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play in the success of our hotels. This year, I believe the term “Our Titans, Our MVPs” really captures our Housekeepers’ spirit. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that a titan is one that “stands out for greatness of achievement.” That certainly describes our housekeepers both individually and as a team, particularly this year. In the U.S. National Football League (NFL), life is not easy. Only those who are strong, skilled and dedicated succeed. A handful of the very best are named “Most Valuable Players” or MVPs. Sometimes, MVPs are just fictional characters that appear in novels, movies and Internet games. Fortunately, there are also many real-life world champions who accomplish extraordinary feats in a wide range of pursuits, thus playing a significant role in improving the quality of life on our planet.

This year, Marcus Mariota, quarterback for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, is a particularly noteworthy MVP. His full name is Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota. Born in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, he grew up admiring the playing of Jeremiah Masoli, a fellow Samoan-American, who was a standout quarterback at Honolulu’s St. Louis School and, later, the University of Oregon.

“...are our Housekeepers MVPs? Absolutely!”

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

A MESSAGE FROM RICHARD R. KELLEY TO OUR OUTRIGGER ‘OHANA

Dr. Richard Kelley

Our Housekeepers – “Our Titans, Our MVPs”By Dr. Richard Kelley

At Outrigger® Hotels and Resorts, we have taken some time away from our regular duties over the past few days to honor our extraordinary Housekeeping team. At locations stretching across the Pacific and Indian oceans, from Hawai‘i to Mauritius, we are pausing to recognize those who work tirelessly every day of the year to keep our rooms and public areas looking great, and to thank them for everything they do. Even though they work quietly, far from the limelight, our Housekeepers do a magnificent job. They perform their duties flawlessly 24/7/365 – all day, every day of the week, all year long, even on Christmas Day. Regular readers of Saturday Briefing are probably aware that I have a special place in my heart for our Housekeeping staff. I am sure this has something to do with the fact that I started my hotel career 68 years ago folding towels in the Housekeeping Department of our company’s first hotel, the five-story Islander at 351 Seaside Avenue, a block off Kalakāua Avenue in the heart of Waikīkī. The Islander’s Housekeeping Department was not much to talk about. It was crammed into a small storage area behind the building. Racks with linen and towels lined three sides of the room. A 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood mounted on “saw horses” in the center served as a table to fold towels that had been laundered in a row of residential-quality Kenmore washing machines purchased from a Sears Roebuck department store. Since the Islander had no elevators, Housekeepers had to carry sheets and towels up and down five flights of stairs. But, there was more! They would also clean and make up rooms in numerous outlying cottages – annexes to the main hotel building – up to several city blocks distant. Heaven help them if they had to run back to get a pillowcase or towel that had somehow been forgotten. It happened to me on more than one occasion! But it certainly kept us all in tip-top physical shape! That experience left a lasting impression on me and gave birth to the enormous respect I have for our Housekeepers. Readers may also recall that during Housekeepers Week, I usually seek a metaphor for the vital role that Housekeepers Our Housekeepers >> 8

Marcus Mariota | Our MVP Housekeepers

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FIJI

CALENDAR OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS CELEBRATED WORLDWIDE

Sept. 19-25 Coral Coast Carnival. Coral Coast, Fiji.

Sept. 13-19 International Housekeepers Week 2015.

Fri., Sept. 18 4 p.m. Outrigger Resorts celebrates Aloha Festivals. Waikīkī, Honolulu, HI. Visit: http://goo.gl/Ml3vIG

Sat., Sept. 19 6 p.m. UC Davis vs UH (football). Aloha Stadium, ‘Aiea, HI. Visit: http://goo.gl/QIlPqo

Sat., Sept. 19 7 p.m. Waikīkī Ho‘olaule‘a. Kalākaua Avenue, Waikīkī, Honolulu, HI. Visit: http://goo.gl/t5v7YH

Sun., Sept. 20 Nā Mele No Nā Pua Sunday Showcase with Kapena. Waikīkī, Honolulu, HI. Visit: www.waikikibeachwalk.com

Sept. 19 and 20 Amazing Taste of Thailand “Lan Mangkorn.” Thalang Road, Muang, Phuket, Thailand.

Sun., Sept. 20 Lard Yai Weekend Market. Old Phuket Town, Phuket, Thailand.

Sun., Sept. 20 9 a.m. XTERRA Trail Run Nationals. Snowbasin Resort, Ogden, Utah. Visit: http://goo.gl/gUeHu7

GLOBAL

HAWAI‘I

THAILAND

UTAH

Happy birthday!Sept 23: Madeline G. Agcamaran, Titilia Raiyawa Dakua, Pakorn Hoo-kheaw, Soen Lifang, Sunisa Namdokmai, Thidarat Prapasrang, Florida Sonis, Isidro Tinoso and Sebastian Julian Vollmer.

Sept 24: Barbara J. Awa, Akara Chumjan, Tagumpay B. Garcia, Ismail Hassaan, Benny Laguatan, Sharon Mae C. Lampitoc, Princesa Grace Mello, Jirawanwadee Onjun, Marisa A. Sakamoto and Han Qin Wang.

Sept 25: Miguel Da Cruz, Angelita Ramos Ganitano, Joel Gemina, Iofina Isack, Shynal Sanjit Kumar, Lynda Mae Marzan, Annie-Lu Navarro, Sandy I. Niihau, Chittaphon Saphanthong, Marvin T. Shin, Metuisela Tabua and Walter C. Tolentino.

Sept 26: Marlene M. Espinda, Ledua Kalokalo, Nilo D. Madarang, Epineri Erinimo Nagata, Phichet Sinprakan, Sesenieli Tomeru and Sefanaia Volau.

Sept 27: Maria L.C. Almogela, Marcy Augustine, Nelson D. Bueno, Edward E. Case, Anne Marie Christiane Gafoor, Judy M.H. Lin, Parachan Masook, Muhamad Udin Purtally and Donny K. Salis.

Sept 28: Zandro E. Bacaltos, Tavenisa Lewavavai Elbourne, Makana M. Field, Kristin Kelly, Yin Ching C. Lam, Dennis T. Nakachi, Sigfredo C. Raquini, Kalesi Rokotavo, Tadsanee Sukcharoen and John Taisipic.

Sept 29: Imaal Ahmed, Sosima D. Cajudoy, Wing Keung Chan, David N. Hasegawa, Kevin K. Kamakaiwi Sr., Sunikarn Kraigate, Muaviyath Abdul Latheef, Lilikoi E. Hazelaar Naish, Dineswarsing Oochit and Sirawit Sanguannam.

© 2015 Outrigger Hotels HawaiiAn Equal Opportunity Employer

Editor-In-ChiefRichard Kelley

Supervising EditorPila Hanson

Senior EditorKathy Foley

Contributing WritersHosts of OEG

Visit us online at www.saturdaybriefing.outrigger.com

Submissions to Kathy Foley at kathysb@outrigger.com by Wednesday noon (Hawai‘i time)

Saturday Briefing is published weekly by and for hosts of Outrigger Enterprises Group (OEG)

SATURDAY BRIEFING

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At the 13th annual awards event that received in excess of 3,000 nominations, Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort was recognised in two categories.

Fiji’s Coral Coast hoteliers shine spotlight on “mums” By Donna Parkin

Peter Hopgood onstage accepting the award Peter, James Wilkinson (editor HM Magazine), and Donna Parkin

A significant contribution by the Coral Coast Chapter of the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association toward the construction of a new maternity ward at Sigatoka District Hospital was recognised at the 2015 HM Awards for Hotel and Accommodation Excellence. The award for Service to the Community was made at a 600-strong black tie dinner at Sydney’s prestigious Town Hall and was accepted on behalf of the association by its chairman and general manager of the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort Peter Hopgood. Peter also received the HM 2015 South Pacific General Manager Award at the ceremony. He said the new maternity facility, that was officially opened in January this year, had already been of enormous benefit to the women of the Sigatoka-Nadroga district. “My Coral Coast resort colleagues and I have worked closely with the government to have this new facility. . . built,” he said. Peter said the Coral Coast Hotels Association had also raised monies to support other projects at the hospital such as extensions to the outpatients ward, refurbishment of the operating theatre and the construction of an accident and emergency ward. “We have held charity golf tournaments, raised money from major corporations such as Tappoo, Jacks

of Fiji, Prouds, ANZ, Marsh, Vodafone and Fiji Water. . . in the development of the hospital,” he said. The next charity golf tournament scheduled for November 2016 will raise money for a Medivac Helipad at the Sigatoka District Hospital. At a resort level, Peter was responsible for initiating a direct-action Community Tourism Project at the Conua School in the Sigatoka Valley that enables resort guests to volunteer a day of their time during their holiday. Thanks to the generosity of guests, the construction of a large bure or meeting hall that will accommodate 100 people is scheduled for completion at the end of the year. He also implemented a monthly departmental project schedule for his resort staff that entails each department undertaking one community project a month. Projects have included cleaning up the highway and beach surrounding the resort, maintenance upgrades at local schools, developing a Junior Chefs challenge among regional schools, supporting a drowning prevention program and the Benevolent Mission International eye specialist consultations for local villagers. As a brand, Outrigger Resorts has developed a strong values-led, community focus at each of the destinations in which it operates.

Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort“You were the first stop of several islands on our trip to Hawaii. We had the pleasure of having Alohalanni [Alohalani Alapai] check us in. This trip was to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. We tried 50 years ago to come to Hawaii on our honeymoon, but I received orders to Viet Nam instead. When Alohalanni heard this she upgraded our room from an Ocean view to an Ocean front. She

MOMENTS OF AL HAalso had a bottle of Champagne sent to our room. Since we checked in late in the evening we had a small problem with contacting our tour bus company that we were scheduled for the next day for a tour to Pearl Harbor. She worked tirelessly in trying to contact someone that could help us. She made several phone calls to no avail, but did locate the tour company’s desk that was nearby for us to contact directly early

the next morning. We missed that day’s tour, but were able to book the very next day. Without Alohalanni’s help, this would have never happened! She was super pleasant and joy filled. She is truly an asset to Outrigger Reef and is the reason why we will come back to Outrigger on our next trip to Hawaii and will share this wonderful experience with our friends.”John & Gloria Bodoki, Chicago, IL

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Four Paddles: Flavors of the MaliaBy Amante Castro

On Sept. 1, hosts of the OHANA Waikiki Malia invited our guests and owners to participate in our first “Flavors of the Malia,” as we celebrate Ke ‘Ano Wa‘a Paddle 3, “Caring for our Guests.”

Food tasting of our hosts’ favorite fare from their respective countries garnered an impressive 85 percent participation. This was truly a heartfelt gesture as we shared our love of our culture - and food - with our guests.

So’o Tana, Ken Asato and Junko Austin

So’o Tana and Amante Castro

Guests Jim and Aiden Lichtfuss

Sharing our love of cultural fare with our guests

Guests Yuki, Kazue and Karen Iwashita

So’o Tana and guests Hiroaki and Tomoko Sengoku

Guests Yoshie Ujiie and Yukiko Honda

Four Paddles >> 5

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Four Paddles: A sense of mālama (to take care of) By ESteam Alaka‘i

CARING FOR OUR GUESTS - Our four hospitality principlesA HEARTFELT WELCOME – We are personable and gracious hosts, welcoming everyone with warmth and generosity

Annie Mar arranges a personalized card for guests

Purie Garcia “thinks 2 more”

Embassy Suites by Hilton™ - Waikiki Beach Walk hosts create the perfect sense of mālama for our guests with a relaxing check-in experience including a refreshing, chilled beverage to celebrate their arrival. A specialized dossier quickly provides personalized guest information upon check-in allowing us golden opportunities to Make it Right the first time! A “tool box” of amenities is readily available to present to guests at check-in to embrace the special occasion. Our food and beverage hosts provide an option to welcome guests with personally delivered “suite” scrumptious, edible amenities.

Summer family-friendly amenity kits are bringing big smiles to guests young and the not-so-young! They feature Embassy Suites coloring books, crayons, a family-focused DND sign, an Embassy Suites rubber duck, animal cracker and juice pouches, on-the-go Puffs Ultra Soft & Strong tissues, fabric refresher to-go and baby fresh wipes. Organized key packets impress guests with a local design and Make It Right cards that confidently state, “If you’re not satisfied with your stay, let us know and we’ll make it right.” As our guests settle into our spacious suites, a complimentary shopping bag proves to be a favorite amongst many.

BEING PRESENT – We are never too busy to smile or offer a helping hand. We anticipate our guests’ needs and actions are always heartfelt.

Our Make It Right initiative positively contributes to our being present. An Empowerment Survey gave our hosts the opportunity to contribute ideas and take full ownership to act without process of approvals. To better clarify this process, department specific Empowerment Guidelines were created by hosts to recognize problems or concerns, find solutions or alternatives and determine service recovery items. Our management team pledged to support the decisions made by our hosts and coach to lift confidence levels. Department-specific Make It Right notecards in English and Japanese were created to go along with the amenity.

Out of this Make It Right process evolved the Sixth Sense concept - anticipate the needs of our guests. Part of the training involved finding solutions to scenarios from each department – then think 2! If a guest is requesting a coffee cup, take two cups plus sugar, creamer, etc. If an engineer overhears a guest in the lobby sharing an unfortunate experience with another, that engineer is empowered to have an amenity sent to the room. If a guest checks in with a family, front desk hosts are empowered to inform housekeeping to provide more than the standard of towels, linen, etc. and include Embassy Suites sand pails.

HONORED TO BE A HOSTWe do everything we can to personally invite every guest to experience the place we call home.

This experience opportunity is fulfilled by each host from the moment our guests arrive at our “home.” Sense of Place décor, music, greeting and sincere smiles are just a few of the many our guests rave about. Our spacious suites provide comfort and peace for all. We host our guests by inviting them to our “backyard” to a perfect place to engage with each other over a complimentary breakfast. Our expansive breakfast menu include numerous local grindz like Portuguese sausage, fried rice, local fruit, as well as

popular Asian fare like miso soup and tsukemono. Our food and beverage hosts are excellent in expressing their sincere aloha by providing directions and suggestions as they engage with our guests daily. As excellent hosts we entertain our guests in numerous ways. Our housekeeping department takes the time to sing for our guests and acknowledge birthdays with a kukui nut lei. Guests have fallen in love with the gesture!

Four Paddles >> 6Cary Murayama creates a positive guest experience

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Four Paddles ... << From 6

Housekeeping choir shares Aloha

Four nights a week we provide live entertainment by Roland Chang and sons, as our guests enjoy complimentary drinks and snacks at our Evening Reception. Our bartenders and the evening crew support the high expectation of being an exemplary host. To respect our Sense of Place, the suites and corridors honor our kapa design and process. From carpet to furniture to artwork all represent kapa including magnificent art photo of plants that contribute to the process of kapa making. Embassy Suites by Hilton™ - Waikiki Beach Walk is located in this special healing place called Kawehewehe. We are excited about the edition to our series of cultural story cards the history of kapa and Kawehewehe in English and Japanese. These new cards will be placed on the suite pillows intermittently along with seven other popular cultural topics. We continue to honor the legacy by offering our guests the health-giving art of lomilomi and rejuvenating yoga sessions.

Charlotte Kanamu presents a lei and birthday hat to guests

Keola Lasconia wows guests

LIFELONG CONNECTIONSWhen guests depart, they remember us for our exceptional service, our outstanding facilities and our culture of caring.

EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES MEASUREDTRIPADVISOR #5 – Certificate of Excellence – Hall of Fame 2015

SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY Overall Service 90.6% Cleanliness 83.0%

QUALITY ASSURANCE 98.20% August 2015 – up from March 2015

SAFETY AWARD Gold Status (Gold award) 1st Quarter Gold Status (Silver award) 2nd Quarter

CATCH ME AT MY BEST QUOTES:BELL: An absolute pleasure dealing with these men. They are an excellent first point of contact for the Hilton Hotel. I look forward to my next visit.

HOUSEKEEPING: Great teamwork! Everyone always greets guests with Aloha throughout stay. Can’t wait to come back to Hawaii and Embassy Suites.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE: Very friendly every time we came to breakfast. Gave us some tips on where to go. Love the Hawaiian Spirit. (They) Made our stay pleasurable. We will definitely come back!

FRONT DESK: Upon arrival, we were greeted and made to feel at home. They did an outstanding job by checking us in. I was very impressed. I’ll be back!!

MAINTENANCE: I’ve been a Diamond Hilton member for just over two years and I continue to be blown away by the awesome staff here. Everyone is so genuine, professional and really make you feel special.

Upon departure, we thank our guests for staying with us by gifting a CD of Hawaiian Music by various local artists. We are proud that the Embassy Experience our hosts create meets and exceeds Outrigger’s Hospitality Principles – Caring for our Guests!

Bell

Bell: Gowil Viloria, Keoni Kipapa, Reid Yoshida and Kenneth Shimabuku

Housekeeping: Front - Purie Garcia; Yu Xia Huang and Gina Maneja. Back - Kan Miao, Lleuellyn Calses, Jieya Cheung and Ida Gager

Front desk: Front - Garrick Otsuka, Reid Yoshida, Tammy Arakaki, Lorena Rosete, Victor Tong, Sandra Kama and Malia Espinda

Maintenance: Arthur Corotan, Adrian Ching, Villamor Tolentino, Byron Heap, Alfredo Encomienda and Elpedio Saycon

Housekeeping

Breakfast crewFront desk

Maintenance

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GCC celebrates annual Ho‘omaika‘i standoutsBy Kelly Smallwood

Rachel Compoz-Montoya, Sherrill Sherman, Ryan Drummond, Anita Travis, Robin Walsh and Sara Johnson

The Global Contact Center (GCC) recently had their inaugural annual Ho‘omaika‘i (to make good) award trip honoring our top performers with a FAM trip to Hawai‘i. Hosts who received this award were our top performers from April 2014 to February 2015, based on key performance indicators. This award also includes displaying Outrigger’s values. The Retail Top Performers support multiple interaction types to include voice calls, emails and live chat. These hosts also support our email marketing campaign and ancillary revenue efforts by offering car rentals through our partners and Enterprise Holdings, Inc. Between our retail winners they achieved an average revenue per call of $308.17 and booked a total revenue of $3,775,539, along with other achievements.

The wholesale / group reservation agents process email and fax inquiries and reservation requests for our wholesale partners in addition to fielding phone calls from our Outrigger property and sales staff to support our mutual guests when needed. Between our wholesale winners, they processed a total of

69,477 transactions which is 22.5 transactions per hour worked with an accuracy of 99.80 percent, along with other achievements. We also had a winner from our leadership/support staff. To determine our winner, we reviewed various aspects of their contributions from the previous year in the areas of overall performance, dependability and various other achievements over the year. Congratulations to this year’s Ho‘omaika‘i standouts:

RETAIL WHOLESALE LEADERSHIP Ryan Drummond Rachel Compoz-Montoya Robin Walsh Sara Johnson Rhonda Zarychta Sherrill Sherman

GCC hosts welcome Pila Hanson to “our place”By Kelly Smallwood

The GCC (Global Contact Center) was honored to host Pila Hanson in “our place” of Denver, Colorado. Pila came to facilitate a Hō‘ike session with the leadership team. We were also fortunate to have her help us

celebrate Paddle 3 of The Outrigger Way Four Paddles Process – Caring for Our Guests – by facilitating a training for all of our hosts on Outrigger’s Hospitality Principles – A Heartfelt Welcome, Being Present,

Honored to Be a Host and Lifelong Connections. This training helped our hosts see the impact of everything they do on the guest experience and reinforced that caring for our guests is a powerful responsibility.

Hō‘ike training: Martha DeLisa, Dan Rowe, Hyacinth Millington, Shannon Nolder, Robin Walsh, Anita Travis, Kristine Renneau,

Pila Hanson, Kelly Smallwood and Michael Adams

Hospitality training: (front) Deb Hall and Sehai Tesfai(back) Robin Walsh, Sherry Sherman, Pila Hanson, Kelly Smallwood, Rhonda Zarychta, Dan Rowe and

Kamala Martizna

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Our Housekeepers ... << From 1

Marcus Mariota followed the same path and, for his many achievements, in 2012, he became the first Hawai‘i-born athlete to be honored with the Heisman Trophy. “The Heisman” is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in U.S. college football, the athlete whose integrity and performance best embody the pursuit of excellence. Reading about Marcus Mariota reminds me of the characteristics I find in our Housekeepers day after day and year after year:

• A strong work ethic• Top skills• A sense of responsibility• A willingness to help others• Honesty and integrity• A sense of humor

Marcus Mariota would not be a champion without a combination of a strong work ethic, exceptional skills and a sense of responsibility. Our MVP Housekeepers are much the same. Every morning they go forth to tackle the vital role of cleaning our guest rooms and public areas. By the end of the day, everything has to be perfect and ready for guests arriving from all parts of the world or returning from a day or evening enjoying the paradise of our host islands. Thousands of details demand our Housekeepers’ attention. Only people with a strong work ethic and top skills can do this job with consistent MVP-level performance day after day, month after month, year after year.

Like many outstanding leaders, Marcus Mariota has developed traits and character that define him as a winner season after season.

• He is never satisfied with his own performance.

• He raises the bar of expectations for those around him.

• He knows his occupation inside and out, and adapts to new situations better than anyone.

• He is a classy, likable human being.

Our Housekeepers also have a great sense of personal responsibility for their jobs, their company and fellow employees. Like Marcus Mariota and other top athletes, dedicated scientists or brilliant authors, they focus on the job at hand. Housekeepers take full charge of their assigned guest rooms or public areas. They are proud of what they do and do not need a supervisor looking over their shoulder to make sure they do it right. Our Housekeepers have many other traits that make them MVPs throughout the communities where they live and work. They are compassionate and show it in many ways. They help others in our community through volunteer service and fundraising. Every year, they enthusiastically turn out in large numbers for the annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk on each of Hawai‘i’s four major islands. Our Housekeepers also are known for their honesty and integrity, and are, in fact, legendary in this area too. Every day, our guests leave valuables and personal effects in the care of our Housekeepers. In my 68 years in

the hospitality business, I have hardly ever seen that trust violated. Like most MVPs in all walks of life, our Housekeepers also know that humor is an important quality to keep at the ready. In the hotel business, as on the football field, things often fail to go as planned. Guests check out late. Groups arrive early. The plumbing clogs up. Fresh linen from the laundry fails to arrive on time – or perhaps it doesn’t arrive at all. When this happens, our MVPs usually approach the situation with a great deal of patience sprinkled with lots of humor. So, are our Housekeepers MVPs? Absolutely! To accomplish everything they do, they must turn in an MVP-quality performance day after day. The only difference between them and world champions in sports, business and the arts is that our Housekeepers do not get their stories, photos and achievements reported on the nightly TV news, printed on the front page of the newspaper or spread like wildfire all over the Internet. However, once a year, we do pause for National Housekeepers Week to recognize what great people they are and how important and impressive is everything they do for our company, their fellow workers and our guests. So, to all of our Housekeepers … Domo Arigato, Fa’afetai, Kamsahamnida, Mahalo, Merci, Mauruuru, Salamat, Si Yu’us Ma’ase, Thank You, Tika Hoki, Vinaka Vakelevu, Xie Xie! Have a great week! You have truly earned our respect and affection!NOTE: More to come on our Housekeepers in upcoming issues of Saturday Briefing!

Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawai‘i – 12/7/1941 New York City, NY - Shanksville, PA - Washington, DC - 9/11/2001

Never ForgetNever ForgetNever ForgetNever ForgetNever ForgetNever ForgetAs we publish this week’s issue of Saturday Briefing, we remember these tragic events and pay respect and honor those whose lives were lost. God Bless America.