Greg Bennett
Lessons in Promotion
June 19, 2006 | by brett | Permalink
Growing up in Wisconsin, Greg watched the Green Bay Packers play as a kid. He, like many other kids, dreamed of playing professional football one day. He played at the college level but there came a point in his career where he had to decide between his NFL aspirations or focusing on finding a career. During college he worked at a couple of hotel restaurants. He enjoyed the experience and realized that there were many opportunities out there. With no other great prospects at his disposal, he decided to go into the hotel business. Greg dropped out of school and moved from Wisconsin to Santa Barbara, CA to work as the night manager and assistant food and beverage director at the Holiday Inn.
For the next twelve years he would find himself working in twelve different locations across the U.S.. He drove his little Chevy pick-up truck from Santa Barbara to Alaska to manage a small resort in McKinleyville, Alaska. He would later return to the continental United States to areas such as Fairfield, CA, Monterey, CA, Vail, CO, Yellowstone Park, Wyoming and back to Ventura, CA. At 26, he was a general manager for a large oceanside resort there and stayed there for four years before moving to Konocti Harbor. He has been there ever since and for the last 17 years has worked as the President and General Manager.
When he got to Konocti Harbor it was a motel that looked like it was stuck in the 1960’s. It was beat up, dry-rotted and painted a hideous combination of orange and brown. The carpet was old, only half the rooms had televisions in them and there was a rundown coffee shop/dining room in the lobby. Greg saw potential in the structure as it was situated next to a beautiful lake. Seeking a challenge, he remodeled the motel into a beautiful inn. He added onto the motel, most notably installing an Amphitheater with the lake as a backdrop. This added to the allure of the property as musical acts could now perform in the quaint town.
Greg’s advises that:
“If I would have listened at your age, I would have known a couple of things. One thing is to dare to dream and think that anything is possible. Dream within your profession. Also, probably 75% of your life is at work, so do something you love, and try do something that you have a passion about.”
What is the key to promoting?
“I think the global response to that would be it’s got to be first class. I think you have to have a product and if it’s not there it doesn’t work. If the party you’re promoting is not planned with 100% of your effort, then it won’t work. A party with great entertainment, a great profile, image, and it’s the cool place to be… then it’s going to work. If you’re promoting something, you have to put it together first. Put the event together first and then make it first class. Then promote the event.”
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