Last Pit Stop: The Clover System

I love working with the Clover system! It may be because I used to have to work with a POS system that had you type in the price of the item instead of it being automatic... But Clover really is a really helpful POS system. It does not only allow you to do what a normal POS system should but it also lets you customize your system however you'd like to cater to your individual business.

Having worked with Clover, I don't know if I would want to switch to any other POS system.

I'm not sure if my blog title of "My Road to Becoming a Hospitality Computer Geek" really describes my journey through this course. I do not think I really became a computer geek per se but I definitely learned a lot! I loved how we did not just learn about all the boring programs and systems that are available for us to use but how we watched videos that talked about all aspects of technology and technological advances. The video that stuck with me the most was the "Generation Like" video. I thought that was very relatable but also quite interesting how companies market their products through social media. I never really thought about all these smart strategies that companies used to advertise. I know I have definitely fallen into many of these traps that these companies have set. Being in the generation that is married to technology, it's really interesting to learn about the new ways of doing business.

Thanks, Alice, for such an informative and interesting class! I truly have learned a lot and will carry my knowledge on to my future jobs!

Pit Stop #4: Hospitality Information Technology

Innovation is something that is very highly focused on with all businesses these days and that includes the hospitality industry as well. Nowadays we see so many technological advances every single day. I thought the article that we read about the 10 traits of innovative leaders was really interesting.

In the article, it talks about the leader having a complete picture of the future. That is something that I definitely have to learn but something that my partner at work has. The guy that I work with at the bakery has had 30 years of experience in the pastry industry and definitely has a picture of how things should look and how operation/production should go. It may not so much be innovation that he is good at but the fact that he knows exactly what needs to be done where. When we took over the bakery from the previous owner, the place was a huge mess; there were cockroaches everywhere, dust everywhere, junk everywhere while production was still going on. It was disgusting. However, with the guide of my partner, we had cleaned the place up and there are no cockroaches to be seen anymore! Though it took a lot of work, with a clear picture of what we want for the future, it was not hard getting things done.

Along with having a clear vision in mind, having trust within the team is third on the list of the 10 traits. I definitely think that is very true and something I can relate to as well. When we were first hired at the bakery earlier this year, all the employees there had been there for years longer than both the other manager and I have been. The trust was a hard wall to break, especially for him because he was a lot more threatening than a 19 year-old college girl. Change was not easy for these guys because they had all been doing the same things for so many years. However, that change was very needed because a lot of it was either unnecessary hard work or incorrect methods of doing things. It was hard to ask them to change the way that they did things but eventually, they figured out that we were there to help and not to make their lives any harder. And slowly but surely, everyone came around to be more open to changes that we were making.

All the things on the list were very true and definitely very relatable with the experiences that I have had in the industry. However, I have not had much experience with big companies that require lots of knowledge of technology, though I'm sure these helpful traits do not change for that.

One of our classmates wrote their discussion on Disney's MyMagic+ wristbands which I thought was very interesting. I decided to look more into it to learn more about it. The wristband allows guests to plan their trip ahead of time, reserve and order food before arriving, and so much more. It makes the experience at the park so much more intimate instead of just park/restaurant workers that help the guests like any regular park or restaurant. This system costed Disney $1 billion dollars which I don't know if it's worth it but it definitely helps the park make the experience for the guests more personal as well as help the employees understand how to better their services.

Information technology is very helpful for increasing employee efficiency as well as customer satisfaction which leads to a higher profit in the company. It is so important for anyone that is trying to pursue a career in the hospitality industry to learn to use technology because technology is catching up with us! If we don't learn, we're going to be replaced by technology because it is more cost efficient and it knows more than us.

Pit Stop #3: Hospitality Information Technology

IT, Information Technology, is essentially the technology that processes information for a company or organization. Before learning about IT in this class, I always just thought it was the person in a school or company that fixes the internet problems or whatever problem that is technology related. However, IT is way more than just that. In terms of the hospitality industry, IT includes all the data of an establishment's guests that is stored in the database. 

I thought that the Generation Like video was really interesting and very true and relevant to today's society. I definitely see a lot of advertisement that are done through social media as well as social media stars. A few of the YouTubers that I watch often come out with "sponsored videos" where they talk about how great a product is and encourage their fans to buy it with their promo code that was provided to them by the company. I believe that this is really a great way to advertise products. 

Going off of the Generation Like video, I think the hospitality industry should take more of a advantage of this trend or phase that we're going through of following what these famous internet stars are doing. I'm thinking more for restaurants (but would work for hotels as well).  A restaurant can invite the social media star (and their friends) over for a meal on the house and have them film their whole experience there and talk about it. I think this would be a really great way to get your restaurant's name out there. Just like a wildfire, information online spreads FAST, especially with popular stars with very loyal fans. 

Pit Stop #2: Intro of Myself

Hello! My name is Jessica Pai and I'm going to be a second year hospitality major with a concentration in restaurant management. I'm an aspiring chef who loves doing both savory foods as well as pastries. I currently manage a bakery by Chinatown.

My passion for food as well as service started at a very young age when I helped my mom make her famous "peanut butter mayo sandwiches." Yes, everyone at the picnic gave her a weird face when she first told them what they were. However, the weird faces turned into content smiles as soon as they took their first bites into the sandwiches. That was the moment that I knew that I wanted to be a chef when I grew up. I absolutely adore the fact that with all the ingredients in the world, you can be as creative as you want and can literally make a "bajillion" different dishes. 

I started working in the food industry when I was a sophomore in high school. My first real job was in a catering kitchen. At Andro's Rostilj, we catered start-up company lunches. Because we were based in the Bay Area, and new start-ups were popping up here and there, our client base grew very fast. We made meals that were of different cuisines every single day; some days we made Italian, some days Mexican, some Chinese, and some American. I absolutely LOVED this job. I loved the people that I worked with, the people that I served, as well as the job itself. The bosses here really knew how to treat their employees as well as their clients well. 

My dream is to one day open a Taiwanese-Mexican (or Taiwanese-American) fusion restaurant of my own. And when I do, I want to create the job environment that I had at Andro's. Customer satisfaction is my very top priority. I want to make sure all my guests leave my restaurant happy and want to return the second that they walk out the door because of my food as well as my workers. Right next to customer service, my second top priority is going to be employee treatment. Happy employees lead to happy customers and it is important for me that both of them are happy. 

Below is a copy of my resume...

Pit Stop #1: My Expectations

Growing up in the Silicon Valley, technology is definitely not something new or foreign for me. However, technology for the hospitality industry? That is definitely something quite unfamiliar. Just doing the Qualtrics course (which I have yet found out where exactly the comprehensive quiz was on the website in which I had to just search up "Qualtrics survey course comprehensive quiz"), it got me quite nervous for the rest of the HMD 226 course.

Having been managing a bakery for the past 7 months really has taught me a lot about all the technology that we have available for us. However, it's the matter of whether you learn to use it or not. All of these websites and apps can make our jobs a lot easier. Although these are very basic computer apps that are not at all catered to the hospitality business, from my time at the bakery, I have used to learn Excel and Dropbox in a lot more detail than I had before. 

As for the things that I want to learn from this class, I really would like to know more than just things such as Excel, Dropbox, Google Docs, and other basic technologies. I want to learn about the technologies that are going to make me stand out as a job applicant because I know how to use programs that make managing an establishment more efficient. 

I think the Qualtrics Survey lessons were really helpful (but also quite tedious and a bit confusing because of all the different functions). I know I definitely need to familiarize myself with the program before I tell my future potential employers that I am able to make detailed surveys but it really does bring you a level higher being able to perform tasks like that. 

This is an video that shows the awesome technology that Dell and Hilton have partnered to create for the future: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SMiBP4R-YU