Author: Debbie Harding, Manager, Conferences and Accommodation, University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus
Happy New Year! As we begin the New Year, it becomes crystal clear very early on that things are already kicking off for the conference season, only a few short months away. You may think that it’s way too early to start planning for conference season on January 6th! Not the case. We are already setting up meetings with housing, maintenance, residence life, conferences, and housekeeping to begin planning our transition from housing to conference season. When are students moving out? How much time do we have to clean and set? How many students are staying over summer? What are the maintenance projects? We are looking at our groups and planning staffing needs. We are putting together our job posting for student guest service agents to be posted by late January. We are fine tuning revisions to training modules and procedures. And so much more!
Planning for conference season can be just as complicated and critical as planning the actual conferences! It takes a tremendous effort to make sure that our student residences are ship shape for all of our conference and accommodation guests. The best way to do this is to make sure that our organization is prepared on all levels for the season ahead. We are extremely fortunate to have a fantastic cohesive team that works together to make this happen smoothly. We also have the benefit of experience! Because of our critical evaluation each season, we are better prepared for next season. Starting now just makes it that much smoother for later.
We welcome the New Year because it gets us excited for what’s to come! Our focus is turned to the future and all that it will bring! So, here’s to a fantastic 2014 to all of our CUCCOA colleagues and success for the coming year!
Debbie Harding, Manager, Conferences and Accommodation, University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus
Telephone: 888-318-8666
Email: debra.harding@ubc.ca
