Our HCC Hawaiian Value of the Month is Kokua.

What is Kokua?

When visitors come to our islands, they see kokua on our garbage cans and ponder if this means “garbage cans” in Hawaiian.  We see kokua on signs in the market, on the streets, and we hear people say it.

Our Hawaiian word Kokua is widely used and is part of our culture.  Our workplace, schools, and businesses are built on a team effort by working together collectively in achieving our mission and goals through practicing kokua.  Practicing kokua is reflected through our values and behavior by volunteering to help others without being asked, sharing resources with others who need it, going out of your way to make someone’s day, or making a special effort to work together with others, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

Our large event in May, the American Association of Orthodontists, displayed kokua in action.  Our HCC employees, working alongside with our various contractors, hosted our guests and visitors with an exceptional convention and an outstanding and beautiful Hawaiian experience at our place.

We would like to acknowledge everyone for their kokua in making this event a success.

Mahalo Nui for a convention well done!

Our HCC Hawaiian Value of the Month is Lokomaika`i.

Our Vision Statement for the Hawai`i Convention Center is to be the world’s most desirable convention and meeting destination.

An essential element in helping us to accomplish this is lokomaika`i.  The translation for lokomaika`i is to always act with generosity and kindness toward others.  Lokomaika`i is an extension of aloha and love.

From beginning, to everything in between, to end – from meeting you with lei and aloha, to coordinating with your team and providing the best solutions for your event while brightening your day with an island treat or experience, to our aloha and mahalo goodbye’s – we unselfishly give and share what we have to offer and extend our talents with friendship and warm-heartedness.  This is lokomaika`i.  Our goal is to host an event so productive and successful, and experience so unique and memorable, you will want to return.

Guests who have been here share their experience of lokomaika`i with you.  Nancy Todd, Congress Manager, American Chemical Society on what they experienced in Hawai`i:

Lokomaika`i is appropriate for this month of April and throughout the year!  Aloha!

Our HCC Hawaiian Value of this month is Kuleana.

As far as I can remember, my father used the phrase kuleana in the context of “it’s your job” or “that is your kuleana.”  Clearly it is about responsibility.

Considering my limited knowledge and appreciating knowing what I don’t know, I thought I would talk to Keli`i Wilson of the HTA as she is the person at HTA that has an in-depth knowledge of the language and the Hawaiian culture.

I asked Keli`i what the Hawaiian context was relative to kuleana, once again, in one word, responsibility, but, an interesting perspective was, to who is your kuleana, not what is your kuleana.  As she explained it to me, in the family structure, the eldest had a responsibility to the youngsters and the youngsters had a responsibility to the elders, it was a responsibility to…

When you think about that, we can better define what kuleana means and the “to” will shape the “what.”

As we move into the month of February, lets reflect on our HCC Value for the month…

Kupono:  To be forthright, honest, and fair in your relationships with others.

This is one of our important values that we live by here at the Hawai`i Convention Center.  Let’s look at the definitions for each component of this value:

Forthright – going straight to the point; direct.

It’s important that all of us be forthright in what we do in servicing our customers.  Being direct and to the point can sometimes be hard to hear, but you will find that people will appreciate it.

Roberta Kravitz, Executive Director, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) on what makes them return to Hawai`i:

Honest – honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright.

Honesty is probably one of the most critical components of being Kupono, both in our professional and personal lives.  Without this trait, we would not have the HCC `Ohana that we do.

Catherine Rydell, Executive Director/CEO, American Academy of Neurology (AAN) shares what makes their Hawai`i conference memorable:

Fair – free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice.

This is demonstrated in how we handle each and every event that has chosen to come to the Center.  It doesn’t matter if it’s an event of 10 or 10,000 attendees, everyone is treated equally with fairness and aloha.

Richard Yep, Executive Director, American Counseling Association (ACA) on the service they’ve received in Hawai`i:

It’s important that we remember these values both in our professional and personal lives.  The relationships that are formed are the foundation for the HCC.

As we celebrate both Valentine’s Day and President’s day this month, let’s remember our values and respect the relationships that we have made.

And remember, though the month of February is a sad one for a lot of us with the end of the NFL football season, we can look on the brighter side that baseball season is right around the corner!

Aloha and live Kupono!

Value of the Month – January

Here at the Hawai`i Convention Center, our values are rooted in 12 Hawaiian cultural values which we constantly strive to live by.  This month of January, we reflect on the value of ho`ohanohano.

Every day in both our professional and personal lives, this value reminds us “to conduct yourself with distinction, honor, and integrity in all that you do.”  At the Hawai`i Convention Center, we encounter many distinguished visitors through our doors, each which may have different requests, needs, and even customs that must be upheld.  Our Events Calendar shows examples of the clients that will grace our floors this year, including the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Hawai`i Blood Bank, and the Hawai`i Dental Association in January.  But each group, whether thousands in number or only a group of five, has given us the honor of sharing their event within our doors and therefore we strive to treat each with the professional distinction they have come to expect at a world-class facility.  This includes honoring their requests as best as possible, and when we are not able to accommodate, having the integrity to apologize while offering another solution.

Integrity is that unique ability to not only recognize that you have made a mistake or gone off-course, but also to accept full responsibility for it.  These are two separate steps on the integrity ladder, and one cannot occur without the other.  Ho`ohanohano then goes a step further and shows us that we not only need to accept responsibility, but to offer solutions, alternatives, and options to rectify the situation and make it better than it was before.  This is the full meaning of living with personal integrity.

But ho`ohanohano is not only for the workplace.  We are so often reminded the importance of how to treat others, but unfortunately dismiss the importance of how we are really portraying ourselves in “all that we do.”  From the crossed-arms and slumped body language at the dinner table, to the scowl that we bring home from a bad road-rage day, to the argument that didn’t really need to turn into an argument – we are giving our families and friends a negative piece of us that they did not ask for.  Think about it this way…how little of your distinction and honor are you leaving with them?  Are they less deserving than your co-workers?  And can you truly say that you acted with integrity in all that you do?

As 2011 leaves us and 2012 comes in bright and new, it is important to see how we are affecting others in everything we do.  Although each of us cannot be perfect all the time, we can definitely strive for more than the year before.  Treat guests with distinction and respect your co-workers.  Find the honor and excellence in what you do and how you do it.  And most important, hold your `ohana close to you and value their positive part in your life.

Happy New Year and best wishes for finding a place for ho`ohanohano in your life.

Here at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, our values are rooted in 12 Hawaiian cultural beliefs which we constantly strive to live by. This month, we reflect on the value of ho’ole hemahema.

Ho’ole means “to deny” and hemahema translates as “imperfect, incompetent, unprepared or unskilled.”  As we go about our day to day activities, this value reminds us “to strive for perfection, to work without mistakes”. Sometimes there may be situations that challenge our knowledge or skills. While we may feel hemahema at certain times, we don’t stay that way for long. We thrive at solving problems and in working together we pool everyone’s strengths to deliver top quality service that our clients expect.

Remembering this value is especially important this busy month of October. A brief glance at our Events Calendar will reveal a jam-packed schedule of meetings, expos, seminars and more. We welcome new and returning events alike such as the AIA CSI (American Institute of Architects Construction Specifications Institute) Pacific Building Trade Expo, the Hawai‘i World Class Wedding Expo, The Wahine Forum, The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Chest 2011 Annual Meeting, the Hawai’i State Numismatic Association, the 5th Annual Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program, the Pacific Rim Jazz Festival and of course APEC Leaders’ Meetings in November.

With such array of activities, everyone at the Center will certainly have their hands full. As a flurry of tasks come tugging at us, we remind ourselves ho’ole hemahema, to not compromise the quality of our work and always strive to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations.

We share this with you and hope that as we all encounter life’s challenges, the value of ho’ole hemahema will help us put our best foot forward as we “strive for perfection.”

Have a great October!

Joe