NEW YORK -- Cornell's School of Hotel Administration continued its 85th anniversary celebration at events in New York City surrounding the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show, held Nov. 10-13 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The show draws hospitality industry leaders and vendors from around the world.

"A lot of alumni are in town representing their companies -- it's a good way to stay connected with the school," said Brad Walp, MPS '93, the Hotel School's director of enrollment management and international programs.

At a reception Nov. 12 in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Ballroom overlooking Columbus Circle, 510 people -- alumni, faculty, staff and guests -- gathered for the school's largest and most established annual networking event. "This is a way to connect not just with alumni but with the school and with corporate sponsors and all our stakeholders," said Monica Gelinas '99, president of the Cornell Hotel Society (CHS) New York Chapter.

CHS is the school's alumni association; the New York chapter provides educational and networking opportunities for members and raises money for scholarships, student aid and recent graduate development. The annual alumni reception, an 82-year tradition, is one of the chapter's major fundraisers, netting $20,000 this year from corporate financial sponsors and a silent auction of donated accommodation and dining packages at resorts, hotels and restaurants in New York City, New Hampshire, Washington, D.C., Hawaii and destinations worldwide, including the United Kingdom, Rome and the Turks and Caicos islands.

Sixteen student volunteers from the society's collegiate chapter also pitched in at the event.

"What makes [the Hotel School] so incredibly unique is the students," Dean Michael Johnson said at the reception. "When I first came here, I wondered when they sleep. I learned at the end of that first year that they don't sleep. They make it up somewhere else."

The Hotel School maintained its usual prominent presence at the Javits Center's annual hospitality industry trade show, which attracts more than 1,400 exhibitors and upward of 35,000 attendees who came to see the latest products and trends.

"We talked to a lot of prospective students ... interested in the master's program and a lot from community colleges -- that was nice to see," said Lisa Shaffer, the school's director of student services. "We have about 80 to 100 transfer students in a given year in the Hotel School."

The Hotel School's Center for Hospitality Research, which is cited regularly in general and trade publications, and the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship also participated in the hotel show.

"We averaged 80 people a day at the Cornell booth -- corporate leaders, students interested in attending the hotel school and graduates," said Joe Strodel, the school's director of corporate relations and acting director of the Pillsbury Institute. "It's been a great distribution point for us."

Alumni of the school's Master of Management in Hospitality program also attended a reception at Jumeirah Essex House to reconnect, network and meet prospective students. In addition to the 85th anniversary of the school, the 15th anniversary of the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell was also recognized at an alumni reception held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

For more information, visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/.