By Sara MoultonFree Press Staff
An unorthodox training seminar recently taught sales and service staff in Fernie some new techniques on how to “over-wow” their customers.
Guest speaker Stuart Ellis-Myers spent two days on December 5 and 6 sharing his insight and expertise with staff from Fernie’s tourism and hospitality industries. Ellis-Myers, who calls himself “Twitchy”, uses his experience of living with Tourette syndrome to educate his audience on how to overcome obstacles and create positive results for their clients. While many people may envision most training seminars as being serious or bland, Ellis-Myers’ courses provide an interactive environment that is highly enjoyable for attendees.
Dakota Ward is the banquet supervisor at the Fernie Best Western Plus and was full of praise for Ellis-Myers after attending the first day’s course.
“It was great, he’s just so lively… he gets the crowd involved and really has fun with it,” said Ward. “He teaches you how to go over and above; simple little things that you can do, even in your personal life, to become a more inspiring and better person.”
Tourism Fernie organized the seminar to help businesses provide the best possible service to residents and visitors alike. The selected courses had been developed for Whistler ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, making them particularly relevant to the winter season here in the Elk Valley. Corien Sieders, interim executive officer of Tourism Fernie, would like tourists to remember Fernie for more than just beautiful scenery.
“I hope that people will come here and be surprised and amazed with how great the people of Fernie are,” said Sieders. “I’ve been really happy with what we’ve been doing (until now), but it was time to think outside the box.”
With such positive responses to Ellis-Myers’ techniques, Tourism Fernie expects to arrange more courses to be held next year. Further information on upcoming events can be found at www.tourismfernie.com while questions about the training can be directed to the corporate office on (250) 423 2037.