Networking opportunity with RISE Hospitality Group

A couple of weeks ago at the MPI Forum, many students had the opportunity to network with Kelvin Monteiro, the Front Office Manager at Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel. Those who spoke to him were told of his new networking and personal growth group called RISE Hospitality Group. Kelvin started this group for aspiring hospitality professionals and industry leaders to connect, learn from one another and grow.

RISE Hospitality Group's website stated:

"We recognize there are a lot of people out there who want to take that next step and move up in the world but nobody seems to know how. We’re here to help you do exactly that by providing the tools and guidance to help get you there. We host fun events that offer a chance to learn from industry leaders."

As business students, all of us are aware that knowing the right people and building strong connections help tremendously when it comes to finding jobs. Thus, why we are encouraged to join clubs, attend industry events and stay in touch with the people we meet. And for many second-year BCIT students, graduation is just around the corner. Now is a crucial time to continue broaden our networks, meet industry leaders and other aspiring professionals like ourselves, and receive career advice and learn more about career options in the hospitality industry.

RISE Hospitality Group is hosting their first event called "Build a Strong Personal Brand" on March 26, 2014. The details of the event are:

Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver

645 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC

5:30 - 9:00pm 

$20/person and 1 drink is included

The event will consist of special guest speakers, an interactive activity, great prizes, and of course plenty of industry networking!

You can find out more about RISE Hospitality Group here.

2014 MPI Forum at The Westin Bayshore Vancouver!

Last week on Wednesday February 12th, MPI BCIT hosted the 3rd annual MPI Forum! It's the student club's biggest event of the year and was held at the Westin Bayshore Hotel with an increased number of students and attendees in comparison to last year. The MPI Forum is a speed networking event where an industry professional sits at a table and groups of students move between tables every 20 minutes similarly to musical chairs.

At the start of the event, attendees were presented with a name tag and gift bag at the registration table. They were then lead to a meeting area for mingling while the panelist room is being set up. Once everything was ready, everyone was seated for a wonderful and very inspirational keynote presentation, "Embrace the Struggle" from Narges Nirumvala, the CEO of Executive Speak. She talked about her life and how her falling eventually lead to her triumph. She gave tips on how to achieve success and how positivity and support is crucial to one's path on accomplishing goals. Her speech was very motivating for everyone in the room and she encouraged many people to use social media throughout the event.

After Narges' presentation, the speed networking event began. Students were given 20 minutes at each table and students were given a chance to talk to 5 professionals. There was an hour-long break during the middle where students and panelists were given the chance to talk one-on-one in a cocktail-setting. Lumisense Photography photographed the entire event and we have some beautiful photos to show!

The event was a big success and many thanks to the Amy Tsai, the Director of MPI Forum and her committee members for putting it all together.

MPI BCIT would also like to thank all the panelists for coming to this event and sharing their expertise with the students:

• Narges Nirumvala
• Mark Raham
• Vance Ng
• James Douglas
• Dean Mitchell
• Oscar Malpica
• Natasha Jung
• Kelvin Monteiro
• Kathy Nicolay
• Paulina Cameron 

Many thanks also to our sponsors for helping to make this event a success!

• The Westin Bayshore Vancouver
• American Society for Quality
• KIND Healthy Snacks
• Lumisense Photography 
• LUSH Handmade Products
• BCIT School of Business 

And last but not least, a big thank you to all the student who came to this event. You guys made all of this possible and we are looking forward to another big Forum next year! 

Networking With The Stars 2014!

Networking With The Stars is an annual event hosted by second-year MPI BCIT students and sponsored by the MPI BC Chapter. To plan this event, the students are divided into multiple departments, each contributing to an important component of event planning. The purpose of Networking With The Stars is to connect students to industry professionals through mingling, networking and an evening reception at Vancouver's top venue.

The event started off in the early evening inside the beautiful new building of the Vancouver Convention Centre. Students and industry professionals picked up their name tags before they are proceeded into the main foyer for a cocktail-themed reception. Alongside the reception is a silent auction table.

Left to right: Idy, Shivani, Naomi, Annie, Carly

Prior to the event, many students mentioned being nervous about approaching the industry professionals and not knowing what to talk about. To encourage networking, the gamification team designed a networking game where industry professionals held three-by-three bingo cards with a country's flag representing each tile. Students were each assigned a movie name. After interacting and mingling with a professional, the student will place a sticker onto the tile of the country where their assigned movie is filmed. Professionals with a sticker placed on each tile had the opportunity to enter their card in for a draw to win prizes.

Following the mingling and cocktail reception, the students and industry professionals enjoyed an inspirational and very heartwarming speech by Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour. Shirley's speech was incredibly insightful and everyone was ecstatics to hear her speak.

MPI BCIT would like to thank our list of sponsors:

Vancouver Convention Centre
PavCo
Metrotown
Rocky Moutaineer
Boathouse Restaurant
WaterMark Beach Resort
Westcoast Sightseeing
Starbucks
UBC Salsa Club
Grady Wine Marketing Ltd.
Vancouver Craft Beer Market
Saje Natural Wellness
Scandinave Spa
Sushi Village
WHET Bar & Grill
ZipTrek
Shoe Care
Purdy's
Chocolaterie de la Nouvelle France
Native Shoes
Pinnacle Drilling Products Ltd.
BCIT School of Business
LinkBC
Bikram Yoga Metrotown
Eminence
Westin Bayshore
Lodging Ovations
Resort Reservation Whistler

Tourism industry networking at LinkBC's 2014 Rendezvous!

On Friday January 10th, LinkBC hosted the Student-Industry Rendezvous event at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel. The event consisted of over 300 students from LinkBC's network of colleges in a speed networking event with industry professionals from over 26 tourism and hospitality companies. It was an opportunity for new students to ask questions about different sectors in the tourism industry to get a idea of what they may be interested in, and for soon-to-be graduates to further prepare themselves on what to expect after finishing school. In addition, it was the perfect opportunity for everyone to build their professional network.

The Rendezvous event started off with a mini trade show. Students stopped by the registration desk at the entrance to pick up their name tag, a map of the speed-networking tables and a "Student Passport to Rendezvous 2014". The Student Passport is a piece of paper with all the companies' names listed. It's a gamification designed to encourage students to network with professionals. Students are asked to collect signatures from a representative from at least 5 different companies, and will be entered into a draw to win a prize at the end.

Following the mini trade show and initial mingling, students are proceeded into the ballroom and seated at a table with 1 or 2 industry professionals, and a handful of other students. Morgan Westcott, LinkBC's general manager, gave a welcome speech before the speed networking began.

Each industry professional sat at the table with their company sign displayed. Each student was required to go to a new table every 13 minutes, and had the opportunity to visit 6 tables throughout the speed networking event. At each table, the process was very similar. The industry professional(s) introduced themselves, followed by student introductions. And then the table was open to any questions the students had about the industry, their profession, experiences, professional advice, etc.

After the speed networking part was done, there was a keynote presentation and ended with a wonderful speech from Rick Antonson who talked about his passion for the industry, where he sees tourism going in the future, and encouragements for students.

MPI BCIT students at LinkBC's 2014 Rendezvous. (Left to right: Andrew, VP of Finance; Idy, Director of Marketing; Shivani, President; Annie, Director of Social Media)

 Afterwards, students exited the ballroom and headed back to the trade show area for more networking and mingling. The event was insightful and LinkBC did an amazing job of connecting students with professionals. For more information about LinkBC and their work, check out their website here.

Next week, MPI BC Chapter is hosting Networking With The Stars, another student-industry event. More details coming soon!

Our first speaker session of the year: Networking for Dummies workshop!

"Networking is fun!"

And fun it is! We had a blast with Heidi Hughes joining us Thursday afternoon to give us expert advice and tips on professional networking in a business environment.

Heidi is the Manager of Conference Sales & Marketing at Anvil Centre, a brand new conference centre opening in New Westminster in 2014. She is also affiliated with our Parent Chapter as Director of Student Affairs for MPI BC.

Heidi talked about her networking experiences in the industry and how networking opportunities have helped her with employment later on. To quote her words of wisdom: "It's not about what you know. It's not about who you know. It's about who knows you."

The MPI BCIT team would like to thank Heidi for sharing her experiences and providing the students with 16 helpful tips for networking. We appreciate her recommendations and taking time to answer students' questions.

Now that we've gained insights from a business expert, it's time to get ourselves out there and make those connections!

Want to know more about Heidi? Check out her Twitter handle here: @hhh3events

Also many thanks to our new sponsor, KIND Healthy Snacks for providing everyone with granola bars!

2013/2014 Executive Board

EXECUTIVE BOARD 2013/2014

President: Shivani Mukerji
Vice President: Nina Davidson

VP of Finance: Andrew Heung
VP of Marketing: Dalvinder Kular
VP of Events: Jennifer Wong
VP of Sponsorship: Adrienne Regier
VP of Corporate Relations: Jason Ip
Secretary: Naomi Sambrook

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013/2014

Director of Marketing: Idy Wong
Director of Social Media: Annie Sheng
Director of Digital Media: Chris Thuong
Director of Sponsorship: Anna Dachuk
Director of Professional Events: Carly Anderson
Director of Social Events: Ethan Schrum
Director of MPI Forum: Amy Tsai
Director of First Year: Kylie Marshall

Experiential Marketing with West Trek

West Trek Tours is known as "Western Canada's #1 Tour Company". Established in 1998, West Trek Tours is Vancouver's #1 budget tour provider and services the international student community, backpackers and locals. They provide affordable tours to the Rocky Mountain, Whistler, Seattle Victoria, Tofino and Portland. West Trek Tours was recipient of the Vancouver Tourism Award in March 2012 and took part in money raising initiatives for the Japan Relief Fund following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

We are excited to announce that MPI BCIT has connected with West Trek Tours and will be helping them develop an experiential marketing plan during this upcoming school year. To find out how you can get involved with this project and to add experience to your resume, speak to one of our executive members or come to our first educational seminar on Wednesday September 11th for more detail!