Checking In

March 22, 2011

Tyler Davidson

As I write this month’s column, the magnitude of the earthquake and resulting tsunami in Japan is still unfolding, the horrific images starting to overwhelm nightly news reports and the Internet.

On the morning of the March 11 quake those of us living in Hawaii and on the West Coast of the U.S. awoke to the possibility of a major tsunami headed our way. While it soon became apparent that the coming surge would not be catastrophic, it served as a reminder that we’re all basically living hours, minutes or seconds from disaster, and that those of us in the hospitality industry are obligated to have a disaster preparedness plan for every meeting we hold or hotel we operate.

We dodged a bullet this time, but would be well served to have a plan together before the sirens sound.

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com