“It gives me great pleasure to announce the promotion and transfer of Ms Sonja Vodusek to the position of Hotel Manager in Prague. Sonja will be joining us on November 12th heading from The Four Seasons Hotel Washington where she is currently Director of Rooms.
A graduate of Blue Mountains Hotel School and The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, she brings with her a wealth of experience both in Rooms Divisi on and Food and Beverage. Having worked in different parts of the world from Washington to Tokyo, Houston to Dublin and Sydney, Sonja has been with Four Seasons Hotels in different capacities, since 1997.Please join me in welcoming Sonja to The Four Seasons Hotel Prague and to The Golden City and wishing her continued success in her new position.”
While she was still in Washington, Sonja helped recruit two BMHS students Mr Charlie Tickler and Mr Lachlan Selwood who graduate this December. Charlie Tickler will be a Duty Manager with the property and Lachlan Selwood commences a management traineeship in 2008.
What more fitting way to celebrate cultural unity and difference for the annual ORION Day than with a Melbourne Cup lunch on 6 November for all students and staff for the time-honoured traditional Australian national day of horse-racing, fun and sartorial glamour.
BMHS students ‘glammed up’ for the occasion with a dazzling array of hats, wide ties and bright shirts and ran sweepstakes for both staff and students to ‘have a flutter’ on the highlight of the Australian horse-racing calendar: “the day the country stops to watch a horse race.” A delicious barbecue lunch was followed by an excited room full of students and staff cheering on their favourites as the live broadcast of the race was projected on the back wall of Chambers restaurant.
As part of the festivities, Deputy Principal Mr Steven Tucker and Vice Principal Operations Ms Jane Adams held an ORION quiz which eliminated all contenders until it came down to a lightning round between two students, Mr Craig Gaffney and Ms Jade Chapman with Mr Gaffney emerging as the victor and winner of a ipod Nano. Bright orange ORION caps were then distributed to all guests who wore them with pride as they enjoyed the afternoon off.
On 7 November, the School was pleased to have Mr Shaun Parsons, EAM, Food & Beverage, Le Meridien, Minah Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina, and the Westin, Dubai, UAE as its guest speaker to open students’ eyes to the exciting career opportunities with Starwood in the booming tourism city of Dubai, famous for its cutting edge architecture and state-of-the art hotels and attractions.
On 13 November, the School was delighted to have Ms Marlena Muscardo, Assistant Human Resources Manager, The Westin Sydney, as its guest to lecture on what graduates interested in a career with Starwood can expect with this company that encompasses the Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Westin, St Regis, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Aloft and Element (inspired by Westin) hotel brands.
Starwood has become one of the School’s official Industry Partners of the BMHS Graduate Privileged Partners program, a selective program designed to connect BMHS’ highest achieving final year students with industry.
Ms Marlena Muscardo (nee Adams) is a graduate of Blue Mountains Hotel School from 2000 and was surprised to run into fellow-classmate Mr Prateek Gujral, BMHS Area Manager for India, employed by the School’s marketing team, who was visiting the campus for his regular annual briefing.
On 22 November, final year students in the Hospitality and Tourism Consultancy Unit showed off their team projects in a competitive expo held in the Hoylake and Fitzroy rooms.
Student teams formed into consultancy groups were required to prepare a comprehensive business proposal/feasibility study covering marketing, project management, accounting, human resources, strategic analysis and operational management for a hospitality-based project with a capital investment of $25M-$100M and located in a choice of locations in Australia including Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin, Hobart, Kakadu and Perth.
As well as their 3,500-word reports, student teams prepared elaborate 3-D models and marketing displays for the Expo. An exceptional investment of creative effort and commitment was demonstrated on the day with such features as a live didgeridoo player, logo-embossed T-shirts, websites with floor-plans and photos, brochures and spa products.
Outstanding project displays included:
- the Hotel Poseidon, a 152-room boutique hotel in Adelaide (Natalie Belbin, Anders Solvang, Eunice Leung, Danica Yu, Ping Pichitsurakij);
- the beachside 50-villa five-star Casa Marina Resort and Spa in Coffs Harbour (Ivana Wongso Saputro, Joyce Chan, Rayson Ng, Buddy Kunapura, Agatha Cindy Felicia);
- the five-star 100-room Grand Sunshine Hotel Casino in Alice Springs (Yuree Kim, Jinny Min, Bond Kunapura, Otto Hut, Maggie Shen, Masela Kartika);
- the 10 luxury-villa Blue Lake Estate with rooms designed and themed by well-known Australian companies in the Koscuiszko National Park (Lauren Hayes, Jessica Knight, Sissel Jorgensen, Chris Thomson, Dondey Zong);
- the L’Girra five-star luxury resort in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia (Charlie Tickler, Jessie He, Nicole Ivory, Perry Yiannakis, Althisek Vaghela);
- the WOW theme-park and resort in Hall, the Australian Capital Territory (Mandy Posetti, Winny Harnadi, Ryan Wong, Yvonne Fong, Gordon Yeung); and
- The Venue five-star boutique hotel in East Perth, Western Australia with signature F&B offerings the Rouge Restaurant and Fizz Bar (Logan Miller, Marcus Fitgerald, Tri Hartanti, Lucia Liang, Andy Ong).
Thirty students from Independent Schools all over NSW spent several days from Wednesday 21 November to Sunday 25 November at BMHS campus to participate in Crème de la Crème - A Selective Hospitality Training Program, sponsored by the Association of Independent Schools (NSW) & BMHS. This selected group of top hospitality students gained a personal invitation to attend BMHS campus and be trained by quality staff from BMHS.
Day 1 of the program commenced with orientation including a lecture on grooming and presentation followed by intensive training focused on linking service to the kitchen with a pool party and BBQ dinner that evening. On Day 2 students experienced first hand the same practical classes in F&B and Front Office as Level 1 and 2 BMHS students and also did intensive beverage training followed by a Les Nez du Vin session that night.
Day 3 commenced with sightseeing hosted by local tourism operator Trolley Tours to gain insights into major tourism attractions including the Three Sisters and Echo Point, Katoomba Chocolate Shop and Scenic World. Crème de La Crème training focused on coffee.
Days 4 and 5, Saturday and Sunday, concentrated on preparation for a three-course seated banquet lunch on Sunday for 80 people, prepared and served by the AIS students. This event was attended by Principal Mr Guy Bentley, Vice Principals Mr Steve Tucker and Ms Jane Adams, Dr Geoff Newcombe, Executive Director of AIS, and his wife Kerry, Mr Rod Leverment, Manager VET in Schools Program (NSW) and his wife Ann, as well as 70 parents, guardians and family members and teachers of the students.
At the conclusion of the lunch, there was a formal presentation to all students who successfully completed the program. Mr Tim Woodhouse, a Year 11 student at Arden Anglican School, NSW was awarded "Most Consistent" student throughout the program by BMHS trainers and received an iPod as a prize. All students found the program provided a valuable worthwhile training opportunity and an exceptional insight into the world of hospitality.
Event management students had responsibility for staging two events this month, primarily for an internal on-campus audience.
On Tuesday 20 November, an Expo displayed the major projects of final year students in the Hospitality and Tourism Consultancy Unit, featuring elaborate models, multimedia displays and activities (see next news item). The Expo was produced by Stefannie Leeansyah, Jessica Kesumo, Wayne Lam, Virginie Fanny, Christabelle Soesanto and Phia Leowati.
On Friday 30 November, students celebrated the end of semester with a G-Rated Playboy Party featuring novelty games and a chance to be photographed with ‘Hugh Heffner’ and two of his bunnies! This event was produced by Ryan Sing, Nora Skantz, Yuki Leung, Stephanie Cho, Neil Choudhury and Myktyka Naryshkin.
The latest group of students in the School’s new unit Management Principles for Specialist Resort Facilities (Golf/Spa) travelled to Shoal Bay Resort and Spa at Port Stephens on 11-13 November. During the three-day excursion students enjoyed a spa treatment at the Resort’s Aqua Spa, had a golf lesson at Nelson Bay Golf Club, and heard presentations from local tourism and hospitality industry speakers.
