Hello there. I'm back in Austin, Texas, and no worse for the wear.
Las Vegas was... well, Las Vegas. Although I must say, I was most impressed with Wynn Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn has been a lightning rod of controversy during his reign as a resort mogul in Las Vegas (and now, Macau), and having only seen him in interviews on 60 Minutes, I can't say I had much of an opinion one way or the other.
But, after staying at his 60+ story hotel on the Strip these past few days, I can attest to the level of personal detail and attention he puts into his properties.
Upon arrival on Sunday, I waited a good 30 minutes just to check in. But, upon reflection, I guess that's a good sign for Mr. Wynn and his coterie, and they were kind enough to bring bottles of water to myself and other customers who were patiently waiting.
But if hotels can do such a great job of enabling a streamlined checkout (video, phone check out, express checkout, etc.), there's clearly still room for much improvement on better "processing" customers when they arrive. Smarter check-in, anybody?
But all in all, very impressed with the Wynn brand experience.
As for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit, I'm still processing all the great info I took in, and may dedicate a more thoughtful post on my experience about that later.
But, since I was preoccupied for a few days, we've had some important IBM news that fell below my blogging radar.
The most notable announcement emerged earlier today, one for IBM Business Partners and their clients.
As the graphic itself explains, innovation starts with appropriately allocated capital. By investing in the right projects and by promoting sound corporate governance, financial development helps increase the rate of technological innovation and productivity growth. IBM today announced a major new financing program today that helps IBM Business Partners and their clients make such investments.
IBM announced today it is providing IBM Business Partners with $4 billion in financing for credit-qualified clients over a period of 12 months.
This financing, through IBM Global Financing, can make obtaining credit easier and more accessible to IBM's global partner ecosystem and their clients to acquire advanced technologies such as cloud, analytics, and PureSystems.
Also, IBM is launching a new mobile app as another step to simplify the way IBM's Business Partners can apply for and secure financing for their clients within minutes via any mobile device.
This financing initiative builds on the $1 billion in financing IBM Global Financing made available through IBM Business Partners for small and midsized businesses in 2011, which resulted in 6,800 global companies using financing and enabling them to invest in some of these important emerging technologies.
To learn more, you can visit IBM Global Financing.
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