25 Oct Denver Wheels Down Sleeves Up Event Ends Series In Style

Professional Development Dinner with Key Account Managers

Guest post by Jill Farschman, Director of Talent Development and Communications

Last month’s Wheels Down Sleeve Up (WDSU) in Denver was the culmination of a highly successful year-long program for Towne Park. The brainchild of Matt Cahill, EVP of Towne Park’s hotel division, WDSU has been a substantive initiative dedicated to service delivery, client interaction, professional development and social networking in several markets across the nation.

Denver’s WDSU kicked off with a productive operations executive meeting hosted by Denver District Manager John Reimers, followed by an exclusive dinner for key Account Managers Tanner Rogers (Four Seasons Denver), Chris Sullenberger (Denver Marriott City Center), Judson Fisher (Hyatt Regency at Colorado Convention Center) and Dael Finch (Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel). This breaking of bread presented the Account Managers with focused, professional development discussions with senior leaders, one-on-one.

The following day, the WDSU team hit the ramps, in full Towne Park uniform, alongside our talented associates, account managers and clients engaging in friendly service competitions at several key properties throughout the city.

Four Seasons Denver General Manager Thierry Kennel with two Towne Park associates providing exceptional service

Of the WDSU experience in Denver, Matt Cahill stated it was “the best demonstration of client engagement in the whole series. Every site where we worked ramps alongside our associates the clients were also in uniform serving guests. It was a terrific showing of the depth of relationships in this market.”

Towne Park also hosted luncheons with clients throughout the Denver district, where meaningful dialogue about a variety of subjects was exchanged. That afternoon, the visiting WDSU team members observed and participated in a local Denver leadership meeting where service quality, financial performance, talent development and other critical subjects were covered.

Of course, WDSU is not all business! After a casual dinner, the visiting WDSU team and local leadership hopped on bicycles and joined Denver Cruisers for a raucous ride around central Denver in what turned out to be a raging thunderstorm. Undaunted, the intrepid cyclists made it all the way downtown to what is known as the “Circle of Death” where the most hardy of our leadership team (John Reimers, Steffan Sonneveldt, and Matt Cahill to name a few) demonstrated their considerable courage and cycling abilities. Oh, and it should be mentioned the ride’s theme was “1980’s Olympics” which lest you forget (or weren’t born yet) was an era defined by a complete lack of fashion sense.

Lack of fashion sense in action during Denver Cruisers

The final day offered high potential associates an opportunity to ask questions of Towne Park’s leaders in a Towne Hall Meeting format. At this session, Guest Service Associate Seyoum Befekadu was recognized for outstanding service delivery by his account manager Chris Sullenberger.

Guest Service Associate Seyoum Befekadu (L) and Account Manager Chris Sullenberger (R)

Towne Park’s commitment to service quality, client relationships and talent development is exemplified by the Wheels Down Sleeves Up program, which is unparalleled in our industry. The Denver version of WDSU did the whole series proud!