Negative Attention is Still Attention. Right Lego?

No offence to the Lego girl featured in this article. But does anyone else get the feeling that the big toy companies are LOVING this negative attention? I find it really really strange.

It's like the kid who sits behind you in class and pulls your hair because he "likes" you.  don't get it. Am I becoming part of the problem?

Barbie on Sports Illustrated?

This is what I mean when I say that Mattel doesn't care about kids. They market to middle-aged men. 

I find that a little spooky. Don't you? The other strange thing is that they clearly LIKE the negative attention they are getting. At least people are talking about their classic plastic bombshell again.  Whatever works, I suppose...

Getting ready for NYC

Big Apple, here I come! Getting ready for my trip. This meant waking up at 5am to do my little run with Luna, then start trying to make sense of my life before I have to start packing for my 5am pick-up tomorrow. My flight leaves at 7am Saturday morning. I have a few things to do yet. No big deal.

I can't wait.



Highlights of my trip:
1. Seeing my brother Ed and working with him.
2. Seeing Klementina's face when she sees New York for the first time.
3. The Nyc Toy fair.
4. Going back to Cape Cod overnight to see old friends.
5. Hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law.
6. Eating BREAKFAST.

All signs point to a great trip. I'm not sure about the weather thing though. Send us the good vibes!

If Sales are Down, Provide a Luxury

I get a haircut about once every 5 years. At least that is how often I PAY for a haircut. The rest of the time I just let it grow or do it myself with an electric razor.

It takes me about that long to forget the experience of the last time. I go to the same person, she is close to my house. She is a nice person. She does a decent job.

But here is where I go nuts. She makes me pay DOUBLE what my husband pays. Why is a girl haircut so expensive? She publishes her pricelist and (just like last time) I noticed at the moment of payment that she charges separately for shampooing (I could buy FIVE BOTTLES of shampoo for what this costs so I come with my hair clean), the cut itself (which is all my husband pays for even though he gets the VIP treatment), and the "Piega" which means, in this case, she blowdries it and puts a squirt of gel in it. My hair is so short it just needs a rub with a towel and it's dry, but the fact that she uses a blowdryer on it (which I never do) makes my haircut cost twice what my husband's does.

But that's not all. I would not complain about price if there were some feeling I was getting something MORE. Here are some ideas for the hairdresser who does not want to hear people like me bitching about price.

1. Get a boiler and make a cup of cheap tea. That would make me feel very special.
2. Give me a "discount" even if it's fake.
3. Don't come to work dressed in what looks like your pajamas.
4. Don't complain about money during the entire haircut.
5. Don't complain about how high your taxes are and then NOT ISSUE A PROPER RECEIPT.
6. Don't be my hairdresser for ten years (even if I don't come that often) and say each time "I don't remember your hair being so wavy."
7. Don't talk about "the Crisis" and then charge me a double-price haircut.

In times of economic difficulty, you have to give something more (besides an earful of your problems). Personally, I have a simple and cheap life and I do not spend more money than necessary. That being said, if I am only going to get a haircut once every five years, I will be happy to pay a little more if I feel like I am being treated like royalty. Instead, I felt the weight of having to single-handledly bring my hairdresser out of her economic crisis. For that reason, it will probably be another five years of making-do.

I am convinced that she could drammatically change her business for the better by making a couple of very small changes. She could start by charging me the same as what she charges my husband. Just doing that would be enough to get me to go back every 6 weeks, or whatever you're "supposed" to do to keep that head healthy. If I feel this way, I am sure there are others who have the same sense. That would get her working more and bringing in more money even if each haircut cost a bit less.

But I wouldn't have the courage to say this. It goes against most peoples' wisdom and I wouldn't want to offend. I am too passive agressive for that. My punishment is not to go back. I am just telling you in case you have a small business and you're running into tough times.

It is Time to be Persistent

I was hoping for some great insights this morning but what I keep churning over in my mind is a friend of mine who just won her THIRD court case against the University here in Triestre. Not one, not two, but a whopping THREE times, she, a mere mortal, went against that HUGE INSTITUTION, and won.

This friend of mine is strong, smart, and persistent. What drives her is the fact that other people who are treated unfairly do not have the strength of character, confidence or the money, to go against the system and fight for what's right. She does this in part for them.

Another reason she wins is because she is honest and fair herself. She works hard. She never tries to get something for nothing. She does the right thing as a rule and a habit. People like this give the rest of us hope to stand up for what's right.

So even if I do not have the brilliant idea to change the world in my blog today, I write anyway. I am persistent, and, anyway, thinking about my friend's good news reminds me to keep plugging along.

Wait, What? 21 Jump Street? Legos Movie??

The Lego movie was made by the guys who made 21 Jump Street? For real?
That just made me kind of want to see it.
Sort of.

What gets me is how little Jonny Depp looks in this image. When that show was ON, he looked so OLD to me and MATURE!
Sigh (for my long lost youth).

Shout out to National Cartoonists Society on USO Tour

A special group of cartoonists including Ed Steckley (my brother, by the way) has just left Turkey, on their way to Kyrgyzstan on their latest USO tour. They visit army bases and do their stuff (which means they draw cartoons and caricatures to raise morale for soldiers. They also visit and draw soldiers' families (when families are allowed on the base).

Ed says these trips remind him how lucky he is. He also says it is a special way for their group to say  thank you. Hurray for the National Cartoonists' Society. 

Friday Gratitude and Entering as an Ordinary Civilian

Thank you for reading and sharing my blog this week. I do not think I will reach the stratospheric numbers I need to get into the NYC Toy fair as a blogger, but alas, I am feeling incredibly humbled and encouraged by the response my simple plea (pathetic begging) to visit this blog (so that I could have the traffic necessary to be considered LEGIT as a blogger) has brought me.

I guess talking about toys and creativity and doing the right thing strikes a chord with a lot of people. Either that or you just feel sorry for me. Anway, the numbers have jumped and that extrinsic reward makes me feel gooooood.

So I am going to the Toy Fair anyway. I will be an ordinary citizen but a blogger in my heart (and isn't that what being a blogger is all about--being an ordinary person?). 

There will be a lot to write about. It will be harder to get wi-fi. But no biggy!  

If you are going, too, or exhibiting, let me know and we can meet up and gossip about the fair if you want. In the meantime, keep up the good work. I still have another week to reach my goal and a lot can happen between now and the 16th. 

Toys that Make a Mess in the Night

I'm a little late (or early) for Dinovember, but I find it hilarious anyway.

These awesome parents convince their kids every November that their dinosaur toys wake up during the night and have adventures around the house.

I love parents who like to play.

The facebook pictures are great too. I love the one with the T-Rex in the suitcase with his passport.

Happy Friday.

Mommy you PROMISED I could DRAWWWWW!

This morning while I was helping Eva get ready for pre-school, I asked her what her favorite toy was. She thought about it for a minute. See, she's not really that into toys. She's into THINGS in general. More silence, but she had a big smile on her face like she really LIKED this question.

"Peppa Pig," she said.

Surprising. She used to really love Peppa when she was smaller, but she hasn't done much of anything with Peppa for months, and, since I am an evil parent who does not let her kid watch TV (which is in Italian) during the week, her Peppa exposure is about nil (Sunday morning is TV day. She watches all she wants while mommy and daddy sleep in.).

Italian is her dominant language now and given the choice between Italian (Chocolate) and English (Broccoli), eliminating TV makes Paddington, Beatrix Potter, and  other English books and cartoons I have downloaded onto the ipad and use as a control tool much like television in an American prison  more attractive.

So mentioning Peppa surprised me. She got the Peppa house for her birthday but she hardly ever played with it because it only came with one character (Peppa). There are only so many things you can talk about all by yourself in the Peppa house. Clearly this was a ploy to get parents to buy other characters, but we missed our cue on that one.

I'm still a little confused by her answer. All I can think of is that this is the only toy she has that she has seen on TV. Does that make it more of a toy to her?

This week she is on a show-n-tell craze. She chooses something she loves, sleeps with it, and then brings it to school with her the next day to show her teachers. Here is what she showed off this week: a barette with a bunny on it, a pair of mittens that look like strawberries, a Valentine's day card from Gramma Mag, and a cold pack shaped like Mr. Bump that she has been using on her fingers which Gramma Tatiana accidentally slammed in the cardoor, the dramatic re-telling of the story being the key part. Mr Bump is only a prop (fingers fine, no bruises even).

It was a bad question, I concluded, thinking about what Eva really likes to do. It was a questions for parents, not for kids. I rephrased.

"What is your favorite thing to do, Eva?"
"Drawing Mama. Yeah, DWAWWWING (She can't say her Rs yet)" and then she remembered something. "Mommy, you promised I could draw after breakfast." (I didn't and we were already late). Thankfully, drawing is one of those things you can always count on.

"You can draw at school today, honey, I'm sure."
Relief. Then,
"Okay Mommy."

Girls with Cars

One of the positive highlights of the Press Tour in Nuremberg was when they had kids actually playing with the products. I liked this booth (sorry, can't remember the company and the brand is fuzzy here. Anyone help me out ?) and these girls. They were so into it I felt like getting down there on the floor with them and building a really killer track.

I remember doing the same with my brothers and sister when I was little. Hurray for cars and tracks and kids!

You Can't get Something for Nothing

I have been trying this new routine of waking up at 5am to run, read, and write. Well, today I did the first two but then I put my pajamas back on and went right to sleep until the REAL alarm got me up.

In the meantime, I had run (a little) with my dog, and sat down to read in the silence I can only find during that hour between 5 and 6.

When I do my morning reading, I make sure it is a certain kind of reading. Namely, it has to give me some kind of insight and be positive-- help me be a better person. The kind of books you don't tell anyone you are reading.

But, we're friends. So I will tell you.

I am reading Napoleon Hill's THINK AND GROW RICH right now. A classic. I loved today's reading because it hit on an issue that I feel strongly about.

It was published in 1937 and based on ideas developed with Andrew Carnegie, and if it was good enough for Carnegie, it's good enough for me!

This is from the chapter called ORGANIZED PLANNING: THE CRYSTALLIZATION OF DESIRE INTO ACTION.

"However, you should know the full truth concerning this FREEDOM of which so many people boast, and so few understand. As great as it is, as far as it reaches, as many privileges as it provides, IT DOES NOT, AND CANNOT BRING RICHES WITHOUT EFFORT...There is but one dependable method of accumulating, and legally holding riches, and that is by rendering useful service."

and I love this.

"The 'System' denies no one this right, but it does not, and cannot promise SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, because the system itself is irrevocably controlled by THE LAW OF ECONOMICS which neither recognizes nor tolerates for long, GETTING WITHOUT GIVING."

If you have not read Napoleon Hill, I suggest you try. His books are so old they are in the public domain, so you can get a free pdf of this one, for example. Or watch him talk about it here.

It puts into words what we already know and what drives us all (I think) crazy about people we meet in our lives from time to time. The ones who are always trying to get something for nothing, cheat people, get rich fast through pyramid schemes, etc. This book, finally, says it's okay to make money, being wealthy is fine, but you have to work more than you are paid for in the beginning, and then eventually your efforts will be rewarded and you will be paid much more than you ever worked.

SO HUNKER DOWN, PEOPLE, AND LET'S GET OUR WORK DONE!

Keeping it Positive

I realize that there is an overabundance of amazing sites that point out what is wrong with the toy industry and marketing, etc. So my take is going to be on the POSITIVE end of the spectrum. I would like to point out the companies and toys that are doing the right thing by us.

I think it's a difficult industry to break out in, so I want to give a little help to the women who are trying to do it on their own. If you have any ideas for me, keep them coming!

You should know that I also work as a consultant in marketing and communications, and, up until now focused mainly on the international aspects (helping companies communicate better outside of their home countries). If you read some of my older posts, you will understand why I talk about learning foreign languages, trade fairs, etc.

Most of the companies Klementina and I work with (we are a dynamic duo) are small companies. They choose us because we are cheap  daring and small and many of them have never really put much thought into marketing and communications because they were busy thinking about products. That gives us a lot to do, naturally, but the challenge is awesome, especially when we get positive results for our clients.

Now, I have always been a feminist, but now that I have entered the world of toys, the more I realize that there is a larger war to wage here, and it has to be done through service to others.  So I would like to keep this blog as clean as I can. I do not want sponsors or any money out of it, but I would like to create a larger community of people who want to do the right thing and get the word out.

That is my mission. This blog now has a larger purpose. Thank you for helping me promote those who are doing good things and trying their best to leave this place a little better than they found it.

Getting Kids to Take the Family Walk with You

I live in Europe, which is big on taking the FAMILY NATURE WALK on Sundays. It's completely normal here to go off into the woods or to the seaside, even in the dead of winter, for a walk with your kids/parents for a couple of hours before lunchtime on everyone's only day off (kids go to school on Saturday here). It's not every kid's favorite thing to do but parents love it.

One of the few innovations I saw at the Nuremberg toy fair was by a German company owned by a woman, who was probably a mom who saw a need to fill in her own life.

It is a classic walking stick, but kid size, with a Felted Pouch on it with a German design on it  (quite cute). The stick can double as a horse, of course, and inside the pouch you find a bunch of activities for creating your own fun on the walk. There are cards for creating a treasure hunt. There is a rope for measuring things, there is a magnifying glass for scientific discovery.

What an amazing idea. It is simple, but solves a problem and creates an EXPERIENCE (everyone's favorite word in the toy industry), even better, it creates moments to remember for a family. Fun!

The site is in German (for you Brainiacs who took German at school) and mainly focuses on her other products but they are brilliant too. Among them are products which parents can use to get kids to take their medicine (an elephant nose, a pilot's hat to keep in theme with flying the spoon into the kid's mouth, etc). Watch the videos on her site. Too funny.

Another product is a small box of games/activities that kids can play in bed when they are home sick from school.

www.lasumi.de

Nostalgia for the OLD LEGOS

I think my whole generation loved Legos when we were growing up. I, personally, remember giant boxes of them that opened with a flap top. All of us kids got them one year for Christmas (1977? Not to date myself or anything...). I remember the colors, they were the primary ones: Green, Yellow, Red. We played with them for hours. This picture here is NOT the legos I grew up with (no pastels in our sets). 

What happened to those? At some point lego went all "KIT" on us. Suddenly you had to make specific models and scenes. Booorrrring. But I suppose as companies get bigger, they get scared of losing market share, they need to create a collector's mentality in you, make you feel like you need to keep adding to your collection, keep you buying. But I think this was a mistake. The sets made a lot of us lose interest-- the boy kits and the girl kits (don't get me started on those). 

My own daughter has a set of GIRL LEGOS (Hello Kitty Play house that someone gave her for her 3rd birthday). Sure, she plays with them sometimes, but the house thing got old after the first ten times she built it. Now she puts them together and makes Pink and white towers, but she has more possibilities with colored blocks, which have taken over market share in this house. 

But nothing can replace those old legos. Klementina has her kids playing with hers. You can tell they are vintage by looking at them. The colors are the originals, they are smaller than the new ones, her kids go nuts over them. She said she would add to them, but you can't find them like this anymore. 

Interesting. 

Toy Companies Make Yourselves Known!

If you are attending the NYC Toy fair and are in favor of Bloggers, or if you are any toy company that likes Bloggers, especially those who report on companies that are doing the right thing:

Please let me know. I am accepting fan mail. I am also YOUR fan! I will put you in my new list of links to companies that do not hate bloggers.

Love, Karoline

Thank you Thank you! Keep Visiting!

WHO DO YOU SUPPOSE THE EXHIBITORS ARE WHO DON'T LIKE BLOGGERS?

Hmmm. Good question!

THEY HAVE UPPED THE NUMBER OF VISITS!!

Here is my original email. 

Dear Ms. Appell,

I am writing to you from Italy as a PR/Media Relations consultant and blogger. My business partner, Klementina Koren, and I would like to inquire about press credentials for the NYC Fair in February.

We have a blog in Italian called OUR CHILD'S WORLD (www.ourchildsworld.blogspot.com) as well as one in English called International Communicator (www.internationalcommunicator.blogspot.com).

As we have recently started blogging together and focusing on issues facing families, parenting, and communications issues in the toy industry, we do not yet have the minimum number of visits required to enter as journalists according to the form on your website. We would love to attend the fair together and report on it (we are attending the fair in Nuremberg at the end of this month,too) in both languages.

For this reason, I would like to ask you if we could enter with Press Credentials. It is our hope, of course, to increase readership so that next year this will not be a problem. 

Thank you in advance for your help.

Sincerely,

Karoline Steckley

001 39 3498666667

The answer? None. 

Try number two. 

Hello Again, 

Regarding the email below, I am writing to you in the sincere hope that you can help us get Press Credentials for the NY Fair. While we can still enter with an exhibiting company, we would prefer reporting on the Toy Fair as Bloggers writing specifically about women's issues (my blog is in English, Klementina's is in Italian). 

Our presence as bloggers was very much appreciated at the fair in Nuremberg this last week, and we would love to be able to repeat the experience in New York. As an American living in Italy and working on International issues, I feel that my voice could be interesting and give the fair a new perspective and visibility. 

Please let us know as soon as possible. 

Sincerely, 

Karoline Steckley 

http://internationalcommunicator.blogspot.it/

Klementina Koren

Ourchildsworld.blogspot.com

Here is the answer:

Hi,

You will need to go online and try to register. All bloggers must have 2,500 uvms per month (this number has been raised at the request of many exhibitors).

Thanks, A

Can HAPPINESS Sell Too?

This is Huggy Buddha. The company is owned by a woman-- a grandmother who wanted to be able to wish her new grandchild a happy life with a soft Buddha.

This is what she came up with. I saw him by chance and had to stop and hug him. Target: Babies and grown-up women.

Thank you for giving us something new.

For every Huggy Buddha sold, the company makes a donation to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

This is the company I like.

May you have happiness and great success, Huggy B!

This is What They are Telling our Girls.

Sorry it's sideways. You get the idea. This is the motto for 2014 for Mattel. What do you think?

I am not impressed. In fact, as a Woman, Mother, Sister, Aunt, Friend, and Human, I find it pretty annoying.

Can't we SPEAK TOO?

Toys are a Man's World-- Help ME Change it!

So I am trying to get into the NYC Toy fair this month as a blogger but it is nearly impossible. See, I don't have enough hits on my humble niche blog.

But here is what I am worried about. I told you I went to the Nuremberg fair as a blogger and it was a great experience. That being said, it was SHOCKING how few women there were.

The Press Room was full of MALE writers and photographers with just a sprinkle of women (often accompanying husbands).

The Press Tour (this is where companies can pay extra and have their wares paraded in front of the cameras before the fair begins) was full of pomp and ceremony with scantly-clad girls running around on the catwalk (dressed as Barbies. No need to talk more about that). Carnevale girls from Brazil - maybe - dancing something like Samba with feathers covering their nether regions (must advertise for the World Cup, after all!). In short, it was pretty nasty. There were two companies run by women in this press room, but they were stuck off in the corner waaaaay over on the other end of the room (small companies, btw, without all the backing and big money the other companies have, so kudos to you, girls!). It was really a show for the male buyers and distributors in attendance. Hmmm.

Now, I have been to a lot of fairs in my day, many of which were man-heavy, but none seemed as dangerous as this one.

Now I realize that my asking people to visit my blog to get some hits is not the way to change the situation, but, then again, if you need to have 2000 hits and talk about toys to be considered a blogger for this fair, then so be it.

Please help this feminist LION get into that fair and write about it with a different voice than the one we're used to.

Thank you! Please pass this on. Share it. I promise I will give you more info as we go along, especially about the companies that are doing the right thing to promote toys that leave the world a better place.

How to Learn a New Language

With all new things, you start and just don't notice the details. They escape your attention. Your eye doesn't know where to look. I felt that way when I learned to drive in Italy after 16 years of driving in the States. The stop lights were in the wrong places. While at home I was trained to look ahead for the signals, in Italy I had to look at the painting on the ground more, and stop lights are in line with where your car actually needs to stop in the road. So you may have to look ninety degrees to the right to see whether it is red or green. At some point, however, I knew where to look. It was about the time I understood how long the car was and how wide, so that parking became (relatively) easier.

The same is true (trust me on this one, I know it's a stretch) for languages. At first you learn the basics, and it is sort of exciting, until it gets frustrating. That is the moment when you realize this is going to be harder than you thought. Then we get angry, blame our teachers for not being very good, or not being this or not being that (it's always the teachers' fault, isn't it?). Most people stop here, when learning becomes uncomfortable. We have the feeling that all of the time and energy we put in (years of classes in some cases) were for nought. We don't understand a thing. We can't talk. Hmmmph!

Some people do not give up, though. They get determined. They realize that they need to have more contact with the language so that it can become more familiar to them, so they start to recognize expressions, speak them little by little until they get to the point where they understand most everything and can express what they want to say.

Here is what those people do.
1. They have patience with themselves and are confident the language will one day "make sense" if they just stick to it.
2. They create their own world with that language at the center.
3. They put their phone and other devices into the target language.
4. They make any t.v. watching deliberate and in the target language.
5. They watch movies with audio and subtitles in the target language and don't care if they do not understand. They know this is normal.
6. They listen to talk radio in the target language. They look at it as an exercise in intonation and musicality. They do not try to understand.
7. They read at least ten minutes a day OUT LOUD in the target language. Understanding is not important.
8. They speak the target language with anyone they can as often as possible. They do not worry about making mistakes. Sometimes they find a buddy to speak with.

Little by little the language becomes less gibberish. They start to understand little expressions, they can say things at certain times. The few things they say are understood. That gives them courage to continue.

These people understand that it is necessary to go through the period of not understanding before we get to the period of understanding and that is okay. They start to have those magic CLICKS of understanding. Sometimes they are big, sometimes they are small. But they happen.

Learning a foriegn language takes time, but it is one of the greatest feelings of pride and satisfaction that we will ever feel.

And if you think you are too old to learn a language, it is not true.

I learned English at birth.
I learned French at age 17.
I learned Portuguese at age 25.
I learned Italian at 30.
I am trying to learn Slovene at 40.

The process never changes, but with each new language we relax a little more and mind less feeling like a kid again. We even become more creative with how we express ourselves. Oh, I forget my languages sometimes. They do come and go depending on how much I use them, but they are still there and wake up when I really need them. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

My advice. Don't wait. Give a new language a try.

A Note to Hotels on How to Handle Tripadvisor

Dear Hotels,

Tripadvisor scares you a lot. I know this because of the relentless way you ask us to write positive reviews of your hotel to counteract the nasty ones that crop up and bring down your position on your city's hotel ranking.

I think, however, that I can offer you a little insight on how to handle this pesky situation so that you can both avoid nasty reviews in the first place, and deal with the ones you get in a more positive manner that reflects your problem-solving capabilities and top-notch dedication to customer satisfaction.

HOW TO AVOID NASTY REVIEWS ON TRIPADVISOR

1. Customer Service MUST be your absolute FOCUS.

Why do people write reviews? They are either deeply happy with the service or shockingly disappointed with the service. People will forgive you for almost anything if the hotel staff is nice.

2. No, Customers are not always right, but they MUST FEEL LIKE YOU ARE LISTENING.

Negative reviews on Tripadvisor are almost always because the person making the complaint TRIED TO TELL YOU BUT YOU WOULD NOT LISTEN.

3. DEFENSIVENESS is the same as NOT LISTENING. Taking a guest's complaint personally is a recipe for a bad review on T.A. Don't do it. EMPATHY IS YOUR BEST WEAPON.

4.  Think LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP.

The problem with mediocre hotels is that they focus on the HERE and NOW. A world-class hotel wants you to COME BACK in the future. They also want you to bring your friends. They will do anything to make you happy, even if it means giving you a free breakfast or a discount or something that may cost them in the short-term but have a major R.O.I. in future stays and positive reviews on T.A.

5. If breakfast is not AMAZING, Don't bother.

People LOVE breakfast at hotels. It is the best part of the stay for most of us. In fact, we expect to stuff ourselves and skip lunch. It's human nature and we really can't help ourselves. That being said, we also have high expectations. If you cannot meet them, just tell us from the get-go and we will make other arrangements.

6. SNOBBISHNESS, ARROGANCE= PROVINCIAL I'm not kidding. That is what they will call you. Far from creating an "exclusive" atmosphere, you will come off like a hillbilly. This goes for people who are NOT staying in your hotel as well. Do not turn away someone who needs help (or a bathroom) merely because they are not a guest at the moment. Look at all people as potential clients or people who can give you a good (or bad) referral and treat them with dignity and respect, no matter who they are.

HOW TO HANDLE BAD REVIEWS ON TRIPADVISOR

Even the BEST HOTELS occasionally get a stinger.

1. READ AND WAIT.

Do not send your rebuttle in the heat of the moment. Too often, hotels, no, the GENERAL MANAGER of the hotel writes back a defensive email that communicates the following:
a. Rudeness is a top-down phenomenon at your organization.
b. You run a hotel but spend most of your time farting around on the internet.
c. The hotel is managed by a bully who is going to come and get guests if they write a bad review.
d.  You are more concerned with insulting the reviewer (your former GUEST) than fixing the problem.

Rule of thumb. If you cannot have a civil tone, write nothing.

2. REMEMBER THAT POTENTIAL GUESTS ARE NOT STUPID.

Most of us read the best and the worst review and then mentally throw them out anyway. After that we look at averages and priorities. Bugs are a no-no. The rest, like outdated rooms, is normally not too big a deal.

3. ANSWER THE COMPLIMENTS TOO!

Most responses hotels make are for the negative reviews to say "Oh that's not true!" or something of that nature. Why not take the time to thank the people who LIKE you. That may encourage a repeat visit.

4. USE A BENCHMARK FOR YOUR ANSWERS.

Choose a hotel that you equate with high quality and see how they handle complaints. The Waldorf Astoria gets complaints, too, but they are answered in a respectful, courteous way that encourages further dialogue to fix the situation. When I read a nice response like the ones they offer, I automatically have more respect for the hotel and understand that someone there wants me to be happy.

5. LOOK FOR THE TRUTH IN THE REVIEWS.

It may hurt, but complaints can be an opportunity. If you are getting repeat complaints about something, understand that it is unacceptable for your guests and change it. Improve, Innovate, and communicate those changes in a proactive way through social media or through your answers on Tripadvisor.