Author: Kasey Moore

 

My name is Leilani Zamora, and I am a rising senior at Landstown High, and participant of Virginia Beach’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) of 2018. SYEP is a program that provides jobs and workplace readiness skills to young people. They also help provide opportunities to the participants to develop skills, set career goals, earn money, become financially empowered, and learn more about the community. Based on my interview and career assessment, I was placed in my first job at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Event Services with Avery Burgess as my supervisor. Everyone was so welcoming, and it was wonderful being a part of the team!

 

In the beginning of the summer, I participated in tours with the other CVB interns. There, I learned about the Virginia Beach Convention Center building, the history of it, and the attractions of the city. I was able to support the event team with many tasks. I organized event files, created signage, crafted icebreakers for meetings, and filled in as a concierge and as an usher in my time here.

 

My experience here has been enjoyable and educational as I got to shadow some of the Event Coordinators and got to learn about the hospitality industry. Working events like dance competitions and Warrior Expo and attending staff meetings have helped me develop and improve my professional skills and my interpersonal communication skills. This will be helpful for my future job opportunities and I am incredibly grateful for being able to work here for these seven weeks! I will miss it!

 

Hello! My name is Amanda Hall, and I was the Events Services Intern this summer at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. I am a rising senior at Virginia Tech studying Hospitality and Tourism Management, and I will be graduating December of 2019.

My experience with the Events Services team has been very educational! As the intern, I was given opportunities to shadow the coordinators and interact with both clients and patrons. Being able to work a variety of events, including meetings, dance competitions, and consumer shows, showed me the broad reach of this industry.

I even had the chance to be guided through coordinating an event—a Mental Health First Aid Training offered by the city. This involved working in Ungerboeck, our database system, communicating internally between our departments, and communicating externally with the client. It was a great success, and I am so grateful for this opportunity to learn!

I was also able to use my love for technical writing to assist in updating the building’s Emergency Action Plan and create content for the Event Coordinator Guide.

One of the most interesting parts of my summer was being able to learn more about the Convention and Visitors Bureau as a whole. Having grown up in Virginia Beach, I understand the impact tourism has on our city fiscally, environmentally, and culturally. To have had a supporting role in the well-being of my hometown this summer was an incredibly special experience!