Dissemination for stakeholders at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota
On 23 June 2015 I prepared a dissemination session for industry stakeholders at Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota. There were 3 representatives of 3 spas in the region (5 hotels altogether), 2 representatives of 2 hotels in the town, 2 representatives for boarding houses in the region, 2 representatives for 2 tourist information centers, one representative of the local hostel, one for a tourist agency and one for Nature Park Goričko. Beside that the director of our school, one lecturer, our project administrator, our IT engineer and one journalist from a local newspaper were present.
The participants were informed about the project in general and the project results so far. I briefly presented the needs analysis report, the course syllabus, the project website and the e-learning platform with already uploaded tasks to show them some examples about how to use it. I mainly focused on the FrontDesk programs and the mobile apps as the presentation was for stakeholders, therefore, for people who will use both for their business activities. So I showed them how the FrontDesk programs work and how to use them on the computer. I then presented the smartphone app with the help of David’s PowerPoint presentation but also on my smartphone so that they could see how to use it. Štefan, our project administrator and Dejan, our IT engineer, assisted me with their smartphones, showing the participants how the app works and how to use it. They were all enthusiastic about the app and said that is very useful. They all wanted to upload it on their smartphones as soon as possible. And they also wanted to have the FrontDesk programs installed as soon as possible.
Finally, I handed them out the project flyers to provide them with some more information about the project and asked them to tell friends and other people about it. I also asked them to fill in the evaluation sheet prepared for the meeting to get some feedback on the presentation.
The evaluation sheet asked for general information and more specific information regarding the presentation. 16 participants of the presentation filled in the evaluation sheet. All of them gained useful information on the project. 11 found the presentation of the project very useful, whereas 5 thought it was useful.
Regarding the smartphone app all of them answered they gained useful information. 13 of them use Android OS, one of them Ios and one of them Windows. If the apps were available on their device 14 of them would use it very likely and two of them likely. Regarding the usefulness of the apps for their companies, 11 answered that the apps would be very useful, 4 answered useful and one quite useful. 12 of them would very likely recommend the apps to others, three of them likely and one of them quite likely. 15 of them answered the question about knowing any hospitality-based multilingual apps that this was the only one and one said very few.
Regarding the FrontDesk programs all of them answered they gained useful information. 16 of them use Windows OS and one uses Apple as well. If the FrontDesk programs were available on their computers 9 of them would use it very likely and 7 of them likely. Regarding the usefulness of the FrontDesk programs for their companies, 9 answered that they would be very useful, 6 answered useful and one quite useful. 10 of them would very likely recommend the FrontDesk programs to others and 6 of them likely. 10 of them answered they did not know any hospitality-based multilingual software programs, 5 answered they knew a few and one said many.
There were also two suggestions made by one hotel manager and a receptionist. They suggested to update the apps and FrontDesk programs in the future – maybe with another project.
Meanwhile, all participants - stakeholders of the presentation had been sent the apps and FrontDesk programs to install them on their computers and mobile devices so that they could start using them.
Erna Vöröš,
Project manager of Ekonomska šola Murska Sobota,
Slovenia
Our partners, Turiba University, Latvia disseminated the results of the second meeting in Romania. More information at link:
http://www.turiba.lv/en/aktualitates/partner-meeting-in-miercurea-ciuc-romania/1337/
Dissemination in Genoa May 2015
A dissemination session was carried out on 27th May 2015 hosted by the IPPSA catering school. It was attended by participants from the hotel industry and by teachers and students from the school. Over twenty people took part.
It began with a Powerpoint presentation outlining the scope and aims of the project and featuring the main materials that had already been developed by the partners.
The principal items shown were the 4 Front Desk computer software programs for the Village, Seaside, SkiResort and Restaurant, the 4 corresponding smartphone apps, already in six of the final twelve languages, and the 3 interactive digital-maps, showing the latest stage of development.
Clear explanations were given of the purposes of the items presented, and the unique advantages that hotel staff would gain from using them.
The presentation was followed by a demonstration of each of the items,
highlighting the features of main interest.
The presentation and demonstrations were greeted with real enthusiasm, and everyone was keen to try out the front Desk programs which had already been set up on 20 computers in the computer lab. Detailed help was then given individually to all those that needed it.
The reactions from very many was that they were really looking forward to the opportunity of having the Front Desk programs on their own laptop because they could at once see what a useful tool it was. They were sure that the apps would be equally valuable.
The school’s headteacher expressed himself not only well-pleased with the event, but showed great interest in the products that were on view.
Those with an Android smartphone or tablet were encouraged to give their email address so that the four apps could be transmitted direct to their device – as this had proved to be the quickest and simplest way to get the apps into the hands of the user.
Further contact was made the following day with one of the participants when valuable follow-up points were discussed, both in the hotel in question and in the nearby, highly-popular cook-shop that forms part of the sea-front hotel’s vibrant activity. A series of photos were taken during the event.
David Sephton, Primrose Publishing Ltd, The United Kingdom
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.