No Snivelling

I recently had a trip to Las Vegas -- the hotel where I stayed, the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, was nice enough during the stay, and the quoted price was reasonable (~$75/night).

However, upon checkout, my bill included a $15/day Hotel Services Fee (plus tax, daily) -- when I asked what it was for, the manager told me it was for the pool, use of phone, and other services. Huh? Those aren't included in the daily rate?!? I asked her if I was able to opt out of these extra services, and she told me "no". So, why do this? Of course, it's so they can quote a lower daily room charge -- really, this is gross. I see a class action lawsuit coming their way. Of course, hotel guests won't benefit from the settlement, but some lawyer will, and Starwood Hotels will just proceed as usual.

Really, it's not about the extra $45 they charged me (3 nights) -- it's just the grossness of this type of idea -- that they said, "let's screw customers over with a fee that they can't do anything about, and then claim that it was in the fine-print on the order form." In the long-term, Starwood, you'll pay for this in customer defection. But, in the short-term, you're just making the world a slightly less nice place.

So... if you remember... try to avoid The Westin, and while you're at it, the rest of the Starwood Family of hotels (Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Le Méridien, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, aloft, Element by Westin)

NOTE -- I'm not the only one with this problem -- you can see other unhappy customer complaints and bad customer reviews for the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas here.

Labels: bad review westin hotel las vegas, las vegas hotel, starwood hotel, westin hotel

My friend, Gopi, shared this video of his Toastmasters presentation entitled "Ordinary People" -- it talks about how Gopi discovered microfinance through Kiva, and is a really effective presentation on the ways you can help to alleviate poverty around the world, right from your computer.



Gopi was at Wharton in the year ahead of me, and was a Toastmaster way back then -- he's taken it to all new heights, though, as he's one of 25 finalists in the national Toastmaster speaker competition -- go Gopi! (And, for those of you looking to become better public speakers, take a public speaking class!)

One final plug -- if you're energized by the microfinance story, and are passionate about education, I invite you to learn more about a new startup that I'm involved with called Vittana -- they're workign to enable education microfinance lending in developing countries.

Labels: microfinance, microlending, microloan, public speaking, toastmasters

It's been a tumultuous several months, with emotions running the gamut. But today's a great day, as we announce our launch of metro #6 (Chicago teachers and classes, here we come!) and also an addition $1.2 million of investor funding.

We've been running non-stop for the last year plus, and the launch of New York teachers and classes several weeks ago, plus the upcoming premium services launch (payments and more), has kept our hands very full -- we've recently been able to take a few days to reflect, paint the office, and refocus as a team, and that's been great.

One thing I'll share, that we found very motivating, is these two videos from Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos) -- if you can find 45 minutes, I'd highly recommend that you check them out -- they really highlight the type of company we're TRYING to build, with a mission-driven culture. We've definitely made some missteps along the way, but we're striving to continue to learn.

Labels: chicago, classes, education, learners, teachers, teachstreet

It's finally here -- the Seattle 2.0 Awards live event is upon us. And, Marcelo's asked me to present the award this evening to the Best Seattle-Area Venture Capitalist.

The finalists?

• Bill Bryant - Draper Fisher Jurvetson
• Bill McAleer - Voyager Capital
• Matt McIlwain - Madrona Venture Group
• Nick Hanauer - Second Avenue Partners

Of course, as an entrepreneur, I love them all pretty much equally... well, not really... Matt's actually cut TeachStreet checks, so I may call out his name regardless of what's in the envelope ;-) ).

But, the voters have spoken, so 3 will have to leave the island, and 1 will get to spend a weekend with me in Spokane -- it'll be wonderful.

Oh... if you'd like to participate in the event, but can't make it in the door (or, don't live in Seattle), they'll also be streaming the event live.

Labels: entrepreneur, seattle 2.0, seattleawards, startup

Oh, I'm so proud -- I have so many people to thank. My computer teachers, Mr. Fisher and Ms. Rothermel, who taught me everything I know about BASIC. Radio Shack, for developing and marketing the wonderful TRS-80 that I pined over. Texas Instruments for making the even more incredible TI-99/4A, that was connected to my tape recorder backup drive. My parents, for getting me my own phone line, to power my bedroom-powered bulletin board, the Magical Tavern. All of the engineers at TeachStreet, who I've taught so much to as we've built the site -- they've learned quickly and have taken well to my guidance and technical wisdom.

Thank you all -- I love you all.

Yes, I'm Seattle's Geek of the Week -- take THAT, Daryn -- who's your daddy now?!?

Labels: geek, seattle, teachstreet

Big goings-on tomorrow, with events at TechFlash (Palace Ballroom) and Ignite Seattle

Yes, I know this post is worthless -- I'm working on Blogger and Site Migration, so phlbbt!

I was talking with @daryn about Twitter today -- I'm perplexed by it. I've been using it for more than two years, and I'm still not sure what I think about it. Why is that? Normally, I'd either be a fan, or be over it. Instead, I'm still somewhat confused. At many times, it seems like another instantiation of my overflowing inbox, much like what happened with RSS readers (which I've stopped reading entirely, because of that very fact).

In fact, I've pretty much stopped trying to read any of my incoming tweets, beyond what appears on the main screen. Instead, I read my @ and D replies. Which, really, is just like having public IM and private e-mail. Or, a lot like having my IM have public and private settings. So, is Twitter just more of an improved IM play, with the advantage that the public IMs bubble up to a really good real-time search engine? If so, that's great, and I'm pretty darn happy about that. And, if people are willing to make their IMs public in many circumstances, then we've got a much more well-connected world. But, if everyone stops following their @ replies (with a service like Tweetlater or a good Web/iPhone app like Tweetie or TweetDeck), then the service is pretty useless as a communications vehicle. Which means that people will stop contributing. Which means that it turns into a bubble that pops.

So, Twacquisition, TwIPO, or Twop -- which will it be?

Labels: bubble, twitter

I admit it - I'm afraid of my e-mail. It's a neverending task engine
of sorts, with the horrible characteristic that it increases in
intensity whenever I reply or try to resolve issues. It gets to the
point where I don't want to open it at all, so as to leave it
dormant. Sadly, the beast is stirring, as Monday stealthily
approaches...