2012 Schools Hospitality Orientation Week (SHOW)

Starting on 9th of July 2012, 18 senior students from Wellington’s ISHoCC team (Inter School Hospitality and Culinary Club) eagerly dedicated the second half of their school holidays to attend the 2012 Schools Hospitality Orientation Week (SHOW). A great time was had by all. They now look forward to future I-SHoCC events that will continue to stimulate their culinary skills and senses as they discover the rewards and joy of service, preparation, teamwork and the culture of hospitality.

SHOW week involved key industry workshop basics, from personal presentation to safe food handling and industry expectations.  SHOW also introduced the students to many of Wellington’s finest hospitality ambassadors via behind the scenes industry site tours, guest speakers and career chats with every new person they met.  For the latter and main part of the week, the team was divided into their preferred kitchen and food & beverage teams, and rostered onto three jam-packed days of practical industry training  with the Epicure/Spotless teams, as they prepared for and then worked as event staff at the Westpac Stadium for the event of the week - a Super 15 Rugby game - Hurricanes vs Chiefs.

The  excitement, pride and the sense of achievement the students felt at the end of their SHOW and stadium experience easily outweighed any pains of sore feet  and physical exhaustion. SHOW week has inspired another generation of today’s secondary school possible X-factor hospitality leaders.

Special thanks go to our fantastic industry role models and ambassadors who continue to share their passion and time with our team – Joanne Craughwell, Rachael Gillies-Smith & their Ibis, Novotel and Mercure teams; Jay Chapman and Mojo Coffee; Murray Langham - Schoc Chocolates; Melva Howard - Fonterra;  Michael Kirk, Steve Morris, Dave McCabe and the Epicure team, and the Trust at the Westpac Stadium. Thank you!  Sonia & the I-SHoCC team.

SHOW highlights were:

• Getting to know each other better.

• Going to Mojo Coffee, seeing how their beans are roasted and processed, and getting to taste some of their flavours (cupping)

• Meeting Executive Chef Steve Morris (Westpac Stadium) and hearing all about his career and the people he has worked with – It was the highlight of the day… could have listened to him all day

• Going to Ibis and Novotel Hotels and having tours through their hotel and how they are run –  different departments and seeing different types of rooms

• Having Chloe from Mercure/ Ibis Hotels  talk to us and explain about her highlights and experiences so far (Chloe is a recently graduated Level 3 Cookery Modern Apprentice who started as a previous 2010 gateway student)

• Tasting the mystery items and guessing the flavours of them (Chocolate & oils)

• Having the experience to work in a huge commercial kitchen and the other kitchens around the stadium

• Working with chefs and learning knife skills from them

• We had a great time in the kitchen as Bambi’s helper – he’s the man!

• Working during the event and experience what goes on during it on the food front (corporate areas and menus)  

 

 

More SHOW highlights:

“We spent a week at the Westpac Stadium. Vinnie, Gary, Matt, Heather, Moa and Henry were our mentors over the week. Having this week’s worth of experience at the stadium showed us that it is hard working in Front of House, this is also rewarding at the same time. This has taught us a lot about this industry and made us want to be immersed in hospitality & front of house even more then before. Working in the stadium has given us wonderful experience and memories. The Front of House team had so many laughs and memories, we would love to work with the team of mentors again and become more experienced.” Pearl Y12, & Melina Y13  St Catherines College; Alex Y12  St Patricks College; Tilly Y11, Wellington Girls College.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the Mojo coffee cupping session and the tour around Ibis. The work experience on the Friday was very busy and a great way to gain experience in the hospitality industry. Everyone seemed to enjoy SHOW week and found it worthwhile.” James, Y13, Wellington College

“My mentor was Matt, who works in the Corporate Boxes. The highlight of SHOW Week for me was on the night that we worked at the stadium, as the Chiefs versed the Hurricanes and I was working in the Corporate box area. The Corporate Club lounge which Alex and I had set up had an unplanned 10 guests arrive wanting a table. Three of the runners staff, Heather, Matt and I worked together bringing a table and chairs up from the second floor to the fourth and set the table to a high standard within 10 minutes and I got great satisfaction seeing the guests sit down and enjoy the night after we had worked so well together. I enjoyed the whole week generally, but the Friday night had the most highlights." Riva, Y11, Wellington College

“Highlights? Seeing all the tables in the corporate lounge all set up and knowing we did it all! Meeting such nice new people. Learning how to box tables! The night itself was a huge highlight - it was So fun! I loved going to Mojo and meeting Jay and tasting all that coffee. And visiting all the hotels and discussing work in the hospitality industry was awesome! I really liked learning about how much goes into it all.”  Hannah Y11, Kapiti College.