{"id":47520,"date":"2017-10-27T15:30:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T19:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=47520"},"modified":"2017-10-27T15:30:16","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T19:30:16","slug":"connecting-business-to-the-dinner-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/10\/connecting-business-to-the-dinner-table\/","title":{"rendered":"Connecting business to the dinner table"},"content":{"rendered":"

What fork you use and how you pass the bread at a formal dinner can tell others at the table a lot about how you do business, says Fatima di Valentin.<\/span><\/p>\n

The dining etiquette expert was at Brock University Oct. 26 to facilitate Goodman Career\u2019s annual Etiquette Dinner, where she coached 100 students on proper etiquette while navigating a three-course meal served up by Sodexo.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond receiving advice about where hands should be placed during a meal (always above the table) and how salt and pepper should be passed (always together), students learned that dining with panache can go a long way in making a good impression in business.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Etiquette

Dining etiquette expert Fatima di Valentin facilitated Goodman Career\u2019s annual Etiquette Dinner Oct. 26 by coaching 100 students through a three-course meal.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDining etiquette rounds students\u2019 education up and gives them the polish. They\u2019ve got the meat of what they need to know from their classes, but this is really polishing up their skills,\u201d said di Valentin.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they go out into the world of work and they\u2019re interfacing with all sorts of different people, they can do it with all the confidence that they\u2019ve got the awareness of how to dine properly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

During her past experience as a college professor, di Valentin identified a learning gap when she noticed some of her best students struggling with interactions in formal settings.<\/span><\/p>\n

After incorporating dining etiquette lessons into her own classes, she discovered a passion for etiquette, business and cultural protocols and is now a sought-after expert who works on dining awareness with a wide variety of clients from diplomats to wedding couples and children.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe fascinating thing about etiquette is that there is so much to learn,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have less than three hours at this event to learn in a \u2018living lab\u2019 so students are able to hear a strategy and then implement it right away. That experiential learning is helpful to ensure that it really sinks in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The event, sponsored by Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA Ontario), is one that has high value for students who will soon be joining the workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving good etiquette and professionalism is key to doing good business,\u201d said Catherine Millar, CPA Ontario student recruiter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing good etiquette will help you when you are in front of some very important people,\u201d she said, adding the organization focuses on helping students develop more than just technical skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fourth-year business student Jenny Doan attended the event for the second time, giving her a chance to brush up on skills she learned last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve noticed in my experience that business is often conducted in dinner or lunch settings,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had dinners and lunches at past co-op jobs with colleagues, suppliers and clients and have also had interviews with potential employers that included dinner, so knowing these types of things is crucial to making a good impression and differentiating yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What fork you use and how you pass the bread at a formal dinner can tell others at the table a lot about how you do business, says Fatima di Valentin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":47521,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,1,4],"tags":[5050,5917,4811,5916,594],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47520"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47520"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47523,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47520\/revisions\/47523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}