On Thursday, April 4, the Office of Career Services hosted our Etiquette Dinner at the Federal Room, located inside the IMU. During this event, students had the opportunity to network with special guests over a fine dining setting and participate in an eventful learning experience! Topics that were discussed include parlor room and dinner room manors, plate settings, and how to manage dining and networking at the same time. IMU staff provided a five-course meal and worked very hard providing great hospitality.
We were lucky to host representatives from our employer partners, including: David Bolla (White Lodging), Talisha Coppock (Downtown Bloomington), Bret Cranston (Indianapolis Colts), Samantha Mundt (Indiana Department of Health), and Ryan Taylor, DPT (IU Health).
School of Public Health faculty and staff members were also invited to join the experience! They included: Kim Ecenbarger (Career Services), Kyle Kercher, PhD (Kinesiology), Antonia Leotsakos (Academic Advising), Vanessa Martinez Kercher, PhD (Health & Wellness Design), Kathleen Sobiech, PhD (Public Health Practice), Emily Wetzel (Career Services), Mike Willett, PhD (Executive Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs and Enrollment), and Amanda Zwissler (Career Services).
Finally, a special thank you to Dr. Brandon Howell, Etiquette Consultant & Owner, Howell & Linton Hospitality Group, for teaching about proper dinner etiquette and sharing tips and tricks that can be used to best prepare us for dining to impress.
From a students prospective:
As a Community Health Major, the etiquette dinner was a great networking and learning opportunity for me! I learned how to properly network over dining and how to prepare for these types of events. Something that stuck out to me the most was learning about the different types of table settings you may encounter.
– Ashlynn Kirk, Community Health Major
The etiquette dinner was there to provide students with a networking opportunity, a chance to learn how to thrive in a business formal environment, and, of course, a great meal. As a sport marketing and management student, I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to Bret Cranston from the Indianapolis Colts. During the dinner, we were able to have an informative conversation about how to thrive in the sports world. My favorite piece of advice he gave me was to not be an artificial version of myself. In a professional setting like this, it is easy to get nervous and want to act a certain way to impress the people you are with. However, these people want to know the real you not what you think they want you to be. Overall, this dinner was a great experience and I have learned so much about how to be polite in this setting while still being myself.
– Mia Roe, Sport Marketing & Management Major
Interested in participating in the next Etiquette Dinner? Keep an eye on our calendar of events, social media accounts for announcements, and email campaigns for programming announcements.
