What happens when a hospitality marketing podcast stops being strategic for a minute and leans all the way into beautifully niche hotel chaos?

In this episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast, Calvin Tilokee welcomes back Susan Barry for the inaugural hotel pickup lines battle, a spring themed showdown packed with hospitality humor, hotel industry inside jokes, and the kind of wordplay only hotel marketers, sales leaders, and revenue pros could truly love.

From banquet breakfast buffets and hotel robes to Easter brunch, group sales contracts, executive committee meetings, housekeeping boards, and the now legendary second quarter landscaping budget, Calvin and Susan try to keep a straight face while trading some of the funniest hotel themed pickup lines of the season. It is witty, absurd, deeply specific, and a perfect reminder that hospitality people might be the funniest people in business.

Whether you work in hospitality marketing, hotel sales, revenue management, or hotel operations, this episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast delivers a fun break from the usual strategy talk while still feeling right at home in the hotel world.

Connect with Susan Barry:
LinkedIn
Top Floor Podcast
Hive Marketing
Apple Podcasts
Spotify

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

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🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek

Why do so many hotel brands create content that looks polished, but still does not convert? In this episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast, Calvin Tilokee sits down with Susan Barry, founder of Hive Marketing and host of Top Floor, for a witty, insightful conversation on hotel marketing, hospitality branding, hotel social media strategy, and what actually makes content work. Susan brings decades of hospitality experience and a sharp point of view on why hotels keep blending in, why personal taste keeps getting in the way of performance, and how the best hospitality marketing stands out by speaking to the right audience.

Calvin and Susan get into what makes hotel content memorable, why so many brands are afraid to be different, how AI can flatten brand voice, and why audience-first thinking matters more than a polished aesthetic. They also talk about women in hospitality leadership, self-promotion, career growth beyond hotel operations, and the power of leaning into who you really are. It is smart, funny, honest, and packed with practical takeaways for hotel marketers, owners, operators, and hospitality leaders trying to create content that drives real results.

Connect with Susan Barry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susandbarry/

Follow Top Floor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/top-floor-podcast/posts/?feedView=all

Listen to Top Floor on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/10IEdg3nZY6F6XUs4kYoIp

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

🌐 Learn more about Revpar Media

📩 Connect with Revpar Media

📲 Follow Revpar Media:
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Instagram
YouTube
Facebook

🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek

Something has shifted in hotel marketing, and you can feel it. In a landscape where every property can publish polished visuals, aesthetics alone are no longer enough to stand out—or to convert attention into bookings. Research increasingly shows that social media now plays a meaningful role in how travelers choose destinations and plan trips, making performance-led storytelling a commercial necessity rather than a branding nice-to-have.

At the heart of this conversation is a practical question: How do hotels move social media from brand buzz to booking performance?

Welcome to The Socially Awkward Podcast. In this solo episode, host Calvin Tilokee, the founder and Creative Director of Revpar Media, traces the company’s origin story and explains how his background in hotel revenue management shaped a different approach to hospitality marketing. He traces the disconnect he saw between agency output and hotel outcomes, then outlines a framework for content that balances creativity with conversion—from audience insight and timing to booking-window strategy and ROI-driven campaign design.

Top insights…

• The core disconnect: Many hotel social programs looked polished but failed to engage or convert because they weren’t built around guest behavior, seasonality, or booking intent.

• The catalyst moment: A Game of Thrones-themed suite campaign succeeded because creative, PR, and revenue strategy were aligned into a sellable package—driving major visibility (including reported 1.1M+ monthly unique visitors) and tangible business impact.

• The Revpar Media philosophy: “Pretty” is the baseline; performance comes from authentic storytelling, audience clarity, and posting the right message at the right time for the right traveler segment.

Calvin Tilokee is a hospitality commercial leader with over 20 years of experience spanning reservations, revenue management, and social media-driven hotel marketing. He held senior revenue roles at Highgate—including Director of Revenue and Area Director of Revenue Management—after progressing through operational and analyst positions across major hotel brands. Today, he helps hospitality brands connect storytelling to measurable business outcomes through content strategy, branding, and digital marketing, and has been recognized as a leading hospitality social media voice.

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

🌐 Learn more about Revpar Media

📩 Connect with Revpar Media

📲 Follow Revpar Media:
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Instagram
YouTube
Facebook

🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek

The hospitality industry is in the middle of a structural shift toward commercial leadership. Titles like “commercial leader” and “commercial strategy” have gone from buzzwords to necessities as hotels face tighter margins, rising distribution costs, and increasingly fragmented demand. Post-pandemic recovery, accelerated digital marketing spend, and a surge in new supply have forced owners and operators to rethink how sales, marketing, revenue, and operations actually work together—or fail to.

Why is hotel performance increasingly driven by commercial leadership—not just revenue management?

That’s the central question explored in the latest episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast, hosted by Calvin Tilokee, featuring Jason D’Agostino, a seasoned commercial and asset performance leader. Together, the two unpack how collaboration, marketing alignment, and trust across departments have become the real drivers of profitable growth in today’s hotel landscape.

What you'll learn...

• Why “commercial leadership” emerged after the pandemic and how it unifies sales, marketing, revenue, and operations into one cohesive strategy.

• The hidden power of marketing in revenue performance, from website placement tests to ramp-up strategies for new hotel openings.

• How trust and transparency break down silos, especially between revenue managers and sales or operations teams.

Jason D’Agostino (CRME, CHIA) is a diversified hospitality commercial and asset performance leader with more than 20 years of experience across sales, marketing, revenue management, operations, and portfolio strategy in major U.S. markets. At Visions Hotels, he was promoted from multi-property operations leadership to Corporate Director of Revenue Management, where he built an in-house revenue function and led commercial, distribution, and forecasting strategy for roughly 70 hotels across multiple brands. He is known for driving profitability and market share through data-driven pricing, channel optimization (OTA, GDS, and direct), business intelligence and RMS adoption, and cross-functional leadership supporting conversions, new builds, and asset

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

🌐 Learn more about Revpar Media

📩 Connect with Revpar Media

📲 Follow Revpar Media:
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Instagram
YouTube
Facebook

🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek

In 2019, travel and tourism contributed a whopping 10.4% of global GDP — a figure that vanished almost overnight when the pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Today, the industry has clawed its way back to that same share of the global economy, but travelers have changed. They no longer settle for polished marketing campaigns; they crave stories that feel lived-in, voices they can trust, and experiences that match the promise. For hospitality brands, authenticity isn’t a buzzword — it’s survival.

So what does it mean to craft a hospitality brand in an era where audiences demand honesty, immediacy, and transparency? And how can an industry built on luxury and image embrace the unfiltered realities of modern storytelling?

In this episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast, host Calvin Tilokee sits down with Scott Eddy — speaker, brand strategist, and one of the world’s top 15 hospitality influencers — for an in-depth conversation on the business of travel, the role of authenticity in digital marketing, and what it means to build a brand while living as a perpetual guest.

The main topics of conversation…

• From Wall Street to Worldwide Hospitality: Eddy’s career pivot from stockbroker to hospitality influencer reveals how risk, timing, and global immersion shaped his unique perspective.

• Nomadic Lifestyle as Strategy: Living full-time in hotels gives Eddy uncommon empathy for the guest experience, allowing him to spot gaps between what brands say and what travelers feel.

• The Power (and Risk) of Brutal Honesty: Eddy’s unfiltered social media presence sparks both private support and corporate caution — illustrating how industry professionals navigate the tension between truth-telling and brand loyalty.

Scott Eddy is a globally recognized hospitality brand strategist, speaker, and influencer who has worked with leading hotels, destinations, and travel companies to build loyalty and ROI through authentic storytelling. After founding Southeast Asia’s first digital agency, which became the region’s largest, he went on to host Lifetime Television’s travel series Video Globetrotter and deliver keynote talks at major industry events. With over 86 countries visited, 122 cruises, and a social media presence ranking him among the top 15 hospitality influencers worldwide, Eddy leverages decades of digital marketing expertise to craft impactful campaigns that connect emotionally with travelers.

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

🌐 Learn more about Revpar Media

📩 Connect with Revpar Media

📲 Follow Revpar Media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook

🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek

The hospitality industry has weathered enormous shifts in the last five years, from pandemic‑era shutdowns to evolving guest expectations. Although hotels are projected to add over 14,000 employees in 2025, staffing levels are still well below pre‑pandemic (2019) figures. For hotel professionals, visibility and adaptability are critical, not only in operations but in how they share expertise. YouTube marketing has emerged as a powerful, SEO‑driven platform for building an audience, yet many in hospitality struggle to gain traction. In the realm of video marketing, 90 % of marketers say video has helped them generate leads, though success often demands more strategy than just recording content.

How can hospitality professionals translate industry expertise into engaging, monetizable content that attracts both viewers and brands?

In this episode of The Socially Awkward Podcast, host Calvin Tilokee speaks with Bruce Jordan, better known as the “MJ of Hotels.” He discusses transforming struggling hotels into thriving businesses through effective YouTube marketing. They explore Jordan’s journey from accounting clerk to multi-show content creator, the strategies that keep his channels relevant, and the realities of staying consistent in a crowded digital space.

Highlights from the conversation:

• Content that works: Entertainment is non-negotiable, even for technical topics; hook viewers in the first few seconds.
• Growth strategies: Use SEO principles for video titles, descriptions, and tags to capture both YouTube and Google search traffic.
• Sustainable creativity: Repurpose long-form videos into short reels, take strategic breaks, and leverage tools like VidIQ to track trends.

Bruce Jordan is a hotel revenue generation expert, hospitality consultant, and author of The Hotel Revenue Bible. He has trained with leading brands including IHG, Hyatt, Wyndham, Hilton, and Marriott, and is recognized as a Top 25 Social Media Influencer in Hospitality from 2021–2025. As Managing Partner of Hotel Guest Management, he has turned around underperforming hotels, created high-impact YouTube shows on hospitality best practices, and built a strong reputation for driving revenue, guest satisfaction, and digital marketing success.

Thanks for tuning in to Socially Awkward, the hospitality marketing podcast where hotel operations meet modern marketing strategy. Hosted by Calvin, each episode features real conversations on hotel marketing, revenue, branding, social media, influencer strategy, and what actually drives results for hospitality brands.

📅 Book a 30-minute call with Calvin

🌐 Learn more about Revpar Media

📩 Connect with Revpar Media

📲 Follow Revpar Media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
YouTube
Facebook

🎙️ New episodes every 2nd and 4th Thursday at 6:00 AM EST on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Produced by APodcastGeek