Educational Mission

The statutes of Les Clefs d’Or USA, Ltd, make clear the deep commitment to expand the training of those entering the profession and, in general, to promote, foster, enhance and improve the technical skills and professionalism of concierges; to foster the development of the hotel industry and tourism in general and to maintain the highest possible standards of service for hotel guests.  To achieve these goals, there is a Board Position, Director of Media and Education.  This position is currently held by Kathleen Fitzgerald, Concierge at The Highlands Inn, Carmel, CA.

Our educational mission rests on three pillars:  education for concierges and service professionals; for students, and for general public, government and industry.

For Concierges and Service Professionals:

Annual national and international meetings of Les Clefs d'Or feature four to six hours of educational symposia as well as guest speakers representing leaders from hospitality, business, education, government and tourism.

In addition, since our national association is made up of members from a variety of American cities, our local colleagues meet frequently to educate each other on ways to improve the quality of service provided to our guests with an emphasis on local knowledge.

One of current education projects involves upscale hotels throughout the  Caribbean.  We have reached out to almost 500 hotel employees throughout the area to educate them on standards of luxury service and on ways to enhance guest experience.  Please see The Caribbean Educational Initiative and Stiel Media Training Programs [Concierge Express , Taking the High Road of Service and The Neon Signs of Service ] for more information.

For Students:

Prestigious universities such as UNLV, Cornell, Penn State, Johnson & Wales, and Stockton College have reached out to Les Clefs d’Or members to bring our prestige and knowledge to educational symposia and full semester courses for their hospitality students.

Under the auspices of the Marjorie Silverman Education Fund, we have sponsored a scholarship at Penn State University.

Many have benefited from our involvement with the International Concierge Institute.  Members of our organization taught aspiring hotel concierges, many of whom have gone on to become leaders themselves in Les Clefs d’Or USA.  Indeed, one of our Board members is an alum of the program.

For General Public, Government and Industry:

Professionals and captains of Government and Industry have reached out to Les Clefs d’Or so that our networks of hotel concierges can educate their members and enhance their experiences of the cities which are hosting their events, on a non-partisan basis.

 

We have set up Concierge Desks and shared our expertise at:

	New York’s 2004 Republican National Convention
	NYC2012 Olympic Bid
	The Clinton Global Initiative
	Chicago’s 1996 Democratic National Convention
	The 1994 Chicago World Cup
	Other Prestigious Events around the nation

More details on Art of Concierge and Keys to Excellence can be found by clicking these underlined links.

Educational Sponsors for Les Clefs d’Or USA include:

	American Express
	Compcierge
	GoConcierge.net
	The Concierge Assistant
	The International Herald Tribune
	The New York Times
	Stiel Media/Thank You Very Much, Inc.
	Morris Visitors Publications
	Island Video Guide

 

Educational Projects

Classes and seminars led under the auspices of Les Clefs d'Or USA at various universities Cornell University

The Caribbean Initiative

	The Educational Seminar at the Washington, D.C. UICH Congress, January 2006 Washington D.C. Education Program
	Various educational seminars DC Educational Seminar - June 2006       DC Educational Seminar - July 2006

International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show

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