Cornell's School of Hotel Administration moves to New York City from Saturday, Nov. 9, to Tuesday, Nov. 12.
The Big Apple is where the hospitality industry will be holding its annual trade show, the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show, and more than 150 students, faculty members and top Hotel School administrators will be there to learn, teach, network, consult and be seen.
Although classes are being held during this time, Hotel School Dean David Dittman said students are encouraged to attend the hotel show, if their schedules permit.
"This experience is extremely valuable for our students," he said. "There will never be another opportunity like this in which to meet so many of the industry's biggest stars in one place."
The hospitality trade show attracts more than 53,000 attendees and more than 1,500 exhibitors annually. The biggest hotel and restaurant chains, food service providers and representatives from other segments of the industry, such as technology, guest amenities and fitness and leisure, fill up the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Manhattan's West Side to showcase their products and services.
Also represented on the convention center floor are some 60 colleges and universities that are in the business of educating tomorrow's industry executives. And Cornell's booth is one of the most popular. Alumni stop by to chat with students and faculty, industry executives visit to gather information about executive education programs, and students in high school and college drop by for information about how to apply or transfer to the Hotel School.
Near Cornell's booth this year will be its Australian partner, the Australian International Hotel School, based in Canberra. The school's curriculum, developed by Cornell faculty, closely mirrors that of Cornell's Hotel School in that it requires students to work in all areas of hotel operations to satisfy degree requirements. The program leads to a bachelor's degree in hotel management, which is awarded in affiliation with Cornell.
During the four-day run, Hotel School faculty, the dean and other administrators also hold formal meetings with more than 1,000 alumni in the field who come to town for the big show. The Hotel School gets input from alumni on almost every facet of operations, from admissions to alumni affairs. The Hotel School's alumni association, the Cornell Society of Hotelmen (CSH), conducts several key meetings, including that of its philanthropic body, during the hotel show.
But perhaps the most important place to be seen -- and heard -- is at CSH's gala reception. The affair is so highly regarded as a place to make business contacts that the hotel show historically has no functions planned on the night of the CSH event.
"It's the single biggest networking event we do all year," said the Hotel School's director of alumni affairs, Phil Miller '83. Last year close to 800 people attended the reception. The event is slated for Nov. 11 at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza. The host will be Hotel School alumnus Michael Silberstein '74, director of North American operations for Holiday Inn.
The reception, which features hors d'oeuvres that could make any entree look like a boxed lunch, is open to anybody in the industry, not just Cornellians. Admission is $50, but students and recent graduates of the Hotel School receive discounts.
"It's one of the best investments one can make in the job search," said Vernetta Kinchen '95, now a director for the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel. "Anyone who is anybody is there."
Two years ago Kinchen worked the room with a friend and introduced herself to dozens of industry people and offered her business card in exchange for theirs. Most Hotel School students carry the cards -- available through the Hotel School and providing information on the student's graduate year activities and area of specialty -- for just such purposes. "It helps you make that connection," Kinchen said. "It puts your name in their hand. You certainly wouldn't carry around your resume and give a copy of it to each person you met."
Kinchen estimates that she collected more than 200 business cards during her four-day stay in 1994. But she collected something far more important by working the Cornell booth at the hotel show -- a job. Executives from ITT Sheraton stopped by the booth, spoke to her at length and Kinchen made a connection that landed her a position in the junior executive ranks.
Also while in New York, the Hotel School showcases its ongoing industry research when it presents research findings to members of the school's Center for Hospitality Research (CHR). Presentations will be made Nov. 12, beginning at 9 a.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis.
Cathy A. Enz, the Lewis G. Schaeneman Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management, and her research associates, doctoral students David L. Corsun and Cheri A. Young, will provide an update on their smoking study, which was presented last year. Enz studied the impact of New York City's smoking ban on area restaurants. Her findings fanned the debate over smoking bans and were used by both sides of the argument to further various agendas.
Enz also will team up with Professor Gordon Potter to announce the findings of a study on "The Impact of Product and Customer Diversity on Hotel Costs, Revenues and Profits."
The CHR, whose members include major hotel chains and other segments of the hospitality industry, funds hospitality research projects.