Happy Earth Day!

Hi everyone,

Most of you have probably already heard about Starwood’s latest news – they announced the launch of their new “green” hotel chain, Element. This new chain will be pursuing green initiatives, and essentially paving the way for the hotel industry. These ultra-chic and modern hotels will have all of the luxuries, conveniences and amenities that many of us have come to expect from Starwood’s properties, with the addition of eco-friendly facilities such as energy efficient appliances, over-sized windows in the lobby and guest rooms for natural lighting, and priority parking for hybrid cars.

Personally, I think that this new initiative is just what the hotel industry needed — and with more and more hotel chains and independent properties also taking a more proactive approach towards the environment, we will soon be able to see a major shift in the industry as a whole.

With that said, I am very proud to say that many of our valued customers have thoroughly incorporated our ND Press solution as their primary source of printed newspapers — and have ultimately been able to minimize on wastage from locally delivered newspapers. And with the launch of Hotel PressDisplay, more and more properties are now looking into providing our onscreen service to their tech savvy guests.

Regardless of whether our customers choose ND Press or Hotel PressDisplay, NewspaperDirect is proud to be a part in helping our hoteliers and many other customers to read their newspapers responsibly, and give a little back to the environment.

Have a fabulously green day — if any of you have any tips on how we can become more eco-friendly, please let me know!

Cheers,
Sandeep

Hotel PressDisplay officially launched

Hi everyone and welcome back.

After many, many months of development, re-development, chaos and excitement, NewspaperDirect is very happy to release its latest product, Hotel PressDisplay.

Over the past few months we had been getting more and more requests from hoteliers for a newspaper product that would help their “green initiatives” by minimizing costs and wastage from the traditionally delivered local papers, but would still appeal to their guests.

Additionally, many hoteliers also needed a product that catered to the needs of guests who lived vicariously through their laptops and mobile devices.

So… in an effort to creating a more sustainable, yet tech-friendly, global environment, we developed Hotel PressDisplay.

Hotel PressDisplay will enable hoteliers to provide guests with access to hundreds of local and international newspapers, which they can view onscreen or download to their laptops for future reading. The full-colour, original-format newspapers can be accessed via the hotel’s high-speed Internet service in the guest rooms or in public areas such as the hotels’ lobby, restaurants or pool area.

Here is a list of some of the features available to Hotel PressDisplay users. You can find more detailed information in the Resources section on the right-hand-side of this page:

• Extensive global newspaper selection
• Download Newspapers for off-property reading
• Advanced features for quick searches and easy reading
• Jump to specific articles using the table of contents
• Link to and share articles
• Translate articles into multiple languages
• “Listen” to articles using newspaper radio

 The service is excellent for hotels that are especially in-tune with their tech-savvy guests and mobile professionals, and want to offer amenities that are more customized to their guests’ needs.

Also, for all of the hoteliers out there that are looking to reduce their hotel’s ecological footprint, Hotel PressDisplay will be able to help them minimize the number of daily deliveries, and capitalize on their existing resources and manpower.

Hotel PressDisplay is the newest member of the PressDisplay.com family. PressDisplay.com currently serves over 6 million personal and corporate users, and library patrons, worldwide.

For more information and to register for a free Hotel PressDisplay trial, please click here. You can also check out the official press release by clicking here.

Thanks and we hope to see your Hotel PressDisplay trial request very soon!

Cheers,
Sandeep

Exhibiting at Hostec 2008 — London here we come!

Hi all,

As many of you already know, Hostec Europe is right around the corner and NewspaperDirect is happy to be exhibiting at the show this year.

Hosted in London, Hostec Europe is one of the hospitality industry’s premier technology tradeshows, and is an excellent event for hoteliers and food service providers to find new products and services for their guests.

As you can imagine, this week has been very hectic - yet a lot of fun - as we tried to get everything organized for the show. And as always, we always have something new and exciting to talk about — at this year’s Hostec Europe show, NewspaperDirect will officially be launching it’s newest hotel newspaper solution, Hotel PressDisplay. The latest addition to NewspaperDirect’s PressDisplay.com product family, Hotel PressDisplay will allow hotel guests to browse and read current-day original-format newspapers on their laptops or mobile devices, using the hotel’s Internet service.

Hotel PressDisplay has some truly unique features, and is excellent for the tech-savvy travellers and business professionals that live and breathe the world through their laptops.

Stay tuned over the next few days as we launch our new product and introduce Hotel PressDisplay to our valued customers and friends.

For those of you that will be attending or exhibiting at Hostec Europe this year, please stop by our booth and say hello!

Booth: H1002
Dates: February 18 - 21, 2008

Contact:
Richard Miller richardm@newspaperdirect.com
Johanie Marcoux johaniem@newspaperdirect.com

Thanks everyone and we hope to see you at the show,

Sandeep

Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference — what a great show!

Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference

Hi everyone,

As you all know, Michael and I attended the Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference in Savannah, Georgia, last week. The show was a great success and we were happy to meet and greet many of our existing and future customers.

Unlike most tradeshows, the S&D Conference was much smaller in size and very close-knit. Since lunch and snacks were provided by the show, exhibitors and attendees all had the opportunity to network over three-course meals and mid-day treats.

The laid-back, social atmosphere almost made us more productive — we were very happy to see how well-received the ND Press product was becoming in the aviation sector. What’s more, the printed newspaper samples we took along to the show were a big hit with our booth visitors — not only were they incredibly impressed by how valuable the service would be for their clients, but many of them also took a sample along with them.

Of course, the show wasn’t entirely all fun n’ games — we also had some serious networking to do at the various parties that were hosted by some of the exhibitors, as well as one gala event by the folks at S&D themselves. And yes, the parties were all full of entertainment and tasty refreshments. Michael and I had the opportunity to attend a variety of events, ranging from a posh, eclectic atmosphere to live bands to karaoke bars (no, we didn’t sing).

Now, for those of you that haven’t been to Savannah, this is a place you will want to check out at some point – with all of the delicious food and desserts, the friendly people, and the beautiful (and sometimes ghostly) sights and sounds, this is definitely southern hospitality at its finest.

Next year’s conference, held in Long Beach, California, will be the 20th anniversary event for Schedulers and Dispatchers, and is sure to be the best one yet… can’t wait!

By the way, have a great Valentine’s Day, and for those of you that are travelling via a private jet or checking in to a luxury hotel, don’t forget to ask for your hometown newspapers.

Cheers!

Sandeep

Reaching new heights — attending Schedulers & Dispatchers conference, Jan 29 - Feb 1

Hi all, 

Welcome back and Happy New Year!

As many of you are already aware, we have been working hard to expand our ND Press product into various markets that have a high demand for luxury amenities. In addition to the hospitality industry, we have also dipped out feet into the private aviation sector, and have managed to pull together a strong list of key supporters.

Providing our services to the private aviation sector has been particularly beneficial – using the ND Press service, many of the industry’s leading FBO’s (Fixed Base Operators — the sites at airports that cater to private jets) and in-flight catering companies have been able to print daily newspapers of choice for their most elite travellers. Here are some examples of our customers:

• Jet Aviation
• TAG Aviation
• Assistair 
• Signature Flight Support
• Rudy’s In-Flight Catering

For the first time ever, NewspaperDirect will be exhibiting at the Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference, which is organized each year by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). This event is particularly important for us because many of our current and potential customers — including FBO’s and in-flight catering companies – will also be attending the show.

Held at the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center in Georgia from January 29 to February 1, NewspaperDirect will be exhibiting in Booth # 512 at this year’s event.  This show will be a very exciting experience for us because it will allow us to demonstrate some of the key benefits of the ND Press service within the aviation industry – and with our online ND Press registration portal, we will be able to set up free trials and paid subscriptions “on-the-fly” (no pun intended) for our customers so that they can start providing daily prominent newspapers to their valuable travellers.

If you are an FBO or in-flight catering company, or would like more information about how our service can benefit you and your valued clients, please contact NewspaperDirect’s Account Manager for the aviation sector, Michael Dunn, at michaeld@newspaperdirect.com.

Have a great day and we hope to see you in Savannah!

Cheers,
Sandeep

All you questions about ND Press — answered!

Hi all,

The best way to learn about a new product is to always ask the right questions, so I have updated our “Frequently Asked Questions” page to provide you with all the answers you need about ND Press. To access the “FAQs” page, simply go to the “Resources” section on the right-hand side of your screen. 

Here is a quick list of what you can expect to find:

• Do you provide the actual newspaper, or just a summary? 
• How recent are the newspapers, and what time are they made available?
• What are the technical requirements?
• How does ND Press work?
• How do I set up the Subscription Management feature?
• Can I personalize a newspaper with the guest’s name?
• On the pricing packages, does “Print 5″ mean that I can only print a maximum of 5 newspapers each day?
• Can I try ND Press before subscribing?
• The trial account worked great! How can I subscribe?

By the way, thank you to all of you that have contacted us recently with your questions about ND Press! Your feedback has been very valuable in helping us to design better training programs, and we are very happy to know that so many of you out there that believe in NewspaperDirect’s services. 

Cheers!

Sandeep 

Newspapers for the land Down Under

Sofitel Brisbane

Hi everyone and welcome back.

We are very happy to announce that more that 15 hotels from the South-Pacific have implemented the ND Press service at their respective properties. When we first began approaching some of the 5-star properties in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and French Polynesia, many of them provided us with the same feedback:

“Travel and tourism in this corner of the world is booming, and hoteliers are looking for new, competitive and cost-effective ways to provide their valued guests with the right selection of current-edition newspapers.”

So we did a little bit of research, and sure enough, we found ourselves surrounded by a thriving collection of luxury hotels that were very excited about providing a more comprehensive newspaper solution to their guests.

Here is a list of all of the hotels in the South-Pacific that now offer our service:

Australia
•  Sofitel Gold Coast
•  Sofitel Brisbane
•  Sofitel Melbourne
•  Langham Hotel Melbourne
•  Crown Towers Melbourne
•  Hilton Sydney
•  The Westin Sydney
•  Park Hyatt Sydney
•  Four Seasons Sydney
•  Sheraton on the Park Sydney
•  Sheraton Noosa Resort and Spa

New Zealand
•  Sofitel Queenstown
•  Langham Hotel Auckland
•  InterContinental Wellington

Fiji
•  Sofitel Fiji

French Polynesia
•  Hotel Bora Bora
•  St. Regis Resort Bora Bora

You’ve probably noticed that there are a lot of Sofitel properties on the list above—as always, there’s a great story behind it! A few months ago, we received a phone call from one of the Sofitel properties who was interested in learning more about printing newspapers on-site. They mentioned that a senior member of their chain had seen our newspaper service at a sister property in Singapore, and absolutely loved how it was presented to their guests.

And since one thing always leads to another, we soon began working closely with each of the Sofitel properties to help them successfully implement the ND Press service onsite.

Rest assured, there will be a few more hotels from Down Under still to come on-board.

Cheers!

ND Press training — now on video

Hi everyone and welcome back!

I hope you have all had a fabulous summer… or winter, depending on what part of the world you are in. As always, we have been cooking up some very interesting new ideas here at NewspaperDirect.

Since the launch of the new online registration site for ND Press, and with more than 50 new hotels subscribed to the service since March, our newspaper solution has been receiving a lot of questions and positive feedback from our current and potential customers in the hotel industry.

Naturally… we decided to put our heads together to create a fun and informative way of answering all of your questions.

After a lot of hard work, we are very happy to release the very first video demonstration for the ND Press service. The short video was designed to provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to install the PressReader software and benefit from the many features of ND Press.

For easy access, the video will also be posted on our Hotel ND Press registration site, as well as the Hotel ND Press home page.

Thanks to all of you for your questions, comments and ongoing support… keep ‘em coming!

Enjoy!

Sandeep

Q1 sales: 33 new hotels

Hi everyone! 

Well, the results are in – and I am happy to announce that NewspaperDirect has had an exceptional first quarter in ND Press and ND PrintStation sales. During the months of April, May and June, we signed a total of 33 luxury hotels and resorts from around the world.  

And… here comes the best part… since many of these hotels liked the idea of using a web-based service, they opted for ND Press and were very happy to register online via our ND Press Registration Portal.  

So who are our newest ND Press and ND PrintStation subscribers? Here is a list of just a few of them… 

• Kempinski Hotel Zografski Sofia, Bulgaria
• Ramada Plaza Doha, Qatar
•  Crowne Plaza Helsinki, Finland
• Shangri-La Hotel Chunchun, China 
•  The Yellowstone Club, USA
• Turtle Bay Resort, USA 

The first quarter was very important for us because it allowed us to carefully review the functions of the new registration portal – our goal was to make it as easy and effective to use as possible for our subscribers. The feedback we received from some of you has definitely kept our developers busy with their efforts in making the recommended changes to the portal!  

With that said, on behalf of NewspaperDirect and the sales department, I would like to extend a very warm “thank you” to all of our subscribers that had the chance to use the registration portal and provide us with their suggestions. Your ongoing support has allowed us to continue expanding our services throughout the global hospitality industry.  

Of course, we expect that the final results for Q2 will be even better. J  

Happy reading, 

Sandeep

Say Cheese!

Now, how many of you can say that you have an autographed picture of President George Bush?

A few days ago, my colleague Johanie received a package of high-importance from The White House. Grinning from ear-to-ear, she ripped open the bubble wrap and found the picture and a short note thanking her for all of her support during the President’s June visit to Sofia, Bulgaria.

Working with the US Embassy in Bulgaria, NewspaperDirect was able to provide the President and his delegation with daily newspapers from the United States. Johanie’s support made it possible for the Embassy to print titles such as USA Today and The Washington Post, and deliver them every morning in time for breakfast.

In addition to President Bush, NewspaperDirect has also provided its services to dignitaries all around the world including the Prime Minister of Canada and the Queen of England.

Needless to say, we were very quick to celebrate our warm compliments from the White House. Don’t you just love surprises??

Cheers,

Sandeep