News for January 27th 2010

X Marks the Spot to the Treasure

This sounds like great fun especially if your an adventerous techy. I have decided to give it a try with and added twist. I want to hide something of value worth the effort of discovering. Something that will bring that “arrrrrrrr matey” from the likes of the spirit of Long John Silver of Treasure Island. So, going to slip off in the night and deposit treasure on Treasure Island. So, stay tuned for updated information on the treasure and the map to the cashe. Remember, X marks the spot.

If you not familiar with Geocaching here is the deal.

Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment.

Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is a worldwide game of hiding and seeking treasure. A geocacher can place a geocache in the world, pinpoint its location using GPS technology and then share the geocache’s existence and location online. Anyone with a GPS device can then try to locate the geocache.

Edited: January 27th, 2010

Bed and Breakfast Association of Alabama 2010 Conference

Our 2010 Mini-Conference/Annual meeting was an outstanding success. Members John & Shirley Wachtel hosted us at their B&B, Country Hideaway, Tuesday, January 19, and did a great job … the food was delicious! Positive feedback from those that attended included the low cost and central location for our one day event. Thank you, Mary Hightower and to all that worked to make it possible. JoAnn Frazier, owner of Mistletoe Bough B&B in Alexander City, spoke to us on “Building Customer Relations”. Grey Brennan from the Alabama Tourism Department talked to us about “The Year of Alabama Small Towns and Downtowns” and how we can take advantage of ATD’s promotions to draw folks to our B&Bs. He also distributed new publications from ATD. Give ATD a call at 1-800-ALABAMA and ask for James Brooks. He can ship you a bulk supply. New & updated publications include the 2010 Alabama Vacation Guide, 2010 Calendar of Events, 101 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die. Thank you to all that attended… we enjoyed fellowshipping with old & new friends, the good food and guest speakers.
Carolyn Waterman was this year’s Waldo Award recipient. Carolyn has been an asset to BBAA from the time she joined over 6 years ago. She has been a Board Member, Conference Chair for our Florence conference, Standards Chairperson for many years. Her integrity, wisdom and good sense were evident in all she did. Thank you, Carolyn. We wish you well in all your future endeavors and will forever value your friendship.
One of the many benefits of BBAA membership is being included in our Brochure. Our 2010 Brochures were distributed to members at the conference to take home with them. Those members not present will receive their supply via US mail. We have already shipped 10,000 brochures to ATD to be distributed at the 8 Alabama Welcome Centers and overseas. Our 4 major airports will also receive brochures to distribute to the public. If you would like to have your B&B considered for the front cover, please e-mail a high resolution photo, that is more tall than square, in jpg format, to info@BedandBreakfastAlabama.com. You may make the cover next year!!

BBAA had a full page inside back cover ad in the 2009 Alabama Vacation Guide. This year, plans are in the works for an advertising campaign by BBAA on AL.com, Alabama’s largest website that boasts over 1.1 million unique visitors and over 55 million page views each month.
BBAA members will be included in a 3 full page sponsorship spread in the Stars of Alabama coffee table book, endorsed by Governor Riley. This is a full color book “that will chronicle in words and photos, the life and times of world-famous Alabamians.” The book will be “sold in bookstores locally and throughout the state, copies given to local schools & public libraries, distributed through national distributors such as Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Borders.com.” It will be presented to visiting political representatives and delegates, and will be used by civic & governmental offices. BBAA members will be able to purchase the book at a fraction of the cost for resale. Hopefully it will be completed sometime in March of this year.

BBAA participated in the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in August/September which was held at the newly remodeled Grand Hotel in Point Clear. A few of our members were able to attend and enjoy the conference. Members Bonnie Ponstein & Richard Mixon hosted the BBAA table, which included BBAA Brochures for handout & a slideshow presentation of each of our B&Bs with additional photos from your websites.

This year, we are working to partner with the Louisiana/Mississippi B&B Conference which will be held sometime in the summer months. Make plans to attend!

The BBAA Website remains our main marketing/advertising tool. We consistently come up #1 on search engines. Earl Hardy is our Website Administrator and diligently works to keep our website current. Three new members joined this year and were added to the website. Bill & Betty Maloney, owners of Longing for Home located in Rogersville & Cammie & Obby Hallmark, owners of The Cabin at the Lodge located in Hayden. What a pleasure it was to meet Bill & Betty and Obby, who attended our conference. The Original Romar House, who were members in the past and closed for repair after Hurricane Ivan, also became members. Welcome! Please be sure to add a link from your personal website to the BBAA website. You can e-mail Earl Hardy at info@BedandBreakfastAlabama.com and request the BBAA Logo to add to your website … having your website linked with BBAA will be of benefit to you.

Many of you will be reinspected this year … JoAnn Frazier, Mistletoe Bough, will be taking over for Carolyn Waterman, as BBAA Standards Chair and will be contacting you to update the documents in your file. Our Independent Inspectors will also be contacting you to set up a mutually agreeable time to perform your reinspection.
The Bed and Breakfast Association of Alabama has a page on Facebook thanks to member Ellen Mixon of River Rest! Many of you have become Fans. You can also add the link to your personal website to the BBAA Facebook page.

Edited: January 27th, 2010

Attention all Cops in Birmingham, Alabama

Dunkin’ Donuts said it will open its first Birmingham metro location in Pelham next month.

The shop at 480 Cahaba Valley Road will be the second in Alabama for the chain, joining one that opened in Dothan in February 2009. It opens Feb. 1.

The company has more than 8,800 restaurants in 31 countries.

Dunkin’ Donuts announced that it was entering the Birmingham market last year.

Edited: January 27th, 2010