John Mac's Travels

 I am working in Jefferson City, Missouri this week which is Missouri's capital. Tough to get a hotel when things are hoppin at the capital building so I diverted to Columbia and stayed at the DoubleTree by Hilton. "The Broadway" is a beautiful Hotel with great food in-house, a 1st floor bar as well as a rooftop bar with views of the city.  What a great place.  My thanks to Jason and the team for the corner suite upgrade and the gracious hospitality. I will definately be back.  Did I mention that the Broadway is a #DIRECTVforBUSINESS property?? Yes it is... I would like to offer a sincere congratulations to our engineering and marketing teams for the combined effort that has resulted in NOT ONE, BUT TWO Technical Emmy Awards in 2024 for our work bringing SIGNAL SAVER and PAUSE ADS to our DIRECTV platforms.  I have been talking about Signal Saver for a while now.  This service allows our customers the option to convert their live signal from DIRECTV to...

 This week I made my first trek through Northern Arkansas since 2019.  I didn't support this region in the past but now I do.  Many thanks to the Embassy Suites in Rogers for having me. No conferences this week at the hotel, but lots of student athletes.  It's always sports season in Arkansas.  I had an unexpected gift of sharing breakfast with former Governor Asa Hutchinson who is local to this area. We had a great conversation about Northern Arkansas' growth in recent years, his plans now that he's out of office, and NO, I did not bring up his recent presidential campaign or even politics in general.  Asa is a very smart man, and very humble. One of the reasons I always stay with Hilton, Hyatt or Marriott Hotels when I travel is because of the perks they offer their frequent and corporate travelers. As a Lifetime Platinum Elite Member of Marriott I get an early check-in, 400pm checkout, Food and beverage credits, executive lounge access, and room upgrad...

  Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on their 2023 SuperBowl victory! I worked the event out of our Mission Kansas Network Operations Center to ensure that  DIRECTV  provided the best programming to millions of Midwest customers through all of our platforms. Hopefully my beloved  Seattle Seahawks  can make it to the big game next year! I am based in KC, and couldn't get outta town quick enough on Monday morning. I know the parade and downtown district is going to be crazy this week.  NFL, I miss you already... the Nielsen ratings were released today and this year's game proved to be the 2nd most watched SuperBowl event in Nielsen ratings history with 113 million average users. I am proud to report that our platform was STELLAR with no national issues reported and only a very small number of customers experienced issues, all stemming from station diven issues before our handoff.  My hat is off to our engineering and technical support teams who w...

This week DIRECTV's CEO Bill Morrow announced our 2023 Success Performance results . Overall I think we did pretty well, but there was one area where the results were quite frankly, lackluster. That area was retaining and adding subscribers.  No one should have been shocked by the numbers that were released. We know all know that the marketplace has gone through monumental change the last eight or so years.  The numbers are down across all providers including Cable, DBS, streaming, etc.   DIRECTV has been working hard to stem the receding tide of customers leaving the platform. Our new Gemini device  is a market game changer.  Advancements in cloud technology and our engineering team's work to migrate our systems to the cloud are reaping financial benefits to help us sustain growth in a cost effective manner. As an Engineer in our Technical operations group, I see these advancements real time and first hand, and I am so proud of our teams for the...

Well, I have saddled up, back on the horse, back on the trail, back to work, choose your analogy, I am there.  It was a great 3+ weeks at home, and I sure did NOT miss driving 20hrs a week. I watched some epic football over the break and got a ton of time with my Gemini set top box. I was also able to use ScoreGuide  so I could track the scores of all the simultaneous games at once.  ScoreGuide is the BOMB!!! Love it... The only real issue that I have with ScoreGuide is not all of our cummerical customers have the option available to them.  We do have partners and customers still utilizing old and outdated technology that does not have the capability of showing ScoreGuide. This week I was able to watch the College Football National championship on ESPN and McCormick and Schmick's in Cincinnati.  Much love to the Landry's Company, who are a dedicated DIRECTV customer and always treat me and all of their customers so well. Thursday night I was able to catch the...

I am back in St Louis this week for the final push right up until the last minute for the EOY Moratorium.  Lots of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it.  I am so happy to be heading home today and won't hit the road again until January 8th, 2024.  Monday night I was able to watch one of the best #MNFonDIRECTV games in a long while witnessing my beloved #Seahawks pull out a last minute victory over the #Eagles with almost no time remaining.  A big thanks to the Hotel St Louis for hosting me for a few nights.  I just love this hotel. The hotel St Louis is a DIRECTV Hotel, and each room has a full compliment of DIRECTV channels for your viewing pleasure. As Christmas approaches I am stopping to take stock in my year, my accomplishments,  my failures, what I have learned and how I can apply what I have learned to better myself and my DIRECTV team in 2024.  Next year will see unprecedented change in our company and our industry as a whole. Streaming...

Busy week for me.  Four cities in four days. The end of the year for me is always rushed with so many things to do and tasks to complete before our moratorium. Its a sprint to the 20th of December and then...Everything stops until January.  It will be great to spend a few weeks at home.  Monday night I was in Jackson, TN and saw some great #MNFonDIRECTV at the Texas Roadhouse. I met with our landlord and generated an ISP sales lead which I am working with Angelina Charles to cultivate a new Sales partner. Tuesday I was in Paducah, KY working on an MT60.  Wednesday I was in St Louis fixing a bad DMG. Thursday I was back in Kansas City working on the truck and catching up with my team at Mission. #TNFonDIRECTV was enjoyed by all at my house. Happy to be home for just a day.  Headed to Las Vegas tomorrow for a little R&R.   On a personal note... Everyone needs a mentor. Education is a cornerstone of good business. I have had a few great mentors in my ...

  Greetings from Evansville, Indiana.   I’m in town to scan our racks that uplink local channels to #DIRECTV and generally “Kick the tires” to make sure all is good here in EVIN.   I usually stay at the @Hyatt or the #Doubletree , and this week Hyatt won the coin toss.    Downtown Evansville went through a revitalization a few years ago and now there are some great local restaurants and bars in walking distance to the #FordCenter . My favorite restaurant downtown is Comfort by the Cross Eyed Cricket .   Love this place.   Wonderful food.   It’s a three story establishment with a private bar/room upstairs for parties and private receptions, main floor for general dining and a basement bar with food as well.   No teles here so the focus is on food, and they do a wonderful job. They have a sign on the wall as you head downstairs that says "Were so glad you are here". I am always glad to be there.  My usual M/O is to eat at the comfort and...

  Mid November finds me in Central illinois. what I love about Illinois is that there is a great mix of Americana. you want left, go to Chicago.  you want right, go to Quincy. You want to stay in the middle lane, go to Peoria.  Illinois is a microcosm of America. Please visit if you have a chance, and DON'T fly.  Drive. Take it in, trust me... I'm starting my week in Quincy.  Not going to name the hotel, but I am here, and its Monday night.  I am READY for some #MNFonDIRECTV.  This hotel is not part of any national chain and has NO Television service to the bars and restaurant. The Restaurant TVs are off.  the Bar is empty. This is because the staff do not know how to use the TVs. No training.  I politely offered to show them how to use their TVs, but the request was denied. When you tell me "no" i'm good with that. I move on, but I move on with my wallet and potential revenue for the bar/restaurant and the hotel.  I ended up at the Riv...

I am happy to report that even travel bloggers get a "Bye week". Mine was last week. It was great to watch the MLB finals at home. Congratulations to the Texas Rangers! I was also able to watch #MNFonDIRECTV and #TNFonDIRECTV from home on my Gemini device with my children.  Great times. Week 10 of the NFL Season finds me in Topeka Kansas across the street from the state capital at the Cyrus Hotel. This is a Marriott hotel under the Tribute portfolio.  Named after Cyrus K. Holliday the founder of Topeka Kansas, this is a small boutique hotel downtown with an amazing restaurant and bar.  If you happen to be passing through town this is the place to stay.  This is not a #DIRECTV property, but I have dropped hints numerous times with Kelly the Restaurant/Bar manager in the hopes of a possible sales lead in the future. I finished out my week in Wichita Kansas at the Hyatt Regency . I was able to meet tons of people from the Bombardier Safety Convention . These professi...

By the time you read this I will have been home for 10 days.  Before I hit the road again it will be 13 straight days at home.  This is very foreign to me as a career traveler who usually spends every week in a hotel working remotely. Though I enjoy my family very much, sometimes I think they are counting the days until I am back on the road so they can have peace and quiet from "Crazy Dad". When I am home I very much enjoy cooking.  This week we made pies. We have an organic family orchard locally and two weeks ago we picked some of the most amazing Gold Rush Apples.  My parents were in town and overall had a great time together. I have also started a deck expansion in my backyard to accommodate a cooking station for our Pizza oven, bbq, and smoker.  So many projects, so little time. I watch the financial shows on the tele when I work and try to keep up with finance and all things technology and business.  Of course I look for all things #DIRECTV as well. ...

  This week I was blessed to end up in Good ol' St. Louis. My "goto" hotel here is the Hotel St. Louis  Downtown. This hotel is walking distance from basically anything a corporate traveler might need or a tourist might want. I like to walk to the St Louis Ballpark Village  for dinner and some epic Monday Night Sports. I tried to have dinner at Katie's Pizza and Pasta , but couldn't get in as the place was packed. What's great about Katie's is that you can site outside on their patio to enjoy dinner and also see the 150" outdoor screen in the common area. I ended up back at my local favorite Salt and Smoke  for some epic barbecued brisket!   I was able to catch Game-6 of the NLCS and game-7 of the ALCS MLB playoffs at S&S.  Both games were great, and my hat's off to the #TexasRANGERS for holding on in this series.  Up 3-0, they suffered three losses (Controversial Game-6) to come back last night and finish on top. I went back to the Hotel St...

   I LOVE KENTUCKY! I spent Monday night in Louisville on  4th street live  watching #MNFonDIRECTV. Thousands of people in town for the  HNA Show  so I met lots of new landscape professionals who share my love for the NFL. I had some BBQ from Guy Fieri's Smokehouse, tacos at  Gordon Biersch  and finished up the evening at the  Hyatt Regency  watching the Cowboys squeak out a win over the Chargers in the final moments of the game! The Hyatt is a  #DIRECTV  property and I usually don't venture out at night, but they don't have many teles and the hotel was packed with customers. 4th Street Live had tons of opportunities to see the games.  It was another great night. On Tuesday I was able to enjoy one of the best steaks in Kentucky at Repeal  inside Hotel Distil . If you are ever in Louisville, you have GOT to have a steak at this amazing establishment. Wednesday night I was in Lexington and saw #MLBonDIRECTV playoffs Gam...

I love my flip flops! Living on the road, I do bring a few selected items with me that help me relax and feel at home. There's nothing better than chillin' after work with my laptop, a nice meal and some #DirecTV on the Tele.  Fall is a great time for me because I can still wear my flips and it's not too cold out. I wear them all year no matter where I am traveling or what season.  Yes, its true that I once walked to dinner at Elizabeth's Chop House  in Marquette in January for dinner in my flips. I believe it was -10 degrees outside. Their steaks are served on a salt block still sizzling.  If you are ever in the area you MUST have dinner here.  There was a time when I had a rule that "If my Flip Flops are on, the work phone is off". I have adjusted this policy in the last few years to 10pm-6am quiet time, unless I am working a maintenance window.  I do however, warn callers that the "Flips are on" if they call in the evening. When you spend as much...

  I finished up week-5 of the 2023 NFL season in Jonesboro, Arkansas at the Embassy Suites Jonesboro  located just off the campus of ASU.   This hotel is operated by the Oreilly Hospitality Management Group , and many of the hotel staffers are students from ASU's hospitality management program. Not only is this a well run hotel, but its a well oiled management machine that knows how to deliver a great customer experience and maximize revenue at the same time.  This is how the Embassy uses #DIRECTVforBUSINESS to provide a remarkable experience for their convention and business travelers: Embassy hosts a daily Evening reception from 530-730pm with free drinks. At 730pm the hotel hosts "SINGO"  every Monday night. The hotel is PACKED each week. While Singo is happening the hotel was also showing #MNFonDIRECTV as well as #MLBonDIRECTV Game-3 playoff with the Rangers and the Orioles. Every TV has QuickTune set for the revenue generating channels (compliments of yours...

  I absolutely LOVE the QuickTune option for #DIRECTV Customers. Every DIRECTV customer has this option on their set top box, but #DIRECTVforBUSINESS customers have the unique ability to use QuickTune to maximize revenue at their Restaurant/Bar or hotel property. You heard that right.  I believe that QuickTune can make our customers MONEY.... As a career business traveler, one of the common traits I see from service staff is that they are mostly younger in age, and if they didn't already "Cut the cord" this is because they never plugged said cord in from the onset. Because many in the service industry are not DIRECTV customers, they are not familiar with our equipment and do not have a good grasp on what our channels numbers are. Restaurants do not have a requirement for their staff to memorize the channel guide on the tele that services their hotel/Restaurant/Bar. Property owners simply want the burgers served and the beer poured.  QuickTune solves this problem.  i...