Joe Giannino starts his morning off with a large cup of coffee, preferably from Dunkin Donuts, opens the door to his bedroom, and begins his busy workday as the general manager of the White Face Lodge. Yes, Joe does live at his job and no, it’s definitely not easy. From the minute he wakes up it’s go time. Between dealing with guests, managing his teams, and maintaining the properties image Joe has a lot on his plate, but recently he finds himself wanting to conquer a new task; Going digital.
Just like students and professors had to learn new digital practices during the pandemic, Joe throughout the years of working in the hotel industry has had to do something very similar. “I have been in the hotel industry for 35 years. 25 of those I have been a general manager and my first 10 years were going through the ranks; bellman, front office, reservations, different management roles, etc. I’ve done and seen it all.” Starting off in the industry as a bellman and working his way up the ladder to general manager, Joe has noticed how technology plays a crucial role in creating a 5-star hotel experience.
More specifically and recently, Joe has been introduced to the world of social media. From figuring out what hashtag really means to understanding how important it is to update the lodges Twitter Joe, and his team of generation Z internet junkies, have worked to create a viable online experience where guests and owners can see all the White Face Lodge has to offer.
As Joe tampered with the Zoom settings, trying to figure out how to unmute himself, I broke the silence, “So, you were initially brought to the lodge to boost the properties image and you wanted to do this through social media, how has that experience been for you and your team?” Haphazardly, Joe unmuted himself and began explaining what he’s seen so far. “One of the big things that I have learned with social media is that unless you have something big, different, eye catching, people are more than likely to not interact with your content. It’s not enough that you have a beautiful spa or that your property is in a great location, you need to be able to capture all the hotel has to offer in an aesthetically pleasing way. It’s much more than taking a few photos.”
Joe and I went on to talk about how a lot of what social media is, is sharing content like photos and videos. When talking about more of the videography side of social media, we started discussing the popular vlogging app Tik Tok. With 98 rooms, 2 swimming pools, an ice rink, a bowling alley, and an arcade in the lodge it’s safe to say that Joe and his team have more than enough to show off. “I’ve never even thought to use these platforms at previous properties I’ve managed, but now that I’m at the lodge and working with these incredibly tech savvy, smart people I’m noticing all the potential I wasted on other properties simply because I didn’t understand social media or think it would make a difference.”
Joe and I continued to talk about Tik Tok and how he’s been using it not only for the lodge, but himself too. “I like to go on Tik Tok now and scroll through my FYP (For You Page) so that I can see which sounds are trending or what hashtags have been picking up a lot of activity. It’s definitely a game I am still learning how to play though.” I noticed while interviewing Joe that he wanted to make one thing very clear; This is a team effort. “I am separated from the day-to-day operations in the hotel, I put my trust in the people I hire to make sure things are going according to plan. I need to make sure I have social media and internet literate people because I, myself am still learning every day.”
As we began to wrap up our interview Joe had pointed out how cold the Adirondack’s were getting despite it only being mid-October. He talked about how although the temperatures were dropping drastically, he absolutely loved this time of year. The lodge thrived in the Wintertime, highlighting everything the lodge really has to offer.
Steering the conversation more to the interview I asked my final question, “We’ve talked a lot about digital literacy in terms of social media and how it can help a business, what would you say to the people who are hesitant to learn these new skills?” And with no doubt in my mind, Joe immediately credits his team. “Listen to others and learn from them too. It can be difficult to break old habits, but the internet has changed everything and knowing how to use it has been incredibly helpful. It took a village, but I believe it’s worth it.”
With the internet changing what we do in our daily lives and in our work lives, it can be challenging to keep up with all the different practices. It’s people like Joe that understand the benefits of becoming digitally literate and use it to his full advantage in the workplace, regardless of how new it is.