The 74th Annual Short Course and the 13th Annual Advanced Short Course hosted the “superstars” of our industry from January 7–11, 2019, at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management in Houston.
This one-of a-kind, all-in-one hospitality training event – recognized by the International Society of Hotel Association Executives – proved once again to be the “Best Educational Program” in the nation for those students handpicked by their hotel management to attend.”
Students at Short Course are split into three different team-building color groups. At the end of the week, one individual from each group is named “Outstanding Student” based on votes by their peers, final test grades and class participation. The three Outstanding Students from the 2019 Short Course were:
• Brandon Wesolowski, Assistant General Manager, Homewood Suites by Hilton-Westchase Houston.
• Markos Maganares, Food & Beverage LID, Omni Mandalay Hotel Las Colinas Irving.
• Madison Stanley, Front Office Manager, Archer Hotel Austin.
From this distinguished list, one student was awarded the Dr. James Taylor Outstanding Student Award. Dr. Taylor taught Short Course and inspired our students for an amazing 47 consecutive years! This year’s Dr. James Taylor Outstanding Student Award recipient was Brandon Wesolowski, Assistant General Manager at Homewood Suites by Hilton-Westchase in Houston, TX.
Cassandra Wentz, Administrative Assistant at the Hilton College in San Antonio, earned the Top Scoring Student Award with a perfect score on the final exam.
2019 CORPORATE CHALLENGE
Each year, THLA challenges Texas hotel companies to send ten or more of their top employees to Short Course. THLA thanks the following companies who met our 2019 Corporate Challenge and supported this incredible event:
- Aimbridge Hospitality
- HD Supply Facilities Maintenance
- Hilton Hotels & Resorts
- Hotel Association of Tarrant County
- Hotel Emma
- Marriott Hotels
- Omni Hotels & Resorts
OUR INSTRUCTORS
The week was filled with programs on virtually every major facet of hotel operations, from hotel law to sales and marketing to housekeeping and human trafficking. Each topic was presented by hospitality figures of international reputation. THLA is grateful to our esteemed instructors who support this unique event – thank you so much!
JeAnna Abbott, Professor & Attorney, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Stephen Barth, Professor & Attorney, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Justin Bragiel, General Counsel, Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, Austin
Cathy Cheatham, Instructional Assistant Professor, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Dr. Marc Clark, Speaker, SmartBizzOnline.com, Franklin, Kentucky
Steve Cunningham, General Manager, Hotel Galvez & Spa, Galveston
Mary Dawson, Assistant Dean, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Agnes DeFranco, Professor & Distinguished Chair, U of H/Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Erin Goodell, CHE, Assistant Professor, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Doug Horn, General Manager, Houstonian Estates, Houston
John Josefsberg, Attorney at Law, Rudner Law Offices, Dallas
Scott Joslove, President and CEO, Texas Hotel & Lodging Association, Austin
Craig Krause, Owner, Direct Development Training, Georgetown
Mel Kleiman, President, Humetrics, Inc., Houston
Juan Madera, Assistant Professor, Conrad N. Hilton College of HRM, Houston
Karen McCullough, Speaker, Karen McCullough & Company, Houston
Cindy Novotny, Master Connection Associates, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
Garvin O’Neil, Professor of Practice-Hospitality & Retail Management, Texas Tech University
David Rivera, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Chair, Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC
Will Tarrant, Service Metrics Group, LLC, Plano
SCHOLARSHIPS
THLA thanks the following local hotel associations for providing scholarships to the annual Short Course and for realizing that this experience not only enhances a student’s career, but benefits other employees and the hotel where the student returns to work. Short Course scholarships were provided by:
- Austin Hotel & Lodging Association
- El Paso Hotel & Motel Association
- Greater Corpus Christi Hospitality Association
- HD Supply Facilities Maintenance
- Hotel Association of Tarrant County
- Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Houston
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
• Our Short Course 2019 Chairman: Breck Hamrock, HD Supply Facilities Maintenance
• Hilton University of Houston
Short Course Sponsors
- HD Supply Facilities Maintenance
- Landry’s Inc.
- PSAV
We would like to give our sincere thanks to all of the Short Course and Advanced Short Course students, speakers and sponsors for making this year such a success!