Hospitality Professionals Network with Advanced Hospitality Sales Students

Hospitality Professionals Network with Advanced Hospitality Sales Students

Nineteen Advanced Hospitality Sales Students practiced their networking skills with 10 industry professionals during Professor Debbie Howarth’s Advanced Hospitality Sales Seminar course on Tuesday, January 31^st at The Bridge Center located on the Providence Downcity Campus.  

Students in Professor Debbie Howarth's HOSP4015 class with various industry professionals from Compass Group, Upserve, and the Providence-Warwick Conventions & Visitors Bureau

The event followed the college’s Compass Day activities.  Several leaders from Compass Group and their Levy’s Restaurant Division participated in the networking event. They were: Alec Morris, Human Resources MIT; Nicole Wagner, Campus Program Recruiter; Scott Krewatch, Veteran & Campus Program Manager; Lori Smith, Senior Manager, Campus & Veterans Programs; Shay Johnson, Levy Restaurant Recruiting; Tion Askew, Campus Programs Recruiter; and Denise Swedish, HR Consultant. Additional professionals were Nicole Theohary, JWU 2015, Senior Account Manager from Upserve Restaurant Marketing; Tom Riel, VP of Sales and Services from the Providence-Warwick Convention & Visitors’ Bureau; and Dr. Karen Silva, Professor and Department Chair of the International Hotel School at Johnson & Wales University. Ms. Theohary is a JWU alumna who told students about taking this course when she was at Johnson & Wales.  She met the recruiter from Upserve at this event and was hired by them after graduation.  She started as an on-boarding specialist and worked her way up to her current role as senior account manager.

Nicole Theohary, Senior Account Manager at Upserve, networking with students

Students delivered their elevator speeches, practiced carrying on conversations, exchanging business cards and leave taking.  The hospitality professionals gave feedback to the students at the end of the event citing the students’ confidence, ability to ask questions, and genuine interest in talking to them.  The professionals also shared their own tips on being successful at networking events, including how to be memorable. The students then complete a debriefing assignment after the event. 

Prof. Howarth explained, “This is the 6^th year of the course.  It was developed after surveying directors of sales and marketing from various hospitality organizations across the country to determine what they look for in entry-level sales candidates.  Networking skills, sales skills, delivering a sales presentation, closing a sale, and entertaining clients are all skills in demand by hospitality organizations, so we built the course based on students developing those skills”.  “Later in the week these students will be conducting a sales blitz for a local area business.  It helps the business generate leads for its sales team and it helps our students to gain experience that they can leverage into an internship or possibly an entry-level sales position.”