Thursday, October 30, 2008
Reflections by Cathy Popp Part I: Frolics through New York Goat Farms
MMMMMMMMMMBBBBBBBBAAAAAA!
Last Saturday, HEC Function Managers and Board Assistants went on an educational field trip to Lively Run Goat Dairy. In case you weren’t aware (and I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be…you are a Fine Dining major, after all), Lively Run is one of the Finger Lake’s premier goat cheese producers. You can find their fabulous cheeses at several local wineries, Wegman’s and even Taverna Banfi!
So, you may be asking yourself, why on earth did Cathy Popp haul 28 of the Hotel School’s finest students to a smelly goat farm in Interlaken, NY? Well, it was actually an incredibly educational experience, as we learned the entire process of making goat cheese (chèvre), blue cheese, and feta cheese. Additionally, we learned that cheese is twice as delicious when you have personally befriended the goats that are responsible for producing it.
Contrary to what you may think, HEC is more than just a weekend of extreme sleep deprivation and elbow-rubbing with the rich and famous; it is a year-round educational opportunity. As such, we offer fun but useful field trips for all Hotelies involved or interested in HEC. If you have any ideas for future trips, feel free to send an email to Field Trip Coordinator in Residence, Cathy Popp (mcp54).
MMMMMMMBBBBBBBAAAAAAAA! (It’s the sound that a goat makes, in case you didn’t get it the first time.)
10:11 PM | 0 comments
Monday, October 27, 2008
Bad Jokes + Upcoming HEC Events!
¡Hola, muchachos! I know this past week’s been a rough one for all of us, so I’d like to start off with a couple jokes to lighten the mood.
How many Cornell students does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two. One to screw in the light bulb and one to crack under the pressure.
How many Hotelies does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One. Come on guys, we learned that stuff in 105. Sooo freshman year.
How many Hotelies does it take to…guess the number of candy corn pieces in a jar?
That’s a trick question(/joke). I don’t know the answer(/punch line) either. But, you can find out for yourself if you stop by the Student Lounge on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday! The HEC board is holding a Halloween philanthropy event, for which all Hotelies are encouraged to come and guess the number of candy corn pieces in a jar (hence, the clever title of my joke). The winner gets not only a $25 gift card to Maxie’s, but also ALLLLL the candy corn (better alert the dentist ASAP). The board suggests a 50 cent donation to guess, and all the proceeds go to UNICEF. How philanthropic!
A word of advice: it might be a good idea to bring along a buddy, just to have someone available to crack under the pressure for you. Hey, it might be fun to watch.
P.S. No fair if you have an engineer friend guess for you, or someone similarly good at spatial quantification (I don’t even know what it means—in fact, I just made it up—but it sounds like something a smart person would know).
Announcement Part Deux (today’s theme is Multicultural Madness, btw):
HEC is holding a General Body Meeting (read: open to ALL Hotelies) this Tuesday at 4:30 in room 196. The Board will be discussing HEC updates and future events as well a recap of C.Popp’s goat farm trip and the amenity focus group from last Thursday! If you still haven’t gotten involved in HEC yet, this is the perfect way to start!
A final word before I sign off: *****VOTE!!!***** please.
3:07 PM | 0 comments
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Amenity Focus Group this Thursday!
Ahoy, ye infamous scallywags! (Sorry, changing my Facebook language settings to “Pirate” has really messed with my vocabularrry.) Anyways, I know you’ve been wondering, “Well, Ellsworth, poking fun at Mark McCarthy and Mark Talbert is all well and good, but seriously, HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED IN HEC?” I have anticipated your concerns, and I now have your first opportunity: Guest Services Director Willis Cheng will be holding an Amenity Focus Group to brainstorm ideas for HEC 84 amenities! The grogfest will be going down this Thursday (the 23rd) at 4:30 in room 291. This event is open to any Hotelie interested in making sure the HEC 84 Las Vegas Extravaganza will indeed be the “best ever” for our guests.
So, will HEC guests be receiving travel wallets…or poker chips? Rosa Regale wine…or Champagne? Teddy bears…or feather boas? Slippers…or strippers? It’s up to you!
(Unfortunately the Chippendales gentlemen are already booked for the weekend, so don’t suggest this as a guestroom amenity. I know you were thinking about it. Or maybe it was just me.)
Remember: Thursday at 4:30 in room 291. Be tharrr or be shark bait!
8:45 PM | 0 comments
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
HEC Theme and Guest Speakers Announced!
Hey Guys! I’m Alison Harrigan, the HEC 84 Program Director. It’s my job to plan all the speakers, panels, student collaboration, and leisure events for HEC Weekend.
As many of you might have heard, this year Hotel Ezra Cornell will turn its focus onto Las Vegas! I made my first trip to Sin City this past July with Public Relations Director Peter Bowen, HEC Advisor Reneta McCarthy, and some random guy named Mark McCarthy (I don’t know what his deal is; he seems to hang around the Hotel School an awful lot…security should look into that) to start working on this year’s program.
I have to admit- before I went out to Las Vegas in July, I had envisioned drunk college guys wandering the strip, the classy characters of “Sunset Tan,” drive-thru weddings, more “Elvis” encounters than you would wish even on Mark Talbert, bad buffets, and strippers, strippers, strippers. Turns out, that’s only one side of Vegas. The other side is big, bright, beautiful – and only for the best of the best. You have to be at the absolute top of your game to succeed – even just to survive.
Las Vegas is the Mecca of the Hospitality Industry, and one of the very best places a Hotelie could end up. I know we’re humble folk and prefer to keep our superiority to ourselves…or just within the confines of the global hospitality sector…but, Best of the Best? Brightest of the Brightest? I believe we’ve found a perfect theme for The biggest event at The world-famous Hotel School.
With a Las Vegas theme, HEC 84 is truly going to be the “best ever.” And so far so good! By reaching out to some great resources (and using a combination of good old-fashioned Hotelie good looks and charm), we have already reined some fabulous speakers including:
Isadore Sharp – Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Four Seasons Hotel Company.
Although “Issy” may not be the first person that comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas, few can dispute that he is A Pretty Big Deal in the hospitality industry as a whole (whether his office smells of leather-bound books and mahogany remains uncertain). He will be speaking about Four Seasons Las Vegas’ influence on the strip as well as the role that Cornellians play in Las Vegas. Mr. Sharp rarely makes public appearances or speaking engagements, so we are VERY honored that he has chosen to speak at HEC 84!
Gary Loveman - Chairman, CEO, and President of Harrah’s Entertainment.
You may remember this guy from HADM 2275 (Information Systems) – he came up with the industry’s most successful loyalty program, Total Rewards. He also presided over the industry’s largest transaction ever – the $9.4 billion dollar deal when Harrah’s acquired Caesar’s Entertainment. As if these weren’t enough bragging rights, Loveman has a PhD from MIT and is a former Associate Professor at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration (too bad about their hockey team, eh?).
Bob Boughner - President and CEO of Echelon Resorts
Sid Vaikunta ’99 - Senior VP, Marketing and Operations
Both of these guys are executives at Echelon Place, one of the biggest developments in Las Vegas today… or should I say, yesterday (Echelon Place’s construction and development is currently on hold). We look forward to hearing their unique perspective on Las Vegas development.
Elizabeth Blau – MMH ’97 – Founder and CEO of Elizabeth Blau & Associates
If you have ever enjoyed Simon at Palms Place, Todd English’s Olives, or Jean Georges’ Vongerichten at the Bellagio Hotel, you have Ms. Blau to thank. Actually, you can pretty much thank Ms. Blau for the entire culinary landscape of modern-day Las Vegas. Ms. Blau is considered Steve Wynn’s go-to restaurant developer and one of the most influential players in the Las Vegas F&B scene. Rumor has it that Ms. Blau might be bringing some celebrity chefs with her for an out-of-this world F&B Panel!
That’s all for now, folks! Stay tuned as I will be keeping you updated with program developments every few weeks (or as often as I’m permitted to hijack the blog). If you want more frequent updates about HEC program developments, feel free to join my Wiggio group! Three easy steps:
1: Wiggio.com (you’re a member, right?)
2: Group Name: HEC 84 Program Team
3: Password: TheValley (this is what insiders call the strip)
And feel free to contact me ANYTIME! Although HEC is all about guest service, we’re really here for the students – so get in touch with me!
Happy HEC-Blogging Everyone!
4:20 PM | 0 comments
Monday, October 06, 2008
Hotelie Tailgate '08
"It never rains on a Hotelie parade!"
These immortal words by Dean Johnson perfectly reflect the Hotelie pride and enthusiasm that was clearly evident (despite the less-than-ideal weather) during the Hotelie Tailgate, HEC’s first major event of the year!
For those of you who were there, you surely remember the epic display of Big Red spirit, camaraderie, and epicurean delights, and took advantage of the chance to enjoy alumni- and faculty-networking, catch a few of Dean Johnson’s one-liners, and binge on pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (they were indeed epic).
For those of you who weren’t…well, you missed out. Sorry. You should have known better than to sleep in on a Saturday. But hey, I certainly had a good time gorging on the turkey burgers, beef/blue cheese/bacon burgers, Boston baked beans, beer cheddar soup, and cranberry white chocolate chip cookies that you forfeited.
At heart, though, I am a softie, and I don’t want you to be completely out of the loop. So, I’ll take it upon myself to share with you a couple awesome videos that the HEC marketing team created to recap the highlights of the tailgate. As an added bonus, it features exclusive interviews with Hotel School icons, including Executive Chef Erin Cade, Alum Geoff Gray, the always-entertaining Dean Johnson, and Professional Socialite CJ Slicklen.
the Hotelie Tailgate 2008
Aspect of the Hotelie Tailgate 2008
(The first video is a condensed version of the second, for those of you rushing to make it to Culinary Lab on time.)
By an official count, the event attracted 206 students and 135 alums. However, as all attendees are well aware, this number does not include the number of Hotelie-wannabes who managed to sneak in from under the barricade (or via bribe money, I’m not sure). I’ve also learned from an inside source that as many as five non-Hotel School students snuck into the tailgate in a shoddy attempt at impersonating sophomore Aileen Kline (I always knew she was a big deal, but…wow).
Consider yourself fortunate enough to be one of the “in” crowd. The HEC Tailgate officially re-confirmed our position as the Cream of the Cornell Crop, the Envy of Engineers Everywhere. Everyone wants to be us, or at least crash our parties. Well, we do have the best food, the smartest professors, and the best-looking student body, so who can blame them? Dean Johnson, once again, sums it up quite nicely: “The Hotel School is the glue that holds the university together.”
Great job to all the Function Managers and Board Assistants for a successful kick-off, and thanks to all attendees for showing Cornell what Hotelies are made of! Stay tuned for more opportunities to learn about upcoming HEC events, discover new ways to get involved, and get the inside scoop on your favorite Hotelies!
5:32 PM | 0 comments