Updated 4/20: It looks like O’Brien’s is definitely out of the Capital Hilton; though a fund has been set up to help continue the free Walter Reed/Bethesda military dinners once O’Brien’s find a new place.
At least somewhat to his credit, Capital Hilton GM Brian Kelleher did answer questions — though some were left blank — about the Hilton-O’Brien’s situation.
Again, thanks to Fuzzilicious Thinking for keeping up with the whole affair.
Could this be a PR-blogger case study in the works?
A big headache for Hilton Hotels started late last week. To summarize, Fran O’Brien’s Steak House, a restaurant located at the Capital Hilton (includes Hilton’s reply in all this) has opened its doors to patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center for a free dinner every Friday night since sometime in 2003.
Now, Hilton has not renewed O’Brien’s lease — “For strictly business reasons related solely to the inability to reach a new lease agreement,” according to Hilton. Plus, it has stated (on its Capital Hilton site and in e-mails to some milbloggers):
“The hotel has offered to host and sponsor the May 5, 2006 dinner and expressed interest in working closely with Walter Reed so that the Friday night tradition can continue. Furthermore, the hotel is in discussions with one of the sponsors of the Friday night dinners to continue their support of the dinners.”
Ultimately, Hilton’s decision to continue with terminating O’Brien’s lease, renegotiating it, or actually finding a way to continue the Friday night tradition will be a business one. This blogstorm among milbloggers might not have much affect on Hilton, its bottomline and reputation. Or, it just very well might.
That’s the judgement Hilton management — PR counsel, too — will have to make in what it decides and how it responds.
In the short-term, it looks like the blogstorm is really brewing up a lot of ill will toward Hilton.
Fuzzilicious Thinking has been following this nearly from the beginning, with posts April 12 (several updates), April 13, April 14, April 15, April 16, and a few more I didn’t link to.
One very interesting post at Andi’s World (found courtesy of Ms. Fuzzilicious) gives some insight into Hilton’s perspective on blogs:
This situation has highlighted the power of MilBlogs. When I asked [Capital Hilton GM Brian] Kelleher if he was familiar with MilBlogs, he responded, “oh yeah.” It wasn’t so much his answer that convinced me we were having an impact, it was the tone of his voice. My guess is that he didn’t know what a MilBlog was this time last week. Kelleher also admitted that he is being inundated with email, so thanks to everyone for applying the pressure.
Personally, some version of Friday night dinner tradition needs to continue for the patients and visitors from Walter Reed and Bethesda. It’s the least that can be done to say thanks to these men and women who are willing to sacrifice themselves, their families and their lives in military service. If Hilton doesn’t step forward, it’s a great opportunity for another restaurant in the DC area.
Professionally, this just shows that, while it is impossible to be familar with all of the niche blogs that might affect your business, every company needs to be monitoring all of the blogs and be ready to respond.
Point to ponder: Just think, a few years ago, the issues involving Hilton, O’Briens and military supporters would have at best reached maybe 20, 30 or 50 people via word-of-mouth communication. Now, thanks to the collective power of bloggers and their readers — and the media that have picked up the story — it’s reaching hundreds of thousands, likely even millions of people. If it wasn’t for the milbloggers supporting O’Briens, would the traditional media have picked up this story? Likely no.
– Mike
Technorati tags: PR, public relations, Hilton, military blogs, milbloggers, blogstorm
