Back-to-School (already overcommitted)

So in case your Facebook feed didn’t pile up with pictures of little back-to-schoolers on Tuesday, I’m here to remind you it’s that time of year again!

It’s the time of year I:

1. Completely panic
2. Realize that I am the teacher
3. Promise not to take on too much
4. Take on way too much

Here’s a list of commitments that I entered into over the summer, and am now realizing might be impossible to meet:

• Elected member of the BCIT Education Council (EdCo)
• Member of the programming committee
• New volunteer at Kudoz
• Volunteer member for the BC Hospitality Foundation scholarship committee
• Member of a cool new committee to do with the Tourism Industry Conference (TIC is my jam, as you know)
• Member of the selection committee for a new Associate Dean for our department
• And assistant coach of the marketing team for JDC West

Of these, I have decided to drop the last item (coaching) because mercifully another (more qualified) volunteer stepped forward out of the woodwork. That’s great, because as an instructor I’m now having to go from public speaking hibernation to ‘on’ several hours a day. And plan. And prep. And parent. Also apparently I have a social life?

Don’t let the calm-and-poised instagram post fool you, folks, I’m low-key freaking out over here. Next post I hope to address some (relatively healthy) ways I’m trying to cope with the stress.

What are your ways of dealing with back-to-school stress? Hit me up in the comments.

 

 

Bonus Question: How do you engage?

It’s almost the end of term and time for me to reflect back on my teaching practices. One of the things I’ve been focusing on this year is engagement: connecting with my students as people, and encouraging them to connect with me as well.

A practice I’ve implemented in all of my sales courses is to ask a bonus question that awards one mark for demonstrating that the students have gotten to know something about me:

“Share one thing you’ve learned about your instructor (her background, likes, dislikes, family or other fact) while taking this class.”

This year, I decided to compile some of these. I hope you find them as funny as I do. And please share your ‘engagement’ practices with me!

From my introductory sales class:

A passion for marketing and utilizing blogs and social media accounts (i.e. Instagram) to share professional knowledge and personal experiences respectively. Also dislikes getting stuck on a snowy mountain and missing class.

She’s into Star Trek and possible TOTR (editors note: had to Google this … I think they mean LOTR?). She likes poutine.

She likes visual aids, dislikes pushy salespeople, enjoys traveling and has at least one child … is that everything, gel?

Amiables (smile emoji) explains things clearly.

Does not like telemarketing. In the tourism industry.

BCIT grad. She recently went to Vietnam with her adorable daughter named Fraser. We can find her Instagram account @tourismnerd. She likes lemons?

You like pets! You have kids?

She likes travelling.

You have a very cute daughter. You are confident, and have beautiful voice.

You went to BCIT!

She likes getting up mountainsides, but no so much down!

She likes to climb mountains/hike instead of teaching her students. JOKES (smile emoji) . Morgan graduated from BCIT as well.

You were a sales manager before. You are teaching sales class at night as well.

Funny, enthusiastic, active and responsible.

Has a daughter.

I learned that Morgan has a 7-year-old daughter.

The love for Star Trek and dressing up as those characters for Halloween.

She has a daughter.

Morgan is hungry all the time. Thank you for teaching this class! I had a great time learning and you’re a great teacher! Good luck with everything.

Her daughter is really cute. Morgan has amazing traveling experience, I am so jealous!

You throw student evaluations in the garbage, LOL. (smile emoji) I knew it was true! I’m sure most teachers do.

How do you engage with your learners or peers? Post your ideas in the comments!

The future of work in tourism?

It’s that time of year again! The annual BC Tourism Educators Conference is being held at Okanagan College and as per usual much debate, discussion, and learning is happening around key themes in tourism education.

First up this morning was Tom Baum from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. For over 36 years Tom has been seeking to address the social and strategic contexts of low skills employment, with particular focus on hospitality and tourism.

Dr Baum challenged us, as a group, to look at the future of work in tourism, by first looking at the past. He suggested that for decades we have been engaged in the same conversation around tourism employment issues: lack of meaningful pay, low-skilled work, and high turnover – to name a few. He referenced a quote by George Orwell who was a pot-washer (plongeur) in the Paris of 1933: “a plongeur is a slave, and a wasted slave, doing stupid and largely unnecessary work.”

The fact is that in 2018, if we take a global view, there are still many “plongeurs” in our industry. Dr Baum cited reports including:

Global hotel chains – making London an unethical tourist destination through ‘standard industry practice’  by Unite the union Hotel Workers’ Branch: UnethicalLondon

Wage Theft in Australia – finding of the National Temporary Migrant Work Survey: WageTheft

The great training robbery – assessing the first year of the apprenticeship levy: TrainingRobbery

No Holidays for the Burmese: NoHolidaysBurmese

Dr Baum shared findings from one document in particular, “Working for the Mouse”, in which they found that despite challenges including homelessness and extreme commutes, and yet over 85% of the workforce interviewed at Disneyland in Anaheim reported that they loved their jobs. You can read that report here: WorkingfortheMouse

So where to from here? Dr Baum’s presentation set the stage for a day of “backcasting” (also the process used by The Natural Step), in which we looked at the outcomes we want to produce in our institutions, communities, and industry.

For more information about Dr Baum’s work in this area, see https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/baumtomprof/.

What kind of tourism industry do you want to see in 25 years? How can you be a part of that vision? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

It’s my last day at BCIT …

Three years ago I found out that LinkBC, the organization I helped build for 10 years, was closing. I was at a complete crossroads: on maternity leave, with a Vancouver-sized mortgage, and a sense I wanted to work in tourism and education but no idea of how to do it.

I took steps towards going back to university to become a high school teacher. I reached out for coffee with friends. I accepted a one-day-per-week contract at the University of the Fraser Valley, knowing there was no way I could get a post-secondary job closer to home.

Then on one of my coffee chats, an old friend from Royal Roads mentioned that BCIT wanted an instructor with a tourism background. She forwarded me the posting and I quickly hopped on the phone to the program head. A month later I was interviewing for the position. It was the most stressful interview of my life, but miraculously, I got the job.

That fall, I returned to the workforce with three jobs: teaching at UFV, wrapping up LinkBC, and teaching at BCIT.

I knew from day one that BCIT was my place. It’s my alma mater. It changed my life and gave me a career in an industry I’m passionate about. And to be walking the halls of SE6 felt right. I was home.

So why is it my last day at BCIT?

That’s an incomplete thought. It’s my last day at BCIT as a temporary instructor. I am thrilled to say that I competed for, and was awarded, a full-time permanent faculty position in the department.

Effective tomorrow, BCIT is officially my gig. I am over the moon grateful and very excited for what’s to come. Thank you to my students, my colleagues, my friends, family, and industry contacts. Your support has been, and will continue to be, greatly appreciated.

The baby bird nerds have flown again!

It’s almost been a year since I started this blog, and back in 2017 the impetus for this Tourism Nerd journey was the Tourism Industry Conference and Winning Pitch provincial finals.

If you’ll recall, I was inspired by my students’ resilience in the face of a loss – their optimism, professionalism, and courage blew me away (you can read that post here).

It hardly feels like a year has passed, but yet again BCIT has taken the stage at the Winning Pitch. Today we sent two teams to the Vancouver, Coast and Mountains regionals. This year’s challenge tasked the teams to come up with a business idea that would increase shoulder season visitation to, and within, the region.

One team pitched an idea for a collaboration with First Nations communities outside of Lilooet to create an immersive cultural tourism adventure, called “Land and Lakes Cultural Adventures”.

The second team pitched a hiking experience in Hope tailored to urban LGBTQ+ travellers and their allies, called “Rainbow Tours”.

What can I say about these students?

It amazes me that they are so willing to take on this extra work, on top of their onerous full-time courseloads  (students at BCIT don’t select their courses, it’s a set intensive program).

I’m stunned by their courage, especially those students who are still afraid of public speaking, because this competition takes place on a massive stage in front of hundreds of people.

I’m warmed by their approach to teamwork in the face of so much stress and adversity. They hold each other up. Each team was backed by students who helped with research, planning, and feedback. The students on stage were the tip of an amazingly talented iceberg.

It almost doesn’t matter what the results were, but of course this is a competition. At the end of the day, BCIT’s Land and Lakes team took first place, with Douglas College coming a close second, and Capilano U in third.

With our first place win in hand, I’ll be off with the Land and Lakes team to attend TIC in Kelowna in March. I can barely wait!

To all the students who competed, from Capilano University, Douglas College, Vancouver Community College, and Canadian Tourism College, we salute you. Thank you for your dedication to tourism and to sustainable industry growth in BC!

In the middle of the night …

I’ve just left the BC Tourism Industry Conference and I’m pumped about what our industry is up to and where we’re going.

So like any sane person who loves to write, I decided to overhaul my social media handles, register a domain name, start a website, and create a brand.

I give you “Tourism Nerd”.

I’ve been a self-professed tourism nerd for the last 15 years and now I’m out to prove it. This site will be home base for:

• Educational resources
• Industry trends and updates
• Travel tips

Stay tuned as I do my best to apply everything I learned this past week from greats like Miss604 and Sunny Lendarduzzi in terms of online and social. In the meantime, I’m going to try to revive some content and resources from the glory days of LinkBC.

Tourism Educators Conference: May 3 & 4, Vancouver

If you’re a BC tourism, hospitality, or business instructor save the date for the BEAC/TEC* 2017 at Capilano University in North Vancouver:

Learners Futures in a World Under Pressure 

Conference sessions will include a variety of peer-led discussions on:

• Climate change
• Social change
• Social reform
• Cultural preservation 

Students in our classrooms are expected to work in an ever increasing international workplace and global economy, the pressures they face to know more and be more equipped are tremendous. These sessions will focus on expanding our knowledge and will concentrate on elements of curriculum development, engaged learning and evaluation & assessment. Key dates: 

May 2 & 3- Articulation days

May 4 & 5- BEAC/TEC Learners Futures in a World Under Pressure

Register here: https://beac-tec2017.capilanou.ca/registration/

Call for Presentation Submissions:  Do you have research in one of these areas that is dying to be told or maybe you have a creative way that you’ve incorporated one of these topics into your classroom?  Email tourism@capilanou.ca with a subject line: BEAC/TEC Presentation.

* Business Educator Articulation Committees/Tourism Educators Conference