Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Jan. 17, 2002, edition 1 / Page 9
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Adam's Mark from page AS 25 break-ins in the parking lot. Drug use was rampant in the rooms, with some maids refus ing to fight their way through marijuana smoke. Two employ ees were threatened at gunpoint, and sheriff's deputies took five guns from the rooms. Several rooms were damaged, the stair wells were sullied with trash and urine, and a naked woman was left unconscious on the front drWe. Because of that experience, the hotel beefed up its security in 1999 as never before. However, lawyers for the state Attorney General's Office were skeptical about the hotel's reaction. They hirgl two securi ty consultants, one of whom said the hotel "truly went over board," apparently because the participants were black. Anoth er^ consultant studied crime records and found arrest rates for Black College Reunion "low in comparison to other special events." In 1998, for example, arrests for one three-day period during Bi?e Week totaled 627, while 272 were reported at Black College Reunion. According to records of the case, the hotel instituted some of the same security measures for Bike Week and Spring Break, but nothing approaching the collection of precautions used during the 1999 Black Col lege Reunion. Lawyers for the- plaintiffs and theJ state said the hotel reacted differently to predomi nantly white events such as Bike Week, which, they con tend, are every bit as raucous. They noted that two bikers roared through the Adam's Mark lobby on their motorcy cles in 1997. The next year, they said, the Bike Week crowd was entertained in the lobby by a man calling himself "the mad man of raunch and rofl." They pointed to weapons police have found on Bike Week patrons: walking canes equipped with blades, gas caps that turn into daggers, handle bars that shoot shotgun shells. The message is pretty clear," said John P. Relman. a lawyer for the five black plain tiffs. "You're welcome if you're there for a white event. You're not particularly welcome, and you're barely tolerated, if you're there for Black College Reunion." The hotel argues it is unfair to compare Black College Reunion with any other event in Daytona because it is uniquely shoe-horned into a single week end of cruising and partying by some 100,000 people, all of them young. Kummer said he ran into one young woman at the 2000 Black College Reunion, who told hjfn: "You guys don't understand ... these kids are down here to show off their cars and their bodies." The Adam's Mark hired two consaaants, both of whom said the hotel's security measures were in line with industry stan dards and were not based on race. Had the hotel not acted as it did, one consultant said. Black College Reunion 1999 "could have collapsed into extreme dysfunction and disor der." Q The hotel chain declined to make Kummer available for an interview, saying the company wanted to move on after the set tlement. A week after the settlement, a Kentucky company said it had agreed to buy six Adam's Mark' hotels from HBE Corp. of St. Louis, including tig hotel in Clearwater Beach. Columbia Sussex Corp. of Fort Mitchell. Ky., plans to rename the six it bought. HBE Corp. is keeping the remaining 18 Adam's Mark hotels in the chain, including the Daytona Beach property. Relman said the settlement accomplished almost everything the plaintiffs wanted. Although the hotel maintains it did not discriminate, it has apologized and agreed to pay about $2 mil lion in reimbursements, scholar ships and legal fees. "If we had gotten a $2 mil lion decision at trial, we would have considered it a total victo- - ry," Relman said. For the state, the case came down to consumer fraud, and debunking "this fundamental notion that a crowd of black people is a bad thing," said Senior Assistant Attorney Gen eral John Newton. "My answer is forget the race," he said. "Look at what the hotel told people they would get. Look at what they were charging people. Then think how you would feel." Networking group strives to make a difference BY COURTNEY GAILLARD THE CHRONICLE Sit in on just one meeting of the Triad Business Network and you soon will be lay ing out the blue print for a future business endeavor. You may not even be a business owner or have ever given any thought to starting your own company. Before you sigh and skip to peruse another article because you are thinking this is another shady "get rich quick" scheme, read onPThese people are not just about business, they are business; most important, they are successful business owners. Triad Business Network, International is a business-to-business referral-based net working organization that aims to bridge the gap between small business corporate struc tures and the community. In laymen's terms, it's networking for the modem business man and woman no longer interested in what TBN calls "net-sitting" or "net-eating." We have all heard of other supposed networking opportunities where lunch and socializing are the only outcomes. TBN offers those things and more, including the actual exchange of contacts. Here's your proof: The network held last week's meeting at A Famijy Affair Catering on Cloverdale Avenue. Not only does the net work plan to hold several more meetings at that location, but it has referred other clients to the catering operation. A Family Affair Catering's owner. Honey Humphrey, referred several brides-to-be to WC Publishing, a net work member, for the printing of wedding invitations. As Humphrey put it. "That's what it is all about: referring. And it works won derful for everyone." Introduced to (he Triad almost one year ago. TBN has already established chapters in Georgia, Maryland, the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos. This group is serious. It now has the bragging rights to calling itself a bona fide business network because it is rep resented globally. Something in the group's business equation is working because atten dance at any of its meetings is made up of business folks from all industries and walks of life: a family catering business owner, a loan officer, a newspaperman, an auto dealer, an insurance salesman. The brainchild behind this network is founder and CEO Tanya Wiley, who is living proof of the benefits of participating in TBN with a business or two under her belt. Wiley is also the CEO of WC Publishing, a local printing and publishing house. TBN mem bers will tell you the recipe is simple because it's about relationships that allow and lead to networking. "Our mission is to build an organization of people who identify with each other as business owners assist with generating real business for the organization." said Wiley, who has molded the network to benefit and bring about more business for all TBN mem bers. TBN members vow to do business first with each other, then with other chapter" members/organizations. Those promises con* pled with the TBN philosophy of "Givars Get" and ongoing contributions to the com munities in which all TBN members live and the passing of referrals make it possible for the network to operate and create a trend of never-ending business opportunities for all. Wiley strives on making it a point to turn away no tjjfjfcss. standing true to the belief that "the key to running a successful business lies in the type of business you attract." Jack C. Wesley Jr., president and CEO of Millennium Technology, joined TBN because of the personal and professional pos sibilities he envisioned could happen if affil iated with such an organization. Wesley enjoys and appreciates the family-like rela tionships established betvyeen TBN members when networking and exchanging business strategies. "P was looking for a business organiza tion to be involved in with the same type of principles like mine so that I could share knowledge and wealth," Wesley said. "It's really like a family, in that we all have talents to help each other and count on one another. It's a great opportunity to build a personal working relationship with someone." Martin Willis is an account executive^' with The Assurance Group Inc.. a company that sells medical insurance to businesses. He too saw the benefits of participating in a proactive business network by joining the network four months ago. "I saw (TBN) as a way to get engraved in the fabric of this community." said Willis, who is originally from the Midwest. Willis credits Tanya Wiley for his interest in TBN because she "walks the walk and talks the talk." Triad Business Network is about business but it also has managed to incorporate some pleasure into its agenda with annual holiday breakfasts and dinners, retreats and cruises for its global network of members to enjoy. Aside from the endless networking possi bilities, Triad Business Network provides a host of other services such as financial per formance assessment and improvement, joint venture analysis, macro- and micro-econom ic forecasting, product conceptualization and development, and the list goes on. Even amid economic hardships, the net work remains positive and sees above and beyond the financial challenges that many business are having. Wiley said. "With many small businesses scrambling to weather the so-called recession, the networking business is thriving." The network plans to continue in a path of success that will be evident to its current local members and to the rest of the world. Sixty chapters are to be established world wide within the next 36 months. Photo by COURTNtY CiAILLARD Left to right: Triad Business Network's Gregory Prince, Jack Wesley, Tanya Wiley, John Rasye, Chrissy Baker, Darryl Little and Martin Willis - Team Leader ship members JSk ... to a* healthi?&yoii? F
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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