Saturday BriefingPage 1

January 13, 2007

University of Hawaii Captures Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic

By Nancy Daniels

The University of Hawaii men’s basketball team captured its eleventh Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic title on December 23, 2006, after a 76-60 victory over Creighton University. An excited Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,629 saw senior guard Matt Lojeski score a career-high 33 points during the game, making him an easy pick as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Outrigger Executive Vice President Barry Wallace joined University of Hawaii Athletic Director Herman Fraser in presenting the special honor to Lojeski, as well as congratulate the Rainbow Warriors on a well-played championship game. This was the 43rd playing of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic, and true to form, the tournament included great basketball from all participants. In addition to host University of Hawaii and Creighton University, teams included teams from the universities of Wyoming, Nebraska, San Francisco, North Carolina, Houston, and Valparaiso University. As in years past, the Outrigger Marketing and Promotions staff put together another series of fun and exciting half-time games for fans to enjoy. Outrigger’s popular Wacky Tourist Relay game was back, much to the delight of the crowd. But the most popular game of the tournament was Outrigger’s “Shoot for Loot”

Continued on page 4

Outrigger Executive Vice President Barry Wallace and UH Head Men’s Basketball Coach Riley Wallace

Outrigger Heroes Overcome

Denver Blizzards Over the holidays, most of Colorado was paralyzed by two severe winter storms. Denver’s so-called “all-weather airport” was shut down for 45 hours during the first storm, which began on December 20 and played havoc with holiday travel, along with everything else. The second blizzard roared in on December 28. Each storm lasted two days. In spite of the almost unprecedented conditions, members of our ‘ohana kept the Outrigger Enterprises Contact Center in Denver functioning as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening, utilizing a skeleton crew at the center and many agents who worked from their own homes. Bill Peters describes the details in his story, found on Page 8. The staff at the Hilton Garden Inn Denver Airport, operated by Outrigger Lodging Services, also did a magnificent job of providing shelter, food, and warmth to many, many stranded travelers. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to every member of our Denver operations for all your hard work, dedication, and sheer endurance during these twin holiday storms. And hold on to your snow shovels and long johns! At press time, a third severe storm with extremely cold air and still more of the white stuff is once again bearing down on Denver.

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Saturday Briefing is published by and for employees of

Outrigger Hotels Hawaii.

Editor-In-Chief: Richard Kelley Senior Editor: Marie Casciato Assistant Editor: Lehua Kala`i Contributing Writers: Employees of Outrigger/OHANA Visit us online at:

www.outrigger.com/sbwww.ohanahotels.com/sb

Submit suggestions, comments, and news tidbits to Marie Casciato at

marie.casciato@outrigger.com or via interoffice mail to OEH/Executive Office,

or contact her at (808) 921-6601.

© 2007 Outrigger Hotels Hawaii An Equal Opportunity Employer

Congratulations to the “Friday Night Fever” Working Winners!

By Heather Doeringer

Our industry is open around the clock, so there were some hard-working individuals on duty while the rest of us enjoyed the Friday Night Fever in December. Even though they were not able to join in the year-end celebration, they were still eligible for some great prizes. Congratulations to the lucky drawing winners: Meng Lun Li, Shin Y Lee, Yong Soo Kim, Xiao Lan Zhang, Leroy Rapozo, Chris De Cosin, Maria Clark, Cha Yol Yi, Mark Turino, Aurelio Transfiguracion, Barry Chun, Elvis Bannister, Clifton Gunderson, Peter Mercado, Melchor Servito, Timothy Kato, Pepito Pagtulingan, Sydney Pile, Mark Chung, Alex Dela Cruz, Feny Vidad, Leilani Dumalag, and Calvin Lee.

Happy Birthday!Jan 30: Robin Waltman, Marlyn U. Locquiao, Faye Y. Fernandez, Elise K. Maddy, and Kabe Langidrik.

Jan 31: Severino T. Palacay Jr., Ramsey C. Garcia, Oliver A. De Leon, Chenli Garcia-Wang, and Warren J. Ferreira.

Feb 01: Sean G. Suetos, Valerie A. S. Lee, Annette M. Choy, Jana K. Matsunaga, and Lai Hung Wong.

Feb 02: Leo A. Dela Cruz, Purificacion S. Juan, Clarita Labrador, and Yolanda O. C. G. Yamamoto.

Feb 03: Salvador C. Antonio, Cary Ann Byers, Shao Y. Mai, Cheong Sun Kim, Renee P. Takai, Roberto C. Viloria, and Barbara Lam.

Feb 04: Margaret R. Yannell, Malai Kahulamu, Jackelyn B. Hayashi, Rexene Doty, and Cherilynn P. Lauronal.

Feb 05: Zenaida A. Manganaan, Shu Lian Lin, Sophia L. Sacay, and Loida B. Fagarang.

Employment Opportunities If you are interested in the positions listed below and meet the qualifications, please submit an in-house application obtained from your Supervisor or Human Resources. If you have any questions, please call Eric Ishikawa at (808) 921-6989. Application deadline for the following positions is January 19, 2007.

Guest Service Representative (Full Time and On Call)A minimum of one year customer service experience required. Must have excellent communication skills, be computer literate, have 10-key by touch skills, and be able to type 30 wpm. Must also be flexible to work any shift and day.

Bell Person (Full Time)Must have at least six months customer service experience, be able to lift 70 lbs, and be flexible to work any shift and day.

PBX Operator (Full Time)A minimum of one year customer service experience required. Must have excellent communication skills, be computer literate, have 10-key by touch skills, and be able to type 30 wpm. Must also be flexible to work any shift and day.

Revenue/Reservations Coordinator (Full Time)Responsible for maintaining and monitoring all room inventory, including wholesale, corporate, FIT, and group block activity. Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills. Experience in sales, reservations, revenue management, and/or group reservations preferred.

Outrigger Waipouli Beach Resort & SpaBuilding Maintenance (Full Time)

Experience in building maintenance, including heating, cooling, plumbing, ventilation, water, electrical, and mechanical systems required. Must be flexible to work any shift and day. Interested applicants may fax their in-house application to (808) 823-1400.

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Toast Anyone?By Laurie Hirata, CTM and Toastmaster VP

Whenever I approach someone to ask them “Would you like to attend our Toastmaster Meeting this week?” I normally get the same look and same answer, “Are you kidding?” Sometimes I even get the polite, “No thank you” and then the look . . . “You gotta be nuts if you think I’m going to join that club!” One of these days I’m going to take a poll, and they can only select from the following answers:1) No, I might throw up if I gotta stand up in front of 20

people and speak.2) No, I don’t look good with tomato on my face.3) Wait until I get the guts to do this okay?4) Why don’t you ask her…she’s more outgoing than I am.5) Okay, I’ll come and check it out…then will you stop

bugging me! You know, if Toastmasters was a piece of cake, people would join in a minute, but most people would rather wear a bikini than stand in front of a crowd and speak. Well, let me set the record straight for Toastmasters okay? 1) You will have fun!2) You will get a chance to get to know people outside of our

working environment, but part of our Outrigger `ohana.3) You will learn to gain confidence when speaking, not only

one on one, but eventually in front of a crowd.4) You will feel safe in Toastmasters.5) You will not be judged in Toastmasters, unless you’re in

a contest. Just remember that everyone is in the same boat—we’re all here to learn and grow in the art of speaking in public.

6) Did I mention, you’ll have fun? I, too, was scared to death of public speaking. I can remember a time when I’d go to a big meeting, and we’d go around the room to introduce ourselves. Beads of sweat would form above my upper lip and under my arms, and I’d pray that it would be over soon. But because of Toastmasters, I’ve gained

more confidence in my speaking abilities. I’m far from perfect, but I’m glad I have Toastmasters to help me get better. Now, you don’t have to just take my word for it. Here are some testimonials from other members of our club: As a newcomer to the Toastmasters Team, it has been an enlightening experience for me and has enabled me to recognize that everyone has room for improvement, even those presenters that we recognize as the very best in the company, like Dr. Chuck! Toastmasters challenges you step out of your comfort zone and up to the plate providing a safe forum for improving your speaking skills - trust me - try it, you’ll like it! ~ Patty Foley Practice, Practice, Practice . . . Toastmasters gives me the opportunity to practice my public speaking skills which I use on a regular basis, learn more about my fellow hosts, and share in the laughter of the group. ~ Elizabeth Cambra Whenever I do something that helps me grow as an individual, it makes me feel good. Toastmasters is the venue to do just that. It’s for anyone who wants to learn how to think and respond ‘on their feet,’ to organize their thoughts and present them clearly and confidentally, and to learn to listen carefully and offer suggestions for improvement, helping others to grow in this important skill. Surprisingly, I found Toastmasters to be fun and very enjoyable, and I look forward to our meetings because I know I’ll laugh hard, learn much, and maybe even shed a few tears listening to talks that touch the heart.” ~ Kathy Foley, CTM I came to Toastmaster’s in May just to check out what in the world these ‘speech geeks’ do at these meetings. What I found out was it is a great way to grow and learn, and this is for everyone whether you speak occasionally or often in front of people. Almost everyone was new to me at first, and I was so warmly welcomed that I just had to join. No matter how busy I am, I always look forward to these meetings to have fun, learn, laugh, and sometimes even cry together. They are all a great support and encouragement, and it can’t be more convenient than right in our own `ohana! It’s a great way to meet and get to know each other! ~ Napua Ho Never start a speech with an apology; it detracts from the strength of a presentation and calls into question the valid message you are trying to convey. This is one of the many useful pieces of information that I have learned from attending Toastmasters’ meetings. While most attendees will focus on the social benefits of the meetings, do not underestimate the learning and growth opportunities that make Toastmasters so valuable. ~ Susan Taraya Won’t you join us on Wednesday, January 24, in the Learning Center for our next Open House? Check it out, and know that we won’t pick on you! P.S. We don’t throw tomatoes, and we will have refreshments!Left: Susan Taraya, Stacy Keen, Ray Kanemori, and Leda Tupinio

Right: Elizabeth Cambra, Laurie Hirata, Kathy Foley, and Bob Yeoman

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Outrigger Hotels Rainbow ClassicContinued from page 1

“Shoot for Loot” contestant Linda Huihui withcontest winner Kevan Wong who walked away with $1,200

Front row: John Padre, Jennifer Padre, Sam Hoffman, Lorry Ijima-Sato, Allyson Ijima, Kathy Hansberry, Ellie Agustin, Kevin Wong, Ellen Isidro, and Arnold Agustin

Back row: Sam Leong, Leina’ala Webb, Dan Daniels, Scott Sato, Burton Kong, Nancy Daniels, and Carl Hansberry

Continued on page 5

contest. Each night, two contestants competed against the clock to sink up to ten basketballs, with each successful basket worth $100. The contestant with the most money at the end of 60 seconds was then allowed the chance to sink a three-point bonus shot, which would double their money. And that’s just what happened on Thursday night when contestant Kevan Wong drilled the three- point shot and walked away with $1,200. While no other contestant doubled their money, everyone in the “Shoot for Loot” game walked away with a little extra cash to brighten up their holiday! There were many people who worked long and hard to make the 43rd annual Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic a success. A collective mahalo to the Outrigger and OHANA team members who volunteered their time

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Matt Lojeski scored a career-high 33 points, making him an easy pick as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player

Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic

Continued from page 4

Lifesaver ClubBy Dr. Chuck Kelley and Marie Miyahira

Every New Year many people make resolutions to improve themselves. If you are looking for a really worthwhile resolution, consider giving blood in 2007. If you donate six times this year, you can be rewarded by joining our elite EEW (Every Eight Weeks) club. Statistics show that 60 percent of the population will need blood sometime during their lifetime. By donating, you can make a difference and help maintain the 200-pint supply needed everyday here in Hawaii to keep our hospitals and emergency rooms adequately supplied with blood. Outrigger’s Lifesaver Club’s goal each year is to encourage the younger generation to adopt a life-long tradition of giving and encourage regular donors to donate every eight weeks. Please join us at our first blood drive for 2007!

Friday, February 2Outrigger Reef

Diamond Head Terrace9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To schedule an appointment, contact Marie Miyahira directly at 921-6881.

We are #1—The University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors celebrate their eleventh title win at the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic

Myra Kuboyama and Walter Tolentino help make a difference by donating blood

and energy throughout the tournament. A big mahalo to the Marketing and Sports Sales team for making sure all promotions went well. A special mahalo also is extended to Athletic Director Herman Frazier, Coach Riley Wallace, the UH Rainbow Warriors, the Stan Sheriff Center staff, and Teri Chang and the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic Tournament Committee for all their efforts. Mark your calendars for next year’s Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic. The 44th annual tournament will again be held the week before Christmas, December 20-23, and it’s sure to be another exciting contest.

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Second Denver Revenue MeetingBy Elizabeth Cambra

December 12 to 14, 2006, marked the second face-to-face meeting for the Outrigger Denver Contact Center and Revenue Management Teams here in Honolulu. In attendance were Bill Peters, Kathy Sylvester, Shannon Nolder, Aitogi Totemese, Martha Babcock, Marion Beverly, and Jacob Batkalin from our Denver Team; and Luke Hamada, Mandie Burson, Beverly Fidel, Jamie Wong, Connie Apuna-Diego, and myself from Honolulu. Our event began with a tour of the Corporate Offices by Monica Fo, followed by a welcome from Barry Wallace and Rob Solomon, and a day of team-building exercises. We were fortunate to have the same training facilitator who worked with us in Denver, Scott Rosthauser. We began by recapping goals we had set in April at our first meeting, ensuring our newest members were up to speed and bought in on our objectives, and sharing our progress to date. Today’s technology allows us to hold regular meetings regardless of our geographic locations ~ this makes us a virtual team. We completed a virtual team assessment, scoring a team average of 20 out of 25, based upon common goals, stakeholder relationships, communication, and internal team dynamics. Aitogi Totemese was the emcee on the trolley ride

to see the Honolulu City LightsContinued on page 7

Front Row: Junko Austin, Jamie Wong, Jana Matsunaga, and Martha BabcockSecond Row: Shannon Nolder, Aileen Geronimo, Beverly Fidel, Elizabeth Cambra, Doreen Nohara, Jennifer Frias, Kay Lee, Keiko Nunogawa, and Julianne Nguyen

Third Row: Marion Beverly, Jolynn Nihipali, Jacob Batkalin, Kathy Sylvester, Connie Apuna-Diego, Aitogi Totemese, Lynelle Akana, and Mandie BursonBack Row: Keiichi Yotsuya, Leda Tupinio, and Luke Hamada

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As a team, we defined trust - knowledgeable, dependable, dedicated, Aloha, compassion, listening, sharing, openness, vision, and perspective, to name just a few. We closed our first day with Ke Ano Wa‘a training by Ka‘ipo Ho—a perfect opportunity to expose our newest team members to Outrigger’s deep-rooted values, along with a good reminder for the rest of us. Our Denver Team spent Wednesday doing site visits of OHANA East (OEH), OHANA Waikiki West (OWH), OHANA Waikiki Malia (OMH), Outrigger Luana Waikiki (LWS), Outrigger Reef on the Beach (ORF), Waikiki Shore Resort (WSR), Embassy Suites Hotel ® - Waikiki Beach Walk™ (ESH), Regency at Beach Walk (RBW), OHANA Islander Waikiki (OIW), Outrigger Waikiki on the Beach (OWK), The Best Western Plaza Hotel (TPH), and the

Honolulu Airport Hotel (HAH). Afterwards, they enjoyed an evening on their own exploring the new revitalized Waikiki. Thursday was spent with John Neeley from IT, and Arhlene Honda, Lani Von, Mary Loy, and Fran-Marie Patoskie from Wholesale, followed by a discussion of process improvements between Denver and the Revenue teams. Our team spent the evening with our local Revenue and Reservation Teams at the Hard Rock Café for dinner, followed by a trolley ride to view The Honolulu City Lights. Aitogi was our emcee on the trolley for the evening and even had people on the street smiling and laughing—with us, not at us, I’m sure! A warm Mahalo to all team members who made this gathering a huge success. We are already looking forward to our third meeting in late spring in the Denver area.

Second Denver Revenue MeetingContinued from page 6

Left side of table sitting (closest to furthest): Luke Hamada and Martha BabcockLeft side of table standing (closest to furthest): Marion Beverly, Elizabeth Cambra, and Beverly Fidel

Right side of table sitting (closest to furthest) Mandie Burson, Aitogi Totemese, Bill Peters, and Connie Apuna-Diego

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Outrigger Enterprises Contact Center ShinesDuring Back-to-Back Blizzards

By Bill Peters

By now, most people have read or heard about the back-to-back blizzards that brought Denver to its knees over the holidays. The timing was horrible. Just as holiday season travel was getting underway a few days before Christmas, it ground to a halt as the blizzard of 2006 blew into Denver and kept piling up the snow for three days. It just would not let up. The following excerpts from and paraphrases of news reports speak for themselves.• DenverInternationalAirport(DIA)—oncetoutedas

storm-proof—closed Wednesday afternoon, December 20, and a spokesman said it would not reopen until noon Friday, December 22.

•ThousandsoftravelerswerestrandedatDIAwhentheirflights were canceled.

• Cityofficialsorganizedconvoysoftenbuses,ledbyasnowplow, to take stranded airport travelers to hotels 25 miles away in downtown Denver.

• HolidaymaildeliveryacrosstheDenverregionwassuspended for days due to postal employees not being able to make it to and from work.

•Manymallswereclosedonwhatshouldhavebeensomeofthe busiest shopping days of the year due to employees not being able to make it to and from work.

•ThestormalsoshutdownI-70andI-25,themajoreast-west and north-south routes through Denver.

• Travelerscomingfromothercitieshadtheirflightscanceled with no alternative transportation available.

• Strandedpassengerswithcancelledflightshadahardtimegetting through to most airline 800-numbers.

• Atsomeairlines,thewaitinqueuetogettoadeskagentwas over three hours.

•ThemajorairlinereservationcentersinDenverwerenot fully staffed because employees could not make it to work from their homes, and those who were already at work when the storm began, were burning out from the hundreds of calls they were handling.

I am proud to say that this chaotic scene was NOT repeated at the Outrigger Enterprises Contact Center in Denver. The center’s performance was excellent, and the

Shannon Nolder’s dog Buddy came to work with her Aitogi Totemese (right) who is from American Samoa four-wheeled it to the office

with Jay Jarnigan (left)—is that horror on their faces or are they just cold?

Shannon Nolder and Aitogi Totemese arrived at the office early in the morning on the second day of the storm

Continued on page 9

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Outrigger Enterprises Contact Center ShinesContinued from page 8

operation did not miss a beat. The reason for this is that about a year-and-a-half ago, we decided to implement new technology that has made it possible for many of our employees to work from the comfort and safety of their homes. In our case, the timing of the storm was actually very fortunate, because it was just three weeks earlier that we had finished enabling the entire night crew, those working from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m., to work from home. This gave us the opportunity to close our “bricks and mortar” operation at 9 p.m. every night, while continuing to keep the business running until our usual 2 a.m. closing time. Unfortunately, the total solution is not yet in place, and the day crew still needs to work out of our “bricks and mortar” offices until a few more issues are resolved. The first morning of the storm, Dr. Kelley called me on my cell phone to see how things were going. He offered to “four-wheel it” into the office to help take reservations if needed. I was happy to tell him that it would not be necessary because we were properly staffed and that 76 percent of all calls were being answered within 20 seconds. Our benchmark on a normal day is 80 percent, so we were doing really well. However, I assured him that if we needed him, I would call and maybe in the future set up a workstation in his home—just jokingly, of course. A few hours later, I received an e-mail from David Carey asking how the gang was holding up. He was in town to attend his daughter’s college graduation, which was cancelled due to the storm, so he was shoveling out a three-foot snow drift in his sister’s driveway. He also said that he now remembered another of the things he loves about Hawaii—NO SNOW!

The center had actually opened as usual that morning, and all the day-shift employees made it in to work. The snow did not get bad until later in the morning, and that’s when we put our snow emergency plan into effect. We reserved a block of rooms at the nearby Radisson Hotel for any of our day crew who were willing and could stay over that evening. This would keep our day shift staffed for the next few days. Understandably, some day-shift staff members could not stay over because of family care or doggy care issues. However, since we could get our work-from-home agents online early, we were able to let those who needed to get home leave early enough so they would not get stranded. The rest of the day crew, who would be staying nearby overnight, continued to man the bricks-and-mortar operation until 3:30 p.m., when the work-from-home agents took over for the evening. These agents put in a lot of overtime, but because they did, we had a lot of flexibility with our bricks-and-mortar day-shift agents. The bricks-and-mortar agents wound up staying at the hotel for two evenings. Even though the hotel was only about two miles away, they had to struggle back to the office in the morning through two to three feet of snow. The first morning they had to park two blocks away and walk the rest of the way to the office on sidewalks that were not yet shoveled. Once the bricks-and-mortar center closed at 3:30 p.m., the operation was run completely from home. All the agents who were equipped to work from home were on the phones, answering e-mails, answering faxes, and doing live Internet chats until the business closed at its regular 2 a.m. time. We

Continued on page 10We always knew that Shannon Nolder was a angel

Jay Jarnigan and Aitogi Totemese

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Outrigger Enterprises Contact Center ShinesContinued from page 9

also asked a few of those at-home agents to double back for a few hours at 7 a.m. since we wanted to ensure we opened on a timely basis and did not know how difficult it would be for the day crew to make it back to work from the hotel. It was a good call, because the day after that first night in the hotel was really the hardest time to get in, and they did not make it until 9 a.m. However, our customers did not know the difference because our work-from-home agents started up the operation on time, and before it got very busy, the day crew was in. Even before the first storm was over, the second storm was blowing in. This time we changed our plans a little to allow those who needed to finally go home to do so; instead, we relied on our work-from-home agents to put in even more overtime, which they did. Thanks to the new technology and most of all, to the dedication of our staff, the center did not miss a beat in conducting business during one of the worst snow storms to hit the Denver area in years. I want to say a big MAHALO to all the employees who plowed through the blizzard, stayed at their stations and away from their families for several difficult days, and worked many overtime hours from home to ensure that the operation kept running smoothly. You are the best of the best.

Several of our Home Shoring Agents who helped keep the Contact Center running during the storms.

Colleen MacDonald (top), Lark Eriksen (middle), and Deb Kelly (bottom)

Earlier this week, with the story above about Denver’s twin holiday blizzards already written and ready for press, it began snowing again.

In the photo above are Shannon Nolder, Bill Peters, Kristine Renneau, and Hyacinth Millington.