don't have a business card. You're not going to go hand it out to 10 people. You're going to search out the best of the best Like. What is that? what does that search like? But what is the criteria that you look at for somebody to be invited to join?

Speaker 4: 14:08

So we don't disclose all of that criteria intentionally, so that we don't have don't put all the bullets out there, if you will. But first thing is we're always like looking for the face of the company. Who is the face? How are they tied in? Who are we going to promote? And we look at that way. before we look at the properties, very simply look at different reviews. One of the things that I think is absolutely crazy and I don't mind saying this at all having a phone number on your website, a 24 seven support line. you know how many times people in our industry you're, excuse me, guest, they're utilizing our industry have got locked out and can't get a hold of anybody. It's a huge issue And it's a lot of the feedback that we've been getting over last year in regards to our industry, with various different OTAs and guest frustration or owner frustration or what have you. So we look for that. We look at the photography. I mean Rebecca has an entire background.

Speaker 5: 15:09

Don't get me started, i'm sorry. I will take up the entire rest of this podcast talking about photography.

Speaker 1: 15:15

It is so important, and I agree with you on that 100%.

Speaker 2: 15:19

You need to be on our curation team at Holmes and Villas. They go through an exhaustive process on that. So yeah, I get it, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:27

So it's interesting to looking back on. I remember, travis, i think you and I got into the industry pretty close to the same amount of time, around the same time. I remember going to my first VRMA conference here in Myrtle Beach that that was a spring conference And they were talking about this new idea for the switch, which the switch was. It was ahead of its time in terms of how they were going to be able to execute it, but the concept behind it was similar to some of the issues that we're having here and to what you just mentioned, rebecca, about the brand being stripped off. And that was part of what VRMA was doing with this initiative was it was going to make it so that we were kind of like the, a channel manager or gatekeeper of all of our properties and listings and that we were all going to the table together to agree with these OTAs or say the OTAs, you have to show our brand, you have to show our direct contact information. And I think it had legs to it for sure, but from its technology standpoint, the industry just was not there at that point. I mean, most people did not even have online bookings back then. I remember that was when I just started at Condo World and we were building a very similar website concept to what you guys are doing right now of. It was a website that was just about promoting professional, professionally managed vacation rentals and hosts wasn't even a word we were using back then, but it was really more about VRBO and just knowing how this was going to change the industry. And that's many years ago but we're still. We're dealing with kind of the onslaught of how that ramped up very quickly and then how it's just really changed the landscape. And I think there's a lot of negative to it. But there's also a lot of positive that we've gotten much more exposure as an industry through these channels and through COVID, for sure. But I'm curious your thoughts on on brand and like what. How is the 100 collection going to be able to make a splash from a brand standpoint that is going to be meaningful to guests and to these property managers, because how they display this and how they use this to get homeowners I think has a lot of possibility. Would you agree with that?

Speaker 4: 17:38

Oh, 100%, Absolutely. And so if you think about the partners that we have now and all the different destinations, these are companies that have existed somewhere between three to 50 years old. And if you go to I'll just use my own domain as an example if you go to state Charlottesville, you'll see with the top right, top member of the 100 collection, And if you scroll down you'll see that 100 collection category of the 100 collection properties that we're all building together and collectively. And so what we're actually doing is we're taking all of these great partners and we're saying let's market together and let's go talk about who that number one company is in Jackson Hole. And so I've asked this question a thousand times and I'm going to have to put you ladies on the spot. If you were going to say, at a vacation rental in Jackson Hole, what would be the name of the company that you would go find, Or what would be the person? Jackson Hole? we're watching.

Speaker 2: 18:36

That's the only one. There you go.

Speaker 4: 18:39

And so you got one. And you know that's, i think, rebecca. how many times have we asked that? Over 100. Definitely over 100, maybe over 200. And only one person who just recently had traveled to Jackson Hole but we would argue Outpost, which is run by Meekie and Megamoy. Absolutely phenomenal people, great company. They're about to go live on our site. It might already be on our site right now, but And they're in Jacksonville.

Speaker 1: 19:08

They're in Jackson Hole, wyoming, oh, jackson Hole.

Speaker 4: 19:11

If you think about what we're doing, it's like, you know, i've got 35,000 guests that have stayed with me And now I'm going to go tell those 35,000 guests that there's 50, 60, 70, and 80 other destinations across North America soon to be on the other side of the pond as well. But you can go, trust and have a great stay, and we're building it that way And that's how we're building the brand collectively, which is a lot of this, of the collection power, if you will, and so we're not having to rely on being an OTA that needs to be in you know 5,000 different places, or you know name, destination and have to pay for SEO or SEM to get there. We're also building it as a. You know, in partnership with these various brands that we're representing and sending direct traffic back over to their platform, and you know, like I said, so there's a lot of value to that that has already been created and that's about to even go 10x, 20x of what we've just been thinking about.

Speaker 5: 20:16

And if you think of any logo or any icon brand, what does it mean? You know it represents a value to the person engaging with it. And if you assume that, oh, 100 collection, that's new. it just started in October. Yes, this logo is new to the world And you know the value of it is about to be, you know, embraced and discovered. But what it represents is a collection of existing brands. It's an alliance of, you know, a lot of other logos that have a ton of value and that have built their value over 10, 20, 50 years. So if you look at our logo as a representation of an alliance of longstanding legacy brands, then it has more immediate value.

Speaker 2: 21:05

So the hundred collection that says to me you want a hundred of these doyen, doi, doyans.

Speaker 4: 21:13

Are you a manager? Will you?

Speaker 2: 21:14

stop at a hundred, and if you don't, where are you at getting to that hundred at this?

Speaker 4: 21:19

point. So the 100 collection is about the people and the properties that are delivering 100%. And so I'll point that to myself and not throw anybody else under the bus. We all know about owner acquisition. We all have owners that we've worked with for years, and so you know one of my. When I started our company in 2010, there was an owner that's been with me since 2012. Her property overlooks Charlottesville. It's just up on top of the mountains, absolutely beautiful. Except the couches are 10 years old. And I have to say to your owner every single year, i'm like, please, let's update those couches. I really love to have you update those couches And that's the feedback that the couches would tire. But she's conservative and I don't want to get rid of her because she's been very, very loyal. All right, that's the property that's just not going to go into the collection because it's not meeting current hospitality standards. And so you know, we look for safety, hospitality standards and then properties that best represent that destination, which looks very, very different every single time, right. And so you go up to Cape Cod and you have these 1940 cottages that look like they belong in a Norman Rockfall Bay. You go out to Deston, florida, and look at Sam Cobb's properties and you know, monitoring clean, and most of them have been built the last you know, probably 10 years, and so we look, you know, at every single location very, very differently. But again, it always starts with the people that are delivered 100%, followed by properties.

Speaker 1: 22:51

And there's actually a lot of overlap between what you guys are doing with 100 collection, with what Marriott's doing and Annie at Homes and Villas, and with what I'm doing and everybody at Costco is. There's a lot of similarities between you know, trying to find the best local operators and those levels of standards and quality. I know, you know, annie, it sounds like their process of curation is similar to what you do at Marriott, right, and I think, as managers, some managers can utilize both these programs in a similar way that that helps them get their owners to upgrade and update furniture and other things too. But it's all. It's all going the right direction. I think that's. The great thing is, we've talked about professionalization for the last few years, but nobody's really made a huge impact on you know what is going to be something that's widespread, and I think these initiatives are going the right direction.

Speaker 4: 23:46

I entirely agree.

Speaker 2: 23:47

Look at that We're all you know, but not competitive.

Speaker 3: 23:55

Not competitive. They're all in different lanes, but representing a similar focus intent.

Speaker 1: 24:01

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 4: 24:02

And I think what Holmes and Villas is doing is such a great needed piece too right, and I mean it's like it's actually a really great filtration process And it's saying to the guests which is what we ultimately all serve. It's like here's a great property that you can go trust And that's exactly what you're doing with Costco and professionalize in the industry and how can streamline it. And you know, with us as well. And if you think about it, which I love talking about, i've used Bill Marriott as an example all the time. I love following him on LinkedIn or his son, excuse me, you know they've got 30 different brands and they all mean something, right? Yeah, and so you know, the thing that I ask in our industry a lot is, if you have the option between a Marriott brand being Fairfield in or Ritz-Cartland, and both of them are $300 a night, which one do you want to choose? You're going to choose probably the Ritz-Cartland, and if it's $400 and $300, which one are you going to choose? And that brand actually means something within the next phase, and I think that's huge. But I also think what Bill Marriott did is he helped all of these technically local operators. I mean, these franchisees often now own numerous different hotels, but they have a streamlined system coming from the top that provides marketing buying power, reservations, help. They give you a playbook And, as you guys both know, like in our industry, all of us basically wrote our own playbook. We're on, like this 17 lane highway And, you know, ski in, ski out, oceanfront, whatever it like. Everything means to be a little bit different depending on what market we're at or created by the brand, and I think, while that's been beneficial in the past, i think those are some of the things that we need to streamline as an industry in the future.

Speaker 2: 25:50

Yeah, it goes back to I think we've talked about for several years and even before COVID. It was like just trying to make sure that the guests understood, regardless of where they booked like if they booked a vacation rental versus a hotel that they were going to get a certain level of service and standard and quality of their linens and towels, and making sure that all these and again safety, just, you know, simple, like Justin's always pushing on, and I think that that's where you know it's concerning that that pie, the part of the pie of like the individual, has grown so rapidly that we don't have an ability to kind of like rain them in because there's not like a overarching entity that takes care of it. But I think, by having the different initiatives between the 100 collection what Homes and Villas is doing with the brand, what Costco is doing and what other there's a lot of really amazing operators out there. Like he said, lance and Elaine I look at Robin Craig in, you know, out at moving mountains I mean there are operators that are doing this and if we bring everybody together as a collective voice to say like this is what we should minimally expect across the spectrum, then that way we can start to develop the standards that the the guest will understand that if you go to a vacation rental, this is what you can get. If you go to an Airbnb that's not a professionally managed, you're kind of out there like as a you know, look at the draw. I don't want to say that, but you just never really know. And so having a brand that you can go to that has a standard that you can recognize is going to be really key for us to continue to grow.

Speaker 5: 27:19

And our hope is that we inspire you know, a lot of folks out there to achieve what the doians, the 100 collection party, achieved. You know the more. If we can hold this out and say this is what you know you guys could aspire to, you know to become. That at least paints a clear picture of like this is the gold standard in the vacation rental industry and I want to achieve that someday.

Speaker 1: 27:42

I have a question about the marketing. so once you you curate all these properties and I think you're you're going Can you say when you're going live?

Speaker 4: 27:51

coming up in the middle of July. What are? you doing during the fourth of July and the celebration of independence. However, i don't believe anybody. Will you pay attention to the emails?

Speaker 1: 28:05

Yeah, maybe wait a week or launch, but then also know you've got a kind of a soft launch to fix anything. Yeah, be busy. So once.

Speaker 5: 28:12

I just clarify we've already gone live. We went live in October. This is you're talking about going guest facing? Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 28:19

Yeah, so once the site is live, tell us about how you're going to drive traffic to the site and how you're going to actually get bookings for these managers that work with you.

Speaker 4: 28:30

Great question. So we're already doing all of that. We've already actually started driving bookings. We've already have homeowners. I actually just did a post yesterday. Homeowners hit our platform and they want to become a part of the 100 collection. They go to the local manager And the local manager gets to decide if they want to work with them and if the property fits that their portfolio and if it would fit you know, our needs of our portfolio that we're building upon. But coming up in July we'll be sending out millions of emails with all of our various partners talking about the 100 collection and what we're doing. And that creates a lot of traffic value. The way that we built it, driving direct traffic, There's already a lot of traffic value being added. And then ultimately, I think America, I hope, loves a story of David and Goliath. By all means. You know these are. I think it's one of those fragmented industries is kind of what I love about it. We all do it a little bit differently, But you know we're up against some pretty large, multi-billion dollar machines that are trying to capitalize on it. So hopefully the PR world will appreciate what we're doing and why we're trying to do it and how we're doing it.

Speaker 1: 29:48

It's going to be a lot of a PR approach that sounds like content and really leveraging the position of this.

Speaker 4: 29:56

Leveraging a lot of different assets that we already have in place, but in collection together with all our partners, which is a lot of fun. Most people not most every one of our partners has giant email lists. Everybody understands from the very get go what the mission is and uphill battle. It's not something that's going to happen overnight. We're all very well aware It takes a while to build a brand, but we do have a really great jump start on that coming up in July for sure.

Speaker 5: 30:33

All these partners. They're basically just letting all their guests know that they've been awarded an esteemed collection.

Speaker 1: 30:43

I mean, it's a viral effect there If people start recognizing okay, this is something that has meaning to it. If I go and I want to stay somewhere else next summer, I want to go find another property that is one that award. I guess that's probably the goal, I'm sure 100%.

Speaker 4: 31:02

Have you ever eaten at a Michelin Star restaurant?

Speaker 1: 31:05

Yes, I remember when you guys were first telling us about the concept you talked about that. I feel like I hear something about Michelin Star all the time now, but I hadn't to that point. I don't know if I've eaten at one or not, as it's possible.

Speaker 4: 31:21

Then the question is is that, even if you've eaten at that restaurant or Michelin Star or a restaurant often people it takes them a while to remember the names of that restaurant.

Speaker 1: 31:32

I just in case, if I didn't know maybe some of our audience doesn't know What Michelin Star, what that means for restaurants, sure, Rebecca.

Speaker 5: 31:42

Michelin Star was actually started over in Europe as a way for peer chefs within the industry to recognize the work of other chefs. It is solely based on the food. They get the number of stars and that kind of recognition based on the amazing food. Then, of course, one, two and three stars from there.

Speaker 4: 32:06

People travel and they'll look for Michelin Star restaurants. They'll use that as the guide to be able to travel. Hopefully that's exactly what will happen within our brand that people will remember that the one-hottere collection delivered a phenomenal experience The people on the ground, lance and Elaine with the phenomenal property, and that they can trust them. I've actually asked that question on a regular basis too. If you've stayed on a vacation room all before, how would you go find another one? Often people say well, i probably asked the company that I would work with before.

Speaker 1: 32:42

Let's see what they say.

Speaker 4: 32:44

Now we're just trying to make it that much easier to be able to go find those companies.

Speaker 1: 32:49

We say this a lot on the podcast. We're talking about branding. That a power brand is one that you will drive further for, you'll pay more and you'll wait longer. That's essentially what Michelin is. That was about. You'll drive farther to get there, you're definitely going to pay more and you probably could wait longer too, because it's just a big, fine dining restaurant. That's great, very cool stuff, guys.

Speaker 2: 33:13

What's next for you guys? A big launch in July. That's super exciting. I know it's going to go great because you've got a great network and some of the operators that I've seen that you brought on again. They're the best that I could possibly think of. It's exciting to see the coming together of all that. What comes next after the big launch?

Speaker 4: 33:33

We are hosting here in Charlottesville a partner conference coming up in September with all of our partners. It's underwritten by a couple of great vendors within the space. It is an opportunity for all of us to learn from one another. There's some pretty cool surprising guests. I think one of the guests there is probably going to be very surprising Dave Matthews. We'll see.

Speaker 1: 34:07

I only say that because I heard the story. One of the episodes when, rebecca, when you went to go talk to Travis about this position, you guys you're in Charlottesville, where Dave Matthews is from Did you meet him that night, or see him, or something?

Speaker 5: 34:20

Yeah, just having a couple of cocktails that Dave Matthews never do.

Speaker 1: 34:25

Nice. Yeah, i think it's over, i'm sure.

Speaker 4: 34:29

The reason Rebecca decided to work with me is that nothing to do with the 100 collection?

Speaker 1: 34:34

It's good to see another cocktail table.

Speaker 4: 34:36

It's good you got Dave Matthews It literally got the management of Dave Matthews and Dave Matthews come out and hang out and talk. It's just sitting there, eyes wide open. I'm just like, just act like it's normal.

Speaker 1: 34:49

It's a small town.

Speaker 2: 34:51

Just act like it's all That's great.

Speaker 4: 34:54

Yeah, who knows who will pop in? No, it's going to be such a fun thing because one of the neatest pieces I think to our industry as well, when we've been doing these interviews and calls with our various partners is all of them have a PhD in something. Yeah, and they all bring from the very, very unique to the table And in our world it's like we're supposed to know everything right, it's like I'm supposed to know digital marketing, seo, revenue management, owner acquisition, crm systems and like the list goes on, laundry house.

Speaker 1: 35:30

It's literally is the same. We're like a regular manager, my God.

Speaker 2: 35:33

Customer service. Yeah, literally everything HR therapy.

Speaker 4: 35:39

And you know we're going to use that opportunity to take what we've learned from so many other people to help educate everybody else. Yeah, and you know, really try to learn off that with great content. And of course, we're in wine country here in Charlottesville, surrounded by vineyards, and one of us just happens to have a wine tour company, so there might be a little bit of wine involved. Dave Matthews, does have it in your dear.

Speaker 5: 36:04

How do I get an invite to?

Speaker 2: 36:05

this How do I get an invite?

Speaker 4: 36:09

It'll come on down, come on up.

Speaker 2: 36:13

I always want to say any that you're in DC, but yeah, well, i grew up there, so Charlottesville, i kind of know what I mean. It's been years since I've been there, so I got, i got to get back, so it sounds like a good reason to come back to Virginia. Yeah, that's going to be fun.

Speaker 1: 36:25

That's super exciting. So now, with other conferences like VRMA, now that you're going to be, you're kind of more exposed. You'll be guest facing, you'll be obviously already the property manager facing, but do you ever see yourselves exhibiting out of VRMA, or no, because it's more. You're still trying to curate and pick who becomes part of this.

Speaker 4: 36:46

It's such a great question because I'm so supportive of VRMA and I just don't know, outside of shaking hands, how necessarily exhibiting would benefit. But I mean we'll say, i'm not sure, rebecca, you have a different thought, but we wore some hats last year and it was hard enough just to keep up with the people from the hats or who it inquired about because of that.

Speaker 1: 37:16

I remember when I saw everybody walking around, i was very jealous.

Speaker 2: 37:19

I was like I know, i guess we're like why did we get that?

Speaker 1: 37:22

How do I get one?

Speaker 5: 37:25

Well, clearly, we have a hat now, so And I ended up giving my last touch one of our partners last conference like I can't keep them because they are so popular. so, yeah, yeah, good branding.

Speaker 1: 37:37

If anybody, if you're not watching on or if you're just listening, head over to YouTube and you can see Andy and I are. We're wearing hats. We finally got one after these months so yeah, yeah, that's great.

Speaker 5: 37:49

Well, i'm just happy to share any time, by the way, the story behind the branding. There's a whole. It's a very thoughtful process putting together a logo and branding. Well, tell the story, let's hear it So readers digest version here real quick. Is that a friend of mine that used to work together in a magazine. He was art director. He's now an artist for Disney and I asked a small favor. He put together a couple logo comps for us and he put together some options and we talked through them and eventually obviously ended with the gold 100, and the black background being the most striking and I think that is representative of the properties. The properties are striking, so we really felt like that was the best fit. We also looked at what other brands have gold in them. What other brands have black in them. Do those align with the luxury and the gold standard that we're trying to set? so very thoughtful process in picking up the colors and the font treatment. Then, of course, there's the pineapple. So the pineapple logo which is on the black t-shirts that I wear to the conferences, is a hospitality, is represented by the pineapple almost everywhere through a lot of different stores, so I wanted to do something different with it that was really dedicated to the Doyens that we were recognizing, and our PR person, who also worked with Michelin Star, said that we were basically working with ERMs who were putting their personal imprint on their hospitality and a light bulb went off that I thought of a fingerprint to the pineapple leaves on top, and so that is the logo or icon the pineapple with the fingerprint shape underneath, that is the VRMs personal imprint on their hospitality, then, of course, the pineapple representing hospitality. So that's the best.

Speaker 1: 39:43

So that's funny because, travis, when we were sitting at the bar in Kansas City, you had that pin on your hat and I asked you. I said what does that mean? And you said, if I tell you, i'll have to kill you.

Speaker 4: 39:56

That is true, you know now.

Speaker 2: 39:59

It's very cryptic I thought oh boy.

Speaker 5: 40:00

I'll be allowed to ask any more on this, but meanwhile everybody's wearing them, so barely Wait. Travis said something shocking. I can't see it Right.

Speaker 4: 40:10

You should have seen the cocktail napkin logo that I tried to create and show Rebecca as a, when we were trying to sucker her in and joining and watching her just softly say I think we can do better.

Speaker 1: 40:27

Yeah.

Speaker 5: 40:28

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 40:28

Travis has a nice way to say it.

Speaker 5: 40:30

I always had a logo. I see a lot of logos in this space that I want to redo, but you know I think we can do better.

Speaker 1: 40:37

I like I think we can do better. That's not going to remember that as a nice line to let somebody down.

Speaker 2: 40:42

Let somebody down, nicely right Yeah.

Speaker 1: 40:45

Oh, thank you for sharing that, Svartu, And I think you know you guys teaming up together, you know, couldn't be a better duo with both your backgrounds, and we're excited to see where this goes And we're just proud to have you as friends and excited to have you on the show today. It's been a long time coming, but it's great, Thank you so much. Yeah, perfect.

Speaker 2: 41:04

We're going to celebrate our 100th episode with the 100th episode. I'm very excited.

Speaker 1: 41:09

And I think it's important too, annie. We also just thank everybody who's listening in 100 episodes. That's unbelievable. The first episode was the aha moment, and we've literally had thousands of aha moments in the last year and a half. But just thank you to everyone who supports us, both the show and however you watch on YouTube or if you just watch the social media, that's fine too. We appreciate your support. If anybody wants to get in touch with Travis and Rebecca, how should they reach out to y'all?

Speaker 4: 41:40

Great question. I would just if you go to the 100th collection website. It's about Alan or go to station.

Speaker 1: 41:46

What is the URL? by the way, Is it 100collectioncom?

Speaker 4: 41:50

It's the one spelled out the100collectioncom, and you can find it on numerous websites, whether it's Seaside Mountain, laurel, graybeard, blue Ridge, southern Comfort, and the list goes on and on and on, or stay Charlottesville, but there's about 50 plus different ways to be able to find us online in a few different destinations, right?

Speaker 5: 42:13

now You can also stalk me on LinkedIn. I'm happy to connect with everybody on LinkedIn as well.

Speaker 1: 42:21

Yeah, awesome, well, thank you guys so much. Yeah, thank you so much for joining us. If anybody wants to contact Andy and I, you can go to alexandannipodcastcom. And until next time, thanks for tuning in everybody.