UNLV tourism expert honored by peers — seeks closer ties to LVCVA

Friday, June 16, 2000 | 11:20 a.m.

If the Las Vegas convention industry and UNLV Associate Professor Patti Shock's career were a match made in heaven, she would insist that the ceremony be conducted in a wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator presiding.

Shock, the chairwoman of UNLV's Tourism and Convention Department, wrote the book on convention planning -- three of them, actually -- developing a curriculum on the subject at UNLV after being hand-picked for the job in 1988.

Twelve years and suitcases full of awards and accolades later, Shock was recognized as one of the top 10 female power players in meeting planning in the nation by Successful Meetings magazine, a 75,000-circulation trade publication based in New York.

Shock was profiled in the magazine's May edition and was able to expose another audience to the program she developed after spending 10 years creating a trade-show curriculum at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

But to learn more about Shock's funny side, one need only visit her Internet site, another passion in her life. Her web pages are liberally sprinkled with animated illustrations and links to the bizarre. Her "Wacky Hospitality Sites" web page won a 1997 Humor Award from MSNBC's "The Site."

Her online resume lists her as "associate professor, department chair and cyber diva" and photos of the covers of two books she has written (the third will be published next year) are parked near a picture of a road sign with the international symbol for electric shock.

"I was really happy with the story (in Successful Meetings) because it gave some increased visibility for the school," Shock said. "We're always looking for that favorable publicity."

But like most storybook marriages, all is not happy in every aspect of her relationship.

With all the accolades she and her program have received, with all the national appearances she has made in conferences and seminars and with scores of graduates from her programs entering the job market every year, Shock is disappointed her program isn't sought out as a resource by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

"It's unusual that we're respected more nationally and internationally than we are in our own city," Shock said. "I get calls all the time from organizations all over the country about issues affecting the convention industry, but rarely hear anything from here."

Julie Barker, editor-in-chief of Successful Meetings, brainstormed with associate editor Caryn Meyers to develop the story on the top 10 women power players in the meetings industry.

"We've known about her (Shock) for a long time," Barker said. "She's a leader in the meetings and conventions industry. Patti has always been at the forefront to build curricula to make the field more professional."

LVCVA President Manny Cortez said his rapport with Shock is just fine.

"I've always thought our relationship was pretty good," said Cortez. "We hire some of their students as interns and some of our people have lectured and taught classes. We also steer students from the Valley High School (Travel and Tourism) program to UNLV."

Cortez said the LVCVA doesn't have to rely on UNLV's research because the agency has its own extensive research facilities.

Shock, a member of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau while at Georgia State, said the composition of the LVCVA board of directors prevents much participation from outside the local resort industry.

Most of the appointees are elected officials and the rest are nominated, three each, by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Nevada Resort Association. Two of the chamber appointees are gaming executives.

At present, there are two representatives each from the cities of Las Vegas and Clark County, one each from North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City (a seat that alternates with the city of Mesquite), and six from the business community, including two from MGM Grand Inc., one from Mandalay Resort Group, one from Park Place Entertainment, one from the Imperial Palace hotel-casino and one nongaming representative.

Shock believes that some new blood on the board could generate new ideas.

"I've been here for 12 years," Shock said, "and I still feel like an outsider."

Naturally, many of Shock's ideas include fostering better relationships between the university and the convention industry. She'd like to see more part-time instructors from the industry sharing their knowledge with students and the industry establishing an endowed chair at the university.

Cortez said the LVCVA can't make a cash contribution to UNLV because the agency is restricted by statute to spending money on the promotion of tourism and the construction of recreational facilities. He said the agency's $75,000 annual contribution to Valley High School is different because the LVCVA has a hand in selecting the curriculum for the school. The money pays for materials and part of the salaries of instructors.

Shock also has some ideas for the betterment of the city. She said there should be consideration of more off-Strip parking to relieve congestion along the resort corridor.

Las Vegas already has the best infrastructure of any convention city, she said, so it's a matter of continuing to market the product to attract more business. When the new Convention Center expansion is completed in 2001, it will give the city a new advantage of being able to contract with large shows on consecutive days, since one hall can be running a show while the other is preparing for the next show's arrival.

Shock wants to see Las Vegas' growing reputation as a center of fine dining used to market the convention product. Food service, in fact, is where Shock got her start in the industry and continues to be a part of her life. She reviews Las Vegas restaurants in her Eating Well in Las Vegas! online column on e-vegas.net, a website about the city, and she also contributes a column on web marketing for the Journal of Restaurant and Foodservice Marketing.

Her restaurant background began in Oakland, Calif., where her parents owned Bela Napoli, an Italian restaurant that opened in 1952 and introduced pizza to Oakland. She worked 21 years as a cashier and hostess and didn't even consider attending college until she was in her 30s.

She attended the University of Southern Mississippi when her father took a job in the South and she learned about the hotel industry when she won a fellowship at the school.

In 1977, she began teaching at Georgia State, eventually becoming the chairwoman of the Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Department, where she caught the eye of UNLV officials wanting to strengthen the Harrah College of Hotel Administration.

The Harrah college now has 2,000 students, about 250 of them in the Tourism and Convention Department. Industry experts say UNLV offers the best hands-on resort experience in the world. About 20 percent of the student population in the college are international students from 48 different countries.

"Nobody has a better laboratory than this," Shock said of Las Vegas.

Her third book, "On-Premise Catering," will be published in January. She co-authored two textbooks, "Hotel Catering: A Handbook for Sales and Operations" and "A Club Manager's Guide to Private Parties and Club Functions."

Shock also produces an annual conference for convention and event educators every February in Las Vegas. The Convention/Expo Summit -- CEX -- draws about 60 people to the city each year to discuss industry trends.

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