LaFortune: Team San Jose’s new position focuses on community

Team San Jose’s staff traditionally concentrated our communications and conversion efforts on groups and travelers from across the state, the country and around the globe.

When we host the world’s most influential thought leaders, change-makers and companies in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, they make a huge impact on our local economy and, in turn, spread the word about just how special San Jose is as a community and destination. The missing piece was that members of our own community didn’t know much, if anything, about our work or how to work with us.

This year we made a more concerted effort to share our story with our neighbors and to invite them to join us.

We proudly created a new role this year and welcomed Nicole Doña as our first director of community engagement. Born and raised in San Jose, Nicole is the perfect choice for this position, and she has accomplished much in under a year.

A large portion of Nicole’s role has involved reaching out to local businesses and community-based organizations to share information and assess best how we might partner together. She immediately identified several BIPOC and women-owned businesses, with the goal of creating a pipeline for enterprises to reach potential clients at the convention center, theaters, in the hospitality industry and beyond. Those efforts have included a vendor fair, personalized coaching sessions, cross-disciplinary introductions and helping business owners prepare presentations to put their best foot forward for prospective clients.

We are fortunate to represent and be part of San Jose and the global hospitality industry. In fact, many of us at Team San Jose began our careers in entry-level hospitality jobs, so cultivating the next generation of talent and leadership is an important part of our work. This year, to do this, we established the Team San Jose Kirchgesler Scholarship at San Jose State University with Nicole at the helm.

Beginning this fall, the scholarship will award $10,000 annually to a third or fourth-year student pursuing a degree in hospitality, tourism and event management. The scholarship was created to honor Karolyn Kirchgesler, our former president and CEO who tragically passed away too soon. Those of us fortunate enough to know her appreciated her great passion for this industry and San Jose. Through this fund, we are proud to ensure her legacy of mentorship and civic services for future generations of hospitality leaders.

In this first year, Nicole has already conducted more than 70 meetings with organizations and leaders in the community and has established ongoing conversations with key stakeholders that align with our values.

Under Nicole’s leadership, we revamped, improved and deployed a 60-day all events calendar of high-profile events in Team San Jose managed-facilities. Events such as NVIDIA GTC, SynBioBeta, SID Display Week and FanimeCon 2024 have been featured. The calendar keeps nearby businesses informed of when they can expect busier periods so they can be prepared with adequate staffing and inventory.

Nicole leads our employee volunteer program and this year more than 30 volunteers from Team San Jose came together on multiple Saturday mornings to help with community cleanups. We also joined hundreds of locals and the San Jose Downtown Association for the San Pedro Square Market street mural project.

When KOOZA by Cirque du Soleil came to town, we made sure that opportunities were available for low-income families to attend. We partnered with local nonprofits to secure $25 tickets for 400 families and students. We also partnered with the San Jose Public Library to create a free arts and reading program for more than 100 children, including a story time with KOOZA cast members.

Last week Nicole hosted BASH, the Bi-Annual Summit for Hospitality, where more than 100 hospitality industry leaders and partners attended to learn about current travel and tourism trends, new initiatives and opportunities. We especially highlighted all the ways local businesses and cultural groups can work with us.

If you were not able to attend and would like to discuss ways you can work with us, please email Nicole at [email protected]. Nicole and Team San Jose have more in store in the coming months and years and we look forward to working with you on it all.

San José Spotlight columnist John LaFortune is the president and CEO of Team San Jose, the nonprofit parent company of Visit San Jose, the city’s official destination marketing organization. Team San Jose also manages the San Jose McEnery Convention Center and entertainment venues including the California Theatre, the Center for Performing Arts, Montgomery Theater and San Jose Civic. Contact John at [email protected].