Latest / Suite Spot: A Hotel Marketing Podcast / 197 – TMG Hospitality Campus Crawl: UNLV
Transcript
- Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what's trending in hotel marketing. I'm your host, Ryan Embree. Ryan Embree: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. We are here for another edition of TMG Hospitality Campus Crawl. Yes, we are bringing it back. And we are live on campus at UNLV's Harrah College of Hospitality here, with the Dean of the Harrah College of Hospitality, David. David, thank you so much for inviting us and, and, you know, bringing us here to your beautiful campus. David Cárdenas: My pleasure. Thanks for allowing me to share a little bit about this amazing program and share a little bit about the wonderful things that we do here. Ryan Embree: We're so excited, like you said, the inspiration behind this series was just to showcase some of the amazing colleges and schools of hospitality around the nation. UNLV certainly fits the bill. We're gonna talk about that and some of the amazing things you and your faculty and students are doing here. But before we do that, we always like a little bit of tradition. One of the things unique to hospitality is learning about people's background because you come from different brands, sometimes different segments, sometimes you fall into the industry. Tell us a little bit about your hospitality journey and what led you here. David Cárdenas (01:31): Yeah. So, a little bit about myself and how I got to where I am. So, I was born in Ecuador, lived there for most of my childhood. I came to the United States to go to school in the Carolinas. And, my start in the hospitality industry is a little bit untraditional, but maybe a lot more people actually go through it the way that I did. So I was in college, and like most poor college students, I had to, to find a job. And so, hospitality was where I found it. You know, bussing tables, washing dishes, cooking, and I loved it. And that's what paid my way through school. At the time, I was a pre-med major. I wanted to be a real doctor, what my daughter says is a real doctor <laugh>. David Cárdenas (02:15): And so didn't think anything about being in the hospitality industry while I was doing it. And, but, little by little, even in school went from, you know, a server to a supervisor to, you know, assistant manager to, by the time I graduated, I was running food and beverage operations. And my boss at the time was like, hey, you should really think about going into the hospitality industry. And said, no, I'm gonna be a doctor. And she's like, just do it for a year. So one year turned into two, two into three, year four, my mom's like, you're going to medical school? And I'm like, no, I don't wanna go to medical school. But I realized that I didn't know what I was doing, and I hadn't taken an accounting class. I'd taken physics and taken biochem, but I've never taken, you know, an HR class, and I had to go back to school. David Cárdenas (03:00): So, you know, after working in the industry for four or five years, you know, I was like, I needed to go back and get an education. And so I went back and got my master's degree, and knowing that my path was gonna be in the hospitality industry, I thought I was gonna be a corporate trainer. I loved working with people, loved getting them you know, trained to do what, if it was serving or, you know, being a cashier, being a manager. That was what I loved to do. And so that was what I was hoping to do. And when I was in my master's program, realized that I love to teach and I loved to do research, got the opportunity to get my PhD, one thing led to another and got into academia. But didn't ever think about the hospitality industry when I was in school. But that's kind of how I fell into it. And I don't regret any of it. Ryan Embree (03:49): Well, I love what you said there. It's the untraditional traditional route of hospitality, and that's actually one of the reasons we started this series, is to showcase that you can have a career here. There's so many elements to it, as you said, and you know, in some ways you are kind of training, you know, the next generation of hospitality. So it goes full circle. So, share with us a little bit about the rich history of this school and the college here. David Cárdenas (04:17): Yeah. So the, the university or the college was established in 1967. So over 50 plus years of being part of the hospitality education industry. And you know, I think that there were no better place to have hospitality education than to be in Las Vegas. And the growth of Vegas as the entertainment and hospitality capital of the world was lockstep with the College of Hospitality. And as the city grew, the college grew, and, a lot of people were attracted to come to Vegas and work to thinking about it from an entertainment standpoint, from the hospitality standpoint. And then they would come and get a degree here. And then they'd start in the industry, and they'd become the giants in the industry. David Cárdenas (05:03): So, you know, it's pretty amazing, you know, talking to a lot of the alumni, you know, they came here, didn't know much about it, weren't quite sure. Many of them came here because of the basketball team. You know the rich history of what happened with basketball, and then just kind of got their foot in the hospitality industry or the gaming industry. And then our alumni start, you know, moving up in the industry, and we have the Bill Hornbuckles of the World, which are, you know, the president of MGM or, you know, Carlos Castro, the President of Resorts World. All of them, you know, kind of started here and grew up to be stars in the industry. Ryan Embree (05:44): Yeah, it's incredible. And, you know, it's interesting you bring up sports because, you know, obviously, sports have now also transformed Las Vegas. The city's going through this transformation with sports. But, you know, talking about, for those who aren't familiar, you know, I had the opportunity to walk around campus a little bit before this interview and could literally see the top of the Paris Eiffel Tower from campus. For those who aren't familiar, you know, you are just blocks away from the Strip. Talk to us about that location and what it means for some of the students, and really just kind of propelling themselves right into the hospitality industry, you know, steps away from this place. David Cárdenas (06:26): Yeah. So if you've never been to our campus and never been to Hospitality Hall, it's the Taj Mahal of hospitality education, and we are a mile and a half away from the center of it all. You see, most people have seen it on television or in movies, the Strip, right? We see that every day from our campus, which is pretty amazing. And what that gives us is access to people that most other universities don't have access to. You know, at any point in time that executive can come and walk here and give a guest lecture. Or more importantly, at any day, our students can do a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bellagio Fountain Club or Tour Allegiant Field or, you know, go up the Eiffel Tower at Paris. David Cárdenas (07:09): So you know, there are many universities that come here for a week to experience it. Our students have it full-time. The other thing about that is that those executives teach classes for us. So currently we're teaching an entertainment class. The Vice President of Entertainment for MGM, Paul Davis, is teaching that class. And so the people who are actually doing it out there are here. And that's just an amazing experience. The students, when they go to do their internship, they go a mile and a half away. They don't have to travel for hours or go during the summer. They're right here. So, I think proximity is one of the main reasons we are ranked number one in hospitality. Ryan Embree (07:50): Yeah, it's incredible. It's so unique. I mean, I remember being in hospitality school myself as a UCF Rosen grad and seeing the Las Vegas strip on a PowerPoint, you know, that a professor puts up and you just, students here just look out a window and it's right there. Very cool. So, more recently, the school just announced a new strategic framework for the college. That's not something that's done overnight; that obviously takes a lot of work and effort. Tell us a little bit about that process and what that framework looks like. David Cárdenas (08:20): Yeah, so it was very much a collaborative effort. So I became Dean a little bit less than two years ago. So March 1st will be my two-year anniversary here. And when I came here, I was in awe. We have amazing faculty, great support, our alumni were doing wonderful things, but I also saw that if we stood still, others were gonna pass us by. And I often say, you know, I didn't wanna be the, the Sears of Hospitality Education where we could kept doing the same thing over and over again and we didn't innovate. And so we went through a year and a half process of looking inward of who we are, what do we do well, what are our values, and what do we need to do to continue being a leader in hospitality education. So we did hundreds of listening sessions, focus groups, surveys, lots of meetings, lots of emails to try to figure out where we're gonna be going to create what we have as our new vision. David Cárdenas (09:16): So our new vision is creating global leaders who inspire unforgettable experiences. So we wanted to make sure that we portrayed that we are developing leaders. So we're developing those people who are going to be developing that next sphere or the next amazing event, or, you know, the next mega event. And having that amazing experiences of what we do. And the pillars that we have that are under that foundation are student success, knowledge, global leadership, and purposeful engagement. And so for us, we wanted to make sure our students had that most amazing experience. And it was global. So Vegas is an amazing place to learn, but we wanted students to go to Macau, and we want students to go to Auckland, and we want students to go to Madrid, and learn from those types of experiences, and really be that place where engagement, because hospitality is all about being engaged, that they were doing that part. David Cárdenas (10:15): The next part of that strategic plan was that we restructured our college. We've always been known for hospitality education and hospitality operations. So if you're operating a hospitality organization, industry, that's what we were known for. Again, as I said, Bill Hornbuckle at MGM is running an operation. So that's still gonna be core to what we do, but we're expanding into areas such as sport, entertainment, travel, and tourism. Gaming has always been something that we've done well, but we're gonna expand that. And then the other big area is hospitality technology and incorporating AI and the tech part into, into the hospitality industry. Ryan Embree (10:57): Yeah, and that's what I want to talk about, 'cause you mentioned innovation a lot in that new strategic framework, and technology is moving so quickly. I mean, it's insane to think some of the students that are starting their journey now, the technology is gonna be completely outdated by the time they end their journey. Right? So how do you approach technology and hospitality, and maybe also getting your take on just where you think the industry as a whole is with adopting technology, which is typically an industry that's been a little bit slower in the adoption of technology. David Cárdenas (11:33): Yeah. So I don't think we're ever gonna catch up. But I think our job is to make sure that we're exposing our students, because even as you said, once they graduate, it's gonna be different than probably what we taught them in that is to think about how they're adaptable to that technology more than that tech. Because the tech that I learned back when I was going to school is irrelevant, but it's more about the integration of technology, the adaptation of technology. And I believe that, you know, we're talking about AI right now, we're teaching that in our classrooms, it's a central focus of what we do, but in four years, we're probably talking about CB or OS or I don't know, something else. There's gonna be a little bit different, right? And so it's more about the critical thinking skills, the adapted skills, and technology's always gonna be with us, and I don't think it's gonna replace everything that we do. David Cárdenas (12:22): We were actually having a conversation with a gentleman this morning, a little bit about that, you know, who's scared, like, he's like, you know, I'm gonna lose my job. Well, maybe there's gonna be jobs that are gonna be lost, but we're gonna create new ones. So when we developed the washer and dryer, were we mad that we don't wash our clothes by hand? No. We were very happy about that. And there were jobs that were eliminated from that perspective, but we created new opportunities. And the thing about the hospitality industry, it's all about the customer. And you're gonna need to have that human connection. So for us, and specifically in our degree, it's the interaction between the human and the technology, the interface between that and teaching our students, that when that human component is important, when that technical component is important, and how to manage both the human and the tech part. And so that's kind of what our focus is for our degree. Ryan Embree (13:15): Yeah. I mean, it's so important, you know, technology needs to empower those employees, students that are gonna be going in because they're gonna have an expectation 'cause I think, obviously we look through the lens of, you know, what is this generation gonna be doing with technology, but also how is the industry going to adapt to a generation that is used to technology and they want to use it, they're anxious to use it and saying, Hey, let's do this in some of our individual processes. And, you know, some of the best ways that you can explore technology, how things are done or run in hospitality, is through internships. You mentioned it before. I was required to do a couple of internships when I went to hospitality school, but it was great because it exposed me to so many different elements of hospitality. And you mentioned it in your journey. I mean, you didn't know which way to go there. It could be overwhelming for a student, but internships are a great way to get exposure there. How do you implement that into your programs? David Cárdenas (14:13): Yeah, so I think one of the key things about hospitality education is the immersive experience that you have to have. And so, you know, I'll get to the internships in a second, but we have to make sure that in the classroom, they get the best of the best, the best faculty member, you know, so that content needs to be there, but then if they can't implement it, they're not gonna be successful. And so that applied approach is the second part that we do. And we require all of our students to do a thousand hours of applied work in the hospitality industry while they're in school, because we want them to understand the stresses of it. We want them to understand, you know, how difficult it might be or the long hour being on your feet to do all of that is part of what we do. David Cárdenas (14:53): In addition to that, all of our students are required to do an internship. So, in addition to a thousand hours, they have that internship. And the other thing that all of our students do is a culminating experience. So where they're putting everything together, they've done the thousand hours, they've done the internship, and the last thing they're doing, some kind of immersive activity. It could be running our student-run restaurant, the Bistro410. It could be putting on one of our mega events, like the UNLVino, or it could be developing a new game for our casino. So applying all that is really, really important. We want the students to get their hands dirty and have that as part of their educational experience. Ryan Embree (15:36): Yeah. You know, a lot of the leaders I've had the privilege of having on this credit, a lot of those early learning, internships, and mentors. That was that first foot, or that was that first, you know, step into the industry. So really, really cool to see there. You mentioned partnerships, local partnerships, very, very important. Obviously, proximity has a lot to do with it. How important are having those partnerships and, you know, how does that also set students up for success after graduation? David Cárdenas (16:08): Critical. And so we wouldn't be successful if it wasn't for our partnerships and alumni, and what they give back. They're opening their doors from as easy as providing internships for our students, hiring them for full-time jobs, being mentors, being guest speakers. But they've also been very generous with their wallet. If you've ever had a chance to walk through Hospitality Hall, you're gonna see all of those names on all of our rooms. So you have the MGM Rebel Grounds, our coffee shop, you know, you have, Chairman Tso's, who's Ambassador Hotel is one of the largest hotel groups in Korea, who has theirs. You know you have Caesars who's given to us. All of them have been a part of who we are and have developed who we are. David Cárdenas (16:56): You know, so they've been very generous to us. They helped build this building. This building is completely paid off because of them. And they help provide over half a million dollars of scholarships every year to our students. So, to make it affordable for them. One of the coolest partnerships, one of the most coolest partnerships that we just recently had, the president of Wynn called me, he's like, Hey, David, I wanna send students to Macau. I wanna do a study abroad. We'll pay for it. And they're like, awesome. Let's give them that experience. Let's figure that out. So I mean, they open doors. They support our students. And they really are the ones who give us that leg up so that our students are successful. Ryan Embree (17:40): It's so cool. And, you know, a symbiotic relationship between, you know, the partners who are also investing in the students here, because this can be the future leaders of their organization. So, you know, having those close partnerships is so cool, important, and a lot of cool stories. I'm sure that you're hearing from your students as well. Well, I'm gonna pick your brain a little bit. I think, you know, I love having these opportunities to, you know, speak to educators such as yourself. I wanna give some tips out there, maybe to just some younger, hospitality professionals. What would you say to those who are about to enter, you know, finishing up their education career here at Harrah Hospitality School and entering the workforce? What tips would you give them? David Cárdenas (18:25): So, as they're about to transition from hospitality education to be a hospitality leader, I think it's to continue to network and to continue to build your educational skillset to be successful. So I think that the learning process does not stop once you finish school. So, figuring out how you continue to learn, continue to grow, to be able to expand your thoughts, you know, so it could be, you know, through professional development opportunities. It could be attending conferences, it could be just traveling for fun and seeing how things are in different areas. The other thing is to continue to stay connected to your university and to the programs. We have an amazing Boughner Center here for our students. It's our career development center where it helps with internships and jobs, but it's also available for our alumni. David Cárdenas (19:19): So if an alumni is thinking, Hey, I wanna change jobs, or I'm looking for another opportunity to continue to have that partnership with the university allows you to have that ability. And then thinking about how to pay it forward. I guarantee you that almost every single one of our graduates, somebody helped them get to where they are. It could be through a scholarship, somebody might have mentored them, it could have been an amazing faculty member. Well, what can they do to help that next generation? So they're never too young to start mentoring. They're never too young to start helping students find jobs because, you know, somebody helped them. So, thinking about how that might help somebody else. Ryan Embree (19:55): Yeah, I love that. And hospitality, we talked about it off camera before we started, but hospitality is a big but small world, and you've got a lot of connections out there. You'd be surprised, you know, how many people on LinkedIn, you see, you scroll down to their education, and it's someone from your alma mater, right? That's right down the road or doing a position. So love the advice there. What about those freshmen or, you know, younger just starting there, what tips would you give them as they enter, you know, the next four years of learning and education? David Cárdenas (20:26): Yeah, so I think no matter what, get involved and get engaged. Say yes to everything. The more experiences that you could have at a younger age, the better you're gonna be. You know, is it gonna be hard work? Yeah. Take that, you know, take that difficult shift, you know, work those weekends, work those nights, because that's where you're gonna grow and you're gonna experience and you're gonna meet people. You know, if you have an opportunity to go hear a guest speaker, go to it. If there is an activity where you can volunteer to do an event, volunteer. Join a club, you know, all those things are gonna be very important. The time goes by very, very fast. And I do believe that we have amazing faculty who teach in the classroom that are amazing, but most of the learning is gonna happen outside of that classroom. David Cárdenas (21:13): So the more you can do outside, it's gonna benefit you from there. The other thing is talk to people. Don't be scared. You know, I have so many times, the students are like, I didn't wanna bother you. Bother us. That's why we're here. That's why we have office hours. You know, don't be too nervous and, you know, make that interaction. I think it's gonna help benefit you. And you get to meet people, and the doors are gonna open, and before you know it, you're gonna have this amazing network base. Ryan Embree (21:39): Cool. And we're hospitality people, right? We love people. That's why we're in this business. So, yes, definitely agree with you there. All right. So as we wrap up, I want to talk about, obviously, we have the new strategic framework, but as you look beyond, right, your vision and what are you most excited about right now when it comes to the, the college? David Cárdenas (22:00): Well, you know, we just finished the strategic plan, so just getting it implemented and started, so we're working on a whole bunch of new degrees and getting those out and rolling those out. Those international partnerships are really, really important for me. You know, now it's really thinking about how do we implement those things? And then also knowing that even though we have a strategic plan, we're gonna adapt to that. Things are gonna change, as I said, you know, figuring out what the next AI is and making sure that we incorporate that in what we do. And you know, I think what I'm most excited about is that we have an amazing team. Our faculty and staff are here to support our students, and they're gonna do whatever it takes for them to be successful. And that's really exciting. So no matter where we go, we're gonna have a team behind us to make that happen. Ryan Embree (22:44): Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking some time outta your busy schedule to let us visit here. We covered a lot. We covered, you know, technology, the history, and the school. Any final thoughts before we wrap up? David Cárdenas (22:55): I really appreciate it. So I think the, the last thing is that if you're thinking about going to the industry, get an education, you know, no matter what, no one can ever take that away from you. I think that that education is power. So if you don't get a degree in hospitality, get your degree in something. Always be a lifelong learner. And we'd love to have you here at the Harrah College of Hospitality. So come join us. Ryan Embree (23:19): Awesome. Well, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. David Cárdenas (23:21): Thank you. Ryan Embree (23:22): Alright. Ryan Embree (23:24): To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell, with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I'm your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.