Terranea
By Charles Martin | July 22, 2010
Went to this place right before the 4th.
Interesting. A museum to the go-go “aughts” that we all lived through recently. Big nice resort slung along the craggy coast of Palos Verdes near what Angelinos call “the south bay”. Word has it that one of the big guns that left Starwood has the $500M note on it. Desperate times. Cheap rates for the time being. Go get it.
In those same go-go aughts, we went to a lot of these types of resorts. My fave being Hualalai on the Kona coast big island style. Terranea wants to be that place. Someday it might. The polish isn’t there. The Four Seasons allure and hushed quiet delivery of basically everything you do isn’t there.
The main difference between an acme named resort (anything without a badge of luxury) and a Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton is just like the difference between the sound proofing being much thicker and what I call “small edges”.
You see, just (NOT) like you, I look along the baseboards as I walk around and I notice if the team got the small stuff. At the Four Seasons, they always do. At places like Terranea they are too busy paying the bills to get there. I notice how many little kid band-aids I see along the edge of the pool. The other guys never miss them.
I digress.
The visit was good. The restaurants ok. If you stay more than 48 hours, you get bored with “Nelson’s”. It has the veiw and firepit. It also has a wait staff that is primarily “college I don’t care”. Lots of waiting around to get some simple food. But gosh oh mighty do you get a twing if you like or have anything to do with “Sea Hunt” and Mike Nelson’s travails as a scuba diving special-guy. I loved that show. My brother did too. I sent a bunch of the picture of Mike to him while I was there. We then watched a bunch of Hulu when we got home. The old “Marine World” was situated on this same craggy coast years back and Sea Hunt used the aquarium for lots of underwater work.
The main bar was nice and twinkly with jazz but VERY expensive. A single espresso is $5. Watch for the double $10 one. Whiskey neat $20.
I digress.
The boy lost his favorite bear there. Put between the sheets to keep kid bro out of it. I did my major topple everything in the room before I cleared out but never got between the sheets on his separate bed. Awful but a lesson we had been trying to teach on all things that want to come out of the bedroom and follow us around. This time, we gave in and of course catastrophe!
Called. Emailed. Dug around and called the basement departments. Almost drove there to get into myself. Got a nice connection to the GM and she worked hard in all areas to find “Remy”.
No dice.
Got a card today with $50 to ToysRUs. Not the same but a very nice gesture. The boy can have his favorite bear replaced…. or maybe a new DS game. So, I’d say try Terranea. For LA, it’s the best place to get away without driving 2 to 5 hours for Santa Barbara, Big Sur, San Diego, or north.
Other parts not to miss: The bird wrangler. He has a golf cart loaded with a Hawk, an Owl, and a few other predatory birds. Keeps the roofs clean ya know? The pool for kids is good. The slide so-s0. Runs along the paths are good but the first time you will keep it slow. Then go out again and get it on. Food? Like I say, pretty good. They had a seafood buffet one night. Dunno how that makes them an “eco resort” — lots of waste of seafood and mini-desserts — but it was good, especially the King Crab. (RIP – Deadliest Catch guy…)
My bet is on the DS game.
Topics: Big biz, Greats in business, World Travels | No Comments »
TED Talks: Chip Conley
By Charles Martin | June 24, 2010
I love TED Talks and could probably spend two weeks watching all of them. I ran across this really good and interesting talk Chip Conley gives on deciding what “counts” and what to count and what in life is worth the focus. Boy, this is a good time for me to consider the subject. How about you?
I have read his book “Peak” and have stayed at numerous different Joie de Vivre hotels.
Check it out. And then peruse TED if you haven’t before. Really good stuff.
Topics: Big biz, Greats in business, Mind and Planet | 1 Comment »
Journey “Faithfully” video
By Charles Martin | June 19, 2010
Boy, I remember trying my damnedest to have the mullet of Steve Perry like in this great video. Those were THE actual days my friend.
Topics: Mind and Planet | No Comments »
The value of boredom
By Charles Martin | June 17, 2010
Peter Bregman has an interesting post in the Harvard Business Review Blog about the value of boredom. Check it out.
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10 Steps to my dream airline.
By Charles Martin | June 9, 2010
The Donald tried it.
Sir Richard is trying it.
I’d like to try too.
My mother-in-law came into town last weekend and we went through the whole wheelchair at the gate, Southwest bit. Now, I like Southwest and I don’t agree that it’s like cattle. I could care less. I think you have to respect the fact that they have profits in a land of giant nuclear sized land mines. They don’t charge for bags [yet]. They try to be good. I used to watch the reality show starring Southwest. So, even they had issues.
My dream airline is this:
- Prices that make me a fair profit but COVER MY COSTS. If that’s a $500 ticket from LAX to SFO, then so be it.
- Extra flight attendants. If the FAA says three minimum, I’m at four or five. Happy people. Haven’t worked in an airline? Great. You have? Sorry.
- Great — not good – healthy food. I will go to the Cordon Bleu and ask their brightest students to offer up great meals that will serve people on 45 minute flights or five hour flights. I might ask you to do it for a very low cost, but you’ll be famous because right before meal time I will let you have 10 minutes of time on the screen to tell us why you are so great and how you came about creating the meal on the carts.
- Non-obtrusive service. As Sun Tzu says in “The Art of War” it’s the Art of Essence. The Houston’s model. What people DON’T see is the most important.
- No bag costs. No food costs. No nickel and diming whatsoever. In fact, one of my first marketing gimmicks will be to go through the aisles and say “We will collect everyone’s wallet before take off and if you try to pay, you will have to go on a date with our ugliest flight attendant!” [which we won't have]. Then I’ll send a beautiful flight attendant through the aisles with a tray to pick up any wallets anyone will give. Otherwise, I’ll say keep it closed.
- Money back guarantee. If a weather or FAA issue slows us down, then sorry. But if you think my gate agent sucks and she treated you like your 3d grade headmaster, then your money back. I might also reserve the right to black list you from my airline if I think you are milking us. After all, no one wants to fly with you again anyway! It’s our way to clean the air of nasty airline passengers. Go back to US Air.
- Ground people that greet me at the door. Lots of them. No one old gal with a clip board that can’t handle the mass. A dozen good looking college students with great attitudes dressed in great stuff I buy. I will also station another dozen in the bag claim and at capture centers where we will make sure that ANY need (maybe a restaurant suggestion or holding of your garment bag — who cares?) is met. Except sex. These people will be called “Charlie’s Gang”. The Skycap or Redcaps will have something to definitely worry about. I love Skycaps but it’s an old model and the airlines and airports hate them now. I don’t say that. A Skycap told me that.
- Good pay. I am charging enough to cover costs, but also pay my people. Good pay = stickiness. If that good looking college kid in my cool clothes gets spit on for eight hours, she may not leave.
- Follow up. Calls and emails (your choice to opt-out of course) to see if your next flight is in need of booking or simply “……how did the meeting go Mr. Jagger?”
- Your entry here.
Topics: Greats in business | No Comments »
New Haircuts
By Charles Martin | June 9, 2010
Sorry I’ve been off the ball lately — working hard like a boy should.
I was getting in the car today in a part of LA that is 15 miles from home. I had been thinking that I’d call my hair stylist on the way home and try to “sneak in”. She hates it when I do that . Nice salon. Been there for years. Part of a big brand that I’ve been loyal to for more years. Do a lot of business gabbing with the owner and I like her. But then I saw a new looking salon across the street. So, I plugged in more quarters in and jay-walked to see how it checked out. [I can do that b/c Pasadena got me on a jay-walk recently for $ and I have loaded my jay-walk bank I figure].
I viewed and smelled the scene from afar and then closer and closer. [yes, smelled. salons can't smell like old ladies. they need to smell like cool product] I decided by the modern look and feel, I’d go in. There was a few signs welcoming walk-ins too.
Met a guy at the counter and he took me in right away. Anyway, the appointment went well and my baldness was masked and abated for another four weeks. The guy was cool. The haircut pretty good. The owner also cool. She took my notes on a few of my old tricks like “pay what you want” and we discussed in detail how Groupon worked.
Boy, well worth the effort.
My point of this post is that old thing I harp on all the time.
GET OFF YOUR PLANET.
Basically every success I’ve had has been the result of a planet departure. Sometimes you go for a day. Sometimes you go for a long time and never come back. But you gotta continue to go.
Someone I know recently said “Charles, you HAVE to be friends with and know everybody!” I’m glad he said that but it couldn’t be farther from the truth. Those that get me say “Charles, it’s not the money in the sale that drives you, it’s the sense of the kill and the resulting experience”.
Exactly.
I didn’t set out to kill and drag home the info I wanted on Groupon, but it came about because I did what I always [try to] do — be nice and ask questions. When you ask questions of people, it shows you’re a freaking human and you might care what they have to say. If they have nothing to say, then there’s no loss but you’ve exercised your manners.
I may never see that salon owner again, but I do know that she will have a “pay what you want” event next Tuesday and do well by it. It’s so much better to trade information than pay for it. It was our secret little barter. That’s exactly what I do. It has nothing to do about knowing everyone. Of course those folks are always the ones that call you to get a connection they need. LOL
The people that annoy us the most in life are those people that don’t get out and see what the other side is doing, especially if you have. If you’re like some I know and you get yourself tangled in a political brawl or a sports team brawl, it’s probably because you – or they — haven’t seen what the other side has done, smelled, felt, and seen with their own eyes. While these types of conversations are at least 1/2 emotionally driven, you can come out cleaner and smarter by having a sense of opposing EXPERIENCES. Notice I didn’t say VIEWS. I can have very intelligent conversation about Groupon now which I need for current business. At 3:35 I couldn’t. Sure, I could have Googled it, but a first hand in person account is something Google can’t replace. [thank goodness]
Get out and scare yourself once a week. I guarantee it will pay off.
Topics: Big biz, Greats in business, Sales Acumen | No Comments »
Hillstone opens another success story in Beverly Hills
By Charles Martin | May 30, 2010
Try it.
You’ll like it. You might love it.
Topics: Greats in business | No Comments »
Be Nice
By Charles Martin | May 14, 2010
Peter Shankman {thanks for the quick Jamba meeting this week Peter!} posts a reminder that we can all stop and treat everyone in our day-to-day a little bit better. I agree, it has become a “me me” world. I’m one of those me’s. I’m not immune.
I sent this out by email earlier and it’s funny how much interest it provokes. Most comments were about how “there’s no customer service” anymore. I don’t agree. In fact, I’ve tried the “Peter Principals” today at drive-thrus, client calls, client visits, and at the car wash. I was even able to turn a few frowns around. There are places like Houston’s and Mama’s Fish House to prove this theory wrong. And guess what? Even if every single transactional encounter you have is sour, it’s not your queue to lower yourself to their place in life.
And as Peter Shankman outlines, you get more shit done because people want to help you and reciprocate. This reminds me of my friend Craig and how he would treat the smallest of servants as we rode around in taxi cabs taking care of business in New York. Practically everyone got a “that’s a nice sweater and made for you” or “hey – those hi-tops are working!” And boy did people dig it. I would work behind him picking up orders etc through the same avenues and because I was his friend, I got the same treatment. It seemed to me at the time that the waters of Fifth Avenue and beyond just parted for him and then I realized why. I can assure you that his doorman never lost his package!
Love flows people. Negativity clogs.
One thing that strikes me is that most people that responded that service is dead were people that haven’t had what I call shit jobs.
If you haven’t really dug into the trenches and “had” to work at a coffee shop, retail-shirt-folding-hell-work-every-Saturday job, you haven’t truly seen what the public is capable of. I’m not ignoring that both sides of the register need help, because they do. But it’s fun to do the experiment and see how powerful your words and actions really are. I used a friendly face at a local police station recently and my tickets were discharged. Simple as that.
And of course, I ask all of you to continue to pay it forward. One of my favorites is to pay for the coffee or happy meal for the person behind you in line. Walk away. Don’t think twice about it. And certainly don’t gloat about it.
It feels awesome and it’s not about you.
Topics: Greats in business, Mind and Planet | No Comments »
Food trucks LA: True niche
By Charles Martin | April 6, 2010
My family experienced the Slice Truck in LA again yesterday. I follow them on Twitter and we’ve chased them down twice. It’s pretty good.
It’s one of those things that make you ask yourself repeatedly: “How come I never did this in college?”
Slice of Pizza. Next to USC all day. Delivery to dorms and frat parties. A dream made in B-School heaven. He had a multi-pizza order in play for a frat when we arrived.
There were two others there yesterday. They were 1/2 as busy as the slice guy. But people love choices.
In Venice on Saturday nights The Brig has about 20 parked outside for the drunk and weary revelers to peruse before the possible DUI. Good idea. Seems through some inside info I got, all the trucks are owned or leased from one company so they band together.
This is true niche.
There is no better niche example than this. Your particular food, down to the last ingredient, is on separate wheels and in front of your door (possibly). You can be sure that I am thinking of the next birthday party for my kid with the Slice Truck in the driveway. It’s as if you are at your favorite restaurant and there are separate chefs for each person’s order and they are waiting to customize whatever you want. I see this ironing out like any fad and becoming a standard for the main ingredients: Pizza. Dessert. Tacos. Then, the others might lose faith and roll up their doors or band together with the survivors.
It’s going to this – even at restaurants.
We also like CubeLA. They deliver charcuterie and cheese tastings so well, you never want to order from the main event. There process could be easily delivered through a smaller venue (although they only have 10 tables as is) or a truck. Spitz is another place taking the street food from the middle east and presenting it in a quick format.
Give the people what they want. Hold the excess and pomp and circumstance.
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Some things remain the same – thankfully
By Charles Martin | March 29, 2010
I arrived back at my track clinic last Tuesday with a little hesitation. After all, I hadn’t been there for more than two years and the crew there is into it. These are people that don’t skip much. Also, the 6000 meters I was about to run wasn’t going to be spectacularly fun – it’s hard work.
I brought along @scubagroves and after some introductions, it was on to the track and a 90 minute session began. This is speed work so that our marathons and other races finish strong. They are coached by Chuck Foote, a well-known expert in the world of running in Los Angeles.
The first thing I noticed was that while coach had gotten a bit older, his trademark knowledge and focus on OUR needs hadn’t subsided. He does all this for a mere $25 a month. Probably the best $25 a guy like me could spend. He’s shaved off countless hours from people’s marathon times and if you saw him at the grocery store, you wouldn’t know that he’s a celebrity in our little circle.
Once the main part of the clinic started and we began a level of hard 300′s and 600′s, I was in the groove and doing OK for someone that hadn’t run “all out” in a while. I was, like always, kind of geared behind the same folks at each lap. I began to notice that one of my favorites, Jesus, hadn’t changed a stitch in his stride, in his abilities, and even his running garb and he’s now 67. Another gal — same thing. “She always wears that tank top”, I said to myself. But wait — it’s been more than 2 years! The comfort of this was something that propelled me to good finish times. The comfort of same-same is great in this instance and something that will help me get back into a marathon training routine a lot easier.
LESSON: There are a lot of people in our lives that we don’t want to change and we should remind ourselves of this. There are a lot of people in our lives that simply go on hold and are the same when you return and that’s what’s so great about them. We all worry that if we don’t seize every moment or attend every single event that comes our way, that we’ll be left out. Life asks us to put some things on hold so we can do other more important things (like me with kids). I found again that if you treat the situation with respect and interest and invest yourself, you’ll find everyone back in their place when you return.
This applies in business too. Your best customers are the ones that will always be there. Every time I get a “residual” from past clients that I haven’t spoken to in sometimes years, I see by their activity that they continue to fulfill their promise of good business habits. I’m sure they are also there because my company has reciprocated.
Thanks for being there everyone.
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