Emily Grubman's Blog 1: Event Related Experience

Last night, on the 23^rd, I attended a Wizards game at the Verizon Center. They played the New Orleans Pelicans and won with 109 points to their 89 points. I found out after getting to the game that it was Turkish Heritage Night, so the halftime show was a Turkish dance number to encompass tradition, which was interesting. This game was the first professional basketball game I’ve been to since freshman or sophomore year of high school, and because of that, I noticed things that I hadn’t paid much attention to before. After taking a few classes in marketing and sponsorship, I’ve become more aware of company presence at games. For example, the first thing I noticed before entering the complex was the sponsors on my ticket, including Budweiser and Amtrak, as well as the sponsor on the door when entering, which was Capital One Bank. While watching the game, I took note of the major sponsors that seemed to show up frequently on the LED banners or had permanent advertising around the arena. I also noticed sponsors of time outs, the half time show, 3-pointers, etc., which I hadn’t ever noticed before. The game was very enjoyable overall not only because of the exciting environment and our win, but also because I was able to apply what I’ve learned in school to a real life situation.

Kelleen Marek’s College Night at AMPS (Blog #2)

Last night I attended the Association of Meeting Professionals (AMPS)’ College Night. The event was held at the Conference Center in DC and while people came and went throughout the night there were about 100 attendees total. We got there a little late, so there was no wait at the Registration Table. It was set up so that pre-registered attendees could go in one line and unregistered would wait in another. From there we headed to the back to get some horderves.

While picking up food we met a couple of women who worked for Viceroy hotels (one in Beverly Hills, the other in Aspen). They were excited to see some college students there and that was the first time we looked around and noticed that there were very few college students actually attending college night. We talked with the women about career opportunities in the industry and they shared their love of the hospitality field. We even discussed college degrees in the food and beverage industry. The women encouraged us to join the AMPs because it was a great resource for event planners.

Next we met a member of the board who also encouraged us to join. We chatted with him about the benefits of membership with AMPs. He shared how it was more of a local, grassroots organization than some of the other larger associations. We wondered why so many people were singling us out in just the few short minutes that we had been there. That’s when we noticed the gold star stickers on our name badges. We weren’t positive what the purpose was (I assumed they indicated that we were non-members and Emily assumed they indicated that we were college students), but we realized no one else around had the stickers on their badges. These subtle stars were a great way to point out who was new to the association and gave board members and other attendees an indication of who to talk to and provide more details of the association to.

I noticed that there were quite a few sources of entertainment around the lobby. First there was a cornhole game set up for attendees to play. I also noticed a wii set up for attendees to compete with. All the attendees were having a great time, so not many of the entertainment sources were being utilized, but they were an interesting back up plan in case guests got bored. There was also fun music playing in the background that kept the mood upbeat. There was a woman from Christie’s Photography Solutions walking around taking pictures with an ipad that she then emailed the the attendees. Our picture is featured below.

After spending around an hour there we decided to head out. We dropped our names badges in the bin at the registration desk (a great way to recycle paper and then reuse the plastic badges). Attending college night was a great way to introduce non-members to the world of AMPs and if I decide to stay in the DC area I will definitely consider joining.

Emily Grubman's Blog 2: Association Meeting

Last night, February 16^th, I went to the AMPS College Night event with another student to network with individuals in the hospitality industry. When we got there, I noticed they had an efficient system set up for registration. One area of the table was for people who had pre-registered online and already had a nametag printed for them, and the other half was for the people who wanted to register on site at the event. After signing in, I realized that Kelly and I had gold stars on our nametags, something I didn’t notice on anyone else’s tag. We thought this either signified that we were college students or non-members because people were very interested in talking to us about what AMPS does, why we should join, and about studying hospitality as college students. Regarding our studies, they wanted to know about what we’re studying, how they incorporate hospitality into our classes, if it has peaked our interest in joining the field, etc. The first woman I met happened to be from Beverly Hills, where I’m from, so it was easy for me to understand the exact location of where she worked. She works for the Viceroy Hotels, whose location in Beverly Hills is the L’Ermitage on Burton Way. She told me that Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles in general, is a major spot for the hospitality industry right now, which is appealing to me because I’m planning on moving back after I graduate and could be interested in getting a job in hospitality. As the evening went on, we chatted with other members of the association and got a better feel for the kinds of jobs and responsibilities of people in hospitality. Overall, it was a beneficial experience that I’d recommend to other college students who are potentially interested in going into hospitality.

Kelleen Marek's Blog Post #1

This weekend I attended Families USA’s Annual Health Action Conference. I currently serve as the Operations intern for the health care advocacy organization and this is the second Health Action conference I’ve attended. The conference was at the Hyatt Regency at Capitol Hill and took place for February 4th through the 7th. The conference targets Health Care policy “wonks” and provides very high-level information. Although I don’t fall in their target market, I am now familiar with enough of the terms and general ideas to follow along with the presenters and workshop sessions.

The registration was well handled and took less than a minute. I then entered the general session to see the first speakers of the day. The room was packed because there were almost 100 more attendees than in the past few years. I waited near the back, so other guests could take the seats and watched as both the US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H Murthy and the President of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards give opening remarks (a picture of them chatting is pictured to the right, courtesy of Families USA). Cecile Richards’ speech was definitely a highlight of the event for me.

We separated into breakout sessions and I attended sessions on improving engagement among health care enrollment assisters and incorporating value based care methods into health care coverage. I won’t bore you with the details of advanced healthcare advocacy information, but sessions were informative and interesting.

Families USA has been trying to reach out to a younger audience and had a workshop for Emerging Professionals, which are defined as health care workers with 5 years or less of experience. There was also an after hours reception for the emerging professionals. A few other initiatives to reach out to the younger crowd included the photo booth that was new to the conference this year and an integrated social media campaign that used Twitter and Facebook.

The conference was educational and fun. Everything from the food to the workshops were planned out well and the only thing left to do is analyze the conference evaluations. So far, feedback is looking good!

(Our staff after the conference)