For Primitive Pursuits, a Cornell Cooperative Extension-based outdoor education program for children, it's a good time to get outside and explore.

Over the past year, the 10-year-old program has doubled in size. Every week, 180 kids traipse through the wilderness with an instructor, learning skills like plant identification, tracking, fire making and leadership along the way.

But until recently, marketing the business was not a central focus for the staff. "It just wasn't something they thought about," said School of Hotel Administration student Katy Crump,
MMH '11.

So this fall, Krump and four classmates in a course on service marketing and customer experience management offered to help.

As they learned marketing principles and skills in class, the students put them into practice with real-world research and recommendations. And Primitive Pursuits, along with seven other local businesses that worked with other students in the class, gained expert advice on how to boost their visibility.

The class has involved reaching out to community businesses and organizations since 2003, said Rob Kwortnik, associate professor of service marketing; and in recent years, its hands-on element has taken on a life of its own.

"The project is a terrific example of how a class can translate theory into application -- and give back to the community in the process," Kwortnik said. "They know they're doing more than just a typical class assignment; their efforts will also have a positive effect on a real organization."

For Krump and her classmates, the project began as an assignment but quickly turned into a more meaningful commitment.

They began by learning about the business -- participating in programs, conducting interviews and surveys, and analyzing data using a framework called "service as theater." The approach involves dissecting the business into elements of a theatrical performance, with staff members as the characters, customers as the audience, place of business as the setting, and interactions as the narrative.

In that context, students evaluate the effectiveness of each individual element; then look at how the pieces support each other to create the larger production.

From there, the students developed strategy recommendations. Near the end of the semester, the five presented their findings to the Primitive Pursuits staff at the Cornell Cooperative Extension building.

Among their suggestions: offer takeaway items like T-shirts, water bottles or hats with the Primitive Pursuits logo; write brief reports for parents on the day's activities; and create a core mission statement.

The ideas were just what they were looking for, said program co-director Tim Drake.

"It's been phenomenal. It was on track and informative; they went beyond our own perspective, and they identified things that we do, but not consistently," Drake said. "It's good to have a skilled group of people to take the time to speak with parents; it helped reaffirm what we believe."

The students said the experience was worth much more than just a grade.

"What really made it a great experience was Tim. He was so positive about the program, so willing to work with us," said Mari Kam, MMH '11.

"I didn't realize they would be so receptive," added Lauren Costello, MMH '11. "They really embraced our recommendations."

Program co-director Jed Jordan said that being involved in the project also got the staff's own creative juices flowing.

"I feel like we have a lot to think about," Jordan said. "They had some real gems of insight that we can use to move forward. And they created a good conversation as well."