Did you see the recent article from the Sales and Marketing Faculty Advisory Board on "Learning by Doing: 12 Innovative, Hands-On Assignments for Your Sales and Marketing Classes"? These 12 ideas were produced in response to members' requests for ideas and activities to incorporate into their classes. I hope they are helpful to you!

We will continue to develop this kind of resource to create more value for you, our members. If you need ideas, resources, or suggestions in a particular area, let me know so that we can create them for you.

In case you don't have a chance to read the full "Learning By Doing" article, an abbreviated list of the 12 ideas follows:

* Give students real world experience by reaching out to local hotels for projects such as prospecting, lead development, blitz planning, etc.

* Invite guest speakers, including HSMAI board members, chapter and special interest group leaders, and local community members, to address your classes.

* Have students prepare a personal sales/marketing plan that would position themselves for career placement on graduation. Suggest use of social media, creation of their own collateral (business cards, etc.). Tap into local branding experts, or recommend a book like "Your Personal Brand."

* Take a field trip to a local hospitality business where the person responsible for sales/marketing conducts a tour of the facility and talks through their sales/marketing approach.

* Develop an appreciation for market research by asking students to design a marketing survey/questionnaire related to an identified opportunity, collecting data via a manual (i.e., printed forms) or electronic (i.e., Survey Monkey) method; then tabulate, analyze, and report the results.

* Have a fun program to bring in local GMs and DOSs, like "Are you smarter than a hospitality student?" and "Speed Networking."

* After teaching a "Networking" module in a sales course, arrange for groups of students (maybe only 3-5 at a time) to visit a local Chamber of Commerce, or HSMAI chapter, networking program.

* Assign an "imaginary" marketing plan for pre-opening and post-opening.

* Assign a team activity with three cohesive elements: Print Ad, Radio Spot, and TV Commercial.

* Analyze the marketing of a major company - look at how what we learn in the classroom is applied in the industry. Is the industry applying what we learn?

* Have students do a product analysis and a promotions mix analysis on a major hospitality company.

* Have students review and present current articles (appearing in the media during the last 90 days) in classroom discussions.

Dr. Marcia Taylor
Assistant Professor, East Carolina University and
Chair, HSMAI Sales & Marketing Faculty Special Interest Group