How do you motivate your employees to be relentless when it comes to being environmentally responsible and smart while at work and at home? One idea the environmental development manager (Diana Beltran) and Grand Hyatt Green Apple Environmental Committee at the Grand Hyatt New York came up with is an in-house newsletter called the “Green Apple News.” The first edition was published earlier this year in February, the second edition in April, and the third edition will be published very soon. According to Diana Beltran, the publication is distributed by e-mail to hundreds of employees at the Grand Hyatt New York, was recently expanded to the Andaz Wall Street, and will also be sent to employees at the soon-to-open Andaz 5th Avenue. The newsletter is also posted on Hyatt Corporation’s intranet.
The first edition of the Green Apple News highlighted the hotel’s environmental accomplishments from previous years, included an article on how to celebrate Valentine’s Day in an eco-friendly manner, featured photos from a wide range of on-property green events, listed Green Team members by department, and informed employees about the hotel’s green-focused Facebook page (Grandhyattgreenops). The second publication included information on Earth Hour and Earth Day activities, an article on how the sales department is doing its part to save energy and reduce waste, a column on healthy eating from a Green Team member, an article on green cleaning from a member of the housekeeping department, and a Going Green crossword puzzle.
The Green Apple News is a great idea. It is a very personal way to keep employees motivated and fun as well. Yes, it takes time to put together but not a lot of time. Diana told me she puts her newsletter together in Micosoft Office Publisher. Numerous other programs will work as well. The newsletter is ultimately sent out as a PDF file. The key to the success of any in-house green newsletter is to get green team members to contribute content and to find someone who enjoys graphic design.
How are you communicating your green news internally? I would love to know. Do you “push” content to your employees? Direct them to an intranet site? What has worked best? What has not worked? Send me your comments and I will share them with my readers in a future column. I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
Green Lodging News Adds Control4 as Directory Partner
Green Lodging News welcomes Control4 as a Green Product & Service Directory partner. Control4 delivers a personalized experience for guests with control of lighting, drapes, TV, stereo, thermostat and more through a single remote control. Property managers can configure and update rooms remotely, and centrally manage energy usage. Control4’s Suite System utilizes wired IP and wireless ZigBee technology to save money and construction costs. Currently, Control4 Suite Systems are being implemented in projects from Las Vegas to London. At the Aria Resort & Casino at CityCenter in Las Vegas, the property collaborated with Control4 to develop an automated guestroom system that controls everything from the lighting to drapes to the television. For more information, e-mail suitesystems-info@control4.com, call (888) 400-4070, or go to www.control4.com/suite-systems/.
In Search of Environmental Champions
I am looking for green team leaders and other environmental champions to feature in the Personnel Profile section on the Green Lodging News website. If you would like to suggest someone, call me at (440) 243-2055, or write to editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
New Online Video Sections on the Way
Green Lodging News will soon add “Vendor Videos” and “More Cool Videos” sections to its website. The Vendor Videos section will give suppliers an opportunity to post videos that describe how their products work and how they can help an owner or operator save money, reduce resource consumption, and create a more sustainable enterprise. The “More Cool Videos” section will be reserved for videos created by those owning and operating green lodging establishments, for properties that have been featured on news broadcasts, and for educational videos. Be sure to contact me at (440) 243-2055, or by e-mail at editor@greenlodgingnews.com for more information.
There are many excellent Green Lodging News advertising opportunities available for 2010, including ad spots on the website and in the weekly e-newsletter. There are also many Green Supplier Spotlight dates available throughout the year. If your company has a product or products it would like to feature in Green Lodging News in 2010, be sure to contact me. The 2010 media kit is available by request or by clicking here. Thank you to all of those companies that consistently support Green Lodging News.
Green Lodging News Blog & Twitter
Be sure to bookmark the Green Lodging News Blog in your browser. The address for the blog is http://greenlodgingnews.blogspot.com. More importantly, participate with your comments. Green Lodging News is also now on Twitter. To follow my postings, go to http://twitter.com/greenlodging. Be sure to add Green Lodging News to those tweets that you follow. Green Lodging News now has 440 Twitter followers.
As always, I can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
