When I started at the GPCVB five weeks ago, the Housing Department was making reservations for two groups, one of which got canceled as I mentioned in my previous blog. The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners was scheduled for shutdown on June 8th, roughly three weeks from my start date. Shutdown is the day in which the Housing Bureau closes their participation as the housing bureau for the particular group, and all reservations are sent to the respective hotels. After shutdown, any email, voicemail, or what not gets forwarded to the hotel that the person is staying at where it is then the hotel's responsibility.
Within the next several days after shutdown, reports need to be run, printed, and organized. This was my job. I made a binder for us to keep and one for the meeting planner to have so she was informed about everything as well. The binder was filled with fifteen sections, including the rooming list, revenue, commission, cancellations.
On the opposite end of shutdown, is when the bureau sends out leads in order to attract the attention of groups who are planning their conference. When a group becomes interested in holding their conference in Phoenix and in using the GPCVB as their housing bureau, they respond to the lead with details about their conference and a time is set up for us to meet with them and give them site visits, along with a discussion about whether or not they will be holding their conference in Phoenix. On Wednesday, my supervisor and her immediate boss met with clients for lunch to discuss the GPCVB housing service. I got to prepare their packets for their meeting, which was basically filled with information about Passkey, the reservations system used by the GPCVB. It was a very exciting day because my supervisor came back from her luncheon with the clients to inform us that a group signed on to do their housing through us!
Now it is time to start preparing for the five groups that will be here within the next eight months. Meaning, we are currently preparing for groups up through February of 2011. It is crazy how far in advance conferences must be planned. So far I have only made the binders for the new groups, which have seven sections and include communications, event resumes, contracts, and agreements. My supervisor mentioned that she would like me to observe her and assist her with some of the other aspects of setting up a group, but details on that will have to be in a different blog considering I have not actually done it yet.
Due to shutdown having been on June 8th and the fact that it is/was the only group open, the past week has been somewhat quiet and has given us to get organized and ready for the new groups. In fact, on Monday, June 21st, there is a group, the School Equipment Show, opening for reservations, so business will be picking up soon!
As it is plain to see, I am experiencing the group housing process backwards. However, I am just thankful that I get to see a group at the very beginning as well as at the very end, even though I will not be witnessing one all the way through due to the short time frame I am there. It will be intriguing to see what the next steps are for setting up and opening a group.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
The Good Along with the Bad
BAD: During my second week of interning I made my first "big" mistake at the GPCVB. A person emailed me asking for their departure date to be changed from June 26th to June 27th. When I looked up the reservation, I noticed that it was already set to the departure date of June 27th, so I copied the confirmation information and emailed it to the lady informing her that it was already set for departure on the 27th. The next morning I received a phone call from my supervisor asking me to go to her office to discuss the Hennessy reservation. She informed me that I had looked up the last name of Hennissie, rather than Hennessy. Fortunately, I had not modified Hennissie's reservation because if I had done that, then I would have had some explaining to do to them and I would have had to go back in and put their departure date back to what it was. In the end we were able to fix Hennessey's reservation. GOOD: The lesson I learned from this was to pay extremely close attention to all aspects of a person's reservation, including their first and last name (and the spelling of those), the acknowledgement number, the person's address, the hotel they are staying at, the dates of their reservation, and even their phone number and/or email address. From then on, I have made sure that I am modifying the proper reservation.
BAD: On Thursday of my second week, we found out that a group (I am not allowed to say what group) had cancelled their conference that was going to be held here. It is a very scary thing because the Housing ladies had already done a lot of work to set up everything involved with the hotels and meeting planners for the conference. Additionally, thousands of dollars had already been spent doing all of that, which puts the bureau at a loss of money, not to mention all the money the city could have gained if the conference was held in Phoenix. Furthermore, there were already 458 hotel reservations made for the conference. Those, of course, all had to be cancelled individually. GOOD: If you are wondering why I know the amount of reservations that had been made, well, I got to be the lucky one to go in and delete them all and write down their cancellation number. It was not as bad as it sounds though because I enjoy repetitiveness, to a certain extent, and I certainly was able to master the process of canceling a reservation. I also believe that experiencing the cancellation was a good slap in the face of reality.
BAD: When I first started interning at the GPCVB there were only two other interns there who were part time and one of the girls was only going to be there for one more week. It was a bit lonely and nerve racking being new and being faced with the choice of secluding myself, or stepping out on a limb and talking to people, which I did. Not to mention, that task is more than out of my comfort zone so I have already done some growing. GOOD: Now that I have completed my third week at the internship, I have already started to feel more comfortable there. It has also helped that most everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Moreover, three new interns have started this week. It is comforting to know that the four of us are basically all in the same boat and we can relate to each other.
BAD: On Thursday of my second week, we found out that a group (I am not allowed to say what group) had cancelled their conference that was going to be held here. It is a very scary thing because the Housing ladies had already done a lot of work to set up everything involved with the hotels and meeting planners for the conference. Additionally, thousands of dollars had already been spent doing all of that, which puts the bureau at a loss of money, not to mention all the money the city could have gained if the conference was held in Phoenix. Furthermore, there were already 458 hotel reservations made for the conference. Those, of course, all had to be cancelled individually. GOOD: If you are wondering why I know the amount of reservations that had been made, well, I got to be the lucky one to go in and delete them all and write down their cancellation number. It was not as bad as it sounds though because I enjoy repetitiveness, to a certain extent, and I certainly was able to master the process of canceling a reservation. I also believe that experiencing the cancellation was a good slap in the face of reality.
BAD: When I first started interning at the GPCVB there were only two other interns there who were part time and one of the girls was only going to be there for one more week. It was a bit lonely and nerve racking being new and being faced with the choice of secluding myself, or stepping out on a limb and talking to people, which I did. Not to mention, that task is more than out of my comfort zone so I have already done some growing. GOOD: Now that I have completed my third week at the internship, I have already started to feel more comfortable there. It has also helped that most everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Moreover, three new interns have started this week. It is comforting to know that the four of us are basically all in the same boat and we can relate to each other.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Beginning
I started my internship at the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau two weeks before the start date of this class, on May 17th. To my surprise, I was not nervous at all about my first day, just very excited to jump into the business world. My position at the GPCVB is the Housing Intern. The Housing Department, specifically what I do, deals mainly with making and modifying reservations for people who are coming to Phoenix for a convention/conference, etc. For instance, in three weeks the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners is having a conference at the Phoenix Convention Center. The six main hotels that the attendees are staying at are the Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, the Wyndham, the Hyatt, The Buttes, the Arizona Grand, and the Legacy. Other tasks that I have done so far, and will continue to do, include filing, data entry, attend meetings, and keep track of voicemails and emails. I definitely have noticed that it is a job that takes an enormous amount of organization and attention to detail, but fortunately those are two of my biggest strengths.
My first week at the GPCVB consisted mainly of training and observing so that I could learn about the Housing Department and about how to do the things I will be doing. It was very rewarding when, after I had modified a lady's reservation for the first time on my own, to receive the thank you email from her. It was a great little boost of confidence and reassurance! The other ladies in the Housing Department do what I do, along with much, much more. For example, they speak with meeting planners and hotels in order to set up reservation blocks and websites that are made available to people so that they can make their reservation online. They also handle some of the money aspects involved, as well as many other things that I have not been made aware of yet.
On the first day of my very first week, both of the ladies in the Housing Department were gone. I was very nervous about that at first, but everyone at the office was willing to help me out with any questions and assured me that everything will be okay. I have always believed that the best way to learn things is to be "thrown into the dogs" as my supervisor called it on Monday when I was talking to her, although it was not her intention to do that to me. Luckily, my supervisor's assistant was able to answer all of questions and solve the list of issues Monday morning. On that Friday when I was "by myself", I even got to learn a little bit about and help out with another position, Services, which was interesting. For this, I ran an errand to the Hyatt to deliver two amenities.
All in all, my first two weeks at the GPCVB were very busy and exhilarating!
My first week at the GPCVB consisted mainly of training and observing so that I could learn about the Housing Department and about how to do the things I will be doing. It was very rewarding when, after I had modified a lady's reservation for the first time on my own, to receive the thank you email from her. It was a great little boost of confidence and reassurance! The other ladies in the Housing Department do what I do, along with much, much more. For example, they speak with meeting planners and hotels in order to set up reservation blocks and websites that are made available to people so that they can make their reservation online. They also handle some of the money aspects involved, as well as many other things that I have not been made aware of yet.
On the first day of my very first week, both of the ladies in the Housing Department were gone. I was very nervous about that at first, but everyone at the office was willing to help me out with any questions and assured me that everything will be okay. I have always believed that the best way to learn things is to be "thrown into the dogs" as my supervisor called it on Monday when I was talking to her, although it was not her intention to do that to me. Luckily, my supervisor's assistant was able to answer all of questions and solve the list of issues Monday morning. On that Friday when I was "by myself", I even got to learn a little bit about and help out with another position, Services, which was interesting. For this, I ran an errand to the Hyatt to deliver two amenities.
All in all, my first two weeks at the GPCVB were very busy and exhilarating!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Disclaimer:
The purpose of this blog is to document a college internship experience. Content published on this blog represents the author’s ideas, opinions, and experience. This does not necessarily represent the views of the internship organization.
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