1. 25 Sept, 2013
20/2020
The ISC Internal Affairs Young Skål Taskforce has been asked to offer a few suggestions
to be presented at the plenary session of the IC meeting during the World Congress.
Which ones are your favourite? Your suggestions, thoughts, comments are most
welcome, and your advice is appreciated.
Topics of personal interest include; creating a budget for Young Skål initiatives, revising of
the Young Skål applications and the application process, creating Social Medias channels
to connect Young Skål clubs worldwide and much more.
The ISCIAYST (we need a better name) has embraced Brian Donnelleys’s of having the
Skål International membership consist of 20% Young Skål members by the year 2020.
Let’s work together and make it happen.
10 Big Ideas
• Revise Membership Criteria
• Young SKÅL Congresses
• Update Application Process
• Mentorships
• Coordinate website and Social
• Tips for Success Booklet
Media Campaigns
• Recruitment Toolkit
• Academic Toolkit
• Professional Development Skill
Builders
• Budget

2. 1. Discounts for Skål Functions
In order to make Skål events accessible to tomorrow’s
tourism leaders, we must eliminate as many of the
obstacles as possible. The economic barriers to Young
Skål participation in many Skål events should not be
ignored and the timely processing of applications is
essential for successful recruiting. Creating the
opportunity for Skål members to network with Young
Skål members is mutually beneficial to both parties. I
encourage all Skål to consider a comprehensive
development strategy that begins with building brand
awareness among tourism students and young
professionals and thoughtfully considers membership engagement and retention as the
foundation of a vibrant Young Skål club. Most Skål functions in Thailand offer discounted
or fully sponsored admission to events. Young Skål Thailand thankfully receives
tremendous support from Skål members and tourism industry leaders.
The Director of Events for Skål functions work with the host venues to provide a limited
number of discounted registration fees for Young Skål members and guests.
Complimentary admission on a limited basis should also be offered to educators at area
universities. If you can’t reach the teachers, you’ll never reach the students.
• Young SKAL Buy One –Get One : Allow Young SKAL members to bring a
guest complimentary for a limited time
• 50% discount on Skål functions for full-time students
• Complimentary admission in exchange for assisting with registration is also an
effective way to involve Young Skål members in club activities. I would
encourage clubs to treat these future leaders like the VIP’s that they are. Free

3. labor and second class citizens are comments I have heard from students
describing their experiences at other industry functions where they helped with
registration then didn’t even get a seat at the table. Indeed we have a higher
duty of care to these students and young professionals and should make all
efforts to ensure that their experience is an enjoyable one.
• Discounted admission should not include alcoholic beverages. Providing
alcohol to this group can lead them to a slippery slope and could increase
liability.
2. Young Skål oriented events and outings
The challenge is to get young Skål members to attend Skål events but it also a challenge
to get classic Skål members to attend young Skål events.
3.
Skål International Recruitment
Programs
This recruitment program invites
qualified candidates to local Skål events. is targeted at Skål
member organizations or local universities offering tourism
degrees or diplomas. 10 teams would be invited, each team
consisting of a teacher and 2 students. Note: The same
formula could be used for Skål member organizations with
the team comprising 1 midlevel manager and 2 future
leaders. The invitation to universities should reflect the exclusivity that a Skål membership
represents and include an introduction to Skål International. The program can be

4. designed to fit the schedule and the needs of the local clubs. Topics could include;
Creating an Effective CV, Interview Tips, Strategies for Successful Networking, etc.
In addition to Skål members offering their secrets to success for future leaders, the
program would include an introduction of a Skål International Lesson Plan (SLIP) for
university teachers. The SLIP includes a video, PowerPoint presentation, activities and
questions for review and discussion.
4. Sponsor/Mentor a Young Skalleague
An official sponsorship/mentorship program should include regular
communication between the Young Skål and classic Skål members
and a formal agreement between sponsor/mentor and the Young
Skalleague.
5. Bring-a-Future Leader-to -Lunch
Encourage Skål members to bring a future leader from their organization to a regularly
scheduled Skål event. Some members may have difficulty choosing only one team
member to invite, but they could bring a different future leader to each event. It would be a
great way to reward and motivate outstanding team members. Perhaps an annual
Membership package for Mentors could be created which
would include two vouchers for attendance at Skål functions.
6. Young Skål CSR

5. Skål members often have resources for Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives
but seldom have the time. By partnering with Young Skål members to brainstorm
ideas and organize initiatives Young Skål and classic Skål members can work
together to make a better world.
7. Synergized Partnerships
Skål members receive many invitations to tourism
industry events. We can work together with professional
organizations to include Young Skål members in these
great networking events.
8. Young Skål Training programs and career
development seminars
The Skål Ladders for Leaders program is designed for
management, supervisors and future leaders. The

6. seminar begins with a dynamic presentation regarding the fundamentals of the Spirit of
Hospitality and contains a managing, leading and coaching workshop. The program will
include attendance at the local Skål event, and could be a great opportunity to raise the
Skål profile and serve as a valuable recruitment tool for Skål International and Young
Skål.
9. Young Skål Internship and job board
Below are examples of internships offered on the Young Skål Thailand FaceBook page
10.
Campaign to Build Brand
Awareness of Skål
International and include templates for posters,
brochures and presentations that can be modified
and

7. localized. A limited number of promotional items (posters, applications, handouts)
are available from the secretariat but are in need of updating. A recruitment toolkit
would be an ideal way to introduce Young Skål to tourism students and young
professionals.
Are you on Pinterest? We are! Pinterest is a wonderful way to share inspiring images of
your club’s service, as well as find new ideas for future projects. The site allows you to
collect your favorite images from around the web into one place. Create Pinterest boards
for holiday projects, environmental service projects, inspirational quotes, youth activities,
disaster relief and even your own club’s projects. Follow other clubs and service
organizations to see what’s inspiring them to serve in their communities. Follow SKAL
Clubs on Pinterest and check out our many pin boards that focus on Skalleagues making
an impact across the globe. How does your club use social sharing sites like Pinterest? –

8. 11.
Community and Academic contest
Skål clubs could sponsor contests for tourism students and offer to judge the entries and
organize and award prizes (ie. 2 passes to a Skål lunch, hotel rooms, etc).
Contest themes could be as simple as “How to attract the best and brightest to a career in
tourism” or “Imagine you were in charge of the world’s largest tourism organization, What
issues would you focus on?”. Event Management students could prepare programs for
Skål congresses and other events. This is a subtle way of introducing students to the
world of Skål as they will have to do some research about their target market (Skål)
before designing the program.
Students may also prepare presentations about the “World’s leading tourism
organizations”.

9. 12.
Utilization of Websites and Social Media platforms
YOUNGSKAL.COM
The Youngskal.com is created and managed by the Young Skål Thailand club at this
time. The opportunity for sponsorships on the website would contribute to the
sustainability of the website. The cost of designing and maintaining the website has
prohibited this site from reaching it’s real potential. It is our sincere hope that we can
create an 'Online Clubhouse' where every Young Skål club can;
•Gather from all over the world and meet future leaders and young Skål
members doing amazing things in amazing places
•Link Facebook pages, tweets and blogs from Young Skål members
•Create and Control their own Young Skål (Your club) page
•Contribute to a Young Skål blog
•Download a Young Skål Toolkit that includes the very best templates for
banners, brochures, and business cards.
• Have a yourname@youngskal.com email address
• Shop online for high quality, innovative and interesting products with the
Skål/Young SKAL logo
13.
University Student Internship &
Job Fair
SKAL clubs can organize industry recruiting days and job fairs at
local schools or off campus. Member organizations will work
together to attract the best and brightes

10. 14.
Guest Speaker
SKAL members taking time out to be guest lecturers or ‘Professors for a Day” is a great way to
introduce SKAL to future leaders.
15. SI Young SKAL Budget
A request for a modest budget from the EC for Young
SKAL development would be useful and your thoughts
would be appreciated on this issue, too. A Young SKAL
development toolkit could be created and there would
be costs associated with this project, use of the
youngskal.com website would have costs, too. Perhaps
we could find a sponsor or request donations to offset
some of the expenses

11. Thoughts from Across the Globe
I think that the most important items that can be captured from this current
momentum are:
1. The open sharing of successful YS Case Studies
2. The wide adoption of some Standard Best Practices ( SBP)
3. Focusing on what we already have and what we can do
4. Avoiding the dilution that fragmentation will bring to any programme
5. Minimising the negative impact of personal egos and emotional baggage
Best Wishes / Brian Donnelly, London
May I also suggest that the congress manual be modified to include a provision that x amount of
YS attendees must be included. This will then be built into the budget process and distributed
over all congress attendees in the congress fees." - John Ruzich's.
UPDATE ON YOUNG SKÅL PROGRAM USA,
By Llana Smith, Committee Chairman
At the NAASC Congress in Sacramento, I presented a small seminar on the Young Skål Program
(YSP) that is currently in place within the structure of Skål International. Here is a brief recap of
that seminar. I hope that some of this information will help you jump start your YSP at your
own Club level. It has been proven over and over that YSP is a new frontier for gaining younger
members and promoting the mentoring of YSP candidates throughout the beginning of their

12. career, thus impressing upon them the importance of eventually being a member of Skål.
First, there are 900+ hospitality programs in the United States. They range from graduate
programs at major universities to small for-profit programs that offer certificates. It's not
realistic to think that Skål will have an active relationship with all of them. My suggestion, and
again it's only a suggestion, is that we try to partner with these educational entities in some
form or fashion. I suggest this for several reasons:
1. The quantity of students. These schools have larger quantities of students that will
obviously be graduating and moving directly into our very own travel and tourism
industry.
2. Most schools have established students’ organizations. This is good since starting a
Young Skål program or relationship – when there is an existing student organization
- will not be that big a leap.
3. Most of the larger programs also have dedicated individuals responsible f or career
services - internships, industry relationships, career guidance, etc...
For a continually updated list of organizations that of f er certif icates or degrees in
hospitality, go to Hospitality-1st. (www.hospitality- 1st.com) located in Coral Gables,
Florida. They have a great perception of what to do with up and coming new graduates
f rom the hospitality programs. I researched their lists and I'd suggest reaching out to
schools/programs they promote since they are some of the most established ones near
your club.
Next, especially, there are several areas that need f urther discussion f or rebranding YS.
First, discuss lowering the age to join Young Skål to 18, while keeping the upper age limit
of membership at 29. By lowering the minimum age f rom 21 to 18, we ef f ectively create a
larger quantity of prospective Young Skål members. This is due, in large part, to the age at
which students enroll in hospitality/tourism education programs. Most students are
enrolled by the time they are 18, and waiting till they are 21 creates a scenario where we
potentially have signif icantly reduced the time to have an impact on them during their
education.
Second, there needs to be a rebranding of the YSP. The end results of this rebranding will
ideally present a clearer picture of the Young Skål program, and how individual clubs can
incorporate the program into their operations. We are seeking input f rom all members on
how they f eel their club views and implements Young Skål.

13. Next, there needs to be some recognition f or “Young Skålleague of the Year” or similar.
This would put the YSP in the f oref ront with many opportunities f or publicity. Perhaps
this award should be accompanied by a monetary assistance, scholarship or internship.
And lastly, speaking about internships .... We need to develop a document that def ines
“what is an internship”? To bring European YSP to US, f or instance, is quite expensive if
the YS do not already have the required J-1 Visa. A J-1 Visa costs money, has lots of
paperwork and needs oversight and accountability.
We need to set the parameters f or internships, where to f ind an internship (job bank w/in
Skål) and the qualif ications f or the internship with a Skålleague.
Going f orward, among other things, the f ollowing initiatives have been discussed as a part
of the rebranding process:
1. Redevelop a clear, concise, and easy to understand measurable objectives f or Young
Skål
2. Creation of standardized YSP events that all clubs can implement
3. Develop ways in which all Skål members can learn about Young Skål and how it may
f it into their own clubs
4. Create standardized policies and procedures f or Young Skål scholarship distribution
5. Develop stronger relationships with hospitality and tourism program educators
through partnerships with education associations such asthe International Council
on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (I- CHRIE)
6. Create a mentor program f or Skål members to serve as a mentor to a Young Skål
members.
7. Reevaluate strategies f or how to create, manage, and assess Young Skål internship
opportunities that may exist in organizations current Skål members are associated
with.
As many of you know, the YSP is one of the many steps clubs can take to boost their own
membership in the short and long term, and we seek any and all f eedback related to YSP
and how we can improve the program. Mentoring and internships possibilities are of
utmost importance.
There is a spread sheet of each SIUSA Club currently being compiled that includes each
Club and how they are approaching the YSP. Please send a summary of your club’s YSP

14. activities to me at llanas@bellsouth.net as soon as you can. Thank you to those Clubs who
have already responded to my request f or inf ormation at the seminar, but I would like to
hear f rom all Clubs.
Have a terrif ic Skål Summer!
Summary of Young Skal activities in Australia, compiled by Mark
Abercromby, President Skal International Perth on behalf of Skal
International Australia.
The following questions were circulated to all Skal International Clubs in Australia:
1) How many Young Skal Members are in your club
2) Any activities currently being undertaken by Australian clubs to foster the development of
young professional in the travel and tourism industry (not members of Skal or Young Skal) - for
example mentoring, support, education
3) Any support or recognition of students at education institutions
4) Any International opportunities for young professional
5) Past experience with Young Skal
6) Number of current Active Skal members under 29 years of age.
7) Any active plans to encourage Young Skal members to join any Skal club in Australia.
The results from the above questions can be summarised as follows:
1) How many Young Skal Members
• As at March 2013 census date, there were eight (8) Young Skal members registered in
Australia.
• Albany (3), Broome (1), Hobart (1), Kununurra (2), Townsville (1).

15. 2) Any activities currently being undertaken by Australian clubs to foster the development of
young professional in the travel and tourism industry (not members of Skal or Young Skal) for example mentoring, support, education
• Ongoing on an informal basis by many members, but this is not a specific or active
strategy at this stage
• Skal International Hobart sponsors the “young tourism professional” award in the
Tasmanian Tourism Awards. The recipient is rewarded through their international
exchange program.
• Skal Perth has a number of younger tourism professional as members.
• Similarly Skal Broome reported that they have many young members who are eligible
for active membership
3) Any support or recognition of students at education institutions
• Skal International Perth, offers an annual Brian Philippson Memorial Award of $500 to
each of the top graduating students in a travel or tourism stream at three education
institutions in Western Australia: Curtin University, Edith Cowan University and Perth
Central Institute. Murdoch University will be added in 2013. Total commitment $2,000
per annum.
• Skal Perth provided an introduction to Skal New York in association with local President
Lisa Conway, for one of the Award winners who was travelling to New York on a working
holiday.
• Skal Sunshine Coast reported that they have formerly provided a $500 and ten $1000
bursary for a tourism student at the local TAFE. This was challenging getting entrants to
apply. The initial request is shown in the attached flyer, seeking applicants to complete
an application form (attached). This resulted in no entries and we ended up awarding an
outstanding student the prize. At the time we had a TAFE lecturer as a Skålleague. The
recipient attended a couple of meetings (both executive and general) but lost interest
after a while. He did achieve some part time work at a member hotel following his
attendance. The Skålleague at TAFE has since moved from TAFE and the bursary hasn’t
been continued. Our lesson from this is that a close involvement with the educational
institution is essential for this to work.
• Skal Sunshine Coast also used to use the TAFE catering students facility for one of our
functions throughout the year as a TAFE project and to increase Skal’s profile to the
students. This was initially successful (when we had a TAFE Skålleague), but has also
since lapsed.

16. • Skal North Sydney holds one of their monthly lunches at a hotel school in North Sydney
and three hotel school principals. Directors are members of the club. This will assist to
create exposure with the younger executives!
4) Any International opportunities for young professionals
• Skal International Hobart have a formal exchange program in conjunction with Skal
International Copenhagen.
• Skal Sunshine Coast reported that they hosted a young Skålleague from Hawaii
University as part of a University of Hawaii internship for about 3 months in 2011. While
very keen initially, the trip turned out to be more of a holiday than an internship. They
attempted to get the young person placed in other Skålleague properties but the
interest waned when his girlfriend came out to join him and he soon returned to Hawaii.
The structure was very informal with practically no involvement at all from the
University of Hawaii, so our lesson from this is that a more defined structure of
expectations and responsibilities is essential.
5) Past experience with Young Skal
• About ten or so years ago, Skal International Perth fostered a separate Young Skal club
but this was disbanded in the mid 2000’s and the remaining members were offered
active membership of Skal Perth. No former members remain active with Skal
International Perth.
• Skal International Sydney strategy is to not have a specific Young SKAL “cell”, however
they continue to apply a holistic strategy among all members to encourage membership
growth of younger members across all age groups, in order to lower the average age of
membership as quickly as possible.
6) Number of current Active Skal members under 29 years of age.
• Apart from the Young Skal members there are about three (3) active Skal members
under 29 years of age.
7) Any active plans to encourage Young Skal members to join any Skal Club in Australia.

17. • There is a general strategy to increase Skal membership, not a specific or active strategy
for Young Skal
• Skal Sydney North have a more holistic approach encompassing all age groups
• Skal Sunshine Coast reported that they are keen to see more young Skal members.
While in Germany recently, the President met up with members from Skal Bielefeld.
One of their young Skålleagues, will be coming to Australia in September on a 12 month
working holiday, so I will pass on her details to relevant clubs.
• Skal Brisbane have been in touch with a former student, who has professed an interest
in joining as a Young Skal member. They struck an annual membership fee and invited
her as a guest (on an FOC basis) to their last lunch. If she joins and enjoys the experience
then she can "spread the word" to other young people who have completed a similar
course to the one she has just done
• Skal Kununurra notes that each month their young Skålleagues invite other young
professionals from the tourism industry to attend the Skal meeting.