CHPA Blog
Posted by: Mary Ann Passi, CHPA CEO on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 2:18:03 pm
CHPA is in line with
many other associations based on my experience serving on the Association Forum
of Chicagoland’s Professional Practices Committee. Our charge is to review, revise and draft
best practice statements for associations.
I recently reviewed a draft government relations/public policy and
advocacy statement and it articulated CHPA’s approach very well. Leading CHPA, we
incorporate best practices for associations.
With the legislative issues impacting our members becoming more
frequent, leaders identified a proactive approach to be critically important.
- An association’s
strength is in its membership and conversely, an uninformed membership can be
an incredible weakness. CHPA’s goal is to educate and
arm members with information on legislative issues for two reasons. Internally, we want members informed on
issues that can impact their ability to do business. Externally, together we can make legislators aware
of the professionalism of our industry.
This is critical in differentiating our industry from illegal hotels,
disreputable amateurs and others that claim to provide the same services.
- A ‘best practice’
government relations program should balance a proactive and reactive approach. To date, CHPA’s legislative initiatives have been
reactive – coordinating, educating and advocating for members only after
legislation has been passed and/or the pain has been felt by members. Part of the best practice statement reads, “An
association that focuses greater resources on proactive efforts than reactive
efforts is considered best practice.” And with our new legislative monitoring
initiative, CHPA aligns itself with best practices in this regard. CHPA leaders allocated resources to our new
monitoring service and I encourage you to check it out.
Go to www.multistate.com and you sign in using the special CHPA member log-in.
Posted by: Mary Ann Passi, CHPA CEO on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 2:10:32 pm
As CHPA members
involved in any legislative initiative can attest, the corporate housing
industry is being impacted by legislation targeted at other industries. This
legislation often references some aspect of providing housing and therefore,
applies to your livelihood. Members
enduring audits or paying fines on legislation of which they were previously unaware
can share some stories. As the frequency
of legislative impact on our industry increases, the question became how to
dispel the misconceptions and get informed.
CHPA
is partnering with MultiState Associates, a legislative monitoring service
company that excels in state and local
government relations, representation, tracking, and research. The political analyst assigned to our account
is a former NAA government relations staffer well aware of the issues of
importance to our industry. Check out
the resources available at www.multistate.com when you sign in
as a CHPA member. Your membership gives
you access to state legislation that we are tracking in three areas: housing,
taxes, and bed bug/pest infestation. You
can also see local alerts generated by the mention of relevant issues on local
legislatures’ agendas.
All members will receive more information via email with the details on how to access this
information. This resource allows you to
search for states in which you operate, links you directly to the actual
legislation and much, much more. CHPA
will inform you on issues that we think may impact your company and encourage
you to do some research on your own. Let
me know what you think about this new member resource and how we can improve
this for your needs.
Posted by: Amanda Cook on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 8:45:30 pm
It is easy to identify that there are varying
personality types that exist in humans. Sometimes, our personalities tend to
clash with the personality of another and this could ultimately affect if you
get the sale or not. The four types of personalities are
Socializers or speakers; Relaters or listeners; Analytics or thinkers; and
Directors or doers.

As you can see from the graphic above, the Socializers tend
to fall in the top right hand quadrant meaning they tend to be more assertive
and expressive. Their dominate personality traits are ambitious,
stimulating, enthusiastic, dramatic, friendly, and spontaneous. These
people are easy to establish rapport with as they want to create a relationship
with you first before conducting business. They tend to love a good debate but
it needs to be evenly distributed. They love an audience and love working with
others. These individuals are focused on the process.
Conversely, these people are impatient and tend to get bored
quickly. They tend to detach from any negative situation in order to preserve
their self-esteem. They are good at diverting the conversation into a more
social topic rather than business. They also tend to openly verbalize
judgmental feelings.
The sales process with these individuals should be first
about establishing a good relationship before getting right into your sales pitch.
Ask them about themselves. By doing this, you will be able to see what their
pain might be and what you can do to help them. Try to keep them on task
whenever you feel it is a good time to start selling and keep them from
changing the topic. Keep your pitch all about them and what it can do for them
and their loved ones.
Posted by: Amanda Cook on Monday, January 9, 2012 at 2:24:47 pm
The Hyatt Regency Miami is the headquarter hotel for the 2012
Annual Conference in Miami. Stay in the middle of the action. Indulge in the
spirit of the “American Riviera” at Hyatt Regency Miami. Just 15 minutes from
South Beach and two miles from the Port of Miami, this downtown hotel is
easily accessible to everywhere you want to be. It’s
not too late to book your room at the Hyatt Regency Miami at the guaranteed
rate of $220 per night (plus tax). Quick and easy reservations can be made
directly from the CHPA website.
Why should I book at the CHPA 2012 Annual Conference headquarter
hotel? Here
are just a few reasons:
- Staying at the Hyatt Regency Miami will save
you money!
When
you factor in cab fares and travel time to an alternate hotel, you may discover
the costs are greater than you originally planned and end up spending more
money. You also have the convenience of charging any meals, beverages, or
incidentals to your room.
- Networking can happen when you least expect
it!
By staying at the Hyatt Regency Miami, you
gain the opportunity to better network with your peers and remain in the center
of the activity surrounding the meeting. As many past attendees can attest,
networking happens at both official CHPA functions AND unplanned, impromptu
meetings.
- I can find a lower rate on the Internet!
Negotiated hotel rates incorporate many
benefits for you and CHPA. Based on the number of rooms in CHPA’s block, the
hotel provides complimentary or reduced rates for meeting room rental, staff
accommodations, and food and beverage. If CHPA is unable to achieve its room
block commitment because attendees are making reservations at other hotels or
canceling/shortening their length of stay at the headquarter hotel, the hotel
charges CHPA an attrition fee to make up for its lost sleeping room revenue. CHPA
may have to increase registration fees to cover the expenses and cut back on
services provided.
Make your reservations now to ensure you receive the guaranteed
rate!
Don't forget to register for the Annual Conference! Time is running out to save money!!
Posted by: Amanda Cook on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 1:11:51 pm
In 2012, you’ll notice a new approach to CHPA
communications. Each month will focus on a key area of important to the
industry and all CHPA messages will focus on these monthly ‘themes’.
January’s newsletter focuses on legislation in the industry and its impact on
CHPA members. CHPA supports members in their
need to be aware of legislation, an update on current legislative initiatives,
recent Board decisions and more.
Below are the topics for the year. If you would like to
share an article on a particular topic, write a blog posting, share a reference
via one of the Association’s social media outlets or just plan to send a team
member to a CHPA webinar on a particular topic, this will help you better
plan.
- January: Legislation
- February: Prospecting,
Sales & Marketing
- March: Data
- April: Inventory
Challenges
- May: Standards,
Expectations & Trends
- June: Credit card fees
best practices
- July: Insurance
- August: Bed Bugs
- September: Safety
- October: Operations
- November: Specialty
Housing
- December: Better Understanding
the Industry
We
will also begin pulling together content experts on some of these topics to
create industry white papers. If you are interested in contributing your
knowledge on any of these subjects, please let me know at
map@chpaonline.org.