Over this past year, getting our members the latest in state regulations, closures and announcements has been so important to us as an association. If you don’t know the latest news, you can’t effectively and safely serve your guests. That’s why our mission is to get you reliable information as soon as possible through many different channels.
Email newsletters
Every Thursday, we send you our weekly newsletter, packed with the latest news stories, upcoming events and even articles you may have missed over the past couple of weeks. For our lodging members, we also have our monthly Lodging News.
We know that things are happening at the local level that vary from place to place so we break news and information down to the county and city level. In Seattle, members get a weekly newsletter for all things local, and in Spokane, you can expect a newsletter when news breaks in Eastern Washington.
Special edition emails
We know that news can break in between our weekly newsletters, and when that happens, we get you the information you need within two hours of it breaking. Being your primary source of information is one of our pillars of operations and this is our commitment to you.
Social media
We know that over the past year, you have upped your social media game to keep your customers connected and we have, too. We’ve expanded our reach on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and if we post to Twitter, your browser will send you an alert if you have selected “allow” while you’re visiting hub.wahospitality.org.
Websites
Our websites are our flagship means to keep you informed:
- The Coronavirus Knowledgebase: We created a separate website just for coronavirus-related news, and most recently, we set out to improve hub.wahospitality.org. We have a special page just for restaurants, one for lodging members and one just for entertainment businesses.
- Wahospitality.org: Our traditional wahospitality.org site has industry news that isn’t related to the pandemic. If the Washington Legislature passes laws that affect you, you can be sure to find it there.
- Members-only: Our members-only hub has articles and resources that you can only get as a member. If you are looking for our Handbook for Excellent Restaurant Operations, our Employment Law Guide or other exclusive resources, visit wahospitality.org, click on My Account and sign in there.
- Local: The Spokane Chapter of the Washington Hospitality Association and the Seattle Restaurant Alliance have their own websites to keep you up to date. In Spokane, visit spokanehospitality.org, and in Seattle, visit seattlerestaurantalliance.org.
- Membership: If you’ve ever wondered what kinds of cost-saving programs the association has for its members, or if you are hoping to get in contact with your territory manager, visit join.wahospitality.org.
Text alerts
Occasionally, we need our members to sign a petition or help support or oppose legislation at the state level. Or sometimes news breaks and we need you to know right away what happened. We have a text alert program just for these times. If you are interested in receiving text alerts, text the word, “serve” to 52886.
Webinars
The Washington Hospitality Association has never shied away from embracing new technology. Even before the pandemic, we would present a webinar or two when it was needed.
Today, with coronavirus restrictions in place related to meeting in person, we offer several different webinars, some of which recur monthly:
- The CEO Podcast: Washington Hospitality Association President and CEO Anthony Anton holds a monthly discussion at 10 a.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Sometimes he will invite leaders in the hospitality industry to join him in conversation, sometimes he’ll talk about the latest news, and he’ll always answer your questions.
- The Hospitality Profit: Hospitality financial consultant Rick Braa discusses financial opportunities for the industry in this webinar that meets at 10 a.m. on the fourth Wednesday of every month. In the past eight months, he has talked about everything from grants that are available to you to buying and selling restaurants.
When we need to take a deep dive into a certain subject, we have had very well-attended webinars. This last year, we have heard about the best way to set up open-air dining, the ins and outs of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and how to take advantage of the SharedWork program offered through the Employment Security Department.
If you missed any of these webinars, that is OK. We recorded them and you can find them all on our website at wha.fyi/webinars. If you are curious as to what’s coming next, go to wha.fyi/events.
The past year has seen challenges we could have never imagined in the hospitality industry, and keeping you informed has been an overarching commitment from our communications team. If you are not receiving our emails and would like to, you can sign up at wha.fyi/emailsignup.
