tourism richmond
DESCRIPTION
Second Annual Service AwardsTRANSCRIPT
Last week, at a gala soiree at the River Rock Casino Resort, more than 250 people crowded into the theatre to fete the front line people in the hospitality industry.
The second annual Tourism Richmond Service Awards salutes those hospitality
heroes, who, day after day and with grace and a smile, deal with international trav-elers and local visitors.
Those nominated are workers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to offer excellent service. They are individuals who do our city proud.
Prior to the awards ceremony, nomi-nees, industry people, family and friends gathered in the theatre’s upper foyer to mingle and enjoy live music.
The mood was festive as attendees sipped wine and nibbled on signature hors d’houvres from some of our finest
local restaurants. Nat and Drew of Virgin Radio were
the MCs for the evening and often had the audience in fits of laughter.
The evening was a fitting salute for the hard working men and women at the front lines of the hospitality industry.
Tourism Richmond salutes hospitality heroesBY MICHELLE HOPKINS
[email protected] Nominees, winners went above and beyond to offer service excellence
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
The 2010 Tourism Richmond awards nominees are led in to the event by the Mountie inred serge.
The Richmond News May 26, 2010 A15
CONTACT US TODAY FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:Roberta Mercer T. 604.821.5478 E. [email protected]/serviceawards
Thank you to our partners for supporting the Second Annual Tourism Richmond Service Awards!
The ceremony was held at the River Rock Casino Resort on Tuesday, May 18 in recognition of front line representatives in the tourism & hospitality industries who provide service excellence. Thank you for contributing to a great visitor experience and for making Richmond a welcoming destination.
CONGRATULATIONSTO ALL THE NOMINEES AND RECIPIENTS OF THE SECOND ANNUAL TOURISM RICHMOND SERVICE AWARDS!
RECIPIENTS Extra Mile Award:Balwinder Cheema, Delta Vancouver Airport
Tourism Spirit Award: City of Richmond
Tourism Partner Award: Richmond Review
SERVICE EXCELLENCE AWARDSFood & Beverage: Jane Caya-Dizon, Mad Greek Retail: Elsa Shepherd, Lansdowne Centre
Attractions: Harvinder Jaswal, River Rock Casino Resort
Transportation & Travel Services: Bob Baksh, Sandman Hotel Vancouver Airport
Accommodation:Jenny Reis, Delta Vancouver Airport
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The Delta Vancouver Airportcongratulates all the nominees and thanks Tourism Richmond for facilitating such an important community program.
Extra special thank you to our very ownJenny Reis and Balwinder Cheema,
both winners in 2010!
3500 Cessna Drive,Richmond
604.278.1241
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News
For most of us, loaning a perfect stranger the business suit off our back would seem rather odd.
Not to this year’s Tourism Richmond award winner, Jenny Reis.
She thought nothing of it.Earlier this year, while
working her shift as night manager at the Delta
Vancouver Airport Hotel, a guest arrived late and she was frantic.
The guest had an early business meeting the next morning and her luggage, en route from Ontario, was missing.
What to do?“When I overheard her
speaking to the front desk
staff, I told her she could have mine … I was just doing my job and solving a guest’s problem,” said Heis matter-of-factly.
“I was taught to think outside the box and encour-aged to work straight from the heart.
“At the hotel, we are encouraged, on a daily basis,
to go above and beyond for our customers,”
Although the 32-year-old Vancouverite has worked at the hotel for just under a year, she has been in the hos-pitality industry in Richmond for more than 14 years since graduating from a high school.
She was attracted to the
industry because of her love of people.
Her shifts, 11 p.m. to 6 or 7 a.m., could make anyone cranky, but it doesn’t appear so with her.
“I love my job, I find it extremely challenging, fun and rewarding,” said Reis, who has six employees under her wing on any given night.
The way she treats cus-tomers is no different than how all the staff does, she adds.
“I’m always encouraging my staff to enjoy their work and I always thank them and praise them when they treat a guest especially well,” Reis said.
Reis also credits her schooling for educating her in the tenets of excellence in customer service.
Reis attended the hospi-tality program at Vancouver Community College.
She salutes her teach-ers, all of whom work in the industry, for instilling in her to use her own good judg-ment when solving problems.
“They are the ones who taught me to think outside the box,” said. “
As far as being the recipi-ent of the Accommodations Award, Reis said: “It was great. I wasn’t expecting it but I was happy to win and proud for my company.”
Night manager gave guest the shirt off her back
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Jenny Reis regularly goes out of her way for hotel guests.
A16 May 26, 2010 The Richmond News
CongratulationsBob BakshTourism RichmondService Award winnerfor Transportation& Travel Services
Vancouver Airport3233 Edwards Dr., Richmond800-276-7415
You made us Proud Bob
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The winners in each category and their stories:
Accommodations:Jenny Reis, night man-
ager, Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel.
A guest whose luggage was lost by the airline on her way here from Ontario, nominated Jenny.
She arrived at 1:30 a.m. to ensure she would be able to attend an important product launch meeting for a company by which she was newly employed.
This visitor writes that she was in “complete dis-tress” and “grasping for a glimmer of hope.” She advised the front desk of the Delta Vancouver Airport that she needed a business suit. Jenny over-heard the conversation and, after some thought, offered her own personal suit and shirt. She brought it to the guest’s room.
The visitor wrote: “Jenny Reis is the kind of employee that any com-pany would want to invest in to ensure a life long
career.”
Attractions:Harvinder Jaswal, slot
attendant at the River Rock Casino Resort.
One of the regular slot players told Jaswal that she had a sore throat and would need a glass of water a bit later to take her medication.
He returned 30 minutes later with the water, which was serendipitous because the guest had forgotten to take her medication.
Jaswal returned several times during the course of
his shift to ensure she was feeling well, even though it was a busy night. The nominator believes that his actions exceeded her expectations and left her with a memorable experi-ence.
Food, Beverage:Jane Caya-Dizon, wait-
ress at the Mad Greek restaurant.
Caya-Dizon receives many nominations month after month. Here is a sample of the comments
How the awards were won
CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Harvinder Jaswal, second right, a slot attendant at the River Rock Casino, receives his award.
see Awards page 21
The Richmond News May 26, 2010 A17
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News
Photos by Chung Chow
A18 May 26, 2010 The Richmond News
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From intimate gatherings to annual conferences,River Rock Casino Resort provides an unforgettable experience. Now you’re living.CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TOURISM RICHMOND SERVICE AWARDS WINNERS
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CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Award winners, each holding their award, clockwise from top left: Bob Baksh, Sandman Airport Hotel; City of Richmond representative; Jenny Reis, Delta Airport Hotel; Jane Caya-Dizon, Mad Greek Restaurant; Roman St. Germain (on behalf of winner Balwinder Cheema), Delta Airport Hotel; Mary Kemmis, Richmond Review.
The Richmond News May 26, 2010 A19
Corporate Serviceswww.richmond.ca
Saluting our community’sservice leadersEvery day, members of our community share the City’s passion and commitment to make our city a great place to live, work, do business and play. For patrons from across town to across the sea, Richmond’s impressive hospitality standards have been put to the test, most recently at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and we achieved Gold.
At its best!
We salute the winners of the Tourism Richmond Service Awards for going the extra mile to create extraordinary experiences throughout the community.
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sun dried tomatoes1 red onion diced3 garlic cloves16 black olives30 ml (2 T) Capers60 ml (2 ozs) olive oil
MAYONNAISE:15 ml (½ oz) balsamic vinegar500 ml (2 cups) mayonnaise Salt and pepper to taste
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The culinary canapés provided by local restaurants during the second annual Tourism Richmond Service awards were nothing short of mouthwatering. It seems all the chefs chose some of
their signature dishes for the gala event. The River Rock Casino Resort banquet chefs sourced out local spotted prawns and served them chilled with a choice of a dozen dipping sauces. The News
approached sous chef Tobin Boothe to provide our readers with two of the dips recipes. Great on prawns, on hamburgers or anything else you are serving during your summer barbecues. Here they are:
Tobin BootheSous Chef, Tourism Awards BanquetStory by Michelle Hopkins • Photo by Chung Chow
A20 May 26, 2010 The Richmond News
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Photos by Wioletta
Okwieka-Reduch
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Awards: Retail, transport, spirit recognizedfrom guests:
“I travel to Richmond six to eight times a year. I love Greek food, so I always visit the Mad Greek.
“Jane remembers me, what I like and has such a wonderful manner”
Another guest wrote: “Over the past three years that I have been a custom-er of the Mad Greek, Jane has never failed to give us impeccable service, always smiling and she makes sure we are on our way to the theatre on time.”
Finally from another nomination: “Jane is one of the most friendly and compassionate servers I have ever met.
“She remembers your name, remembers your order and asks about high-lights of your life.”
Retail:Elsa Shepherd of
Lansdowne Centre.A customer wrote:
“When my wheelchair bound daughter and I did not connect, (she came on HandyDart), I was fran-tically checking all the entrances.
“I found Elsa to be calm, reassuring and infor-mative.
“As Elsa suggested, I returned to the mall entrance and found my daughter there.
“Another shopper let us know that Elsa saved my day when she had my keys and phone that had been lost.
“She was extremely pleasant and courteous, all the while following secu-rity protocols.”
Transportation and Travel:
Bob Baksh of the Sandman Vancouver Airport Hotel.
One nomination form read: “Bob is amazing!!! He is incredibly friendly, prompt and organized.
“He always puts crew-member’s bags together.
“He definitely has made my stays memorable with his welcoming smile.
“I’m actually going to really miss him since I won’t be doing Vancouver layovers next month.”
Spirit Award:The City of Richmond.
The city showed leader-ship, in addition to great spirit, in putting Richmond on the world map during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Very early in the bid process, the city recog-nized the importance of bringing the Games to Vancouver and Richmond.
Along with Tourism Richmond, they were the first in the region to become a sponsor and helped the bid committee.
The Richmond Olympic Oval and the O Zone were the direct result of the work of this year’s Spirit Award winner.
Half a million visitors to Richmond boosted our reputation, our recognition and our spirits.
Extra Mile Award:
Balwinder Cheema of the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel.
Extra Mile winners are chosen monthly from the nominations received and the award extended to someone that has gone ‘the extra mile’ by deliv-ering unexpected service or an unexpected act of goodwill.
The annual winner was chosen from those month-ly winners.
A guest wrote to tell us: “I had an ankle injury and was confined to my room for the day waiting to attend an evening meeting.
“Balwinder filled my ice bucket, found me large plastic bags for me to ice my foot.
“She found me a foot-stool, as the one I was using was way too high.
“Balwinder also orga-nized my furniture and made sure I had every-thing I needed.
“At the end of her shift she returned to my room to refill the ice bucket. She wouldn’t leave the hotel until she made sure I was OK.”
Tourism Partner:Richmond Review.The Tourism Partner
Award is presented to an individual in Richmond who has supported and strengthened the tourism industry through their ini-tiatives.
Continued from page 17CHUNG CHOW/RICHMOND NEWS
Elsa Shepherd receives her Tourism Richmond Retail Award. Shepherd was nomi-nated after helping a mother in distress find her wheelair-bound daughter in Lansdowne Centre.
The Richmond News May 26, 2010 A21
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