Guest Services – Conference FocusINTERNATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM Estes Park Center, YMCA of the Rockies

Objective:

The Estes Park Center is the largest company-owned conference center in the world, serving over 150,000 guests annually through family reunions, conferences and weddings. Our property sits on 900+acres, has over 70 meeting spaces, 217 family cabins, 8 Reunion cabins & 9 hotel- style lodges, allowing us to accommodate nearly 5,000 guests overnight. Through the Conference Orientation phase, the participant will gain familiarity of our property, observe how the Conference department works in collaboration with the other numerous departments at our Center, and will gain a preliminary understanding on the life of a group contract from initial inception through to the end of the guest's event.

Task:

The goal of this phase is to familiarize the participant with our property, to gain an understanding of each of the Estes Park Center's departments, their responsibilities, and how all departments work together in effort to provide exceptional guest service. The participant will also be introduced to the construct of a Group contract and how the terms defined within each contract impacts other departmental procedures, an initial introduction to the Maestro reservation system will begin at end of this phase.

Objective:

In this phase will introduce the participant to all Administrative Assistant tasks such as Group Leader interaction via phone and email, Maestro reservation system implementation for detail data entry/retrieval, internal communications via phone, email and radio. Standard Conference office procedures and the defining of commonly used Conference language, introduction to preparing check-in packet and end of the phase.

Task:

The participant will begin learning the administrative aspects of our conference business through:

Data Entry- will learn how to enter/ retrieve event details using Maestro reservations system. Will assist Conference Coordinators with data entry for lodging, meals, meeting room set- ups, quality checking information according to contract. Office Communications- will learn proper phone, radio and email techniques to effectively communicate with guests and work colleagues. The participant will learn procedures of phone reception on Conference department phone lines, transferring calls to appropriate Conference Coordinators, fielding basic guest questions, and assisting Group Leaders to verify their event details, as well as essential communication with key staff in other departments. The participant will learn to monitor emails and procedures on replying to inquiries sent to the general Conference email address. Office procedures and teach planning guide as a resource.

Objective:

Project Room - Applying the knowledge obtained in the previous phases, the participant will learn to properly prepare Groups for arrival through the creation the Check-in packet containing accurate meal tickets, prepared keys for lodging accommodations (using software to create slide key cards), assuring accuracy of room rosters with all of the above compared against the Group contract to ensure accuracy of work done. This work is best done on a mid or PM shift to ensure most current information on the day before a group arrives and will be closely monitored by supervisor to instill importance of the Project room duties and accuracy of details.

Task:

The participant will learn how to extract the essential details from a Group contract in order to properly prepare a check-in packet. The participant will also learn software system used to create slide card room keys, how to ensure that each rooming roster is accurate, as well as the data entry method to prepare meal tickets for each group. The accuracy of the work done in this phase is crucial to a quality guest experience.

Objective:

Learn to coordinate a conference from the initial receipt of group contract to payment of final invoice. Supervisor will provide on-going assistance to the participant as they learn every step required in conference coordination and guest satisfaction.

Task:

Utilize all skills acquired in previous Phases Gain proficiency in each step of arranging the logistics of a conference, beginning with how to conduct a property site tour, when to revise a group contract, important deadlines, required documents, wrapping up details ahead of arrival, communicating concrete, accurate information to our reliant departments as well as on-site hospitality and support provided to groups.