Memo Meltdown

I have always considered myself tech savvy (or a geek if you will) in life. However, after each day wanes in class, I begin to feel smaller and smaller in a pool of high-tech tadpoles. Microsoft Office is something I don’t use on a regular basis, and when Mark McCarthy throws some fancy trick up his sleeve, I was as confused, awed, and entertained as everyone else.

While we went over writing a memo template yesterday, we were focused on writing a letter template today. From all the headings to the closing, Mark introduced to us a really quick way to turn my memo template into a letter one. While the final template isn’t due until Tuesday, I think it’s safe to say the entire class and I now have a lot of Word knowledge under our belts.

He then changed gears slightly and went in-depth as to how to make a consistent PowerPoint presentation. He showed us how easy it is to make a consistent theme, style, and background for all the slides to ensure it looks professional. We were also taught various “SmartArt” tools like charts and graphs, image alignment, and even transitions (animations between slides) and builds (animations within slides).

After lunch, Reneta Mccarthy took charge with our group and showed us what goes into writing a highly professional memo. While the McCarthies brushed on a few things before, she went into detail on how a concise and informative intro is crucial, how headings contribute to how much someone can get from skimming the paper, and the grammar and tone in which a memo is presented in.

After seeing examples of various memos for our CHESS Hotel assignment, we were taught strategies on actually running out CHESS Hotel. We were showed how to ask important questions including “What kind of guests am I attempting to lure?” and “How much quality balances out cost?” This lecture in particular began popping more ideas into my mind about what I would speak about in my memo and what my own, virtual Syracuse hotel would offer.

During officer hours, I went straight into composing my memo for the business strategy of my CHESS hotel. In summary, innovative amenities that are not commonly found in most hotel rooms will be provided, towels-per-room will be reduecd by 50%, employees will be provided morale-boosting benefits, and we are an off-hands hotel in terms of external exposure. I am really looking forward to how my ideas will translate into a successful (or unsuccessful) hotel.