A key learning experience during my time at the University of Washington was being a Conference Services/Meeting Services Assistant at the University of Washington Conference Services Department. I started this position during Spring Quarter of my sophomore year and am currently still a Meeting Services Assistant. During the summer, the Conference Services Department hosts up to 4,100 guests at the University of Washington Seattle campus in the residential halls. Our campus welcomes various conferences at the same time. The diverse conference groups are comprised of a variety of guests, ranging from international students, professional bankers, youth camps, athletes, Microsoft and Amazon interns, and more. The role of a Conference Services Assistant is to assist and support the Conference Coordinators and Management team in the coordination of conferences as well as provide quality customer service and complete administrative tasks as assigned. This job experience was valuable to me because it taught me about systems thinking, problem solving, appropriate interaction, helping others, and writing.

My position as a Conference Services/Meeting Services Assistant at the UW Conference Services Department is significant to me because it has given me professional skills that will be valuable to me once I obtain a job in the medical field. Prior to this job, my only experience in a professional environment was working in retail. Although retail jobs provide you with the valuable lesson of how to provide quality customer service, this job experience was able to teach me the inner workings of an office system, how to think on your feet and resolve issues, how to appropriately interact with different types of clientele, and how to write effectively. Moreover, this job made me even more passionate about helping others because it gave me the opportunity to help clients as well as the other members of the Conference Services team. One of my goals for my career is to be able to work hands-on with people, and this particular experience has increased my ability to work with different kinds of people.

• Assigned to a specific Conference Coordinator and provided assistance by emailing Conference Organizers, assigning rooms to Conference guests, and making Conference desk binders.

• Provided services including resolving problems, conducting tours, and explaining policies and procedures.

• Answered phone calls and discussed housing rates, meal plans, housing policies, and check-in/check-out procedures with guests.

• Prepared meal cards for conference guests.

• Processed payments for meeting spaces via PayPal.

• Processed housing and reservation requests via phone, email, and internet reservation form with a customized software package.

• Communicated conference information to other UW Departmental partners such as Bay Laurel Catering, Custodial Staff, and Conference Desks.

Systems Thinking

Being a Conference Services Assistant made me realize how vital each component of a system is in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I noticed that when I first started working as a Conference Services Assistant I would just focus on the tasks given to me and make sure that I did them correctly. For instance, I would always make sure that I counted out the correct number of meal cards for a group and filled out the correct amount of meals to put on those cards. However, as the summer continued I would notice the individual roles of the Conference Services team as well as the other UW Departments we worked with. To illustrate, once I filled out the correct amount of meals that had to go on the meal cards the next step would be to contact the Husky Card Office and have them process that information. What started the meal card task in the first place was my Conference Coordinator who delegated the task of preparing those meals cards to me in the beginning. As a result, I learned that everyone in a system has an important contribution to the team no matter how small of a role they have.

Problem Solving

Problem solving has always been a skill that I struggled with due to the anxiety that I would face whenever a problem arose. Conference season at the University of Washington can have its bad days where everything does not go according to plan, and thus, I had to learn how to adapt to the situation and determine possible solutions to the problem. To illustrate, one day my Conference Coordinator was not in the office and one of our conferences needed to find rooms for unexpected last-minute guests. Since my Conference Coordinator was not in the office I had to take care of the situation and figure out which rooms were available for these guests. This task was complex and also required the help of the Operations manager, but I was able to resolve the problem. Thus, through this experience I have been able to overcome the initial anxiety that takes place when a problem arises and can clearly assess the situation and determine solutions to fix the issue.

Appropriate Interaction

The Conference Services Department hosts a diverse group of conferences during the summer. The guests range from being youth attending athletic camps, youth learning how to code, undergraduate research interns, and bankers attending a banking conference. As a result, I had to learn the appropriate way to engage with all of these different groups in order to effectively communicate with them. For instance, I was giving a tour of a residential hall to a group of undergraduate research interns (around the same age as me) and I interacted with them as if they were peers who attended classes with me at UW. However, interacting with bankers resulted in needing to be more professional. Therefore, through this experience I am now able to appropriately engage with a wide array of different types of clientele.

Helping Others

Helping others has always been a passion of mine. I genuinely enjoy making someone else’s day by lending them a hand no matter what the task is. Making someone else’s day is what makes my day. The Conference Services Department is very team oriented and if one of our teammates needed help with a task, we would all make sure help was given to that person. To illustrate, one day I noticed that another Conference Assistant was struggling with getting their conference desk binder in on time and despite having other tasks that needed to get done, I was able to help them out and the binder was not turned in late. Thus, through this experience, I learned that showing your support and that you care to your co-workers helps build strong relationships and a good work environment.

Writing

As a Conference Services Assistant, I had to communicate with the event planners of all of the conferences assigned to my Conference Coordinator and I mainly did this through email. Therefore, with each email that I sent out I would make sure that my message was clear, concise, and also use professional language. Moreover, if a client needed further explanation or clarification, I would try to word things differently so that they would understand. As a result, I was able to improve my email writing skills through this experience and continue to use these skills when sending communication to potential employers.

My experience as a Conference Services/Meeting Services Assistant with the UW Conference Services Department has helped me grow professionally and personally. I have used my leadership competencies of systems thinking, writing, and appropriate interaction in my other leadership role of being a Resident Adviser of Madrona Hall. Furthermore, my leadership competency of problem solving has helped me become more flexible and adaptable to all types of situations that come my way. When I think of the future, I know that the experiences that I have gained from being a Conference Services/Meeting Services Assistant have contributed to my ability to be more involved in the UW community.