When asked what the Art of Hospitality meant to him, Mark replied: “The Art of Hospitality is a refined process to provide guests with authentic hospitality. It is remembering that we are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. It’s saying sir and ma’am and it’s being personable and professional while delivering authentic personalized service. We are professional, prompt and polite. I enjoy the philosophy behind the Art of Hospitality. I want to provide authentic hospitality and make a connection. I like bringing personalized service into play at every event.”

While providing the Art of Hospitality to our guests, Mark’s role as a banquet manager is to oversee operations for the entire event, from set up to when the last guest walks out the door at the end of the night. Mark is a mentor to all the staff members, particularly the younger serving staff who are just entering the food and beverage industry. Mark happily shares his knowledge and cares about seeing our staff succeed and will spend time with those who need extra help to improve their skills.

Mark brought more than 35 years of professional hospitality experience to us along with 10 years serving in the United States Navy. This decorated veteran served under three presidential administrations (Carter, Reagan and Bush!). After his 10 years, Mark said “I was still young enough to figure out what else I wanted to do.” He moved to Little Rock, Arkansas and was the bar manager at Bennigan’s for two years, and he also has a part-time gig at Governor’s Mansion when Bill Clinton was there.

From that point moving forward, he locked fate in the food and beverage industry – this includes having his own restaurant in 2008! Mark owned a small, quiet Italian restaurant where he won awards for sauce and meatballs. Overall, he has spent most of his career in corporate hospitality – hotels to be specific.

As a fully trained chef, Mark uses his vast experience to assist in logistics of all the functions. “Many people work in two dimensions. It’s important to have depth, which is the 3rd dimension, as a manager. The 4th dimension is to be able to project into the future and visualize what comes next.”

One of his favorite events to work is weddings. “I love the energy of the event. People come in a great mood so you can feed it and build it, helping staff and guests have a good time. Even though every wedding is different, there’s always an agenda you follow. In 35+ years, I’ve probably managed 400 weddings (that equals 800 mothers-in-laws!).”

Mark’s wise words:
• Listen and don’t use the word “I” …. it’s all about the guest
• Have fun with it – use your personality!
• Roll with the punches and changes
• If they succeed, we succeed
• Be an example
• Motivate your staff
• Coach, mentor, train
• Treat everybody as a VIP and you’ll never fall short

Mark’s closing remarks were, “I’ve been everywhere in this business – HORIZONS is my last stop.”