While the items have changed immensely since 1984 (nobody wants a dot matrix printer or box of floppies this year), the sentiment behind the list stays the same: Hotel marketers want things that make their guests happy, their jobs easier and their hotels prosper.

When Kinko's started in 1990, the idea of a social media network like Twitter would have been pure sci-fi. And there are some skeptics who believe that using social media for marketing remains somewhat of a sci-fi-like mystery, but Bernard Perrine, who co-founded the office services giant (later sold to FedEx) believes that Twitter can be used as a productive marketing tool.

I help companies create customer journeys - cross-channel communication strategies that (ideally) reach customers how and when they want to be reached with relevant, useful, and timely information. Email is one channel we spend a lot of time with in particular, because for many clients it's the core of their customer journey. For many industries - like Retail, for example - these email journeys can be fairly straightforward. For Travel, however, the ideal email customer journeys are often far more complex.

Thawing U.S.-Cuba relations signal the coming of a new tourism reality.