Hospitality is Being Selfless - Ron Swidler - Episode # 034

Ron Swidler is the Founder of the Hotel Tomorrow and the Chief Innovation Office at the Gettys Group for 33 years. He knows that it takes courage to be innovative and creative. Ron’s passion is to strive for the best for his company and clients. He joins host Dan Ryan to talk about his experience with #hospitality and how he views it. 

Takeaways: 

 

• It takes many hours to become an expert in a certain area, but it also takes a certain amount of luck as well. 
• Surround yourself with people that you trust that can be advisors or mentors. That way when you start a new project you’ll have a supporting cast helping you. 
• It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable and admit when you need help. Asking for help isn’t a terrible thing to be ashamed of, it’s what a good leader does. 
• Hospitality has evolved into noticing how you make people feel. When we are at our best we are caring for others. 
• There is a bit of selflessness in hospitality, as it is about giving back to others and making others feel comfortable and welcomed.
• You need a signature for your company. You need something that when someone thinks of your company, they have an image in mind that fits your brand (i.e. Disney and Mickey Mouse or Cinderella's Castle). 
• Bringing people’s attention to a better way to do projects (i.e. sustainability, community focus, etc.) is important as you can influence someone to have a better impact on a community.

Quote of the Show:

 

10:02 “Most people are familiar with Maya Angelou's quote about forgetting what I've said or what I do, but remembering how I make you feel. And I think ultimately that's what hospitality has evolved into. And I have an interesting theory about how that's going to progress out into the future because we're only at one step of that evolution. But I think when we're at our best, we're caring for others. There's a bit of selflessness in that.”

Links:

 

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ronswidler?lang=en
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-swidler-521a848/
• Website: https://www.gettys.com

Shout Outs:

 

3:24 “Outliers”by Malcom Gladwell

3:59 Roger Hill

4:00 Andrew Fay

6:17 Marriott

7:49 Phil Cordell

7:53 Hilton

10:04 Maya Angelou

11:52 TripAdvisor

14:12 Disney Castle

18:59 Matt Phillips

21:57 USA Today

24:54 HD Expo

25:05 Howard Wolff

25:08 Starwood

25:13 Christian Strobel

25:38 Parsons School of Design

33:37 “Exponential Organizations” by Salim Ismail

35:56 “The Inevitable” by Kevin Kelly

37:46 Blair Batwani

40:33 Kraig Kalashian

44:46 “Radical Evolution” by Joel Gero 

44:46 Bill Joy 

45:06 Ray Kurzweil

48:47 Chris Milk

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Podbean: https://www.defininghospitality.live/
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/K17KGIxhzcA