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Weekly UpdatesThe Center for Hospitality Research, publisher of this journal, is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year. Though we will note this occasion at the Cornell Hotel Society's annual New York Hotel Show Reception, I wanted to offer a progress report to the readers who cannot be in New York in November. The Center began in 1992 when a young professor, Steve Carvell, now the Hotel School's associate dean, brought the idea to the faculty. After the initial angst associated with all new ideas, the faculty agreed to endorse the idea and selected Professor Jack Corgel as the Center's first director. Jack got the Center going by bringing in a number of partners and organizing a conference. After Jack stepped down in 1994, however, the Center struggled. By 2000 the Center had no partners, no conferences, and no research.
Professor Cathy Enz took over the Center in fall 2000. With a goal of revitalizing the Center, she hired a small staff, including our director of corporate relations Joe Strodel, created an advisory board, began bringing in partners and data providers, developed the concept of Cornell Hospitality Reports, began funding summer research fellows, and began sponsoring the Center's roundtables. In addition, under Cathy's leadership the Center engaged Sage Publications to manage this journal, which we have just renamed the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CQ). Since Sage became our journal manager, CQ has increased its readership, decreased its acceptance rate (due to a stronger field of article submissions), and is now listed in the Thompson Scientific Journal Citation Index (as explained elsewhere in this issue by editor Linda Canina).
In 2003, Professor Gary Thompson took over as executive director. Under Gary's leadership, the Center continued to grow in terms of partners, data providers, and in the number of roundtables sponsored. Gary also created Tools for the Hospitality Industry and developed a number of computer programs that allow us to understand the Center's reach in the industry by tracking media and website hits. Gary completed his term in 2006 and handed off the Center to me.
With the expansion of the Center's activities, the Center's team of employees also has grown. Gary and Joe hired Jen Macera, the Center's manager, who brought in Carol Zhe, Melissa Carlisle, and Erin Hanlon. With Joe, Jen, Carol, Melissa, and Erin overseeing the day-to-day operations, and Glenn Withiam as the Center's main copy editor and writer for the past seven years, the Center is now an incredibly efficient, professional, and effective operation that has evolved to become the largest outreach engine for the School of Hotel Administration, with a web subscriber base of more than fifty-three thousand. Below, I outline some of the growth statistics from the past year as a testament to that statement.
The Center has brought in ten new partners since September 2006. These partners are essential to the mission of the Center. They are American Airlines Admirals Club, Deloitte & Touche USA, Denihan Hospitality Group, Davis & Gilbert LLP, LRP Publications, Marriott International, Mobil Travel Guide, Proskauer Rose LLR TIG Global (a Thayer Group company), and WhiteSand Consulting.
We have sponsored a number of faculty research projects, and we are also on target to equal or surpass all of the output of last year, which itself was a record-breaking year on each dimension. The numbers are below.
* Media Circulation
We are on target to match last year's 861 media hits, with a circulation of 280.2 million.
Last year we had 861 media hits with a circulation of 170.9 million.
* Reports and Tools
We are on target at least for nineteen this year. We published nineteen last year.
* Newsletters
On target for eighteen this year. Fifteen last year.
* CHR Partners
Twenty-four partners as of this writing. Fifteen at this time last year.
* Number of industry roundtables
On track for six this year. Four last year.
* Conferences
Sponsored the first annual HR in Hospitality Conference (with more than 350 paid participants).
* The Future
The following are some of our short-term goals:
1. Numerous roundtables have been proposed, and we hope to grow that component of the Center.
2. We started a new publication, Industry Perspectives, last year and hope to grow that in the coming years.
3. We plan on continuing to grow our partnership base so that we can contribute to the Hotel School's research mission by sponsoring research that is both rigorous and relevant to the industry.
The Center has come a long way since Professor Carvell's proposal in 1992. We hope to continue to grow in terms of partners, products, and output. We thank you for all your help and your interest in the Cornell Quarterly.
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