HRTM students spent the day in Omaha for inaugural summit

11 Sep 2019    

On September 9, 2019, 250 Hospitality, Restaurant, and Tourism Management and PGA Golf Management students boarded five coach buses and headed to Omaha for the inaugural UNL Hospitality Student Summit. The event, hosted by Andy Reetz, CEO and General Manager of Champion’s Run, and Ben Lorenzen, Chief Memory Officer at Champion’s Run, provided the opportunity for students to learn about hospitality in a private club environment. There was an array of amazing speakers from different country clubs throughout the United States. Students learned concepts about leadership, event/marketing, food and beverage operations, and how to make the job feel more fun than like a job. HRTM student, Brooklinn Dahlheim, reflected on the expereince saying, "It was really cool to see how the different aspects of hospitality can all be tied together in a private club. It opened my eyes to some new opportunities I hadn't thought of before." Collaborators included the Nebraska Chapter of the Club Managers Association of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, Sysco, and Nebraska PGA. Shannon Rowen, director of academic programs and associate professor of practice, said, “Our first student summit was a huge success thanks to our partners at Champion’s Run, and, most of all, our students who invested a day in themselves. It was a great day get to know each other in a way that they would never have an opportunity to do so. We look forward to doing it again next year.”

To learn more about the HRTM major visit  https://cehs.unl.edu/HRTM/ or email Shannon Rowen at srowen2@unl.edu.