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We're All in the Hospitality Business

After two years of no business travel at all and very little personal travel, it was a strange twist of fate that I ended up going to Salina, Kansas twice in December of 2021, eight days apart, to be a panelist at two distinct events sponsored by Network Kansas. 

On December 8, “CompuCon” was a conference attended by a group of about 100 people, consisting of  K-12 (mostly) educators and tech related industry people from around the state, many from the greater Kansas City area. The purpose of CompuCon was to explore ways to generate more interest in and ultimately more people working in the computer science fields in Kansas. My role as a panelist was to share a vision of how I thought community maker spaces might help accomplish this goal.

I returned to Salina on December 16 for an “Ice House Facilitators Summit.” The Ice House Entrepreneurship Program is what we use in my Entrepreneurial Mindset class I began offering in the fall of 2012. I was joined on that panel by other veteran facilitators from around the state. The purpose of this summit was for the panelists to share the varied ways they offer the classes across the state. The audience was newly certified, by the Ice House organization, facilitators that have yet to actually facilitate the class. There’s not one method (or pedagogy, a favorite word in academics) prescribed in how to offer the class and facilitators have the flexibility to figure out what methods work best in their respective communities.

Both times I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Salina and both times I saw good examples of folks working in the hospitality business, especially during the second stay. It occurs to me that we are all in the hospitality business and should be striving to make everyone’s “stay” with us as pleasant and productive as possible.

The morning of December 8, after my first night at the Hilton, I went to the breakfast area unsure how it would be set up regarding hot food vs cereal and pastries. As I was trying to determine if I needed to cook my own pancakes, the very friendly attendant asked if I’d like to look at the menu of hot items and that she would bring my order to me. While I waited, I watched this woman as she greeted and interacted with the other guests. She was very friendly and helpful with everyone and I’m sure she was good for the Hilton brand that day.

On my visit the next week, I saw the same woman in action again showing the same great personality and hospitality under very different circumstances. The previous day, Wednesday, December 15 a derecho-- (pronounced similar to "deh-REY-cho") is a widespread, long-lived windstorm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms—swept over much of Kansas, but especially central and north-central Kansas, precisely where I drove to get to Salina. I grew up in western Kansas so I’m no stranger to driving in a cross wind, but in my 65 years, I’ve never driven in a cross wind like the one hitting all of I-135 from Wichita to Salina. I saw three semis that had blown off the road; two had overturned as well as a pickup-travel trailer combination that had blown off the road with the trailer overturned. I arrived at the same Hilton Garden Inn where the friendly desk staff welcomed me. They told me that the grill had experienced some power outages and was not going to open. I headed to the Olive Garden I had visited the previous week about two miles away. I found a whole section of Salina without power. Olive Garden, Walmart, Red Lobster and numerous other businesses all closed and in the dark. I made my way back to the Hilton expecting to settle for a sandwich from the vending machine. To my surprise, it looked like there were people in the grill area and some were eating. They must have decided to open the grill anyway to serve hungry, wind-blown travelers. By this time, it was after 7 PM yet there was a constant stream of people checking in. Odd, I thought, for there to be so many coming in that late. I had a nice dinner in a busy grill area as I observed the wait staff to be friendly and helpful to everyone. The next morning, I went back to the grill area to see the same morning attendant I had seen the previous week. The place was busy even though it had just opened at 6 AM. Through overheard conversations, I found out that many hotel guests from the powerless hotels had been “transferred” to the Hilton. I think I heard the attendant tell a coworker that she’d made the “executive” decision to give the transferred guests free breakfast because that’s what they were supposed to get at their ill-fated hotels.

It was quite something to see these hotel people at their best even under the strained circumstances of having to welcome such a number of unplanned guests due to the storm. The Hilton employees just seemed to take it all in stride, doing their best to tend to the needs of their guests both planned and unplanned.

We’re all in the hospitality business, really. Whether we’re in a hotel, restaurant, retail store, service business, health care provider, government agency or even community college. People have needs, we generally say they have problems, and they look for businesses and organizations that can solve those problems. Sometimes the problems arise from unforeseen and unusual circumstances such as a rare December derecho or a 100-year pandemic. Our goal should be to do the best we can to solve problems for our guests, customers, patients, and constituents. Regardless of the type of business, it’s those that are the most attentive and hospitable that will get the most business.

Jim Correll can be reached at (620) 252-5349 or by email at jcorrell@indycc.edu. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of Fab Lab ICC or Independence Community College. Archive columns and podcasts at www.fablabicc.org.


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