`Ohana: To Be Genuinely Caring of Each Other and Bond Together as a Family

Our HCC Hawaiian Value of the Month is `Ohana.

Helpful staff at the concession stands are a part of why the Hawai`i Convention Center received 99% in all service categories. Photo courtesy of Spherion.

You may know it as team work, collaboration, togetherness, fellowship or partnership.  Here in Hawai`i, we call it working together as an `ohana.

To deliver a high level of service that is rated as 99% in all service categories in the last fiscal year, the Hawai`i Convention Center relies on all members of our staff to work together.  By excelling in our individual responsibilities, together we can produce the highest standards of service.  In doing so, we take care of one another and unconditionally work together as an `ohana, as a family.  We are encouraged to reach outside our specific departments to lend a hand, offer suggestions, and catch oversights that may affect our guest’s final experience.

From the security ambassador in the front lobby, to the restroom attendant, to the food server at your function, we all work as an `ohana with everyone working together as one in cooperation and harmony.  Our main goal is to provide the most memorable experience for our guests so that they will want to return to the Islands and the Hawai`i Convention Center many times in the future.

Getting ready for another memorable event. Photo courtesy of Spherion.

Our General Manager has encouraged the “E Komo Five” program with all our managers.  E Komo Five is a spin-off of the greeting “E Komo Mai” which means to welcome or to offer to come in.  In doing so, our managers take the time to stop and speak with the staff for at least five minutes, to catch-up and learn about their personal lives and families.  We emphasize our core values by nurturing our relationships with our fellow `ohana.

As Islanders, we are proud of our home and genuinely giving ways and want to demonstrate immediately to our guests what a wonderful place Hawai`i is by including our visitors into our `ohana.  You will find that our staff is always willing to stop and answer questions that you may have about where to go, where to shop, or where to eat.  We want to share ourselves so our visitors can experience what we know as the Aloha Spirit.  We are all ambassadors of Hawai`i and hope to bring great excitement to our guests by having them feel as they are all-in-the-`ohana.

E komo mai and welcome to our Hawai`i Convention Center `Ohana.

Thanks to a meticulous housekeeping staff like Gloria Sumbad the Hawai`i Convention Center stays sparkling clean and beautiful every day.

HCC Welcomes New Director of Operations

Jennifer Nakayama, Director of Operations

The Hawai`i Convention Center extends a warm aloha to a new member of our team!  Jennifer Nakayama is our new Director of Operations, joining us from California, where she spent the past five years overseeing 81 projects totaling $8.6 million at Sea World San Diego.

At the Center, Jennifer will oversee engineering, housekeeping, capital projects, and security guest services.  Her experience includes master planning and corporate initiatives, solar and green projects, water quality, and company partnerships.  She also has a strong background in customer service, consensus and team building, and staff cross-training.  In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and dancing.

Welcome to the team, Jennifer!