Jon Farzam

Many aspects of traveling are inherently wasteful. For those people wanting to reduce their environmental impact while still enjoying travel, there is a new program called The Green Lodging Project.
First, it is essential to consider the environmental impact of the lodging industry. While necessary to the travel and hospitality industries, hotels are one of the worst options for lodging in terms of sustainability. The average hotel purchases 100 times the amount of products in a single week t...

If you are considering a job within the hospitality world, there are a few ways you can get a career off the ground. The fact that you have choices can make it challenging to know which way to turn. Read on for six tips on how to get started in hospitality.
Look for Inspiration
Are there industry leaders that you look up to? Perhaps there is a person you have admired for many years in an industry you would enjoy working in. Pick a few people and then learn about their career paths, such as ho...

Since it’s the holidays, people are going to travel around the world. For hotel owners, the season is a blessing. However, there’s plenty of competition in the hospitality industry. To defeat their rivals and boost bookings, hotel owners need intelligent strategies.
Take Care of Employees
Anyone in business knows workers are the lifeline of their business. If they’re unmotivated, the business will suffer due to poor productivity. Therefore, the management should address the needs of their emp...

In June of 1998, Theresa Robertson was an inner-city adolescent. When she was 12 years old, she skipped school with two of her friends and went to Manhattan Beach. Robertson and her friends spent the day sunbathing, surfing, and playing in the sand. Then the ocean conditions changed drastically in the northern area of the Manhattan Beach Pier.
Los Angeles County lifeguards moved Theresa and her friends, but unfortunately, Theresa Robertson drowned. She was found the following day floating in ...

Any writer of a technical document must keep two things in mind – the audience and the goal. In the case of writing a business plan for a hospitality property, the audience is people who will hopefully invest and the goal is to get funding. This is an oversimplification because it’s also important to pitch your ideas to the right type of investors. Not everyone sees the value in the tourism trade. Once you’ve identified the demographic for your audience, it’s important to keep them in mind th...

Many people who feel altruistic don’t know where to find legitimate charities. In Santa Monica, there is an official list of nonprofits recognized by the Chamber of Commerce. This is a great jumping-off point for your quest to find which causes to support.
Some national organizations, like the American Red Cross, have a local affiliate in Santa Monica. This humanitarian organization was founded in the late 1900s and is run entirely by volunteers. Their unique relationship with the federal gov...

Giving back to the local area and helping your neighbors are two forms of philanthropy at the community level. There are many ways to accomplish this without going broke or losing all of your spare time.
Donating time is often more valuable than a check. The fact that you choose to be present at places like a school, church, recreation center, animal shelter, homeless shelter means you see them as valued. This can be very morale boosting. To that end, offering help with fundraisers and charit...

Networking is a soft skill that benefits everyone from entrepreneurs to people trying to further their own career path. When done properly, it can not only save you time, stress, and money, but it can also open up doors of opportunity that you wouldn’t even imagine. A person’s network can give information about much more than job openings. The more people you meet, the more you are affected by your interactions with them. This, in turn, might lead you in a completely different direction than ...

Corporate philanthropy is on the decline. The latest numbers show that it has fallen by more than half over the course of the last year. Critics as well as investors have high expectations for executives that can be difficult to balance.
Communicate Well With Investors
Critics expect that a company will deliver corporate social responsibility, whereas investors push for more and more profits. Corporate philanthropy can be used as a marketing and branding tool for a corporation. A good philant...

For the past year, we have all bee forced to climate to a new and difficult world. Remote and work-from-home options are valuable to those who are able to perform them, but it’s important to recognize that we are all struggling. These times of struggle are more than just stressful, they are an opportunity. For those in leadership positions, it’s time to take on new tactics and display skills we’ve never seen before. The following tips can help rise to the occasion and impress more than ever b...