We are exited to present our November Virtual Panel Discussion. Recorded on:
November 19th 2014.
The topic this time is: "If I knew then, what I know now"
Our panelists for this talk are hostel owners and managers from Israel, Romania, and Austria. They discuss their career decisions and share lessons learned from managing a hostel in different parts of the world.
To view the recording of the discussion, click on the video link below.
** Our next Panel Discussion will be Wednesday Dec. 17th with the topic "Industry Expectations: Standing Out While Fitting In". This talk will dvelve into the challenges of providing everything that is expected by a traveler, especially in the rising of standards, while maintaining individuality. If you are interested in participating, please email our moderator: **
Please note that I said the wrong date at the end of the video. The correct date is Dec. 17th.
"If I knew then, what I know now" panel discussion questions:
Intros
Basic Hostel Intro:
Current hostel name, location, how many years opened
Basic owner/manager intro:
How old were you when you started or took over your hostel?
If you've managed/owned more than one, where were they and for how long were you there?
Considerations for industry newcomers:
Why did you decide to start or take over a hostel? Why that place?
What has been the biggest reason(s) you've stayed? Are they the same reasons you started, or something very different now?
What was your background before that, and how did it help?
Assumptions vs. Reality
What is an example of something you had to learn along the way that you wish you had more formally learnt before hand?
Is there anything you spent time trying to learn before, that you think is better off learnt 'in the field'?
What did you think your biggest challenge(s) would be, and what did they turn out to be? How did you solve these?
Opposite question- what did you think would be easy that turned out to be awful?
What has been either the biggest time waster -OR- the most help with productivity?
Best Learned Tips Over Time
It's often said 'the do do list never ends'. How do you handle this, and has that changed over time?
If you had only one piece of serious advice you could give to someone starting out, what would it be?
If you had one piece of funny/not so serious advice, what would it be?
At this point in your career, how/ where will you to continue to learn or improve as a hostel owner/ manager?
