Hospitality's mobile technology expert establishes two divisions to respectively focus on cellular networks and Location-Based Marketing; Sarah Smith and Michael Gambino promoted to drive the company forward
Boston, Mass. — Nov. 3, 2015 —RoamingAround has been monitoring mobile technology trends over the past several years to gauge impact, and found that mobile engagement has been proven to generate loyalty for their clients in the hospitality industry – and ultimately lead to increased profitability, market share, and differentiation. As such, RoamingAround Founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Garvin recently restructured the company into two divisions: a cellular network management division called RoamBOOST that solves in-building cellular coverage problems throughout a property via a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), and a Location-Based Marketing division called RoamAbout, that delivers localized and highly personalized indoor and outdoor automated mobile campaigns.
“In 2015, we were able to identify two key areas where hoteliers and other consumer-driven businesses will need the most assistance in 2016 and beyond,” Garvin said. “When 53% of hoteliers acknowledge that their buildings have a problem with cellular coverage, it’s a red flag that they need assistance. We have a variety of solutions within RoamBOOST that enables our clients to utilize a custom installation which provides full mobile access on their properties. RoamAbout, provides a solution for our clients to leverage Location-Based Technology to drive engagement based on the guest’s onsite (or offsite) proximity.”
According to the 2016 Lodging Technology Study, 21 percent of IT Executives and 32% of hotel managers are not satisfied with the cellular infrastructure of their hotels. In February, Garvin recruited distinguished hospitality veteran and former Ritz Carlton Hotel Company CIO Pam Angelucci to head its RoamBOOST division as Senior Vice President of Operations, who fully understands the need for cellular infrastructure in the hospitality industry.
A recent Boston Business Journal article titled: “Danvers company that helps building owners improve mobile phone service is getting a strong reception,” reports that RoamBOOST is “growing at a blistering speed selling systems that let owners of hotels and other buildings overcome lousy mobile phone service.” The privately held company is experiencing exponential revenue growth of about 20 percent each year since its inception just three years ago, and staff has doubled to 22 employees in the past year.
Dedicated Staff Leading the Way for RoamBOOST
To support the two RoamingAround divisions, Garvin opted to leverage the expertise from his existing team and promote from within. Sarah Smith, formerly Vice President Sales & Marketing for RoamingAround, was recently promoted to Vice President of Commercial for RoamBOOST and reports directly to Angelucci.
“I've been lucky enough to have been working with RoamingAround from the ground up,” Smith said. “Once we really started growing, there was a need for someone who knew the RoamBOOST product to step in and lead sales and marketing. With mobile being such a huge part of people’s daily lives, and with newly emerging technologies, mobile coverage is now considered a must-have and not an option. People need to safely access data, social media, text messages, phone calls, emails over a 4G signal. Everything is done via mobile.”
As VP of Commercial for RoamBOOST, Smith is responsible for overseeing all regional sales managers and marketing mediums. In the long term, Smith is focused on completely saturating the hospitality market with RoamBOOST and educating hoteliers in the need for mobile connectivity via a strong, supporting cellular network infrastructure. She plans to get RoamBOOST heavily involved in early construction projects to ensure that mobile infrastructure is scoped into the building early on in development. She also will focus on expanding the solution into other industries, such as multi-use buildings, residential properties, hospitals, colleges and universities, stadiums, and more.
Garvin said that as a marketing expert, Smith was the perfect choice to assist Angelucci in driving growth of the RoamBOOST brand in 2016 and beyond.
In June 2015, RoamingAround introduced RoamAbout, a single, holistic, platform that unites the disparate world of Location-Based Marketing Solutions. The platform brings together the industry’s best-in-class Geo-Location technology and a soon-to-be-announced Rapid App, which will enable any businesses’ mobile website to tap into the limitless possibilities of Location-Based knowledge.
“Location-Based Marketing gives businesses the tools they need to be aware of guests’ physical locations,” Garvin said. “It equips marketers with a new power to provide content, offers, and incentives that are truly tailored – to give people what they want in real time. The RoamAbout dashboard enables marketers to easily create automated content for direct delivery to the user, based on an individual’s preferences and physical location.”
On the market for only three months, RoamAbout has 30 properties across four brands installed and operational – and more roll-outs are under way. A newly-designed website for RoamAbout is now live. To experience the responsive site, click here.
RoamAbout Promotes New Chief Location Officer
Michael Gambino came to RoamingAround in 2012 with more than 16 years of hospitality and technology experience. Prior to this promotion, Gambino was responsible for identifying Location-Based Technologies that would complement the RoamingAround portfolio and benefit its customers, primarily those in the casino industry.
“I’ve had tremendous faith in the RoamAbout technology and what it can do for our hospitality clients,” Gambino said. “To see this solution in use at the property level has been wonderful. Every positive experience our customers have with geomarketing fuels our commitment to take things one step further with our development teams. I look forward to partnering with forward-minded companies on a global scale, and to bring innovative, thoughtful, and problem-solving solutions to the world.”
As Chief Location Officer, Gambino will continue to focus on new product development and business development across all industries. In the short term, he will look to expand into new territories and identify new clients in vertical markets. Due to the rapid growth of RoamAbout, Garvin said he needed to have someone in a leadership position he could trust with the future direction of this division.
“The title Chief Location Officer is gaining vogue in the industry, and it’s a moniker that is very befitting of Michael Gambino,” Garvin said. “He understands the power and the potential this technology holds – and he is the right man to lead our charge forward as we take our Location-based Technology tools to the masses.”
For more information about the RoamBOOST or RoamAbout divisions, call the RoamingAround sales team at (978) 777-8787 Ext. 308 or email sales@roamingaround.com. For media inquiries, contact RoamingAround PR Agent Barb Worcester at (440) 930-5770 or email barbw@prproconsulting.com.
