Chapter News

Chapter’s Second Hospitality Career Exploration Day Attracts Nearly 40 Students

By: Teresa Hellman, Senior National Account Manager, Experient

The PCMA Heartland Chapter’s second Hospitality Career Exploration Day took place Saturday, November 4th at the Marriott Overland Park, Kan., and by all accounts it was a huge success! The nearly 40 students in attendance were enrolled in hospitality-related programs from even more college programs in our six-state Chapter region.

These bright young people came dressed professionally and ready to learn from and network with the professional speakers on the program. This year we gave the students more time to network with the speakers, as well as human resource managers from Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt hotels. This paid off big-time for two students who walked away that day with a project-based job with a National Association in the coming month! And several students had a chance to speak directly with the person who will hire the next intern for the KC Chiefs! The room was a bee-hive of activity!

The day started with Incoming Chapter President, Kerry Kerr, kicking off the program with a welcome. She thanked the Marriott Overland Park team members for their support on this event, as well as our largest fund-raising event of the year – the Top Golf event. She thanked the students for attending and the speakers for giving of their time, and then she introduced Teresa Hellman, the emerging leaders co-chair and event coordinator.

Teresa expressed her gratitude to the Heartland Chapter for allowing the Emerging Leaders to host this event for a second year. She thanked the students for attending on a Saturday, having gotten up early to attend. She also thanked the speakers as well as the instructors for attending and hoped they would help spread the word to the other college programs about the value of this event to their students.

Teresa then introduced this year’s diverse lineup of speakers for the morning general session:

  • Phil Strnad, General Manager, Hilton President
  • Geoff VanDeusen, Director of Operations, United Soccer Coaches
  • Kimberly Kruse, Events Sales Manager, Arrowhead Stadium
  • Jessica Blubaugh, Senior Events Manager, Visit KC
  • Jennifer Roe, Director of Operations, Folk Alliance International

Each speaker told how he or she arrived at the position he/she is in today, expressing to the students over and over their careers did not move in straight lines, and cautioning that one does not always end up doing what one thought he or she wanted to do while attending college.

The speakers shared with the students the truth about the industry; that ultimately, it’s about having a sincere desire to make a difference in someone else’s life — to create an experience, a memory for someone other than yourself! They said that while the pay is low for entry level-positions, if you stick with it, there are good paying jobs to be had, adding that one might need to change companies and even cities, but that that part is exciting, too.

They also said that the rewards aren’t always in monetary form; that making someone’s special event go off flawlessly or achieving a financial goal at a fundraiser you coordinated are also rewards.

Congratulations to Alex Compton (far right in the above photo), who graduated on December 16 from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Hospitality Innovation and Event Planning. Alex is the daughter of Bob Compton, who takes pictures for the Heartland Chapter at many of the Chapter’s events throughout the year.

After a good round of questions, the event moved to the networking/lunch time slot, where the students had the opportunity to discuss internships at Folk Alliance, Visit KC, Marriott Overland Park, the United Soccer Coaches, and the Hilton President.

After lunch and networking the students then had the chance to self-select three round-table “Day in the Life of” discussions that lasted 25 minutes each. These were more informal and allowed for more questions. There was a lot of fun and lively conversations taking place!

These roundtable speakers were:

  • Geoff VanDeusen, Director of Operations, United Soccer Coaches
  • Kimberly Kruse, Events Sales Manager, Arrowhead Stadium
  • Jené Hofer, Director of Sales, Hyatt Place Kansas City/Lenexa City Center
  • Caitlin Arnold, Meeting and Exhibits Manager, Kellen Group
  • Devin Carver, Sales Manager, Bishop-McCann
  • Jennifer Roe, Director of Operations, Folk Alliance International
  • Whitney Nelson, Director of Meetings, International Association of Plastics Distribution
  • Michael Zanetos, Executive Chef, Overland Park Marriott

Dr. Kristin Malek, Professor, K-State stated her students benefited tremendously from the chance to learn from the real-world experiences of these presenters. Dr. Malek helped to promote the event to fellow instructors at Iowa State, and the University of Arkansas. She continues to be a strong advocate for connecting students to our Chapter in many ways. A special thanks to Haley Wells, K-State student, for her assistance with planning both last year and this year’s event.

As the event closed the students expressed sincere gratitude both as a group and directly to the speakers for the event and are enthusiastic about the event’s future.

NEXT STEPS: Our next step is to work with all the colleges in our six-state Chapter region to determine the best day of the week, and time of the year to grow the event for the future. We also hope to involve more of our members in the future by inviting them to “tell their story” to these eager-to-learn hospitality students. Who knows, you might just meet someone you want to be a part of your team!

Eric JacobsonChapter’s Second Hospitality Career Exploration Day Attracts Nearly 40 Students