IHIF Student Challenge

by Francesco Jimenez ’15 and Guy Cook ‘15

This was our first time representing the School of Hotel Administration at an international conference. We were honored that the Pillsbury faculty thought that we would perform well as a candidates for this competition. While finding our solutions we were able to reflect on all that we have learned at the School of Hotel Administration. We used our knowledge from account, facilities, corporate entrepreneurship and many others. This was the one time we feel that we were truly challenge to think creatively but to utilize all of our accumulated hospitality knowledge. The best part about the Hotel School is how willing the alumni are to work with students. Many alumni supported us throughout the week and the week leading up to the competition. With their help and support we were confident in our solution to the rise of the sharing economy.  Although we did not win the competition, we found the experience very rewarding and the alumni that supported us as we delivered our presentation was truly wonderful to see.

Participating in a global forum made us realize that the school’s name carried a lot of weight in the eyes of other hotel owners. Francesco was able to not only get a full time job from taking part in this competition but also gained a wealth of knowledge from talking to and hearing other executive leaders speak at the conference. Being able to meet and talk with other hospitality students from around the world who possessed the same passion for the industry that we have had our entire life is truly amazing. Our expectations of this conference and competition were definitely met.  It was an incredible experience and it was definitely the highlight of our last semester.