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Hotel Industry Icon to Share Insights on Customer Service

SARASOTA, FL, (February 10, 2006) –  Horst Schulze, former CEO of Ritz-Carlton and current President/CEO of The West Paces Hotel Group, will come to Sarasota on March 7^th to share his wealth of knowledge about exceptional customer service.

Schulze’s 4 pm speech, which is free but with reservations required, is made possible by a new lecture series at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. The event will be held at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Sarasota.

USF Sarasota-Manatee’s Campus CEO Laurey Stryker says Schulze’s insights about exceptional customer service can benefit all types of businesses and employees in the area.

“Mr. Schulze’s words of wisdom will certainly be gospel to people in the hospitality industry, but his customer service advice also applies to virtually everybody else, too – because we all have customers,” said Stryker.

“I think local companies in industries ranging from banking, real estate, tourism and healthcare will also gain many useful ideas that they can put into practice right away,” added Stryker.

Schulze’s speech is the inaugural lecture of the Linda Novey-White Memorial Lecture Series, from the USF School of Hotel & Restaurant Management (SHRM) located on the USF Sarasota-Manatee campus.

Jay Schrock, director of the USF SHRM, notes that Schulze is one of the most celebrated figures in the hospitality industry. Schrock says Schulze is legendary for his expertise and experience about how to build and maintain lasting customer relationships by exceeding customer service expectations.

“Horst Schulze is a pillar of the modern hospitality industry,” said Schrock. “Under his leadership as CEO, The Ritz-Carlton twice received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, which is a feat no other hotel chain has accomplished.”

The Malcolm Baldrige Award is given to businesses that are judged to be outstanding in leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, human resource focus, process management, and results.

As Stryker explains, such dedication to quality was also a trait of Ms. Novey-White, the benefactor who made this USF Sarasota-Manatee lecture series possible, enabling the university to attract world-class speakers like Schulze.

“Linda Novey-White was world-renowned for her fanatical attention to customer service in the hospitality industry,” said Stryker. 

“Linda and her husband Larry White, who is the executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, helped to establish our School of Hotel and Restaurant Management here two years ago,” added Stryker. “They insisted that we build an extraordinary program – which we have, thanks to Linda, Larry and many other wonderful leaders in our community.”

The Linda Novey-White Memorial Lecture Series was created to celebrate, recognize and honor the amazing contributions that Novey-White made to customer service and the hospitality industry.

Schrock hopes that the lectures will continue Novey-White’s legacy of fostering excellence in customer service both locally and nationally.

“This lecture series will bring the business community and the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management even closer together,” noted Schrock.

Schulze’s speech is co-sponsored by the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association.

The Linda Novey-White Memorial Lecture Series Endowment at the University of South Florida Foundation will fund annual lectures, featuring renowned keynote speakers known for their experience and leadership in the advancement of best practices in customer service.

Linda Novey-White Memorial Lectures are free and open to the public, but reservations for all programs are required. Please call (941)359-4602 for reservations. Or, RSVP via e-mail to pgleason@sar.usf.edu. Space for the event is limited.

For information about how to provide support for this and other efforts of USF Sarasota-Manatee, please call (941)359-4582.

USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level campus – serving people with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree seeking a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. The regional campus offers the prestige of a national Research I university with the convenience of a hometown campus, including classes in south Sarasota County at the Manatee Community College Venice site.