1. Final Comprehensive Reflection Paper:
ADMN-3870H - Internship Year 1
By Jenna Pilgrim
Submitted to Cammie Jaquays
Monday, April 21st, 2014
ADMN-3870H

2. Final Comprehensive Reflection Paper: ADMN-3870H - Internship Year 1
By Jenna Pilgrim
Experiential learning is perhaps the most valuable skill a student can acquire
before they enter the workplace upon graduation. Experience teaches something
that cannot be explained, read about, or taught in a classroom. One learns
exponentially more by doing, and this is exactly what internship is. Internship
instills confidence in a student, and they no longer feel as if they are going into a
completely unknown situation as they have a basis for their expectations. They
enter into the working world with small precedence of what is expected and the
kinds of tasks they are expected to do, which can be quite calming to an eager
graduate. Experiential learning is not always individual, especially when speaking of
organizations going through a large leadership shift or change in management. The
individuals in the organization are expected to learn together, using each other as
guidelines for what works and what doesn’t. Using the double-loop learning model,
businesses can stay dynamic as they are constantly challenging their core values and
are increasingly modeling themselves into a more successful organization. Deep
smarts are a large part of the management of any large corporation, as decisions
that need to be made quickly seldom have time for extensive research or critical
analysis.
From the beginning, work at Aria was not easy. Everything in the nightclub
business is very fickle, so it is hard to detect common trends as the clientele
dynamic is fluctuating consistently. Finding consistent projects to work on that
would actually create progress was the most difficult part by far as you can never
really see your projects in action. Working with bosses Lang and Sucho, you begin to
wonder how they stay optimistic through every stage of this ever-changing business.
Aria is successful night after night, and somehow they manage to stay afloat. They
succeed by long term planning by creating many backup plans and procedures that
can be put into practice at a moments notice in the case of an unsuccessful project.
An example of this is when a DJ cancelled at the last moment, they already had
another DJ on standby that could fill in to play a show that night. They troubleshoot
for problems that haven’t occurred yet, and are constantly thinking of new projects
or creative ways to get people to come and see what all of the hype at Aria is about.
Having this ability to foresee problems is something that cannot be pedagogically
taught, and is something that many managers struggle with on a daily basis. This
inability to teach begs the question: “can anyone possess the knowledge needed for

3. this high-profile task”? In ideal terms, yes it can. Yet in the practical world, this level
of knowledge is unattainable without experience. This knowledge is gained through
a significant amount of trial and error, a practice that can be avoided with the
increase of experiential learning in schools. Students can experience second-hand
the mistakes of managers, and expand their leadership repertoire to repair the error.
“Adaptability being the basis of entrepreneurship” is probably the biggest
thing I learned from my internship. Being an employee with Aria, I saw firsthand all
of the planning and thoughts that go into every business decision they make, and it
is amazing to see the new things that are happening in Peterborough entertainment.
During my internship, I constantly assessed our processes & ways of conducting
business so as to streamline it as much as possible. For example, when Splice
Lounge opened, it was a café. Then they tried to market Splice as a burger joint, a
restaurant, and several other things until they finally settled in Splice’s niche as a
nightclub. Banking on the Trent community as patrons to back them financially,
Splice found its place as a student bar, and the small intimate atmosphere ensured
that it would stay this way. Now, hosting events has become their new niche as
“Shots Lounge”. In this way they cater to a larger business demographic. They host
socials, cocktails, fundraisers, dances, birthday parties, and have built a strong
reputation with many other businesses in town. They have done so by offering
consistently good service, with an ever-changing streamlining process. Through the
opening of Aria, they maximized production on the student market, and continue to
deliver a good show night after night. The article “How to Pull Knowledge from the
People Around You” really gave insight on how to harness this knowledge. Being in
close contact with Lang and Sucho really helped in my understanding of their
thought process as they make decisions for the company.
In January when the bottle service system was no longer working at peak
efficiency they did a complete overhaul of the system and everyone in it. Each of the
Servers and managers had to learn the new system in order to streamline our VIP
process. This was a prime example of collective learning, using a combination of
individual and organizational learning. Aria is a learning organization, and this was
demonstrated by the way they taught their employees these new procedures. As this
business is constantly evolving, all of the staff is invested in new practices because
they have been a part of them since their inception. Using the individuals who
currently exist inside the system as integral cogs inside the watch of the
organization is the best way to get everyone to invest in new concepts.

4. Elife’s newest venture: “Radiant Boutique” is a salon & spa in downtown
Peterborough, in the same chain as Aria, Shots, & Dolce Vita. This new venture
further illustrates how again they are reaching a different demographic of people.
Acquiring the salon crowd allows them to provide more services to the existing
customer base, and deepens their portfolio to better serve the people they have
already hooked in. People who love Aria and Shots will now go to Radiant for their
salon needs, widening the angles in which they can reach their consumers.
Professionalism is learning when to hold your tongue and when to speak
your mind. There are times to act and times to stay quiet, and this is a major part of
working in a team scenario. Through Aria I have learned that others have great
ideas, and you must think completely through your idea before you share it. Being
professional is not only being productive, it is utilizing the time you have because
you realize that time is the one thing that is truly invaluable to your success. In the
Fifth Discipline, Senge speaks of shared visions, and how when you harness
everyone’s ideas the working idea becomes larger and more impressive. It becomes
moldable and malleable, rather than an abstract concept within employee’s minds.
People who work together to accomplish a common goal really understand what it
means to be part of a cohesive group. Learning to be humble and never believing
that any job is “beneath” you is one thing that I had to learn during my time at Aria.
My generation has grown up in a society where most things have been done for
them, and this provides a sense of entitlement and an “I’m better than you” attitude,
which is completely unacceptable in working life. In my position, I am as much able
to take out the garbage as any other employee, and when you are at the bottom of
the totem pole, this is your job. This understanding is simply motivation for higher
education, empowering you to never want to be the one who has to take out the
garbage once you have found your place in the business world.
This past semester was a tough one for Aria, with a big staff turnover and
many new procedures. One of our managers decided to move on in his professional
endeavours causing a reshuffling of staff to fill his absent spot. A staff incentive trip
was one of the big draws for employees to stay on for the full university semester,
simply because they wanted to reap the benefits of working at the establishment.
Each employee would receive ballots for booking tables or helping out the business
in some way (extra to their job). Any employee who went above and beyond the
requirements of their job would receive a ballot. The ballots all went towards a
draw for a trip to the Caribbean, and six of their employees have now won this

5. contest. This incentive trip made all of the employees suddenly more willing to do
things apart from the bare necessities of their job and everyone started acting at a
significantly higher level of initiative.
One big part of intern work at Aria was policy revision. As the nightclub
business is extremely competitive, revising procedures to deal with outside
companies is a large part of our transparency with other nightclubs. If Aria puts
forth a consistent effort and great customer service, their reputation remains
untainted and they are given nothing but good reviews from the public. On the other
hand if one mistake is made, errors must be fixed very quickly before word gets out
that any part of the business is shady. Looking for loopholes in policies was a
particularly interesting part of my internship mostly because it requires a very
different kind of thinking: you must think like someone who is trying to do the
company harm. If you think like this, it is quite easy to find ways to get around
policies, and ways to fix the loopholes created in them.
Kolb has a different view of learning, he follows the 5-step approach:
Observe-Assess-Design-Implement-Shared mental models (OADI-SMM for short).
He believes that if you follow this procedure any issue in your business can be fixed.
The OADI-SMM is missing one key component however: the reflection step. Self-
reflection is vital to the success of any project, whether it be an HR dispute or an
accounting problem. The reflection piece is very important specifically to internship,
as little attention is paid to the effect that actions have on interns’ well-being and
learning curves. According to Kolb’s model, the observe stage is used to see projects
in action, and through this there is a reflection on previous project creation. The
OADI-SMM displays issues on a single-level basis, meaning they address only one
problem at a time independent of all other issues.
This OADI-SMM task-oriented form of problem solving would not work in a
learning organization, primarily because all issues in a learning organization are
interconnected. Issues are so closely linked to other issues and practices that one
cannot be changed without overhauling the whole system. In Daniel Kim’s article
“The Link Between Individual and Organizational Learning” he introduces a concept
called double-loop learning; which is the means of constantly assessing the core
values of the business, and making the “untouchable values” (staple virtues that the
company was built on) accessible to change at any moment. For a business to be
truly dynamic and adaptable, they cannot afford to use the excuse “we’ve always
done it this way”. The people who play it safe in the entertainment business fail

6. because their clientele quickly become bored. Aria uses a similar model of problem
solving – using crowdsourcing and employee input to make decisions. This is helpful
because the employees themselves are part of the target market they are catering to
and they know their employees are looking out for their best interests.
Aria Cares was a major project for this quarter. Aria has recently recognized
the importance of humanitarianism in Peterborough. Being the small city that it is,
the community is much more aware of business activities and their impact on the
greater world and naturally gravitate towards those that have a positive sway. Aria
Cares is a new project relating to clubs at Trent helping to host events to benefit
humanitarian efforts in a variety of sectors. Using the back room of shots, the Aria
Enterprise can raise awareness for a multitude of causes incurring very little
personal financial strain. Humanitarianism is a way that the business can give back
to the local community, instead of simply existing and taking from the infrastructure
in which it currently resides. Promoting this business as more of a community and
less as a “money-grab” makes it seem more accessible to students, and students feel
as if they owe something to the business. In doing this, Aria has created a culture in
the eyes of the student body at Trent.
The relation of Aria to Trent is extremely important as Trent & Fleming
students make up most of their clientele. Aria is the major sponsor for many of
Trent’s events and they are attempting to monopolize this market. Aria does this by
making itself a part of the student community, mostly by hiring students. The
majority of Aria’s employees are Trent or Fleming students and Aria strives to pick
employees from many different friend groups so as to reach a larger demographic.
By finding people who are part of diverse communities, one can reach a larger
audience on a personal level as opposed to the typical Facebook post or poster
promotions. Choosing this route of high-level connection can sometimes be difficult
because students are accompanied by a lot of drama. The Human Resources policies
must be very clear on “leaving your issues at the door” when you come in to work
and being the most pleasant individual to each and every customer regardless of
previous contact. For this reason, Aria has a large employee turnover and they strive
to work as a cohesive group within themselves. Young workers can be easily molded
to do what the business wants, and working with young adults is never easy, but if
harnessed correctly it becomes a powerful tool in promotion and culture
management.

7. The main task assigned as an intern at Aria was advertising assessment and
creative direction on future campaigns. Aria’s advertisements and promotional
material always walk a thin line between trendy and still following all the rules.
Utilizing the idea of “shock ads” is a big part of what they do, specifically with Shots.
As they see themselves as a cutting-edge business, they need to stay on the new
frontier and ensure that their ideas are always original and interesting to consumers.
For example, the Valentines’ Day promotion was entitled “Love Hurts”, targeting
those that are single on Valentines’ Day. They arrived at this decision upon studying
market research on previous years’ sales on February 14th, and the notes on the
clientele for that night in particular. As most couples do something “lovey-dovey” on
Valentines’ Day, taking the night in the other direction for single people seemed like
a very interesting thing to do. This made clientele not feel bad for being alone on
this stereotypical couples’ day, and attracted others to come to Aria because they
did something different than the typical “love celebration”. For events like Christmas
or Halloween, Aria tries to position itself as a vibrant and original atmosphere,
never reusing themes. Aria tries to be the trendy and current option for students, so
that students feel as if they are a part of something new, something unprecedented.
As Aria is in the business of alcohol consumption, there are many laws surrounding
promotion of excessive drinking and drugs, and being aware of these laws is one of
the hardest parts of thinking of new promotions. Aria is liable for people once they
are inside the establishment, and if patrons are engaging in dangerous behaviour
during or after they come to the club Aria could be sued. That being said, all of Aria’s
promotions have to illustrate “having a good time” but must also hide the darker
side of alcohol consumption and the adverse affects it can have on the body.
Upon completion of this internship, I am very happy with its outcome. I have
learned the more complicated side of the nightclub business, and was taught things
that I never thought possible. What amazed me the most was the degree to which
projects are researched before they are brought into fruition and how much study
actually goes into all of the work Aria does. I’m excited to see Aria Cares through to
completion, which is a project I will be working on again starting in September.
Giving Trent clubs the tools they need to succeed while helping the greater
community is a wonderful way that we can all give back. From my internship I have
learned professionalism, punctuality, amazing communication skills, and to some
degree a small amount of “deep smarts”. Watching my incredible mentors provided
to me confidence in my own skills as a leader, and I hope to develop an organization
someday that is truly a learning organization. Experiential learning teaches skills

8. that cannot be taught in a classroom, and I feel privileged to have been able to work
under such intelligent individuals. Learning to roll with the punches and change
plans at a moments’ notice has taught me to trust my own instincts of what is the
right path, and I am humbly and completely thankful to everyone who has given me
this experience. I look forward to the future when I can utilize these skills and
experiences to their full potential.
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