Assignment Two: Sub-Team B

The agency we chose to visit is Dodds Sports Tours which organizes trips to sporting events across the country. Though it initially started as a smaller family business Dodds grew but was bought out by a larger company called Premiere Global Sports three years ago. Dodds, located on Neil Street in Champaign, IL provides services to clients such as the University of Illinois, Texas A&M, and Ohio State.

Dodds' university clients call Dodds when they have a large group of fans who would like to attend major college sporting events such as any "final" or "bowl" games. The agency provides many services to customers such as booking flights and hotels as well as providing transportation for guests not only to the main sporting event, but to other scheduled activities Dodds organizations for it's customers. Dodd has a team dedicated to planning well-organized, worry-free trips that customers will enjoy.

                                                                                    

According to Executive Vice President, Ken Bruce, a worker at a major sports travel agency must be a quick thinker. Though each of Dodds trips are carefully planned out, life happens. There may be a time when a bus carrying customers gets lost  or  a miscommunication could happen with a hotel or airline; a worker has to be able to handle these types of situations smoothly and efficiently. Bruce also stresses that a member of a travel agency should not only love travel, but people as well. Travel workers deal with many kinds of people on a daily basis; some could be angry customers, or customers who ask similar questions over again. No matter what, a worker must speak to each person with respect. In  the end, the customers must enjoy themselves. 

The agency offers positions as full-time program managers during the game season. It also looks for travel agents who can accompany guests on the different trips taken. Dodds hires many temp positions as well; people who assist with arranging flights, hotels, transportation..etc. Having a degree in something similar to Recreation, Sports and Tourism looks good to an agency like Dodds. Though they are not hiring at the moment, Bruce encourages students to apply to the agency in the near future because timing of the application is very important (they are currently expanding the company). Anyone who has experience in other travel or group agencies is also a good applicant for an organization like Dodds.

 Recently, Dodds has dealt with the question of how to expand the company by venturing into other forms of travel. Dodds has shifted its heavy focus on sports travel to other businesses. For example, in addition to running athletic tours, Dodds also partners with UI Alumni and student organizations to put together trips both domestic or overseas. Currently, Dodds is still in the process of finding the best way to balance its relationship with its different partners in order to gain maximum profit. Dodds goal is to remain a leading athletic trips provider while also successfully expanding to other areas.

Dodds Sports Tours defines leisure as fun. Ken Bruce stated that any time you're having fun while doing an activity, it can be considered leisure. The company provides benefits to its customers by allowing them to take a couple days off to go to a different city to watch their favorite sports team as well as experiencing different environments and sightseeing in a different city.  It’s convenient and easy-to-do, without too much hassle for guests; the company prepares everything for the guests.

We found Dodds Athletic Tours to be a very interesting place. The agency provides group sports travel to retail customers, universities, and corporations. They arrange everything from airfare, hotels, transportation to and from the sporting event, and even host a party for the travel group.  The office environment seemed fun and everyone there was very nice and friendly. The offices are filled with sports memorabilia, the majority being college events that the company participated in as a travel agency. It seems a career in the agency would be very rewarding. If you love sports you will be very involved with what is going on in the sports world in order to be prepared for future bookings. As an event programmer you will be able to travel to a lot of major sporting events, watch very coveted sporting championships and travel through the U.S.  Unfortunately every job has its downfalls. Sometimes you may have to deal with unhappy customers or deal with spontaneous occurrences such as travel delays due to bad whether. Overall an event programmer working for a sports travel agency has an exciting career with lots of challenges making work more enjoyable and rewarding.

Assignment Two: Subteam One

The Champaign Country Club was founded in 1904 and is a private club whose main focus is golf. It was founded by civic leaders and is a testament to Champaign’s economic and social leadership throughout the century. It is made up of 37,000 square feet and is surrounded by and 18-hole championship golf course. It is located on Prospect Avenue in Champaign and membership is by invitation only. The Champaign Country Club is focused on creating an atmosphere of leisure for its members and their families.

The Champaign Country Club offers part-time and full-time employment opportunities. The part-time employment opportunities include tennis instructors, personal trainers, caddies, waiters, bartenders, and other dining staff. Seasonal employment at the club pool is also available. Full time positions include membership director, event coordinator, general manager, superintendent, and other office type positions.

A main requirement for any job at the Champaign Country Club is good people skills. This is a service industry and the number one goal of everyone who works at the country club should be pleasing their members. For the full-time positions, experience in the management field is a necessity, as they will spend most of their time coordinating other employees and planning events for members. Some experience with recreation-based careers is also important so that the management staff is fully qualified to take care of members. The Champaign Country Club prefers experienced applicants for part-time positions, but they are willing to train anyone who is eager to learn and has the charisma necessary to make members happy.

The declining economy is a major issue for private country clubs. The declining economy has caused average number of golf loops to go down each year and membership does as well. This means that employees have to work even harder to please their members. Some ways that the Champaign Country Club is working towards this goal is by creating informally-styled dining areas, innovative social events that are fun for all ages, fitness facilities and wellness programs, actively-programmed tennis operations, and a variety of family and children’s activities.

The Champaign Country Club’s definition of leisure is the freedom to enjoy a pastime or pleasurable activity. The main benefit for members is having a place to go to enjoy themselves with their family and friends.  They also get privacy and know that they will always be taken care of by the staff.

In general, we have learned that working at the Champaign Country Club offers numerous different opportunities for employees. In management positions, people get to work in an industry that is focused on customer service. They study their target market and decide on innovative ideas to make people want to retain their membership. In part-time positions, people get to work in hands-on occupations and get a lot of interaction with members. One benefit of employment at the Champaign Country Club is getting to work with people in a fun setting. Another benefit of working in the country club industry is that many of the jobs are hands-on and involve activities that many people might be passionate about, such as swimming or golf. A negative aspect of working for a country club is that many jobs are seasonal, so during winter months some employees would have to find a supplementary income. Another negative aspect of working in the country club industry is that when the economy declines, their business is the first to start losing money because people don’t see leisure as a necessity, especially not expensive private clubs. 

Nathan’s Definition of Leisure

This is a picture of bowling alley lane. Bowling is my favorite active. After the stressful time in school, I spend my free time bowling and relaxing. I consider leisure a time spent doing what you love and relaxing, and away from that stressful things and responsibilities.

Kara's def of Leisure

This is a picture of my favorite singer Alicia Keys. Alicia Keys represents music. Whenever I have free time I love to listen to her music. My definition of leisure is using your free time to do something you enjoy and for me that is listening to music.

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