Salt Lake City: In every show, you hear Hattie say, "Every adult American has an idea for a business." In this episode we learn the story of two housewives with time on their hands who unexpectedly became business owners and turned their hobby into a passion.

Meet Judy Cannon and Kathleen Barnes. These two, and their cadre of part-time and full-time guides and planners, all love Salt Lake City. They love their State House. They love everything about this special place.

The Buy: While working part-time as guides, quite unexpectedly, Kathleen and Judy were invited to buy the business from the founder. It was an offer they couldn't refuse.

The Sell: In 2001, while getting ready for the Winter Olympics in 2002, the husband of one of the guides, Ralph Johnson, made them an offer they couldn't refuse! They sold the business!

Buy/Sell: There are many other stories about business owners who have bought or sold a business. Click here to go to that evolving list.

Destination Meetings Planners of America. As an industry, this group got together early and split up the USA and then the world into strategic markets. Meetings America represents Salt Lake City and Utah. As a group, they all adopted the web very early, and they attempt to keep strategically ahead of the technology curve. Within in extranet, they share key crticial ratio information, collaborate, and are forever helping each other solve problems.

What began as a love affair with their hometown of Salt Lake, working just part time as tour guides for the tiny destination management company, Sample Salt Lake became for Kathleen Barnes and Judy Cannon a study of business, values, and human relations.

• Focus on creating fabulous customer experiences.
• Part time work can be perfect for many.
• Leave home to grow your business.
• Surround yourself with expertise.

• CASE STUDY GUIDE: The Case Study Guide was written for the special PBS-feed to all the colleges and universities in the USA. It is used by professors to stimulate discussions among business students.
  
  These case studies are a great source for any aspiring entrepreneur or business owner to reflect on their business plans and operations. This anslysis and the questions within it have become the basis of the Interactive Questions (IQ) within LearnOnline. Here, your answers to questions can become a page like this. When you answer a question, you have options to redisplay it, edit it, and then decide whether you would like it to be part of your profile within this site.
• READ THE TRANSCRIPT. All the dialogue within the show.
• WATCH TV! To find out what is airing in your market, usually on your local PBS-member station, click here

• CONTACT:
  Meetings America and Sample Salt Lake
  525 East 100 South
  Salt Lake City, UT 84102
  Email:ralph@meetingsamerica.net
  URL: http://meetingsamerica.net