Industry Associated Event - MEET

Attending the MEET Conference, Meetings Events Education and Technology, this semester really allowed me to get a better sense of what it is like to be a professional in the events industry. Hosted by HSMAI, Hospitality, Sales & Marketing Association International, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park, the event included an exhibition hall, a variety of workshops, and a networking lunch. My two biggest takeaways from the event came from one of the workshops I attended called “The Branding of You” and the networking lunch. “The Branding of You” discussed the importance of selling ourselves using the four main elements of our brand image: personal appearance, personality/likeability, competencies, and differentiation. The presenter led an audience participation activity where four people introduced themselves to each other, asking their name, where they worked, and what their position was. After a few minutes of networking, he asked each participant to repeat each of the facts he just learned about the other participants. It turns out that most of the information was already forgotten. This activity definitely emphasized the importance of listening to the people you meet and making a lasting first impression on those individuals yourself. It is a good idea to try and remember at least one thing that stands out about each new person you network with.  Taking this new knowledge with me, I attended the networking lunch and sat with a group of people I had never met before. At my table were a sales manager from an events space in Florida, a government meeting planner, and a freelance marketing agent. These professionals were all at least several years older than I am and gave me career advice, especially in what the benefits are to earning a CMP. Overall, I think attending this event enabled me to visualize what it would be like to have a career in the events industry and I am thankful for the experience.

To learn more about the conference and HSMAI follow this link: http://www.meetconference.com/

Three Takeaways

After a cultural exchange trip to China this past summer, I have recently been reconsidering my major and career path as a whole, so this class was extremely conducive to help me in discerning how my major will affect my career path. The biggest takeaways come from the guest lecturers, the case studies, and the informational interview project.

The variety of guest lecturers we had in class really allowed me to get a feel for the different brands in the industry. I enjoyed learning more about the brands, Marriott and Kimpton, from a first-hand perspective. The lecturers shared knowledge that applied both to our careers as well as to what we were learning in class. There are so many different brands in the hospitality industry and I am thankful to have dived a little deeper into these two.

Reading and analyzing the case studies also allowed me to get a sense of the different brands in the industry, but they also helped me to get a feel for the industry overall, especially some of the major challenges that industry leaders face. My favorite cases included Ritz Carlton and Mission Hills. From these cases I learned how strategic the opening of a hotel has to be and major challenges that companies face when they are expanding, especially when considering their employees. Reading these cases makes me want to keep up to date on these brands and the newest developments in the industry. 

In regards to the informational interview, this project actually turned into the perfect opportunity to learn more about this position and what the career path to get to this position looks like coming from GW. It was also beneficial to strengthen this relationship I have within the industry and be inspired to sustain and continue building relationships. After further reflecting upon this experience, I believe that I will continue to conduct informational interviews. As my future plans are still up in the air and I have several different paths I could follow, it is important for me to gain as much information as possible and simply build relationships with people. This is something that I am very excited about and I hope that through further informational interviews, I will start taking steps in the right direction. 

Hospitality Related Experience - My Stay at a Holiday Inn Express

When booking a room for my friends and me at a Holiday Inn Express in Louisville, Kentucky, I was not aware of my own preferences or my own expectations. When I was researching hotels over the summer to stay at for my friend’s wedding, my number one criteria was affordability, followed by proximity to the wedding venue and a complimentary breakfast. I was debating between the Holiday Inn Express and another chain hotel brand that I cannot remember the name of. Even though the unfamiliar hotel was cheaper than the Holiday Inn, I decided to book the one I was more familiar with. Now I am realizing how important brand recognition really is when deciding which hotel to stay at.

                Reflecting on our two nights at the hotel, I did not come in with very high expectations, but received satisfactory service, which left me feeling satisfied with my decision overall.  The hotel was affordable, close to the venue and the highway, and offered us a free and enjoyable breakfast every morning. However, the perks went beyond these expected preferences. My friends and I received pleasant service from the staff, including fun restaurant recommendations, prompt delivery of extra towels, and an efficient registration and check-out process. The service was not overwhelming amazing, but it definitely made our experience stress-free and left me feeling very positive about the brand. I would definitely choose to stay in a Holiday Inn Express again over a hotel that I have no association with.

Volunteering at a Wedding

On Sunday, December 6, I was able to volunteer for the on-day planning of a wedding at Vienna, VA. The event company I interned at last summer asked me to assist them with a Korean wedding they were planning. Usually, the planning process requires months of communication with the couple and is a very proactive process. However, because I was just assisting for the day of the event, my main responsibilities involved escorting guests from the entrance to the venue, encouraging guests to utilize the different activities available at the event, maintaining the schedule of the event, and clean-up/break down of the venue. Because the lead event planner does not speak Korean, my fluent Korean came in use with the older guests who spoke little to no English. There is also a traditional Korean wedding ceremony that the couple decided to include in the wedding schedule. This ceremony has different components, like a tea drinking portion, a traditional bowing portion—all performed in traditional Korean garments called hanbok. I assisted the event planners in executing this portion of the wedding. The most difficult part of the event was making sure the environment was what the couple wanted—fun and lively—especially with the cold weather and in the daytime. There weren’t as many guests who were letting loose and dancing, so during parts of the event, our events team went up and performed a dance routine! All in all, it was great assisting a former employee with even more knowledge and experience from this semester’s course.

A picture of the wedding dress, taken by yours truly

Sarah Aziz: Blog Entries

o   Blog #1: Reflect upon / discuss your insights from a hospitality-related experience you've had this semester (preferably in your area of interest)

The best hospitality-related experience I had this semester was interviewing the Director of Rooms at The Graham Georgetown because I gained insight on a part of the industry I had never recognized fully prior. Through this interview, I learned about the stylistic techniques of operations at different hotels, the importance of maintaining the essence of quality, and the significance of personality in a hotel. Furthermore, I was able understand the type of charisma one must have in order to succeed in the industry. My interview lasted an hour and a half because of the power in the way he expressed himself about the industry and it made me realize how important the power of attraction and being able to make someone feel special is. In an industry based on service, being able to initiate a feeling or reaction from someone and handle emotions is extremely important. The fact that people follow him to each hotel he works at based on his service and kindness shows what the hospitality industry is really about. Learning about boutique hotels and their rise in the industry was very inspiring and I appreciated the experience greatly.

o   Blog #2: Reflect upon / discuss your insights from an experience you've had volunteering / working at a hospitality-related event this semester (not where you currently work)

This semester I actually ended up volunteering for my previous job at the Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown at a brunch just to help out because I love the hotel and the people working there so it is always a great time being amongst that environment. I previously worked as a Front Desk Agent at the hotel last year and one of my colleagues at the time was promoted to working at one of their restaurants so I was able to be with her and help out with the event. It was interesting to see operations down at the restaurant because I never spent too much time there during my job and I realized how hectic it gets during an event. The details of the event such as the timing of each course to the scent of the restaurant were the parts that really captured my attention. To me, it is those details that can really make an event incredible. During the event, I was also able to have a few words with the General Manager of the hotel who talked to me quite a bit about how they are updating the style of rooms at the hotel. Having known the style of the current rooms, it was interesting to know what they based the changes upon, especially since I actually talked a lot about it during my interview mentioned in the previous blog and that is technology and modernization. So as the world absorbs the advances in our society, so too does the entire hospitality industry. Finally, at the event, I was able to discuss with the coordinator how easy it had been to plan with the Four Seasons and it is that sense of organization and positivity that is embodied by the work ethic at this hotel in every aspect.

o   Blog #4: Reflect upon / discuss your top three learnings that you will take with you from our course this semester (not including anything from blog postings #1, 2, or 3)

In this course, the top three things I learned were branding, customer relationship management, and performance management. Learning about branding not only informed me more about how a hotel works under its brand and the importance of maintaining it, but also about personal branding and how to manage that. Although often, building a brand can take a bit of time, learning the Ten P Model gave me an outlook on what to focus on in order to strategize creating one that best portrays the company’s values. On the topic of relationship management, I learned a different way to view customer complaints and how to handle them in the most appropriate manner. By building valuable relationships with guests, hotels are able to build loyalty, while also defining their unique hotel personality. Lastly, I learned about performance management and the importance of being able to understand and measure the customer’s experience. From this I learned how a hotel was treat and train employees in order to formulate a work environment based on the values created at the hotel. By enforcing a great work environment, management is able to foster an energy in the employees that is upheld around the entire hotel, which gives guest the best possible experience during their stays. 

Below are photos of the restaurant I volunteered in, the lobby where I interviewed the Director of Rooms, a photo of the most important quality of a hotel, and a link I found interesting during my research of boutique hotels. 

 

 http://www.ibtimes.com/major-hotel-brands-compete-space-boutique-hotel-trend-1793168

Semester Takeaways

        My number one takeaway from this semester was the importance of networking from the informational interview project. Although this project was extensive and required a lot of attention-to-detail, I felt like it was such a great experience for hospitality students. Going through the process of researching industry professionals, contacting them, scheduling and executing an interview, and writing a thorough report on the interview allowed me to gain knowledge on the process of an interviewer. It was also extremely rewarding to sit down with an events professional, and allowed me to work on my networking skills. It was so surprising to see how willing people are to share their knowledge and experiences, and I will definitely take advantage of informational interviews in the future.

        My second takeaway was from the different case analyses we did throughout the semester. Studying these different large-name establishments really allowed me to understand and gain insight on operations of the companies without having to work there. For instance, the Mission Hills case analysis allowed me to understand the importance of employees and consistent service. The cases also directly applied to the work I am currently doing, causing me to relate these big-scale lessons to my smaller-scale business.

        My last takeaway from the semester was how to respond to customers or guests through our different role-playing scenarios, and the video commentaries from Founding Farmers owner Dan Simons. It was interesting to go through the hands-on experience of situations from a managerial perspective, and then comparing my response to a successful business owner. Simon’s advice definitely helped me in how to respond to people in the service industry, and how to approach unhappy customers at my business.

Class Reflection

My first takeaway came from the informational interview.  I enjoyed it so much and learned so much about Mr. Canning’s position.  Between learning about his leadership strategies, like how he motivates his staff, and how he makes communication a top priority, I was able to gain so much insight into the internal factors of working in the hotel industry.  Our discussion about the cross-cultural differences between working at a hotel in DC and working at a hotel abroad taught me a lot and I realized that with my love for travel and interest in the hotel/hospitality industry, I really should start looking into programs abroad that would allow me to experience that.  Overall, I found this interview to only further push me and increase my desire to work in the hotel industry.  More specifically, it showed me what type of hotel culture I would fit best with in terms of a more transactional hotel vs. a more relationship/connection-oriented hotel.

My second takeaway was Customer Relationship Management.  It was a topic we discussed a lot in class partly due to its high importance in the Hospitality Industry.   My biggest take away from our discussion on CRM is how its not just one thing; instead, it is a philosophy that effects many independent departments of businesses- especially in the Hotel Industry.  CRM addresses the Sales, Marketing, and Service activities of the organization or specifically, the hotel (see photo below).  Even though we discussed this topic in my Basic Marketing class, I understood it way more in our class.  I learned that a hotel’s CRM should be the core to aspects to their procedures, etc.  It essentially is about selling their services to the guests and targeting specific segments. I learned how it really ties managing customer value and loyalty through a long-term relationship and how it’s not something simple but rather very comprehensive. 

My third takeaway came from our Kimpton guest lecturers and more specifically the topic on crisis management.  The lessons I took away are that telling the truth is crucial, you must responsibility, and that it involves a lot of creative thinking.  When the Kimpton guest lecturers discussed the murder at the Donovan Hotel and how they had to deal with that.  I got to learn first hand how they dealt with that issue and how the media played a huge role in trying to protect the reputation of the hotel.    Overall, I learned the best way to handle myself and do damage control if something like that happens so that I can minimize the problem and come out on top.