Events & Festivals... Next year, we celebrate the Semi quincentennial!

What’s that, you ask? It is the 250th Anniversary of the United States taking place on July 4, 2026.  Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was our country.  Events may be taking place across the country celebrating various battles, wins, and milestones that lead to the establishment of the United States. These could be unique events for us, as opposed to the recurring dog shows, concerts, and sporting events we regularly look for when searching for events. 

Where do you find events and festivals in your area?  

• Events tab on Lighthouse

  • Click on the events tab

• Click on the event to get more information

  • Estimated attendance

  • Location

  • URL for the event

• Your visitors bureau / chamber website

  • Most visitors’ bureaus websites have an event tab

• Google

  • There are plenty of sites that offer a listing of events in many areas. If you find a good one, bookmark it!

• Venues – Are you subscribed to easily stay up to date on new event announcements?

  • Concert venues.

  • Sports arenas

  • Fairgrounds/Expo Centers

  • Convention Centers

What are we looking for?

• City wide events with large attendance from outside the area that need accommodations

• Events/Festivals we can partner with and offer a special discount.

When you find an event reach out to your RDSM with as much information as possible

• Event

• Dates

• Contact info

• The discount you want to offer

Your RDSM will contact the event to see if we can partner with them. 

RDSM will create a VP+ or LNR with a discount.

RDSM will get flyers, landing page (booking link), send to SEO team for a Google Post.

Sales Lead Change for 2025

Our General Managers did such a great job finding qualified sales leads last year that the requirement for the sales portion of bonuses has increased for 2025.  This year, you and your team will need to find SIX Qualified Leads per quarter, for a total of 24 for the year.

As a reminder, you can submit more than 6 leads per quarter, as they will count toward the next one. Conversely, if you fail to submit six leads in a quarter, you will then need to make up the difference plus submit the six leads required for that quarter to earn your bonus. 

Examples:

1. If Jack submits 8 leads in Quarter 1, He has earned his 1st Quarter bonus. He only needs to submit 4 leads in Quarter 2 to earn his next quarterly bonus.

   
   

2. If Sam only submits 3 leads in Quarter 1, he does not earn his 1st Quarter bonus. He will need to send in 9 qualified leads to earn his Quarter 2 bonus, but cannot retroactively earn his first quarter bonus. 

   
   

We understand that it can feel daunting if you do fall behind, but your RDSM team is here to guide you and help you find those leads each Quarter.  We will be sharing some of those basic ideas with you again on upcoming Revenue Calls and Region Calls. Remember that your front desk staff is your best offense in finding leads.  They talk to your potential and in-house guests and should be able to ask a few questions when they receive phone call inquiries for multiple reservations, see more than one room being checked in by folks on the same crew, or recognize returning guests. Not everyone is here on business nor a qualified lead, but it’s a great start!   

Sales Update