From DJ to hospitality experience designer

Hello. It’s Friday and we need to have a little fun, so today we’re looking at a new rooftop pickleball court in NYC - and learning from the former DJ turned hotel marketing leader behind that activation on why and how we can be creating cool experiences like this for our guests as hospitality providers.

From DJ to Hospitality Experience Designer

with Pablo Lopez, Marketing Director at M Social New York

Pablo Lopez, the Marketing Director at M Social New York, recently oversaw the creation of a new miniature pickleball court on their rooftop in partnership with Grey Goose, attracting guests and locals alike and driving business for their restaurant/bar.

The Opportunity with Experiences

Like many of us, Pablo’s start in hospitality wasn’t planned, but he quickly fell in love with how this industry provides an opportunity to create unique, fun experiences for people. He believes providing memorable experiences is the soul of hospitality.

Start with Creativity

For creating unique experiences, it is essential to start with the craziest ideas and then work towards practicality, Pablo says.

Attracting Locals

Pablo believes that hotels should reflect the culture of the city and attract locals to experience the hotel's offerings. This can help generate additional revenue streams and increase brand awareness.

Partnerships for Activating Experiences

Partnerships can help create you a differentiated experience for guests. Pablo believes that hospitality brands should align with other lifestyle brands with the same vibe.

For the rooftop pickleball court activation, M Social New York partnered with Grey Goose, a brand of Bacardi. “[The partnership] made perfect sense. It's really exciting to be connected to the whole US Open experience because we all know what that does to the city."

If you’re looking to create something special for your guests - and work with others in bringing it to life - I encourage you to listen to Pablo speak more about this on our podcast today.

Listen to our conversation now

From our community

Hospitality Daily is a community of creators and doers:

• Szilvia Olah asks who is going to be training for skills if we are all here because of our attitude

• Jason Bass is going to be spending more time sharing and teaching (which is lucky for us - check out our conversations so far here, and follow him on LinkedIn here)

• Matt Welle talks about Aparthotels picking up momentum - and what needs to happen to provide hospitality in this area

• Craig Hudson shares that this isn’t a new idea - old ideas sometimes have the most potential because they are enduring:

Stories I’m reading

• Career: 7 Lessons from the Field: Amberle Bryant, Area Director of Operations, Sonesta Hotels (by Anton Safonov and Michelle Session for hertelier)

• Design: 11 Design Ideas We’re Borrowing From the Yowie Hotel (by Sydney Gore for Architectural Digest)

• Trends: Taylor Swift, BTS as well as a holiday: the rise of music tourism, where pop fans marry concerts with sightseeing (by Gillian Rhys for South China Morning Post)

• Trends: China Resumes Outbound Group Trips to U.S., UK, Japan (by Casey Hall and Joyce Lee, Reuters at Skift)