UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Marcus O’Leary, vice president of resort experience at Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp., thinks Penn State students “just get it.”
The business, that is.
For one week, students in recreation, park and tourism management (RPTM) and hospitality management (HM) in the College of Health and Human Development attended a U of the Way conference on Penn State’s University Park campus, hosted by Marriott Vacations Worldwide (MVW) and held in collaboration with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center.
The vision? To recruit Penn State students into Marriott Vacations Worldwide, a Florida-based company that is a recognized leader in timesharing and through its Marriott Vacations Club (MVC) brand, has 54 properties around the world. This gives students the knowledge, experience and tools to succeed in their respective careers.
“MVW is different from Marriott International in many ways,” said Patricia Kleban, senior instructor of RPTM. “It is a separate, publicly traded timeshare company where 'owners' have paid in advance for an amazing vacation and experience that they can now enjoy every year. Property offerings have gone way beyond ‘kids clubs’ and (now) include special events, wine and beer tastings, etc.”
The 2014 Resort Experience Conference was divided into two focuses: food and beverage leaders and recreation leaders. Throughout the week and through different activities, demonstrations and programming, students delved into the hospitality, recreation and experiential education aspects of the industry to help prepare them for, and potentially land them, jobs. The slogan, “It’s not what we do … it’s the way we do it” aimed to highlight the importance of hosting a quality experience. The event was held Sept. 8 through 12.
Activities, topics and programs, among countless others, included hiking Mount Nittany; a wine and cheese welcome; dinner at Happy Valley Brewery; learning to “Engage with your guests” through team building; MVC clubTHRIVE fitness classes; A bird of prey program at Shaver’s Creek to emphasize “a sense of place”; learning about the healthy use of technology in the natural world; art trends with local artists; Point of Sale demo and marketplace design; social media; and outdoor initiatives such as campsite selection and shelter building, which are part of the MVC new Outdoor Adventure Club option.
“Marriott Vacations Woldwide's goal is (to create) a pipeline to our students,” Kleban said. “Their executive management team is finding that activities and food/beverage team members are the best to begin promoting through their systems as our graduates understand the experience part of vacations.”
The company brought property activity directors and food and beverage directors from their Marriott Vacation Club resorts to Happy Valley, along with its executive, public relations and human resources teams. RPTM student Jennifer McKee and HM student Jillian Kleban, Marriott Vacations Worldwide's corporate interns, were the primary planners.
"The participants from Marriott Vacations are mixing it up with classroom learning, experiential learning, corporate training and social events,” Kleban said. “Students in RPTM and HM have been selected to participate and Marriott Vacations Worldwide recruiters have interviewed students and alums on site for pre-internships, internships and permanent jobs. We had over 100 students come to (the) meet and greet (at the beginning of the conference).”
Peter Bordi, associate professor and director for the Center for Food Innovation in the School of Hospitality Management (SHM) developed a cooking oil study with the MVC food/beverage team. Through the testing in the research kitchen and corresponding testing in the sensory lab, the company was able to provide optimal cooking procedures to prepare the highest quality food, which enhances the resort experience with its owners and guests.
An event that has previously been held in larger locations, including Orlando, Florida, U of the Way was created specifically for the Penn State location.