Oktoberfest at Snowbird My Reflection of Oktoberfest Beer Tent Supervising and My Overall Internship Experience By: William Singleton
Who is William Singleton? Born in Woodbury, New Jersey Raised in Denver, CO Love for the outdoors Parks, Recreation, and Tourism B.S. with a Hospitality Emphasis Decided to pursue the hospitality business after realizing ranching doesn’t pay. Hospitality is important to me because all great places in the world are in need of motivated people in the hospitality industry and I want a career that allows me access to the best places in the world.
What did I do at Snowbird? The Beer Tent Supervisor Position (a special project in itself): Supervision responsibilities of beer pouring and ID checking employees in six locations within the festival grounds. Helping other supervising team members in observation and direction of cashier staff, food servers, and greeters. Proper handling of human resource situations such as workman's compensation claims and disciplinary actions. Proper inventory control of bottled beer, wine, keg beer, and three sizes of retail beer mugs. Problem solving and decision making in a fast paced environment. The challenge of managing people
What do I still do at Snowbird The Banquet Server/Bartender Position: Set up, service and break down of any conference food or drink services (meetings, weddings, business parties, etc.) in a time restricted environment. Decorating and neatly setting rooms with specifications from captains, conference services managers, and group contacts. Working closely with kitchen management to organize and implement buffet or plated food service. Clear understanding and implementation of the Banquet Event Order sheets. Completing side work as needed for future events. Keeping a clear inventory of all alcohol, wine, or beer used in a bar service. Knowledge and ability to operate of the Micros POS system.
My Goals and Objectives Goal #1: to understand the processes of and gain experience and knowledge of how to manage in a large food and beverage festival environment. Objectives: Gain an understanding of how to delegate tasks to employees and deal with issues concerning employees and how to deal with unhappy customers. Be involved with proper inventory processes of beer, glassware, retail items (shirts, hats, etc.). Gain an understanding of cost percentage vs. sales prices and how number goals are reached through hiring the proper amount of staff, making staff cuts on slow days, and understanding how financial goals are observed and met.
Goals and Objectives Cont. Goal #2: to understand the processes of and gain experience and knowledge of how to manage in conference operations. Objectives: Sit in on 2-4 Banquet Event Order (BEO) meetings. Gain an understanding of the different job descriptions of a banquet captain, banquet manager, facilities crew leader, facilities manager, audio/visual management, and the conference center manager. Gain an understanding of the scheduling process of a large banquet operation.
Working for Snowbird Snowbird is a great place to learn about hospitality and ski a little too. Don’t plan to do the same internship as I, build one to your specifications. There are many positions available and so many possibilities at a company such as this. No established internship program!?! Contact Snowbird for more Information: Snowbird Recruiting 3165 East Millrock Drive, Suite 190 Holladay, UT (801)
Final Comments What I have learned over anything else during this internship is, learn how to manage people first and the other technical skills of management will come easy later. I found that there is no challenge like managing numerous personalities and getting a team of over 20 to work together successfully and happily. As far as choosing an internship, don’t worry about the name of the company or how elite they are in the industry. Worry more about the mentoring qualities of your possible supervisor and see if you feel there is the possibility of growth for you in that company.
Questions?