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by Allison MacLennan Thirteen ATHI students had the time of their lives recently when they travelled to San Francisco to take part in a Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) conference in January. Second-year students in the Events and Conventions Management class, along with one of their instructors, Kathie Coffin Sulis, made the long trek to the Golden State to be among more than 3,500 people who took part in the conference. The students flew to California, with a stopover in Toronto, on Jan. 14 and returned to Charlottetown on Jan. 22. While in San Francisco they stayed at the San Francisco Marriott, a hotel which has 39 floors. Chris Corrigan, the only male student in the group, said the trip was a great experience. ³It was absolutely wonderful,² he said, ³(Since I was the only guy) I had my own room.² The trip cost about $1,700 per person, not counting spending money. The members of the class received a student rate, something that was not available to anyone else attending the conference. Some of the money for the trip was made through fund-raisers such as auctions and raffles which the students began in their first year when they learned they would be travelling to California as part of their curriculum.The students also received $60 each from the Canada East Chapter of the PCMA. While at the conference, the students attended various workshops and seminars teaching them about the industry. Although the trip was somewhat expensive, Corrigan feels the conferance was well worth the money. ³The only thing I was disappointed with was the technological seminars,² he said, noting that all they taught them was the basics of technology in the industry, something they already knew. ³Youıd have to basically be out-to-lunch to not understand where technology is going. They (the speakers) just assumed that people didnıt know anything beyond the basics. ³However, I do think we got a very good value for our money.² According to classmate Cindy Malcolm, the workshop entitled Negotiations was the most interesting. For the seminar, Dr. Herb Cohan, a well-known negotiation artist in the United States, taught them how to make deals within the convention industry. ³I learned that if youıre going into something involving negotiations, you have to go into it stupid. The whole thing has to be 50/50 but you have to know what you want and not back down.² According to Corrigan, the reason the class went to the U.S. to attend the conference was because the convention industry is very Americanized. ³Iıd say the industry is 99 per cent American,² he stated. ³I think they (the instructors at ATHI) should concentrate on getting the students to a Canadian equivalent because it is where a lot of us will probably choose to work.² Malcolm agrees, saying she liked the conference to have been a little closer to home. ³Since Iım probably going to be working in my own country, I would have preferred for it to be in Canada,² she said. With the whole conference lasting four days, there was plenty of time for the students to explore the city while finishing up their week-long visit. The two classmates agreed that visiting the island of Alcatraz was one of the highlights. ³It was just like being in (the movie) The Rock,² Malcolm said. ³I also liked visiting Pier 39 and meeting some drag queens.² ³We had a great time,² Corrigan said. ³We had more fun probably than anyone else who was there.² This is the third year for the Events and Conventions Management course at ATHI. The students who will be in their second year of the course next year will be travelling to Miami to participate in the 2001 PCMA conference.
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