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History in the Making! Update on the Congressional Small Business Hearing

Government Room for Hearing Door and SignThe Acorn Internet Services, Inc. team and founders, Mark and Lisa Kolb, genuinely care about our innkeepers and our entire industry. We do not take this responsibility lightly.

We study, gather data, and network for months, if not years, to get the right information and the right products into the right hands to help you, your business, and our industry.

Why do we do this? If we want to have an thriving industry in the next ten years, then we must fight for it now, or it will cease to exist as we know it.

Many inns are closing their doors, and this is not an exaggeration. Look back ten or more years. How many inns were in your town? How many are there today?

Here are a few petition comments included in the information going to Congress:

  • "We don't want to close, but when your business (even return guests) are misled to book anywhere but our own website, well, we just can’t compete."
  • "In the late 80's there were approximately 37 Bed and Breakfasts here, now there are less than 12."
  • "If the playing field is not leveled soon, we will be closing our doors and filing bankruptcy."

That being said, we continue down our set path,
and are excited to share what we feel is a historical moment in our industry. 

On October 25, 2019 we sent out a blog post asking all our clients to help support the following Petition:

Blue and White Survey going to House Committee

We passed this information to all the state and local associations to help in this drive for signatures, alongside PAII, AIHP, and other digital marketing firms in the industry.

We are delighted to say that all of our hard work has paid off! This is what has been accomplished so far, in only two weeks time:

  • We have 916 signatures
  • Representing 47 States
  • Plus District of Columbia, Canada, and Mexico
  • With 200+ individual comments

 Map of States submitting signatures for Committee Hearing

Color Coded Key for MapCan you think of another time in our industry's history when this many innkeepers pulled together for a single cause?   It feels AMAZING!

Allyson Cavaretta and Lisa Kolb have worked diligently to be able to present this information, your information, at the Congressional House Committee Hearing on the November 14, 2019.

1st Panel: To begin at 1:00 pm:

    • Google
    • Amazon

2nd Panel: To begin approximately one hour after the 1st Panel:

    • 4 Business Owners (Allyson Cavaretta is one representing our industry)
    • 2 Association Businesses (App Association and Public Knowledge)

 

Set your DVR or follow this link to watch it live at 1:00 pm EST:

No matter how hard Acorn works on your behalf,
it's truly your individual involvement that will make the difference!

After the presentation, Allyson will assist us so we can help you know what your next steps should be. Who do you reach out to in your state? What do you say to them? How do you say it? We will provide you with step-by-step instructions soon. So be ready! And be diligent.

 

 

4 thoughts on “History in the Making! Update on the Congressional Small Business Hearing

    • The purpose of this petition and testimony is to help innkeepers and small hoteliers keep the revenue from the sale of their own rooms, rather than give it away to OTAs, who, with their billions of dollars in ad budgets, simply can’t be outbid by small business people. The deadline for the petition has gone, unfortunately. We sent the petition out starting on October 25th, 2019 from multiple sources, including PAII and AIHP, as well as several state and local associations, as we wanted to reach every innkeeper and small hotelier that we could.

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