An Olympic Confession

March 5th, 2010

The Olympics and Our Values

Ahhhh, home sweet home after two glorious weeks spent at the Olympics.

Someone asked me the other day, “What is the biggest thing the Olympics have done for you?”  Well, aside from the obvious month of phenomenal business we experienced in our Richmond and Burnaby locations, the Olympics have been surprisingly great for helping us define our values.

Mandy Farmer President and CEO of Accent Inns shows her Olympic spirit

Huh? The Olympics helped define our values?

We had the opportunity to increase our rates as high as $500 a night and to take short term advantage of the market.  We contemplated it briefly, but in the end, it didn’t feel right as it wasn’t a practice that we would be proud of.

We decided that we would charge a fair market rate for the rooms, a rate that was reasonable, something we could feel good about. I had the front desk phoning me up saying, “Mandy, we could be getting five times this amount for our rooms!”  I’m thrilled that my team is conscientious and always looking out for the bottom line (what CEO wouldn’t be?!), but our values come first, so much so that I put them on the back of all of our business cards to be a daily reminder:

Our Quest:

• Be a great place to work
• Be environmentally friendly
• Give back to our communities
• Make you glad you stayed.

So the Olympics were great for business and for our company. As a Canadian and a West Coaster, there are a few things that I will always remember about these games. That pulsating vibe that permeated the whole city – whether you were a visitor or Vancouverite the atmosphere was open, electric and celebratory. It felt like Christmas with the spirit of generosity, camaraderie and togetherness – the warm conversations with strangers on the Skytrain, sharing jokes in the inevitable line-ups, laughing and trading high-fives. Vancouver literally shone with glowing hearts.

I’m so proud to be Canadian, as we all are, and even prouder to share what we have always known about our country and our people with the rest of the world. Come and see us again soon!