Weird but fun travel story 2007
Posted on 12/31/2007
I am a nut for the "Top 10 whatever" stories that come out this time of year. I always check out the top local stories in the Beacon Journal, my favorite 2007 story being that Goodyear is going to stay in Akron- Hallelujah!
This morning I was checking out the USA Today's weirdest travel stories, most of which are a bit depressing. Stories about drunkards, exasperation, and a bit of cynicism topped the list. Well, because I'm a glass is half-full kind of gal, I found one funny story about a fellow who skirted the airline system entirely and made an "air ship" of his own. Check it out:
"In July, an
Well, I hope you have a happy new year; one filled with joy, hope and a couple of helium balloons. Cheers!
CAK Attack is a blast!
Posted on 12/19/2007
Finally! After months of talking about it… and planning it… and fretting over it…. we launched our first CAK Attack. Whew! Elizabeth, Ryan and I took Legacy Village, this upscale swanky urban shopping center, by storm last Saturday. Now mind you, it was freezing! The average temperature was somewhere around 62 degrees below zero, I think (that’s with the wind chill). Of course we had to look cute, so we donned CAK logo Santa hats for fun.
We gave away free hot chocolate, hot cider, cookies and a chance to win a trip to some sunny Florida destination aboard AirTran Airways. Traveline also kicked in a couple of nights stay at a hotel to make the package even more appealing. Plus, Rob Kneen stood outside with us for about 5 hours. Thanks, Rob! We had over 160 folks sign up for the drawing and shared the good news about our airport (CAK), a relaxing alternative in the Cleveland+ region. A lot of folks in Lyndhurst didn’t even know that we are a quick 45 minute drive from their home town. Well… they do now!
Even though we froze our #%#%$^!#& off, the inaugural CAK Attack was a blast. We will definitely be doing more in 2008.
As a little holiday note…if you are flying over the holiday, check out this TSA video about what and how to pack for your trip. Have a wonderful, blessed holiday and Happy New Year!
CAK on Your Way Home Tonight
Posted on 12/07/2007
Tune in folks! 89.7 FM WKSU is doing a “Your Way Home” feature on CAK this evening beginning at 6 p.m. Amanda Rabinowitz, one of those hip backpack reporters we in the biz keep hearing about, was here for about 2 hours yesterday morning. She interviewed passengers waiting for an AirTran Airways nonstop flight to Orlando and picked our (Beth, Rick and yours truly) brains about what really makes Akron-Canton Airport tick.
She got the story idea from our record breaking October press release that we issued a couple of weeks ago. For those who don’t know, we had our best October on record with a 13% increase in customers compared to last year. That’s 15,000 more passengers in one month. She wanted to know what makes us different. Why do we continue to grow when all the odds seem stacked against us?
Well, in a nutshell, we are blessed. CAK has a savvy board of trustees who can make decisions quickly, an airport director who has always had a big dream for the place, a couple of wonderful low cost carriers (AirTran Airways and Frontier Airlines) who took a risk on CAK that conventional thinkers wouldn’t have, and a veteran team who has systematically built an airport brand to support the new services added and a “failure is not an option” attitude.
Listen online at wksu.org tonight or tomorrow if you can’t listen on Your Way Home tonight.
CAK to Ft. Lauderdale...it's back!
Posted on 11/27/2007
There are so many things to talk about…and so little time! Here are my top line thoughts for this week.
- The media hype around the “busy holiday” travel weekend was insane (but fun...I'm a bit sadistic in that way)! I’m logged 12 radio, 5 TV, and 8 news print interviews in 3 days! Mostly the reporters wanted me to go on record saying what a horrible time of year it is to travel and how brutal the experience was going to be. Well, I didn’t really go there and I’m glad. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of peeps flying this past week. Most of them though, had an ordinary travel experience. If they flew from CAK, I venture to say, they were probably pleasantly surprised by the relative calm of the place.
- I am so excited that AirTran is bringing back its Saturday nonstop to Ft. Lauderdale! It begins February 6 and will fly every week until April 16. Ft. Lauderdale is a great airport for reaching just about anywhere in the Palm Beach to Miami corridor.
- I was jazzed to see that MemPro won the NORTEC Innovation award. I met the Chairman and CEO of the company on a Frontier flight from DEN to CAK. The company makes a really cool ceramic/ polymer material that can filter gunk out of the air. I hope their technology gets used right away. Cough, cough. The hi tech company thinks the Cleveland+ region is a great place to do business. I think it’s pretty cool here too. Check out this CoolCleveland video interview for more on this company.
- Cleveland’s own Michael Symon is the new Iron Chef! My hubby and I watched the nail-bitter finale. He carried a huge swordfish head/ body to his station and got to work. The dishes looks scrumptious. I can’t wait to go to one of his two restaurants! I’m going to take Mark there for is birthday.
Ok, that’s it for now. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Oh yea, thanks for reading my blog.
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