Last Thursday (19-12-2015), more than 20 members of the recently founded organization Danish Young Hospitality Professionals (DYHP) met after work at Urban House in Copenhagen to discuss innovation.
A corner of the lobby at the new Copenhagen hostel, Urban House, was Thursday night transformed to a small meeting room to host the second meeting in DYHP. Four professionals with different experiences were invited to share their point of view from a panel debate taking place on the Urban House stage. From Urban House, general manager Thomas Bagger participated and introduced us to how and why Urban House in his opinion is an innovation. He especially highlighted the hiring process, where attitude was put above experience. From the nearby office hotel facility Soho-Kontorhotel, located in the meatpacking district of Copenhagen, participated partner Christian Wad. Soho-Kontorhotel was founded in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and limited financial resources fast tracked the concept development – as securing tenants was crucial to pay the rent. Christian elaborated on the creation of their highly used common areas, which were created because of the property being too deep. “I’m not saying it’s a demand, I think it is now, but it wasn’t in the beginning, it was just a new way of thinking,” Christian Wad expressed when asked about the new ways to utilize and populate common areas.
The third panelist, Christian Brauner, went from a secure job in marketing in large pension funds to the hospitality app startup ServiceLovers. A concept combining several known technologies to let the user rate the service experience at hospitality establishments. Inspired by the Danish financier Lars Tvede, Christian expressed “An innovation is taking things that you already have and putting them together.” The last panelist was Julie Skaar, who is the cofounder of the Copenhagen Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center. Julie was, amongst other things, advocating the necessity of empowering your team from the bottom up when adapting your organization towards taking a more creative and innovative approach to problem solving.
The debate about innovation and organizational development, did also highlight multiple other points toward employee loyalty and motivation. It was pointed out that if the employees feel valuable and actively participate in the constant evolution of the company – they would simply stick around longer and be working harder.
After the official part of the evening, Urban House offered drinks and food. The delegates and panelists debated heavily and networked for several hours while enjoying the delicious hotdogs and burgers served.
The next DYHP event will take place in February, with the topic ‘marketing and communication’. Venue and exact date is currently being worked out, and will be announced shortly.
Within the next couple of weeks, a video from the evening will be uploaded – full of interesting quotes and stories from the evening. We recommend that you stay tuned by signing up to our newsletter here.
Text: Emil Lindvang Bentsen
Photos: Mads Ingolf Wihlborg
