Thought Leaders in Service Marketing Strategy Conference, HEC-Paris, France

The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science sponsored a "Thought Leaders in Service Marketing Strategy" Conference hosted by HEC-Paris.  Cecile Delcourt and I were invited to present preliminary findings of our "Delivering Bad News" research.

Cecile and Dwayne discussing the presentation

Travel Challenges in Going from Paris to Muenster via Belgium

At 4:00 p.m. today, I received the following text regarding my train trip via the Thalys service tomorrow (31 of May) afternoon from Paris to Muenster, Germany. No explanation is apparently needed according to Thalys. (Turns out the Belgian railway workers are on strike today and tomorrow.)

A Quick Tour in Paris, France

Jens Hogreve and I flew from Munich to Paris via Air France...happily with no travel issues to report. We got to our hotel at 4:00 p.m. and decided to see what we could in 90 minutes.  So, we walked past the Arc de Triomphe...

A selfie at the Arc!

We then headed to the Eiffel Tower...and then the rain came.  So much for the tour of Paris.

Second stop....the Eiffel Tower

Acting as a City Tour Guide for the Class Family, Ingolstadt, Germany

Today was a holiday in this part of Germany (Bavaria), so our former exchange daughter, Anja Class, and her parents (Dieter and Helga) drove to Ingolstadt. They had never been to Ingolstadt, so I took them on a tour. Ha! (In many cases, though, they had to translate the German on the signs and buildings for me.)

The best stop of the tour of Ingolstadt...with Anja, Dieter, and Helga Class

At the "new castle" Dieter spotted a garden where the sign suggests anyone who wants to can help themselves to whatever is growing.  Anja was suggesting to me all of the things I could fix in my Ingolstadt apartment...

The soon-to-be gymnasium graduate...who seemed to be a garden expert!

Coffee and Conversation with Bernd Stauss in Ingolstadt, Germany

I had the good fortune to spend almost two hours this morning (a holiday here in Germany) with Bernd Stauss, a retired Professor of Service Management at WFI Ingolstadt School of Management. As I understand it, Bernd was the first chair of Service Management in all of Germany, and he was one of the Founding Fathers of WFI when it began back in 1989.

Bernd Stauss and I having coffee in Ingolstadt

We had a great conversation on many topics, including his activities since retiring, our children (his two boys, my two girls, and my exchange daughter), the WFI Ingolstadt School of Management, story telling, our mutual friend Steve Brown, the critical incident technique, my German (family) roots, how well life has treated us, and many other things.  A very nice morning!

Tapas with WFI Service Management Ph.D. Students in Ingolstadt, Germany

As my time in Ingolstadt is nearing an end, the Ph.D. Students in the Service Management Chair invited me to dinner at a Spanish restaurant, Mas Tapas, in Ingolstadt.

Dwayne, Hannes Fleischer, Mirjam Dobmeier, and Leo Mandl enjoying Spanish food!

They order several different dishes (tapas), including a "spicy" (at least by German standards) meat...chorizo.  (I often use this meat when making my Super Bowl Chili.)  But, I don't cook my chorizo in the same manner they did at Mas Tapas...

Cooking chorizo right at our table...the pig doesn't look to happy...

Servicescape Video Case Study Presentations, WFI Ingolstadt School of Management, Germany

For the "final exam" in the Servicescape course I was teaching at the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, student teams created videos (see links below) of different aspects of the servicescape for the Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät of Ingolstadt (WFI) School of Management. Several invited guests representing some of the administration at the university (at the left of the picture below) were present to hear the students' thoughts on various servicescape issues and to consider their recommendations on making improvements.

One team who studied and made recommendations regarding the WFI cafeteria.

After the six teams presented their 8-9 minute videos, we went on our fifth and final (and optional) field trip to Schutterhof Beer Garden. It is probably not too difficult to imagine what we did there...  (Students had challenged me to "be better than their German professors." So, I treated them to a beverage of their choice. But, I am not sure that made me "better" in their eyes.)

A nice way to end the "final exam."

The six servicescape videos the students created can be found on YouTube. To view any of them, click on the topic for each team below:

• WFI Entrance (Team 1)
• WFI Classroom Spaces (Team 2)
• WFI Outdoor Greenspace (Team 3)
• WFI Steyler Haus (Team 4)
• WFI Library (Team 5)
• WFI Cafeteria (Team 6)

A Weekend as a Tourist in Roma, Italy

Samantha had planned several trips while in Italy, but did not have Roma on her schedule, so we took the train from Firenze to Roma and were there for about 50 hours. We tried to pack as much as possible into that time, including a city bus tour (one of the worst organized service experiences I have ever had), trips to Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps (under construction), Piazza Navona, and the Forum, and visits to many other spots.

Trevi Fountain...I first visited this with Candy (our second date ever) 32 years ago!

We did the Colosseum tour in the rain...the next day it was PACKED with visitors!

Dinner in Roma (my first dinner here was 32 years ago...on my second date with Candy!)

Gelato in Roma after two days of walking (34,000 steps each day for you FitBit fans!) 

Visit to See Samantha in Study Abroad Program in Firenze (Florence), Italy

My oldest daughter, Samantha, is spending the month of May in Florence, Italy, as part of the University of Pittsburgh's Study Abroad Program.  (Interestingly, business students and a professor from Pitt were in Augsburg at the Management School when I was there on Monday.)  She just completed her junior year at Pitt at the end of April.

Samantha outside of her classroom building in Firenze (Florence).

I awoke at 4:00 a.m. to begin my journey by bus, plane, and then taxi from Ingolstadt to Firenze. After I arrived at the Firenze train station at 9;30 a.m., Samantha took me on a quick tour of Firenze. We saw "The Duomo" (the Cathedral) and the Ponte Vecchio (the old bridge).

Just down the street from "The Duomo"

I was last at the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence 32 years ago!

Photo taken from the restaurant we ate at on Monday evening...from the other side of the Ponte Vecchio bridge!  The tower is part of Palazzo Vecchio.

"Employee Emotional Competence" Research Presentation at University of Augsburg, Germany

After wrapping up the "Publishing Scholarly Research" seminar, I gave a presentation on one of the papers we discussed during the seminar on Employee Emotional Competence to both faculty and students at the University of Augsburg.  I was invited to Augsburg by Dr. Michael Paul, whom I have known for about 12 years.  We initially worked together on a paper on Emotional Contagion that appeared in the Journal of Marketing in 2006.

Michael Paul and I after my research presentation.

I did not really have much of a chance to explore Augsburg (named after the Roman Emperor Augustus), the third oldest German city, on this trip. Perhaps I will return some day...

Something is not quite right with this picture of the Rathaus Augsburg (building on the right)...can you spot it?

"Servicescape Design" Teams at WFI Ingolstadt School of Management, Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, Germany

22 students have committed to the course, and each team will be focusing on examining different aspects of the WFI Ingolstadt School of Management servicescape.

Team 2: Anne S., Lena N., Pol A.-C.(not in picture), and Lukas S.

Team 4: Anita H., Wayne K., Lilian V., and Johannes K.

Team 5: Veronica M. , Laura H., Finn H., and Elena L.

Team 1: Fabian H, Thu K., Julia A.,and Isabelle M. (not in picture) 

Team 6: Lucas W., Sarah S.

Team 3: Arthur H., Julia B., Max G., and Jakob P.