Fear not, Ghost_Dog. I am never far away. I was having a disagreement with the ship's computer.I won, but the computer holds a grudge and sees fit to change the environmental parameters in my quarters at random. There will be software modifications made later today. When I finish, it will be fortunate to be able to run Pacman. ON this slow day, here is some light reading.
I was thinking about this situation from something of an intelligence perspective since we are all in this position where actionable intel is not at hand yet.
Human nature being what it is, I believe if anything untoward was happening with Tivus, then SP would not be easily reachable in any way at any time, yet he actually is. He seems to do what anyone in his shoes would do, prioritize. I think this is why some calls or inquiries do not get returned. He must sort out which messages demand the most attention and he triages them to the top of his 'to-do' list.
Next, the appearance of Mr. Truckenmiller can only be viewed as a positive no matter how you slice it. He knows the industry since he is one of the people who gave it birth. His is a major industry heavyweight and , no doubt, brings alot of cred to the whole endeavor. He can walk into the boardroom af any major hotel chain, command respect and be taken seriously.It will NOT be lost on managers that he has joined the company.
We also must give SP some points for working the strategy the way he has. Getting a patent is a great start. This is in the works. In all likelihood, his concept is patentable and at this point he is refining his application so that is meets the standards of the Patent Examiner.
1) Gets a 300 room hotel on a 5-year contract early on. This, alone, is a major win. A new boy with a new thing walks in, sells it and walks out with that contract. NICE JOB!
2) No doubt, while getting this client up and running, he scores the flagship Marriott in Philly with 1400 rooms. Again, NICE JOB!
3) Not content with thatm he busts a gut to get things in Philly running well enough so that by the time the HOST Hotels conference comes through in March, managers and execs from all over the country get to see first hand what Tivus is. I believe I recall hearing on this forum that an LNET technician actually commented to SP saying he found the system, "Beautiful".
4) While maintaining DT in Nebraska and now the Marriott, he brings Disney/ABC and Comcast VP Roger Sverdlik on board to ramp things up in NYC.. Next thing we hear SP is in NYC probably discussing branding issues with a major ad agency.
5)The next thing our allegedly failing CEO does is reveal that as all of this other stuff has been going on, there has been a year long feasibility study in Puerto Rico resulting in a site survey and the "commencement of operations.
When a company is flailing and sinking, industry heavyweights know it before they get anywhere near staking their reputation on any association. Association implies liability as much as recognition of potential. These 'employees' of Tivus are serious industry pros. By their participation, they see what they like to see.
Even though we don't yet know the things we ought to know as owners, it appears to me as though there is a strategy in play here to get as many rooms on board as humanly possible before
anyone takes too much notice. The very last thing you want to experience is your potential clients signing up with some other company who has tweaked YOUR concept and is now running full-tilt with it. SP wants as much recognition for Tivus as the new trend in revenue production for hotels as AOL wanted for email. Smart. This is branding.
Last, the good people here on this forum have been blessed in that some of the folks who have been allowed to peak behind the Tivus curtain have come forward to say that based on what they have learned, they are long.
I see so much positive circumstantial evidence for being long myself. Whatever negatives we catch a glimpse of, don't amount to a hill of beans against what we can see that looks right. Yes, it is all my opinion, but it is not an uneducated one. I bet there is much that is good that we will learn, things jwez calls bombs.
SP is smart. He has obviously made some well-calculated moves. Further, he is a man who has seen his stock go from wherever it was a couple of years ago, 50 plus cents/share, plummet. This has to hurt and I bet it is -among many other things -a huge motivator to do everything he can to get it back to those levels and beyond.
My Vulcan fingers are overheating. I am off to the holodeck for some light refreshements and to check out some Vulcan fanny. My 7 year itch ain't so far away.
SPock out.
