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.