Future Leaders Come Together at The Collins College

By Michelle Andrews, Communications Assistant at Cal Poly Pomona Collins School of Hospitality Management:

More than 50 hospitality students from across Southern California gathered at The Collins College of Hospitality Management for the Future Leaders Forum in April. The event was created by the Association of Student Event Planners (ASEP) at The Collins College in conjunction with the Meeting Professionals International Southern California Chapter (MPISCC). The goal was to inspire students embarking on careers in hospitality, tourism and event management. Students who attended were able to meet and network with hospitality industry professionals.

The afternoon featured a panel of industry executives with visitor’s bureau, event planning, meeting planning and culinary backgrounds. Esteemed panelists from organizations such as Marriott and BCD Meetings and Incentives discussed their careers, shared their valuable experiences relative to students and gave advice for students set to graduate. Special thanks to our moderator and panelists: Carlos Murillo; John Ehlenfeldt, CMP; Judi Froehlich, CMP, CMM; Beatriz Garcia; Elizabeth Kadlubak; Thomas Mueller; Micole Newman; Sandy Simon; Russ Tanakaya and Dan Vasquez.

Former MPISCC President and Chair of MPISCC’s Student Outreach Committee Laurel Coote thought the event to be a huge success.

“To listen to industry professionals share their stories, inclusive of successes and failures, as well as details of the work they do, and why they do it, sheds light on the possibilities that await students upon graduation,” said Coote.

The Collins College’s Association of Student Event Planners (ASEP) was the on-campus club to help facilitate, plan and sponsor the event. The club works to give hospitality students opportunities to explore potential career paths. The club said hosting the MPISCC forum was beneficial in more ways than one. The students learned how to plan and host an event and established professional contacts within the forum.

Director of Activities from The Collins College’s ASEP Karen Yi worked to coordinate the afternoon of learning and networking. Yi said many students took complete advantage of this opportunity to better themselves as entry-level professionals and to understand the variety of the industry.

“Many people look at event planning and don’t think of every segment,” said Yi. “The diverse group of panelists allowed everyone to see what role each person and each position plays in the event planning industry.”

For more information on The Collins College of Hospitality Management visit www.csupomona.edu/~collins/index.shtml.