Chatting About CHAT...

Last night our Club of Hospitality and Tourism (CHAT) held its first meeting of the school year. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to write about last night. Was it the fabulous turn out (over 60 students showed up)? Should I write about the graciousness of our host Randall Goldman who gave an inspirational talk to the students about networking and opportunities (while also donating the facilities and food)? I also considered writing about how much I enjoyed seeing the younger students and the importance of having freshmen and sophomores as part of the club (I do love my intro class students showing up).

In total, the story of last night was the leadership displayed by our students. So many times I hear people complaining about students, how they are this and that. Last night was a demonstration that we have little to fear from this generation if this is the quality of leadership coming up. So congratulations to the team for asking and getting Patrick Properties to donate both the space at FISH restaurant as well as food for the event (demonstrating amazing sales techniques). Also, kudos needs to go to them for volunteering their time to go to all of the classes, sending out e-vites over the web and creating and displaying professional grade marketing materials to recruit such a large audience for the evening (brandishing an excellent understanding of marketing). Finally, a thanks to the team for putting together what looks like a tremendous schedule of events for the term and for sharing their dedication to helping others and using CHAT as a way to make the world a better place (illustrating the importance of global awareness and business ethics). I personally think that the team certainly demonstrated key skills and abilities we would hope a School of Business student would possess.

So well done CHAT team! I know I am proud of you and it is efforts like yours that provide me all the reasons in the world why I love to teach!

Wayne.

Post Script - It was also awesome to see our faculty show up to the event. One of the reasons I love being at this place is the dedication to the students that our team shows.