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overviewMarketingpreplanningEventPost Eventchanges

History | Clients | Location

swot | Target audience | Marketing outlets

Budget | Risk Assessment | Layout | Volunteers

Training | TimeLine | jobs | challenges

Follow up | Evaluation | finances | satisfaction

Recommendations

Table of Contents | 3

OverviewHistory of the career fair

Date & LocationEckles HallCulinary CaféWednesday, March 5Panels 9-11 AMCareer Fair 1-4 PM

This was the first year we have partnered with CAFNR career services and had a career fair specific to just the Hospitality Management Department.In the past, this event has been combined with the CAFNR fall and spring career fairs that were

held in the business school and combined with the rest of the agriculture students. The need for a career fair was recognized as the Hospitality Management department began to grow and its diversity from the rest of CAFNR majors was noticed.

ClientsOur main client was Melissa Daniels, Academic and Career Advisor for the Hospitality Management Department. In addition to working directly with Melissa, we also partnered with CAFNR career services over in

the Agriculture building., The event was open to the entire campus but focused on the four main hospitality emphasis areas; Food and Beverage, Lodging, Conference & Event Planning, and Sport Venue Management.

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Date & Location

Companies1. Drury Hotels2. Dewey’s Pizza3. Hyatt Hotels4. Fresh Ideas5. Hillstone Restaurant Group6. Camden at the Lake7. Waffle House8. Dish Satellite9. Insight Global10. Isle of Capri Casino11. Lumière Place Casino12. Raymond Staffing Company13. Jason’s Deli14. J. Alexander’s15. Pickleman’s16. Hormel Foods17. Marcus Hotels18. Panda Express19. Freddy’s Frozen Custard20. Shakespeare’s Pizza21. University Club22. Les Bourgeois23. Six Flags24. LHM25. Starbucks26. Vista Host27. Marriott International28. Marriott Downtown Kansas City29. Hollywood Casino30. Deltic Timber Corporation and Country Clubs

Overview| 5

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Target Audience CAFNR Hospitality Management students looking for internships, jobs, or networking opportunities.

The event was very successful in attracting the target audience. Not only did we see a large number of graduating seniors, but there were also many freshman and sophomore students looking to find an internship, and start their networking early on.

MarketingSuccess

Marketingefforts

A majority of the marketing was done by CAFNR Career services. A Facebook and Twitter page were created, as well as advertisements on the televisions in the Agriculture building and fliers hanging throughout the hallways. We were able to help expand on what Career Services already had already done, by personally advertising to friends, and peers and encouraging them to “like” the Career Fair Facebook page, and follow along with the week’s events.

improvements

attendees Two-thirds female, one-third male, ages 20-22, mostly alone, or in groups of 2-3, spending an average time at the fair of 30 minutes.

Overall, we as a team were in charge of word of mouth marketing, not the actual marketing plan. In the future, creating more eye catching fliers may help increase turn out, as well as going to classes to advertise and present the event to Hospitality Management students. Also, reaching out to teachers to make it a class requirement to attend would help turn out as well.

Marketing | 7

Strengths

Opportunities Threats

Weaknesses- Location - Where a majority of Hospitality Management classes are taught so it is easier for students to find- Department specific rather than all of CAFNR - Caters to a more specific target market of students to know where to direct marketing efforts. - Helps us market to a specific set of companies to persuade to register to attend - Timely - Many students will be looking for summer internships or full-time jobs for after graduation-Track specific panels - Students learn more about the companies attending the career fair and about their interested industry

- Space - Confined to the café area, resulting in spill over booths to the hallway- Parking - No parking garage or large public parking lot directly near Eckles- Type of employers that attend the fair - The number of hotel and food and beverage companies greatly outweighs the sport venue and events and conferences companies- Lack of advertising - CAFNR Career Services advertises the CAFNR career fair more than the HM Career Fair - HM students also are not as connected to emails and social media usage to learn about the HM Career Fair

- Opportunity for students to land jobs or internships. - Career Fair provides an easy and accessible way for students to check out their options - Gives multiple internship opportunities for students to complete required internship class- Opportunities geared towards underclassmen - They begin to think about where they want to work, and ultimately help them decide on an emphasis track to pursue. - Helps begin networking and building relationships with these employers - Opportunity to meet the many different employers. - Career fair brings in a variety of employers from all different areas of hospitality allowing for endless networking opportunities for future jobs

- CAFNR career fair held in the Fall - Negative impact on our attendance due to the large number of companies present in comparison - This event is also opened to the entire student body and countless companies, industries, and organizations put in an appearance to appeal to a broader, larger market- Companies planning to attend our event - Many more companies for food and beverage and lodging tracks and lacking in sports venue and conference and events tracks- Weather - Have to consider factors like employers traveling adequate distances and students’ transportation to and from the event -

planningPRE

D e v e l o p m e n t o f i d e a s Three main ideas were brought to the table in our planning process that were decided against. The first idea was in regards to the structure of our employer raffle. For the raffle we collected prizes from James Hundle, Amanda Alexander, Stephanie Chipman, and Tiger Garden. We originally planned to make the raffle more public by announcing each winner over the sound system and presenting them with their gift in front of the students at the fair. However, we decided that it should be more of a quiet “thank you” gift given when their name was drawn in order to not interrupt employer and student networking. By not following through with this idea, we were able to keep the main focus of our event intact.

The second idea that our team decided against was allowing student volunteers to wear business professional dress while working their assigned shift. Even though this sounds like the exact opposite of what we should have done, this allowed the volunteers to represent their club by wearing t-shirts and provided a way for the volunteers to stand apart from other students at the fair in case someone needed assistance or had questions. Another element discussed was what to offer the employers for lunch. When working with Lerin and the catering team, we worked out a menu of soup, salad, and sandwiches to keep lunch for 90 people at a reasonable price of $10 per person.

L e g a l i s s u e s

P U R P O S E O F E V E N T The purpose of the Hospitality Management Career Fair was to provide networking and professional opportunities to Mizzou’s Hospitality Management students and faculty but to also

spotlight the department in the hospitality industry. This purpose was carried out through objectives of employer panels, a luncheon, a booth career fair, and an interview day.

Our team did not encounter any legal issues while executing the fair. However, we came close with a few incidents. First, the company that was hired to do the booth set-up were unaware of campus policies and smoked in the café while doing set-up. A short confrontation with them cleared up the issue and the matter

was resolved. Second, due to size constraints in the café area, we had to closely monitor fire codes and maximum capacity. Third, a few employers had conflicts with their billing for their company’s booth, but all of those issues were resolved before any situation had to be handled legally as well.

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planning Before the Fair: 1. Parking Distance and Space 2. Event Venue Space Being Limited 3. Dependability on Technology During the Fair: 1. Volunteer and Hired Help Quality and Reliability 2. Weather 3. Employer Details Matching ExpectationsPost-Fair: 1. Building Wear and Tear 2. Employer Survey Concerns

Budget

Since we did not start out with a budget we had to stay within, we focused on maximizing the quality of the fair while trying to make the department a profit as well. Tactics that were used to accomplish this goal included returning unused supplies, charging companies for services such as electricity, and using volunteers as day of workers.

BOOTH LAYOUT

RISK ASSESSMENT

The main challenge our team faced while planning was the communication system used in our event. Being a team of four that was assisting the CAFNR Career Services team and the Hospitality Management office team was challenging at times. We often had to consult multiple individuals to in order to make sure all information was being processed correctly. However, this many people led to a greater success for the fair and taught us how to effectively communicate among all groups in the planning process.

CHALLENGES

The fair was held in Eckles Café located in Eckles Hall on Mizzou’s campus. This site was selected, because it was a space the department could use for no cost. The location was also convenient for both students and faculty since it is the main Hospitality Management location on Mizzou’s campus.

Venue Selection

PrePlanning | 9

After we discovered all of

the areas we would be needing volunteers

for, we split the day into time slots. Once that was completed,

the team allotted a certain number of sign-up spots for each time slot. The number of volunteers needed for each time slot was then looked over and adjusted by the CAFNR Career Services office team. A Google Document was then created to allow all volunteers to sign-up online at their convenience and for us as a team to keep track of how many we had signed up. Our volunteers were recruited from the 4980 Special Events Management Capstone class, National Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH), Club Managers Association of America (CMAA), and the Mizzou Meeting Planners

Association (MMPA)

chapters at Mizzou.

We held two separate training sessions for panel

moderators and career fair volunteers. Training for student

volunteers was held on Wednesday, February 26th at 6:00p.m.Training for panel moderators was held on Monday March 3rd, at 6:00p.m. At these training sessions CAFNR career services went over general reminders such as willingness to help anyone and everyone, always being warm and welcoming, importance of being on your “A” game, answering questions to the best of your ability or finding someone who can. We also discussed what time to arrive, overall expectations of your panel or designated shift, appropriate introductions, and a schedule of the day.

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Volunteers at Your Service EVENT

Volunteer Shifts

We had an unexpected issue with space. We needed more room for employers and students to network during the event. The café was just very close quarters. We overcame this by spreading out to the lobby area and trying to help navigate the flow of traffic as best we could by utilizing our volunteers and appropriate sign-age. We also experienced one of our companies taking up three booths instead of just the one that they had paid for. We overcame this challenge by speaking with them in a professional manner during the event, and also raising their registration fee following the event. Some insights we learned throughout the event are that the more volunteers the easier life will be, communication with CAFNR Career Services and Melissa is key, plan on needing a bigger venue within the next couple years, the employer raffle was a huge success and should be kept in mind for next year, and keep a copy of all documents received from Melissa to help with follow up and your portfolio.

Challenges & Insights

help employers unload vehicles, check employers in at registration, direct to panels

help employers unload vehicles, check employers in at registration table, direct to lunch

direct employers to lunch, check students in at registration table, make sure student dress is appropriate, act as a floater

check students in at registration table, make sure student dress is appropriate, act as a floater

Load employers’ vehicles, move tables back to café

8AM-10AM

10AM-12PM

12PM-2PM

2PM-4PM

4PM-6PM

Pictured above are the gifts given to all employers attending the career fair. It consisted of candy and a Hospitality Management logo pint glass.

Event | 11

8 AM

9 AM

9 AM

9:30 AM Noon

1-4PM

11 AM

4 PM

Arrive & set up panels

Conference& EventsPanel

Food & BeveragePanel

Sports VenueManagementPanel

Lodging Panel

EmployerLunch

Career Fair

Tear downbegins

Timeline of events

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MorganKoch

CydneyFerguson

KristenGeorge

HollySanders

CourtneyBavender

MelissaDaniels

Our official title throughout this event was the Capstone Career Fair Committee. We were responsible for meeting with our client, Melissa Daniels once a week and completing the following tasks: assembling gifts for employers, obtaining prizes, organizing,

and executing the employer raffle, meeting with student organizations, and promoting volunteer opportunities while developing and filing volunteer shifts, researching employers, making initial contact prior to the event and follow up, set up and tear down of the event space in its entirety, manning the registration table, and guiding volunteers and employers.

jobs to be done

Event | 13

Post EventMeeting of Purpose and Objectives

Attendees’ Satisfaction

Client Follow UP

Many of the attendees seemed very satisfied with the event. We overheard many positive comments about how the event was set up and about the large number of businesses that were in attendance. On the other hand, many people were also disappointed about the type of businesses, and thought that a lot of them weren’t ideal jobs or companies to work for, right out of college. While there were many hotels and food service companies, there weren’t a lot of options for event planning students. In the future it would be nice to have some event companies from local areas, or even surrounding cities, such as Kansas City and St. Louis. The turnout seemed pretty close to what we expected. With there being a few hundred people in the Hospitality Management program, and two hours for them to come to the career fair, I think we have about a hundred, or more students each hour. It was very windy and cold the day of the career fair, so that definitely could have prohibited people from coming, but it was also a requirement for many of the Hospitality Management classes. Po

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The purpose of the Hospitality Management Career Fair was to provide networking and professional opportunities to Mizzou’s Hospitality Management students and Faculty. When looking at the amount of interviews and jobs that were landed from the event, we believe the purpose was sought out and met. We ultimately provided wonderful networking skills and opportunities for students that

are currently looking for jobs, and even underclassmen that are building their own network. Overall, CAFNR Career Services and Melissa Daniels seemed pleased with the outcome of the career fair. There was an overwhelming amount of praise from students and other faculty and it seemed that everyone gained some form of success from the event.

“

”

Morgan, Holly, Cydney and Kristen all did an amazing job with planning and executing the very first independent Hospitality Management Career Fair! Each of them remained professional throughout the entire process when interacting with students, industry professionals and myself. I was impressed with their willingness to take on each task that I handed them, as well as the ability to complete these tasks without needing a significant amount of guidance. With their assistance, the event ran extremely smoothly and efficiently. I owe each of them a very large thank you!

- Melissa Daniels

We also sent out surveys to employers to get their feedback. Their only complaint was the lack of space for their booths.

Post EventMeeting of Purpose and Objectives

c h a n g e s

If we had the chance to

re-do the fair, we would first of all have

it in a larger location, such as Reynolds Alumni

Center on campus, and second, we would chose to add a meet and

greet event into the fair. The meet and

Greet event could have

been held the night before the fair in the

café. This would have not only provided an opportunity

for students to meet employers in a more relaxed environment, the

employers would have likely spent the night in Columbia, allowing them to see more of the city and our campus, and making them feel less rushed getting to the fair the next morning. We were very pleased with the success of the fair overall and the turnout of employers and students, so we would not want to do anything differently to that. Our only hope would be to add more opportunities in with the already existing fair to heighten the success.

Volunteer & StaffEvaluation

Changes | 15

finances The staff and volunteers were a huge help during the Career Fair. It was very helpful to have the students running the check in table, helping to unload the employers’ materials and guiding them to their booths. Without their help, it would have been very unorganized. All of the CAFNR staff was willing to help out wherever they were needed and the employers definitely took notice of CAFNR’s hospitality, as a whole. Setting up and breaking down after the fair, especially the lunch area, took much less time than it would have if it had been just our team. Having volunteers within the Hospitality Management department, we think, was a major factor in the high level of work ethic conducted by volunteers. They were just as passionate and excited about the event as we were, helping provide the best services possible. The staff and volunteers made the Career Fair as successful as it could have been.

Overall, our total expenses for the fair were $3,911.07, including the lunch for the employers, which was $10 per person. The booth reservations brought in an income of $7,276, making a net profit of $3,364.93 for the entire event. However, we had several employer gifts and around $50 worth of candy left over, so the profit would be greater after calculating those returns. The profit is going to the Hospitality Management department to cover the cost of damage to a few chairs and a carpet tear in the café during set up and tear down of the fair, as well as future events.