Question 1. Read the below case study and answer the questions that follow:

Greening the Excelsior

Susan Sayles, Director of Marketing for the Excelsior Hotel and ConferenceCenter, was not happy. She had just heard that one of her competitors, Natural Lodging, had booked some business that she had hopes of getting. The annual conference of CERES was going to Natural Lodging rather than the Excelsior. Not only was the CERES business good-300 rooms for three nights plus conference rooms, lunches, and a major banquet-but Susan was hoping the conference would get his property on the radar screen of those attending the conference. Several Fortune 100 businesses were among the companies represented at the conference, and many of these companies had substantial local operations that could generate a lot of business for the Excelsior.

When a local historic but underperforming hotel had reopened as Natural Lodging a few years earlier, Susan and a number of marketing directors at other area hotels had viewed its “green hotel” concept with skepticism. She had heard of green marketing and knew it worked for companies such as Whole Foods and Body Shop, but doubted it would work in the hotel business. She had been a little surprised that Natural Lodging’s certification under the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design—Existing Building program (administered by the U.S. Green Buildings Council) had generated a lot of press when it was announced, and she sensed that some business had come to Natural Lodging as a result. When the hotel had operated under the flag of a well-known lodging brand, it had been a below-average performer in the market. Now, as Natural Lodging, the latest Smith Travel Research information showed it was outperforming its competitive set in occupancy with rates that were comparable and edging higher. Natural Lodging seemed to be doing quite well.

When Susan had prepared the bid for the CERES conference, it required that someone from the Excelsior complete the CERES Green Hotel Initiative Best Practice Survey. She had asked the rooms division director to complete this survey, verified that it had been done, and included it in her bid. Wondering if this might have influenced her bid’s failure, she pulled out her copy and looked it over.

Ouch! Excelsior scored a 0 (“no activity in this area”) or a 1 (“budgeted initiative, planned for implementation within one year of submission date”) in most areas. Nothing had scored a 5 (“well-established practice/equipment installed throughout property”). She had a feeling Natural Lodging’s scores were a lot higher.

A year later, Susan was asked to take the Director of Marketing position with another Excelsior Hotel in another city. Coincidentally, CERES was looking to have its annual convention in this city in a little over a year. She decided to have a talk with her new GM about the lost bid and the potential value of greening the hotel in light of the CERES opportunity. Susan indicated that Natural Lodging did not have a property to compete with in this city, and she thought the CERES business was a really good one to pursue. The GM was cautiously supportive of the idea and asked her to put together a group of staff to pursue it. Susan found herself leading the Excelsior “green team,” except she didn’t yet have a team and she wasn’t really sure what was involved in a hotel’s environmental performance. Answer the following Questions:
• What items might Susan present to the GM regarding the value of a green program in addition to the potential for business such as CERES?
• Who do you think Susan should involve in the group of staff to pursue the green program? Why?
• What should Susan do to investigate other green market opportunities for the hotel?

Question 2. At a recent executive board meeting, the owners of your 300-room resort property were presented with the fact that energy costs for your property have risen from six percent of the property revenues to eight percent of revenues. They want to know what you plan to do to correct the situation. Explain how you would respond to this financial and environmental issue.

Question 1. Read the below case study and answer the questions that follow:

Greening the Excelsior

Susan Sayles, Director of Marketing for the Excelsior Hotel and ConferenceCenter, was not happy. She had just heard that one of her competitors, Natural Lodging, had booked some business that she had hopes of getting. The annual conference of CERES was going to Natural Lodging rather than the Excelsior. Not only was the CERES business good-300 rooms for three nights plus conference rooms, lunches, and a major banquet-but Susan was hoping the conference would get his property on the radar screen of those attending the conference. Several Fortune 100 businesses were among the companies represented at the conference, and many of these companies had substantial local operations that could generate a lot of business for the Excelsior.

When a local historic but underperforming hotel had reopened as Natural Lodging a few years earlier, Susan and a number of marketing directors at other area hotels had viewed its “green hotel” concept with skepticism. She had heard of green marketing and knew it worked for companies such as Whole Foods and Body Shop, but doubted it would work in the hotel business. She had been a little surprised that Natural Lodging’s certification under the Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design—Existing Building program (administered by the U.S. Green Buildings Council) had generated a lot of press when it was announced, and she sensed that some business had come to Natural Lodging as a result. When the hotel had operated under the flag of a well-known lodging brand, it had been a below-average performer in the market. Now, as Natural Lodging, the latest Smith Travel Research information showed it was outperforming its competitive set in occupancy with rates that were comparable and edging higher. Natural Lodging seemed to be doing quite well.

When Susan had prepared the bid for the CERES conference, it required that someone from the Excelsior complete the CERES Green Hotel Initiative Best Practice Survey. She had asked the rooms division director to complete this survey, verified that it had been done, and included it in her bid. Wondering if this might have influenced her bid’s failure, she pulled out her copy and looked it over.

Ouch! Excelsior scored a 0 (“no activity in this area”) or a 1 (“budgeted initiative, planned for implementation within one year of submission date”) in most areas. Nothing had scored a 5 (“well-established practice/equipment installed throughout property”). She had a feeling Natural Lodging’s scores were a lot higher.

A year later, Susan was asked to take the Director of Marketing position with another Excelsior Hotel in another city. Coincidentally, CERES was looking to have its annual convention in this city in a little over a year. She decided to have a talk with her new GM about the lost bid and the potential value of greening the hotel in light of the CERES opportunity. Susan indicated that Natural Lodging did not have a property to compete with in this city, and she thought the CERES business was a really good one to pursue. The GM was cautiously supportive of the idea and asked her to put together a group of staff to pursue it. Susan found herself leading the Excelsior “green team,” except she didn’t yet have a team and she wasn’t really sure what was involved in a hotel’s environmental performance. Answer the following Questions:
• What items might Susan present to the GM regarding the value of a green program in addition to the potential for business such as CERES?
• Who do you think Susan should involve in the group of staff to pursue the green program? Why?
• What should Susan do to investigate other green market opportunities for the hotel?
Question 2. At a recent executive board meeting, the owners of your 300-room resort property were presented with the fact that energy costs for your property have risen from six percent of the property revenues to eight percent of revenues. They want to know what you plan to do to correct the situation. Explain how you would respond to this financial and environmental issue.
Unit II Assignment
Art Appreciation Gallery: Selecting a Theme and Gallery Pieces
Throughout this course, you will be working towards completing your Course Project, which is an Art Appreciation Gallery. This project will be a PowerPoint Presentation that you will build upon with each unit. After each unit, you will review your instructor’s feedback and revise your presentation accordingly.
For your first assignment, you will select a theme and six works of art for the Course Project, Art Appreciation Gallery. You will carry this theme throughout the course and your additions for each unit will all relate back to this selected theme.
Be creative in your theme selection. You can select a historical period or a type of art. It can be modern or traditional. To select a theme, review the course content and the textbook, and do some research using the Internet. Select a theme that interests you, one that you would be interested in learning more about. Once you have a theme selected, select six works of art that fall under that theme. You can use multiple works of art created by the same artist.
Begin with the PowerPoint template provided under the Course Resources tab. Be sure to add your own creative elements, including the background and graphics. You may also add more slides.
For this portion of the presentation, you should complete at least nine slides of the template that include the following:
• Title slide: Include the title of your presentation, your name, your instructor’s name, and the date.
• Introduction slide 1: Include the title of your theme and a brief overview.
• Introduction slide 2: Include why this theme interests you and what you hope to learn.
• Artwork slides: Complete the six artwork slides, including each work’s title, author, date, and characteristics. Use the basic tools of visual analysis when describing each work, and include a visual of the artwork if possible.
Unit II Essay
Write an essay using Microsoft Word identifying and discussing at least two different types of operating systems. Include the advantages, disadvantages, and security concerns of each type of operating system.
Your paper should be at least two pages in length. You must use proper APA style guidelines. You are required to have a title and reference page; however, they do not count towards the minimum page requirement.
Unit II PowerPoint Presentation
Create a PowerPoint presentation at least five slides in length identifying five different categories of application software. List a description of each type of software with advantages, disadvantages, and any security concerns for each. You are required to have a title slide and reference slide; however, they do not count towards the minimum slide requirement. Citations and references should follow APA format style guidelines