UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – It does not get more real than planning a national conference.
Hospitality Management majors Lindsey Yealy and Aimee Salcido prepared for this real-life opportunity by completing introductory and advanced meeting and event planning courses at University Park. A portion of their studies included planning their own events working with zero-budgets.
In May, their successes as students led them to the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, California, where for nearly one week they assisted with the planning and execution of the 2015 Outdoor Advertising Association of America/Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement National Convention and Expo thanks to an invitation from 1986 Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management alumna Lisa Gentile, a certified meeting professional who has been a contract meeting and event planner for 17 years.
“As far as event planning goes, a lot of the things you will learn have to come from real-world experience,” Yealy said. “This event and the zero-budget event I planned at University Park are the two experiences where I learned the most about this major and my future industry. With the experience of running my own event, I felt pretty prepared for what was going to come from San Diego. I knew it would be long days where I would be on my feet for 14 or so hours.”
Yealy and Salcido attended the hotel’s pre-convention meeting, and reviewed banquet event orders and the event resume before being placed in on-site meeting planning positions that encompassed registration, food and beverage management and meeting room and exhibition set-up. The pair also had an opportunity to network with the on-site meeting planning team, which consisted of contract meeting and event planners as well as hotel staff.
“I loved every part of this experience,” said Salcido. “I worked with an amazing team and got to meet a lot of different people with different titles in the event industry. It was also so helpful to hear everyone’s advice about the meeting and event industry.”
Meeting and event planning is a growing interest among hospitality management students. By giving students an opportunity to work in the industry, Gentile believes it helps to quell misconceptions and provides students with a full understanding of the field.
“I believe that the students gained real-life meeting planning experience that is often hard to obtain while still in school,” Gentile said. “They were able to put to use the concepts and practices that they have learned in both the intro and advance meeting planning classes. Lindsey and Aimee experienced first-hand operational challenges that are common to large meetings and events. They also experienced how their hard work and long hours contributed to the success of the convention.”
Jackie Golas, who instructs introductory and advanced meeting and event planning courses at University Park, understands the importance of providing her students with real world experience in their field of study.
“It really gives them an opportunity to see first hand what goes into executing and making an event happen,” Golas said. “It is about taking the skills we have talked about and used to a certain level in class and really putting them into real life, practical use.”
Following the experience, Yealy is certain she chose the right career path.
“I cannot wait to graduate and start my career in the hospitality field,” Yealy said. “I cannot lie, it was exhausting and my feet still hurt from running around, but I would not trade it for the world. There is always something new and exciting that is happening every hour, even every minute in this field, and it is constantly keeping you engaged, entertained and moving. I learned that hard work truly pays off.”