Ilario Ierace, director of the Cornaro Institute
‘On the whole I am happy …’
You could see him everywhere, not saying much but seeing everything. A few hours from the end of his task as organiser of this 20th Annual Conference in Lido di Jesolo, he is beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. He has been the director of the Elena Cornaro Institute for five years: ‘I was responsible for closing the old school and opening the new one,’ he says. Ilario Ierace points out with pride, ‘It’s one of the best schools in Italy.’
So, Headmaster, are you pleased?
‘Yes, tired but pleased. My biggest preoccupation has been not to disappoint the participants. That’s why around 50 of my staff were deployed in about 15 organising committees. And outside the school I had the support of the Jesolo Tourist Office, from the county and from the Regional Tourism Authority. I worked on a provisional projection and last July there was still a lot to do. A lot of registrations arrived at the last minute, which caused us some problems. I should tell you that in Jesolo 80% of the 400 hotels are already closed; and we had to find hotels which were not too far from the Tourism Palace.
All in all I am happy. But of course it’s up to the participants to give their opinion. There haven’t been any big problems, though of course there have been little worries. My co-workers have worked very hard and this Annual Conference has been an enriching experience for all of us. Everyone was very enthusiastic. The excursions have been a great success.
I should add that we have been supported by a lot of sponsors, some of them very large companies, notably the SIRMAN company and the large regional businesses. It’s easier to come by products than money! In any case I do not anticipate a deficit. We have benefited from the experience, and the equipment which has been bought remains the property of the Institute. And organising this 20th Annual Conference has made it possible for us to make the Institute even better known’.
‘On the whole I am happy …’
You could see him everywhere, not saying much but seeing everything. A few hours from the end of his task as organiser of this 20th Annual Conference in Lido di Jesolo, he is beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel. He has been the director of the Elena Cornaro Institute for five years: ‘I was responsible for closing the old school and opening the new one,’ he says. Ilario Ierace points out with pride, ‘It’s one of the best schools in Italy.’
So, Headmaster, are you pleased?
‘Yes, tired but pleased. My biggest preoccupation has been not to disappoint the participants. That’s why around 50 of my staff were deployed in about 15 organising committees. And outside the school I had the support of the Jesolo Tourist Office, from the county and from the Regional Tourism Authority. I worked on a provisional projection and last July there was still a lot to do. A lot of registrations arrived at the last minute, which caused us some problems. I should tell you that in Jesolo 80% of the 400 hotels are already closed; and we had to find hotels which were not too far from the Tourism Palace.
All in all I am happy. But of course it’s up to the participants to give their opinion. There haven’t been any big problems, though of course there have been little worries. My co-workers have worked very hard and this Annual Conference has been an enriching experience for all of us. Everyone was very enthusiastic. The excursions have been a great success.
I should add that we have been supported by a lot of sponsors, some of them very large companies, notably the SIRMAN company and the large regional businesses. It’s easier to come by products than money! In any case I do not anticipate a deficit. We have benefited from the experience, and the equipment which has been bought remains the property of the Institute. And organising this 20th Annual Conference has made it possible for us to make the Institute even better known’.
Louis Robert, AEHT President
‘We must encourage the organisers to put the students to work’
‘We must encourage the organisers to put the students to work’
Louis Robert was elected AEHT President for the second time at the 19th Annual Conference in Killarney, Ireland last year; he is the director of the Diekirch hotel school in Luxembourg and knows full well all the problems that an organising school can encounter.
‘All in all I think that it’s gone well. This conference was well organised, though the meals could have been a little better. For future years I would encourage organisers to place more emphasis on the quality of the meals and on reducing the travel time as much as possible, as the distance between the hotels cuts down the time for networking. We also need to ensure that everyone can take part in the most important parts of the conference.
Furthermore we must also make much greater use of students’ skills instead of farming out the operations – we must encourage the organisers to put the students to work. It’s a unique opportunity for them to put into practice what they have learned. We must also prevent the ceremonies from lasting too long, and make the greatest possible use of modern technology to save time.
On the matter of the competitions, we had to eliminate two students who did not fulfil the criteria. And why? Because they were quite incapable of communicating. It is more important to be able to speak and communicate with one’s fellow contestants than to carry out the tasks. It’s a great shame for these two young people. But I’m very pleased with the way we applied the rules drawn up by the Competitions Committee. The competitions went off very well.
Furthermore we must also make much greater use of students’ skills instead of farming out the operations – we must encourage the organisers to put the students to work. It’s a unique opportunity for them to put into practice what they have learned. We must also prevent the ceremonies from lasting too long, and make the greatest possible use of modern technology to save time.
On the matter of the competitions, we had to eliminate two students who did not fulfil the criteria. And why? Because they were quite incapable of communicating. It is more important to be able to speak and communicate with one’s fellow contestants than to carry out the tasks. It’s a great shame for these two young people. But I’m very pleased with the way we applied the rules drawn up by the Competitions Committee. The competitions went off very well.
But even though I am the AEHT journalist I was curtly turned away and was unable to take an official photograph in the Institute’s kitchens …
Really? We’ll have to look into that with the Competitions Committee – perhaps give you a badge and include it in the rules. In any case, everyone will remember Venice and next year we’re celebrating the AEHT 20th anniversary. That’s fantastic don’t you think?
SOME OPINIONS GLEANED AT RANDOM
Unlike in other years, we decided to ask the views of groups at random as they sat at their tables during the last evening. Here are some of their comments:
The team from RIGA, Agita Ozolina, Ilze Locmane and Buris Dukaaskis are glad that they came and are obviously pleased. They have met interesting people and have every intention of meeting up again next year in Kuressaare, this time as neighbours of the organisers.
Riccardo Caristi, 17 years old (pastry competition) is from the Antonello school in Messina and Chiara Cucinotta, 18 years old (culinary arts competition) is from the Bari school; both of them are glad that they took part in the competitions, Ricardo the more so since he won a prize!
Lorenzo di Giacomo, 18 years old from Senigallia and Désirée Sacchetti 17 years old from Giulia Nova have the same message…
Same story from their fellow students from Zell am Ziller in Austria, 19 year-old Julia Schleifer and 18 year-old Sylvia Krobl and Alexander Schuemberger.
And the Serbian team - Caki Lagos, Goran Kovaievic, Nicola Busic, Suljie Jadranka and Marko Tosic – had won a host of medals (three gold, one silver and one bronze) a total of five. So no interpreter was needed – their joy was a pleasure to behold.
