Centerplate Stir Announces Collaboration with Cornell University

ITHACA, N.Y., Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Centerplate, the leading hospitality provider to North America's premier sports stadiums and convention centers, announces a new collaboration with Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. Hospitality strategist John Sergi, Centerplate's Chief Design Officer, together with Centerplate's Stir™ division, and Rupert Spies, a senior lecturer at the School of Hotel Administration, will premier HADM 5305: Strategic Hospitality Planning in Sports, a seven-week course starting this fall 2011.

Strategic Hospitality Planning in Sports, co-facilitated by Sergi, a 1989 graduate of the School's master's program, and Spies will feature various guest speakers from the industry each week, taking students through the same processes that Sergi and his team at Centerplate Stir follow when taking on a new project. Starting with brand analysis, students will create a conceptual plan for an actual Centerplate Stir project including menu development, facility design and operations, contracts, business considerations and public relations. Students will present their conceptual plans at the close of the course.

Any qualified student who takes the class is eligible for an internship at a Centerplate property. This will allow students to see the theories learned in class put into practice in the industry.

"Centerplate Stir™ is dedicated to changing the world of food in sports," states Sergi. "When trying to change something on such a huge scale, one way to do it is to change people's perspective on it, change why people are doing what they're doing. What better place to start people thinking differently than before they enter the world of operations and tactical considerations. Centerplate is looking at hospitality strategically, and we are looking to teach people to look at hospitality the way we do. We are doing that by collaborating with the country's preeminent hospitality education program by educating and training students to be future leaders in the field of strategic hospitality."

"We're thrilled to be collaborating with Centerplate on this new course," said Spies. "Centerplate is on the cutting-edge of food service in sports and entertainment. By partnering with them, we will give our students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to learn about this developing segment of the hospitality industry. The course will combine theoretical underpinnings and practical skills, preparing students for unique career paths in sports hospitality."

Centerplate Stir™ is a fluid and multi-disciplinary group of talented thinkers and doers from all areas of Centerplate's capabilities and select outside resources. The group is led by John Sergi, a pioneer who has dedicated more than 25 years to the transformational idea that hospitality can live and thrive in sports facilities, convention centers, and anywhere large numbers of people come together with food.

About Centerplate

Centerplate crafts and delivers "Craveable Experiences. Raveable Results." in over 250 prominent entertainment, sports and convention venues across North America – annually serving over 100 million guests. Centerplate has provided event hospitality services to 15 official U.S. Presidential Inaugural Balls, 12 Super Bowls, 20 World Series, the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and the largest plated dinner in history at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Celebration. The company was recently named the fastest growing hospitality group in the country by Nation's Restaurant News. Visit the company online at www.centerplate.com

About the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration

The Cornell University School of Hotel Administration is shaping the global knowledge base for hospitality management through leadership in education, research, and industry advancement. The school provides management instruction in the full range of hospitality disciplines, educating the next generation of leaders in the world's largest industry. Founded in 1922 as the nation's first collegiate course of study in hospitality management, the Cornell School of Hotel Administration is recognized as the world leader in its field. For more information, visit www.hotelschool.cornell.edu.

About Rupert Spies

Rupert Spies is a senior lecturer at the School of Hotel Administration. He teaches courses in restaurant management; culinary theory and practice; catering and special events management; restaurant and hotel supply chain management. Spies has lectured in Canada, Cyprus, Germany, Japan and Switzerland. His current research interests are International Multi Unit Restaurant Management; Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems for Space Exploration; and the Catering Industry. Spies's work has been widely published. Selected works include "Work Measurement for Estimating Food Preparation Time of a Bioregenerative Diet," Habitation, International Journal for Human Support Research, Vol. 9, 2003, by Olabi, Ammar, Jean Hunter, Peter Jackson, Michele Segal, Rupert Spies, et al; "A Survey of Commercial Catering Businesses: Issues for the Year 2000 and Beyond," CaterSource Journal, 58, May – June 2001 by Alex Susskind and Rupert Spies; and "Is Germany's Traditional Restaurant a Dying Breed?", Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, June 1998, by Rupert Spies and Gretel Weiss. Before teaching at Cornell, Spies worked as a chef and manager in numerous food service businesses throughout Germany, the Netherlands and the United States. Spies studied at the FachhochshulefuerWirtschaft and the Technical University in Berlin, Germany and at Cornell University.

SOURCE Centerplate