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“LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World calls its workers, from actors in Goofy outfits to laundry workers, “cast members” to make them feel part of the show. There’s a garbage can every 25 steps, so litter will be tossed not dropped. There’s a polite way to answer one of the park’s most asked questions: “What time is the 3 o’clock parade?”

These nuggets are part of corporate customer service training offered by Disney Institute, a Florida-based unit of the Walt Disney Co. that has coached thousands of executives and front-line workers from other companies and organizations since 1986. Customers have included Delta Air Lines, IBM Corp., General Motors Corp., Chrysler Corp. and even the Internal Revenue Service and cigarette maker Phillip Morris Inc.

Now the Institute has taken another client: Miami International Airport, which many travelers will tell you needs customer service training like an airplane needs wings. Surveys rank its service among the nation’s worst.
The airport’s terminal operations employees are taking classes taught by Institute instructors, learning leadership practices, team building, staff relations and communication skills — many formulated by Walt Disney himself.

“Many organizations think they’re different from Disney, and therefore can’t learn from an entertainment or a parks and resorts business,” said Bruce Jones, programming director for Disney Institute. “But then when they get here and work with us a little bit, they find out … these principles and similarities are transferrable across industries, across cultures, and across different sizes and shapes of organizations.
“Just think of the airport business. The reality is both businesses have millions of people each year waiting in line for a ride.”
Disney World and the airport have more in common, including dealing with ground transportation, parking and retail sales. So, it made sense for the airport to seek out Disney Institute.

“They understand how to minimize the inconvenience and maximize the entertainment value,” airline industry analyst Bob Mann said of Disney. “It’s a reasonably good move” for the airport to hire Disney.
Miami International Airport is a gateway to and from the Caribbean and Latin America. About 32.5 million passengers passed through the airport in 2006, including more than 14 million international passengers. But among 18 U.S. airports with 30 million or more passengers per year, only three airports performed worse in J.D. Power and Associates’ 2007 North America Airport Satisfaction Study.

“The customer service needs to improve,” said Sarah Abate, who oversees commercial services at the airport and took a training class. “Passengers need to understand that Miami is a friendly airport, and we are passenger friendly. Now, people don’t get that, or the perception from the passenger is not the same as what we are trying to convey.”
Disney started the Institute after it realized it was getting questions from other companies about its customer service. After offering some behind-the-scenes educational tours, the Institute developed its first professional development program 21 years ago..” [Via biz.yahoo.com]

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“Tie the knot in one of the Caribbean destinations served by Air Jamaica and you can get a free Business Class airline ticket.

To qualify for the airline’s new Executive Business Class, the bride and groom must book a minimum of 22 seats (including themselves) through Air Jamaica’s group sales office at (800) 523-6805, or groupsales@airjamaica.com.

The Business Class airline tickets are processed once the entire group is ticketed. Air Jamaica provides 300 non-stops weekly, from Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York (JFK), Orlando, and Philadelphia in the United States.

Also Toronto in Canada; and from London in the United Kingdom to Montego Bay and Kingston.

Air Jamaica also offers daily non-stop service between New York/JFK and Barbados, and direct service between JFK to both St. Lucia and Grenada.

It offers intra-regional service with flights between Jamaica and the Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, Cuba, Curaçao, Grand Cayman and St. Lucia.” (via flightbliss.com)

NASCAR Grand Prize: Grand Prize is a three (3) day/two (2) night trip to Miami, FL between November 17 -19, 2007 for Winner and one (1) Guest to attend the NASCAR stock car race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 18, 2007.
The Prize consists of round-trip coach air transportation between major commercial airport nearest winner’s residence and Miami, FL, two (2) nights hotel accommodations

Two (2) tickets to the NASCAR stock car race on November 18, 2007, two (2) NASCAR pit passes for November 17 - 18, 2007 and $500 spending money.

Two (2) First Prizes: Each First Prize is one (1) Samsung 50” Slim Depth 720p DLP HDTV Television.

(450) Second Prizes: Each Second Prize is one (1) Hall of Fame Racing T-Shirt.

Five Hundred (500) Third Prizes: Each Third Prize is one (1) Hall of Fame Racing hat.

3,500 Fourth Prizes: Each Fourth Prize is one (1) Hall of Fame Racing coozie.

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Entry ends for this NASCAR race contest at 11:59:59 PM EDT on September 30, 2007