STH 433
Business Tourism
Fall 2014
Instructor:
Dr. Yu-Chin (Jerrie) Hsieh
Office: Bryan 472
Email: y_hsieh@uncg.edu
Office Hours:
Required Text:
Class Location: Bryan 112
Class Meeting Times:
MWF: 11~11:50am
Mondays/Wednesdays 10am-11 am & noon-2pm or by appointment (please
email the instructor in advance)
Professional Meeting Management: Comprehensive Strategies for Meeting,
Conventions and Events (5th edition): Professional Convention Management
Association, Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, ISBN: 978-0-7575-5212-0
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Business tourism with a particular focus on travel involving meetings, incentives,
conventions/conferences, and exhibits (MICE). Prepares students to plan and execute MICE
tourism.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should be able to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Understand up-to-date information pertaining to the meeting and convention industry
Develop skills to manage and plan for meeting exhibition, event, and convention
Comprehend the financial aspect of MICE activities
Evaluate MICE activities
Adopt various marketing strategies to promote MICE activities
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS:
This course will utilize lectures, in-class discussions, in-class activities, case studies, a
major group project, and student presentations.
EVALUATIVE MEASURES:
Criteria
Attendance
Student Information Form + Resume
Reflection paper
Opinion paper
Conference/Meeting Website Analysis
Career Day Fair Evaluation Paper
MICE Planner Career Assignment
Points
5 points * 30 = 150 points
10 points
30 points * 2 = 60 points
30 points *2 = 60 points
30 points
40 points
30 points
1
Exam
Final project
Final project peer/self evaluation
Total Possible Points
80 points *3 = 240 points
200 points
5 points
825
Points #
How to Calculate Your STH 433 Grade?
Your total points (including all extra points you earned) / 825 (points) =? %
Note: # (825 points) does not include extra points.
Grading Scale:
Grade
By percentage
Grade
By percentage
A+
A
AB+
97% to 100%
93% to 97%
90% to 92%
87% to 89%
C+
C
CD+
77% to
73% to
70% to
67% to
79%
76%
72%
69%
B
B-
83% to 86%
80% to 82%
D
DF
63% to 66%
60% to 62 %
Below 60%
Class Attendance:
Your attendance and promptness is expected. Coming to class late, leaving early, or coming and
going during class meeting time is not acceptable behavior. Late arrivals will not be permitted
after scheduled class start times. Do not enter the classroom after the scheduled start time.
You may be asked to leave. There are a variety of activities occurring each week and you must
be present to learn effectively. Any in-class work or exam that is missed due to absences cannot
be made up and will be assigned a grade of zero, unless a formal medical note is submitted.
There will be no make-up for having missed a presentation evaluation.
Each class attendance is worth 5 points. An attendance sheet will be circulated each class
session. Each student must ensure that he or she signs the sheet. Students that fail to do so will
NOT receive credit for attending class. Signing for a student who is not present will result in an
“ F” in the course for the student who signs the false signature and an “ F” for the person for
whom the signature is signed if that person was party to requesting the false signature.
The attendance points will be part of the final total points for the class. No points will be
credited for an absence unless legitimate documentation is provided. Legitimate absences
include representing UNCG at university functions or serious illness. Flat tires, car
breakdowns, late buses, oversleeping, or other personal issues will not be accepted as
legitimate excuses. Documentation must be provided beforehand or within one week of the
absence to prove legitimate absences, such as copies of a doctor’s note or letters from other
professors. Students with legitimate documentation are still expected to turn in assignments on
time.
(1) 10 extra points will be added to total to encourage those students who have 100%
attendance during the semester.
(2) If you missed 8 ~ 10 classes, your grade will be reduced by one grade level.
(e.g. from B+ to C+, from D+ to F)
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(3) If you missed 11 or more than 11 classes, your grade will be reduced by two
grade levels. (e.g. from C- to F, from B+ to D+).
Extra Points:
Students will have several opportunities to earn extra points throughout the semester. Extra
points can be earned when you attend the class. Therefore, there will be no make-up available
for the extra points that have been missed.
Exams:
Three (3) exams will be given during the semester on scheduled dates. You will be notified in
class if there must be a change. If the student fails to provide the instructor advanced notification
for an absence on an exam day, then the student will not be allowed to makeup the exam. The
instructor reserves the right to construct a make-up exam different in content/format from the
original exam.
Final Project: Plan your dream event (MICE)
3-4 students in a team will prepare a written master plan for an assigned event (MICE) and make a
presentation. The plan should be comprehensive and detailed including at a minimum the following
information: title of the event, purpose and goals of the event, description of the target population, plans
for marketing, detailed description of the nature of the event, organizational and staffing arrangements,
financial arrangements (expenses and sources of revenue) and a schedule of major tasks and activities to
be followed in planning and conducting the event. Students must show up for their own team project
presentation or no points will be credited.
Final Project Peer & Self Evaluation:
Each team member will evaluate her/his teammate's performance, contribution and ability to
meet the objectives and action plan. Each self & peer evaluation is worth 5 points.
These evaluations must be handed in on the day of the team presentation (Peer and Self
Evaluation Form is available on Blackboard).
The instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to the individual student’s team
presentation grade based upon the summary of the peer/self evaluation forms. If your average
peer-evaluation score is below 90%, you will receive an adjusted score. Your adjusted score will
be determined by the team score multiplied by the average percentage of your peer-self
evaluations. Below is the example of calculating adjusted scores:
Summary of the Peer-Self Evaluations
Team
member
Meeting
Attendance &
Punctuality
(25%)
Participation &
Readiness at Meetings
(25%)
Work Timeliness &
Quality
(25%)
Team Spirit &
Task Commitment
(25%)
A1
24.3%
20.0%
20.0%
25.0%
Total
(Average)
**89.3%
(below 90%)
A2
25.0%
25.0%
25.0%
25.0%
100.0%
A3
23.4%
24.3%
20.0%
24.0%
91.7%
A4
20.0%
18.5%
15.0%
15.0%
**68.5%
(below 90%)
For example, if your team project points are 200 points, then the final grade for each member in
this team will be:
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A1: 200 points x 89.3% = 178.6 (**Adjusted Score)
A2: 200 points x 1 = 200
A3: 200 points x 1 = 200
A4: 200 points x 68.5%= 137(** Adjusted Score)
(Note: Students will submit the following assignments online via the course Blackboard)
Assignments: (See Blackboard for detailed information/guidelines).
Opinion Papers
There will be two 1 to 2 page (no more than 2 pages) write-up assignments based on a problem
related to the course topics. These short papers are meant to challenge your understanding of
fundamental aspects of MICE planning. In these papers, you should be able to defend a strong
point of view (in favor or against). While writing your opinion papers, ask yourself the following
questions: “Why might others have a different view?” “How can I convince them of my point of
view?” “If I were employed in an organization, how would I convince my colleagues and/or
higher levels of the organization?” If you propose a new concept, ask yourself,” what are the
main limitations to its implementations?”
Reflection Papers
Students will write two reflection papers based on the assigned articles. The length of the
reflection paper should be no more than 2 pages. Your reflection paper should include (1) a
summary of the article (2) lessons you learned from the article and how these can apply to MICE
planning/management. This section should also include your individual critique, response,
comments, and thoughts.
Meeting/Event/Trade Show Website Analysis
Students will review an assigned conference/ meeting website and answer questions with regard
to organize and plan the conference/meeting.
Career Day Fair Evaluation
Students will attend and evaluate the UNCG Fall Career Day Fair (Sept 24, 10am-2pm, Cone
Ball Room) and evaluate the factors that increased or limited the event’s success based on the
topics covered in the class. This analysis should be in the form of a 3-4-page paper discussing
what the successful aspects of the program are, what the problem(s) are, what the potential
solutions are, and how you would go about implementing a solution with a discussion on the
risks or disadvantages involved.
MICE Planner Career Assignment
Students will research and analyze three actual/real meeting/event/conference management job
descriptions posted online that interest them the most and write a report.
BLACKBOARD
Blackboard will be used throughout the semester. Everyone officially registered for this class has
been added to Blackboard automatically. https://blackboard.uncg.edu. Copies of the chapter
lectures, student grades, assignments, team project guidelines, and other important information
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will be provided through this software. Students are expected to check blackboard frequently
and are responsible for the information provided through this software.
Please Note: You are responsible for checking their grades on Blackboard frequently. Please email your instructor as soon as you find any questions regarding your grades. No grade change
request will be accepted after a grade had been posted for two weeks.
CLASS COM MUNICATION
Each student is required to obtain a valid UNCG email account for class communication during
the semester. If you have not set up your UNCG email account, please contact the UNCG
Computing Help Desk by phone at 336-256-TECH (8324) or by sending e-mail to
6-tech@uncg.edu. See more information at http://accounts.uncg.edu/
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All policies and procedures of this course follow those stated in the publication University
Regulations concerning attendance, nondiscrimination policy, academic regulations and
procedures, student rights and student conduct, among others. Students must abide by the Honor
Code of the University of North Carolina Greensboro on all assignments and examinations
related to this course. See more information at
http://studentconduct.uncg.edu/policy/academicintegrity
SPECIAL STUDENTS
If any member of the class feels that he/she has a disability and needs special accommodations of
any nature, I will work with you and the Office of Disability Services to provide reasonable
accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in this class. Please
advise me as soon as possible of such disability and the desired accommodations. Please also
contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at 336-334-5440 for further assistance. See more
information at http://ods.dept.uncg.edu
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STH 433 Class Schedule (8/18-12/1)
Tentative
DATE
TOPICS
8/18
Course Introduction/ Syllabus
8/20
Business Tourism & A Fresh Perspective
8/22
Conference website analysis assignment due
11:50pm
8/25
Starting with the End in Mind: Creating
Objectives for Meetings and Events
Ch 2
8/27
Ch 6
8/29
A Strategic Perspective for Meetings
Management
Read ROI article & write a reflection paper
Work on conference website analysis
assignment
9/1
Labor Day: No Class
9/3
Ch 3
9/5
Effectively Managing Your Meeting’s
Budget
Return on Investment for Meetings & Events
9/8
Risk Planning and Emergency Management
Ch 44
9/10
Marketing and Promotion
Ch 5
9/12
Work on opinion paper 1
Read Ch9 Committees, Volunteers Staff
Ch 39 Ethics
Exam 1
9/15
9/17
9/19
Committees, Volunteers Staff
Ethnics
Site Selection
9/22
Convention & Visitors Bureaus
9/24
Attend Fall Career Day Fair 10am-2pm
[Cone Ball Room]
9/26
Work on Career Day Fair Evaluation
Assignment
READINGS
ASSIGNMENTS
Ch 1
Student information form &
resume assignment due
during class time (8/20, 11am)
Conference website analysis
assignment due 11:50pm,
8/22 Friday
ROI Reflection paper &
due at 11:50pm, 8/29
(Blackboard online
submission)
Ch 46
Opinion Paper 1 due at
11:50pm, 9/12 (Blackboard
online submission)
Ch 1-3, 5 &
44, 46
Ch 9/Ch 39
Ch 11
Ch 12
Career Day Fair Evaluation
Assignment due at 11:50pm,
9/26
6
9/29
Convention Centers
Ch 14
10/1
Transportation
Ch 33
10/3
Housing & Room Block
Ch 25
10/6
Exam 2
9,11,12,14,25,
33,39
10/8
10/10
Final Project Overview/Team
Formation/Team Name/ Team Mission/
Team Expertise/Team Profile
Team Meeting
10/13
Fall Break: No Class
10/15
Food & Beverage Arrangement
Ch 26
10/17
Convention Services Manager
Ch 35
10/20
Effective Meeting Communications
Ch 36
10/22
Suppliers and Contracted Services
Ch 37
10/24
Read Corporate Meeting Planner Reflection
paper
10/25
Work on Spring Cut Event (7:30am-1pm)
10/27
They Came, They Met, They Left-Now
what?
Determine the Success of your Meeting
Ch 38
Ch 30
11/3
Environmentally and socially responsible
meetings and events
Exam 3
11/5
Team Meeting: Work on Final Project
11/7
Team Meeting :Work on Final Project
11/10
Final Project Presentation team 1 & critique
11/12
Final Project Presentation team 2 & critique
11/14
Final Project Presentation team 3 & critique
10/29
10/31
Meeting/Convention Planner
Career assignment due at
11:50pm, 10/8
Corporate Meeting Planner
Reflection paper due at
11:50pm, 10/24
Ch 45
26, 30, 3538,45
Opinion Paper 2 due at
11:50pm
7
11/17
Final Project Presentation team 4 & critique
11/19
Final Project Revision
11/21
Final Project Package
11/24
11/26
No Class:
Work on Final Project Package Revision
Thanksgiving holidays: No Class
11/28
Thanksgiving holidays: No Class
Final Project Package due
Note: Dates are subject to change if necessary. Any revisions to this syllabus will be announced
during class time and posted on the course Blackboard. It is your responsibility to make note of
any changes in this syllabus.
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