Category: Alcohol Awareness

Meet Our Instructors: Mike Barden

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mikebardenWelcome back for the next in our “Meet Our Instructors” series of blog posts. Before we profile another one of our instructors, we’d like to give a warm welcome to the newest TAM® of Nevada employee, Manuel. Manuel will be working at our front desk, so make sure to say “hello” when you come in for your alcohol awareness class or proctored exam. This week, let’s meet another one of our instructors, a true beverage industry expert, Mr. Mike Barden.

Before becoming a certified TAM® Instructor, Mike worked at Nevada Beverage Co. for nearly 28 years, holding many roles, including merchandiser, salesman, supervisor of P.O.S department and sales supervisor. For 12 years, Mike was head of training at Nevada Beverage Co., with the responsibility of training everyone in the sales and merchandising department for their positions and making sure existing employees stayed current with company training.

Now, Mike brings his real-world experience to students at the TAM of Nevada office.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a TAM Card holder?

Mike: Remember to ID everyone under the age of 30 and watch for fake ID’s.

What originally attracted you to work in the hospitality industry?

Mike: Interesting people, and the knowledge they have of gaming and hotels.

What’s your favorite thing about living and working in Las Vegas?

Mike: I love the climate, and get to play golf more often. I also love the variety of people here in Vegas; it’s truly a 24-hour town.

If you’d like to attend a TAM® Class taught by Mike, register for a class on our website. Mike’s teaching schedule varies by week, but you can normally find him teaching students on Mondays and Wednesdays. Or, visit us for one of our regularly scheduled classes with any of our talented instructors.

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Announcing Our Quarterly Customer Satisfaction Survey Winner

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Have you recently completed a TAM® class with us? Let us know about it! We are always happy to hear from our customers about their experiences with our alcohol awareness training program. If you’ve completed your alcohol awareness training with us in the past, you know that at the conclusion of the course we invite students to complete a short survey about their experience with TAM® of Nevada. And, as a token of thanks for their participation, we enter survey respondents into a drawing for a $100 Amazon.com gift card prize.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our students for their survey comments and feedback. We’d also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mari S., the most recent winner of our quarterly drawing. If you’ve recently completed your TAM® course and haven’t yet completed the customer satisfaction survey, we invite you to visit us on Facebook to access the survey and submit your responses. While you are there, write on our Wall! Let us know your favorite part of the training, what you learned, or ask us any questions you might have.

Our customer satisfaction survey is available to both online and classroom students. Thank you again to all of our customers for your patronage and helpful responses. Remember to visit us on Facebook and keep the conversation going.

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada

Meet Our Instructors: Ed Prinz

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ed_prinzWelcome back for the next in our “Meet Our Instructors” series of blog posts introducing our amazing set of teachers. This week, meet Mr. Ed Prinz. Ed is a veteran Certified TAM® Instructor and has been teaching TAM® in the Las Vegas community for over 20 years.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ed moved to Las Vegas in 1977 and purchased the first of three bars/lounges, which he owned and operated. Ed worked in the title insurance industry for thirty years as the marketing vice president for Stewart Title Co. and First American Title.

When he’s not teaching at the TAM® office, Ed’s hobbies include golfing, hunting, fishing, photography, and reading spy and adventure novels. His favorite authors are Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, Tom Clancy, and Clive Cussler.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a TAM® Card holder?

Ed: Use your common sense!

What’s your favorite thing about living and working in Las Vegas?

Ed: The people are really great!

If you’d like to attend a TAM® Class taught by Ed, you can register on our website. Ed’s teaching schedule varies by week, but you can call or e-mail us for his availability. Or, visit us for one of our regularly scheduled classes with any of our talented instructors.

Meet Our Instructors: Sherry Cummings

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Sherry_CummingsYou can tell a lot about a company by the people that work there, and here at TAM® of Nevada we have an amazing set of knowledgeable, professional, and fun instructors. Whether you complete your TAM® training online or in the classroom, you can expect to meet some of our staff members. We’d like to introduce you to our staff in a new blog segment: Meet Our Instructors. I had the opportunity to interview each of our instructors, and this is a great bunch.

Let’s kick off this week by getting to know our General Manager and TAM Instructor, Sherry Cummings. Originally from New Jersey, Sherry has lived and traveled extensively throughout the USA, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Hotel marketing in Mexico led her to owning multiple restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. Sherry’s later tenure as Food & Beverage Manager at Pegasus, a Mobile Four Star dining room inspired her to explore and hone her service skills, food knowledge and wine expertise.

The Court of Master Sommeliers certified Sherry and she continues to attend sommelier seminars and training programs. Sherry attended the Sterling School of Hospitality and was also certified by London’s Wine & Spirit Trust.

Later, Sherry worked at the Rio Hotel & Casino, Gatsby’s at the MGM and Southern Wine and Spirits in a variety of roles alongside wine directors, sommeliers and chefs up and down the strip! Now, Sherry brings her unique experience to the classroom and is in a fantastic position to teach responsible beverage service based on real-world examples.

If you’d like to attend a TAM Class taught by Sherry, register for a class on our website. The schedule varies by week, but you can normally find Sherry teaching students on Mondays and Wednesdays at 2:00pm.

© 2013 National Hospitality Institute®, TAM® of Nevada