I’ve just returned from one of my favorite events of the year, CHART. I love this conference because it’s like family. It’s a smallish group (around 350 this time) of hotel and restaurant trainers who come together to share information and learn from each other, regardless of the fact that in many cases they are competitors. It’s all about building relationships and exchanging resources and ideas. It’s so unique, and I love it. Because of the small size and the requirement that members must attend at least one of the two conferences held every year, I see a lot of the same people, some of whom are our clients, over and over. There is such a camaraderie about it that I just don’t find at other conferences I have attended.

I remember a few years ago, as a first time attendee, how it at first seemed clique-ish and a bit intimidating to see all these people hugging and greeting each other like old friends. First timers get their own opportunities to bond, though. They are usually required to put on a skit during the awards dinner the last night of the conference. The skits are always corny, but they get everyone involved right away. When I was a first time attendee, our skit was about being initiated into the “cult” of CHART. Hotel bathrobes were involved. And lots of chanting. But people also go out of their way to be nice to the first timers (who are identified by special flags on their badges), welcome them, mentor them, and direct them to resources, and sure enough the very next year I was one of those people hugging others and greeting them like old friends.

I titled this post “schmoozing,” and it amuses me to think the shy girl from high school would turn out to be a schmoozer in my professional life. But that’s really a misnomer. It’s more about establishing genuine connections, professional relationships, and friendships among my peers in the industry. And because we are in, or serve, the hospitality industry, it’s all about hospitality with each other, too.