Tag Archives: Bergen Community College Paramus Campus

Day Three Hundred and Three Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents “Dining at the Bergen Room-The Ultimate Dining Experience”-Bergen Community College Campus April 24th, 2024

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Executive Team picture in the Bergen Room on the Bergen Community College campus for the project “Dining at the Bergen Room: the Ultimate Dining Experience” on April 24th, 2024.

In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of post-COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees

Contact Us

In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Two semesters ago we created the project “It’s Cultural on Campus-Bergen Community College” publicizing the Gallery Bergen, The Ciccone Theater and the Bergen Room Bistro to the outside community. It was a ‘Digital Campaign’ to bring people to the Bergen Community College campus from all over Bergen County, NJ to enjoy all the wonderful things to do and see on our campus. The project was a huge success and all the Professors and Departments involved really enjoyed the Presentations (See Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Six):

Day Two Hundred and Sixty-Six: “It’s Cultural on Campus”:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/32922

One of my counterparts on campus loved the campaign and ‘hired’ (asked me) to expand the project for a “Digital Campaign” for the Bergen Room and expand the project with all new menus, commercials and create a special Themed Dinner for the student dining room. This resulted in “Dining in the Bergen Room”:

The Project Idea:

I got Professor Drakeford and Professor/Chef Morrisey involved in the project and we worked together to see the best ways to promote the success of the Culinary Program’s Student Run Dining Room.

I created the Teams two weeks before the Spring Break and got them started on their project. When we returned from the Spring Break, we arranged for the class to dine in the Bergen Room. Chef Morrisey and his Team of Culinary Students created a special menu for us when the Bergen Room was closed and the students got feast on a four course meal courtesy of the Culinary Arts Department.

Having lunch with my students at the Bergen Room on the Bergen Community College Campus in Paramus, NJ:

My TripAdvisor reviews on the Bergen Room:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46712-d12308869-Reviews-The_Bergen_Room_Bistro-Paramus_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The menu that afternoon:

We started the Testing Menu with a Pumpkin Carrot Ginger Soup.

Then we had the second course with a Toasted Green Salad with a light Cream Dressing.

The main course was a Chicken in a Creamy Peppercorn Sauce, Baked Pasta and Roasted Brussel Spouts.

The meal was completed with a Cream Cheesecake that tasted more like a cream cake and topped with Fresh Strawberries.

All the Teams got to dine with one another and get to know each member in a less formal setting.

This meal got the students to know their product better and look around the Bergen Room and see how they could take this student run dining room and transform it to a special themed event that would dazzle myself and the other Professors and bring in the paying public. Here are some of their ideas:

Along the way, I had various speakers come in to talk to the students. Professor Tim Blunk from the Art Department and the Curator for Gallery Bergen, our on campus Art Gallery came in to talk to the students about the artists that are available on campus and the number of students on campus who are looking for projects for their portfolios. He also discussed some of the happenings at Gallery Bergen.

Professor Jim Bumgarner, the head of our Theater Department, came in to talk to the students on the student singers, actors and dancers that study at the college. He discussed upcoming shows and theater events planned for the future. He added too that there are a lot of students looking to add to their resumes on projects like this.

Our last in house field trip was to the Horticultural Department and to the Greenhouses in Ender Hall. Dr. Steven Fischer, who is head of the Holocultural Program, gave us a tour and talk on the growing seasons, the plants that are grown and available in the greenhouses, the arrangements that are created for the Bergen Room Bistro.

The tour of Greenhouses on our last inhouse field trip with Dr. Fischer explaining the greenhouses.

Asking questions about the floral arrangements used for the Bergen Room.

Discussion of the grounds of the Horticulture Department grounds.

It was a good tour and opened the students eyes on how events were decorated and where the flowers came from and how they were grown. The students were creating their centerpieces for their theme dinners and I wanted them to see where they would get the flowers from.

My President and SVP of Operations on the field trip to the Greenhouses.

We finished our last Board meeting the week before the Presentation and then the Executive Team had a week to make the adjustments. We would be presenting the Project in the Bergen Room Bistro on April 24th, 2024.

The new Corporate website for the Bergen Room Team:

https://tbozoluer.wixsite.com/ultimatedining

The Presentation Day had some hiccups along the way but overall it was a great Presentation. I was so proud of the students. Each of the competing Teams set up for extra credit a table in the Bergen Room on how their Dining Experience would be set for the evening of their meal. I have to say that the Teams did a nice job with the decorations and all received extra credit for their place settings. There was a lot of creativity in this class.

The were the three Team tables on how they would be set for their ideas for the Student Fundraiser.

Team One’s Display Table

Team Two’s Display table (The Wining Team)

Team Three’s Display Table

The Three Teams then started their Presentations to Chef Morrisey and his student staff, invited guests and friends of the students who came to see the Student Consultants ideas. What creativity! Each team had to present their theme, their menus, music for the event, artwork, floral arrangements and Social Media campaigns. It was an afternoon of a lot of creativity and though that went into each Teams ideas.

Here are their Commercials promoting the Bergen Room:

Team One:

Team Two:

Team Three:

Here are their Presentations from the afternoon. Each Team had to ‘pitch’ their ideas to the Culinary Team.

Team One:

Team Two:

Team Three:

The Teams competed for the prize being the most creative and effective project to sell the Bergen Room Bistro to the outside community.

Team Three even created for extra credit a AI version of visiting the Bergen Room.

After the Team conclusion, it was time for questions and answers. The point of the whole project was to get the students ready for a career in business and marketing and there were questions of why the project was taken so seriously. The answer I had for one parent was that you want your son or daughter to get a good job out of college? It is better they get their lumps here than on a new job. They will be more prepared for the workforce.

One parent did compliment me in that his son was so excited about the project and it really showcased his son’s talents in filming and graphics. That was nice to hear that students are excited about their work. I know that these are the students that will get good jobs out of college and be prepared for Corporate expectations.

I couldn’t more proud of a group of students that banded together to showcase this wonderfully run student dining room.

Have you been there yet?

I took pictures with my Executive Team before the Presentation. I very proudly wore my Alumni Chef’s Jacket from when I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1998. I don’t think it had been out of the dry cleaning plastic since that time.

Professor/Chef/CEO Justin Watrel with SVP of Operations Ayesha Zulfiqar and President Tugay Bera Bozogluer.

Professor Justin Watrel with the winning Team Project from Team Two. I was very impressed with their work. The Team was lead by Vice-President Mauricio Benitez and Team Leader Dennis Shkembi.

My group picture with Team Three lead by Vice-President Taner Ender and Team Leaders Kane Cheng.

Our Corporate picture for the Bergen Room Team at the end of the Presentation.

I am so proud of my students each semester. I like knowing I am training the next group of Executives for their future.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Two Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents: “Springfest 2023” at Bergen Community College November 16th, 2022

I constantly try to come up with innovative ideas to promote Bergen Community College with engaging ideas to get students involved the way the four year colleges get their students involved. The courtyard by the main building was just finished being renovated and it is a really nice place for students to gather. There are a lots of places to sit and for people to talk. We have been using it for smaller events when the weather is nice but not in the way to get the whole college involved. I was thinking of ideas of how to get my Introduction to Business students engaged this semester and I had a big group of students (32) to get motivated. Things have changed since COVID started.

In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of post-COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees

Contact Us

In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

I came up with “Springfest” when I was looking for names of college events and it sounded like a fun name. I thought back to “Dragon Days” at Cornell and how much fun the students had during that week. At Michigan State, we did not have too many of these campus wide when I was there and we created our own when I lived at Wilson Hall. Welcome Week, Winter Carnival, State is Great Week, and Spring Fling were on their way to becoming traditions at our hall.

At Bergen Community College, we don’t have any big traditional events like these since we are commuter campus. I wanted to change that and I challenged the students to come up with ideas that would involve the whole college. In the past semesters we have created an Student Ambassador Program, Welcome Week for new students, Homecoming for students and Alumni and Springfest would be another big student/alumni event. It would be a series of concerts, dinners, a pep rally and an alumni breakfast that students could join in. It would also be a community event and introduce new students to campus.

Springfest would bridge that gap and a way to show off the campus and all its attributes. I also challenged the students to write a school song. This is the third time that I have done this and the students always do a different take on it. I like the different versions of the song that come from each group.

Like my other two classes, my Marketing class was creating “It’s Wonderful in Westwood, NJ-Be a Tourist in your own Town” and my other Introduction to Business class was creating “Caribe Cafe-A Taste of the Caribbean”, I used the Hierarchy system and created an Executive Team with a President, SVP of Operations, Vice-Presidents, Team Leaders and Team Members. Like my other classes, I had a lot of drama with this group.

“Springfest 2023” was to be a three day Spring Festival with concerts every night, a pep rally for all the sports teams, a barbecue, a student organization introduction, welcome to new students, a carnival with games and actors walking around, food trucks and an alumni breakfast. The students made all of this come to life with creative and innovative ideas in their proposal. I was impressed by the ingenuity that the student consultants showed that evening. My President and Senior Vice-President of Operations showed a cool and calm front and the utmost professionals that evening, leading their Team to success in the presentation.

The project was not without its share of problems and it is all things we see in the real world in the workforce. I had Team members I had to constantly talk to about their performances, their lack of input and not communicating with the Vice-President. I swear I had not done this much discipline since I worked at Macy’s. So this is what the modern CEO is going through. I know that cellphones are going to the bain of our society and our modern business world.

Even through all the drama that I had to endure and what challenges I put the Executive Team through, the student executives overcame it and put together one hell of a presentation. In the end though I had to fire three students from the project and I never did that before but again the modern CEO has a company to run and people who will not do the work can’t be part of the results. They need to find another place to work.

Still, I was proud of the students and here is the project “Springfest 2023”:

The proposed Logo for “Springfest”:

The new logo for “Springfest”:

The website for “Springfest”:

https://sites.google.com/me.bergen.edu/springfestbergeccoparc/home

Here is the PowerPoint Presentation of the Project:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1spmWeccPcqw8CHehN5Eb8lBnmOFwhBq8bJyPnplWN1o/edit?usp=sharing

The Talent Team’s Office Presentation:

The Marketing Team’s ‘Springfest’ commercial:

The Marketing Team’s “Welcome to Bergen Community College” Video:

The Marketing Team’s Instagram Account:

The Entertainment Team’s video on the new school song:

See the presentation below

The Presentation of the Paramus Team Project “Springfest 2023”:

In lieu of giving a forth quiz, I gave the Teams the scenario that my Corporate partner, Susan Gonzales Honan, was impressed by the Team’s performance on the project and challenged the four Teams to come up with ideas for the New Brunswick Corporate Christmas Party. The project included creating an invitation, a menu with an appetizer, main dish, dessert and a signature Christmas drink. The Entertainment Team was asked to create an original Christmas song for the company. They came up with a very interesting rap song. Here are the results from each Team.

CEO Justin Watrel with Vice-President of Entertainment Joshua Manns and his Executive Team on the night of the presentation.

The Corporate Christmas Party Project-Quiz Four:

The Corporate Christmas Party ideas from the Paramus, NJ Teams:

The Powerpoint Presentation:

The Executive Team’s Ideas for the party:

Merry Christmas from Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.!

Day Two Hundred and Nine: Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents: “I’ve got a Golden Ticket to Bergen Community College-Homecoming 2022” December 10th, 2021

The students of my Business 101 class keep dazzling me.

The Creation of the Case Study Project “I’ve got a Golden Ticket to Bergen Community College-Homecoming 2022”:

I have been teaching “Introduction to Business 101” at Bergen Community College for several years now and in the era of COVID, it has been especially difficult. With businesses shutting down never to reopen getting students to understand that business must go on and pivot is a difficult thing to do. You have to learn to adapt and survive or else everything fails.

In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.

What I discovered later on is that we were the only class on campus that night and it was pretty gloomy walking the halls all by myself late on a Friday evening. The upside of all of this is that we had the whole campus to stretch out in and later in the class I changed rooms to a more formal lecture room for the presentation. I thought this was more COVID safe for the students.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees

Contact Us

In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations.

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Consultant Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

My welcome to Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. from the CEO of the company:

While my other class worked on their case study project, “Market Street Candy & Confections”, a 100-year-old candy store concept, “I’ve got a Golden Ticket to Bergen Community College-Homecoming 2022”, a project promoting Bergen Community College to the Alumni got off to the ground running.

The project “Market Street Candy & Confections”:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/20568

In a class that has to stay socially distanced and met only once a week it got difficult.

Our Logo from the novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by author Ronald Dahl.

“I’ve got a Golden Ticket to Bergen Community College”

Every semester it is the same thing with the students. Some take the project seriously and some think it is a chore and go back to looking at their cellphones the whole semester. As usual, those are the students whose work shows it and gets the lower grades.

When I put my executive team together this semester, I found a nice combination of students who really worked well together. How I choose my executives is the same way any CEO would, I get a copy of their resume which serves as my first paper for the class. I work with the students to be sure that their resume is ready for future job interviews and internships or transfers to another four-year school. This is where I can see where the students experience lies and what skills they can perform.

The second paper I have the students write is “What would I do Better?”, a two-page paper on a situation on a job or extra-curricular activity that went terribly wrong and how they might have fixed it. The paper always shows me how the student would handle adversity under pressure. It also shows me the student’s character. This is how I pick my executives plus I use my gut instinct on how they act in class. Almost 95% of the time, I am correct.

The students I chose for my Executive Team were all Bi or Tri-Lingual, all were pretty ambitious and I thought had a sense of creativity. One of my Executives went AWOL after the second class and one of his Team Members took over the VP roll. I could not have asked for a more prepared student of the role of Vice-President. This is when students can surprise you with their flexibility and creativity under pressure.

So, every week we had Board Meetings to check progress and see how each Team was performing and getting their work done. I always have my procrastinators but for the most part everything was handled on time and towards the last two weeks I saw the students ban together to get the work done. Still, I had a few students either go AWOL or just drop the class and that was it so there was some rearranging to do along the way. This is what happens in a real corporation, so it was just like real life.

The night of the presentation, it was nice to see the students all dressed up. All the women looked so professional in suits, skirts, slacks and dresses while most of the men were in either suit and tie or jacket and tie. I few I will have to teach how to iron a shirt or tie a tie correctly.

I could not have been prouder of my student executives on their presentation. They put together a wonderful presentation in promoting Bergen Community College to Alumni and students, promoting our Athletic program with student athletic and parent events with Alumni attendance and meals that would bring Alumni together in the “Bulldog” tradition. All throughout the presentation we kept the “Willy Wonka” theme in all of our events.

What really impressed me was the touching dedication to the late Gene Wilder, the star of the original 1971 film from the Executives to both him and his widow, Susan Wilder. I think that showed the heart of the project of how much this film means to people.

Congratulations everyone on this excellent project and Happy New Year!

*Please watch and read the different parts of the project to see its progress.

The Project:

“I’ve got a Golden Ticket to Bergen Community College-Homecoming 2022”

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. website for the project:

The Video of the Presentation:

(the Presentation has since disappeared from YouTube)

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

Part Four:

The Commercials:

Welcome to the Alumni back to Bergen Community College:

Welcome to the Students Athletes to Bergen Community College:

Welcome young Alumni to Bergen Community College:

A very special dedication of the project to Mrs. Susan Wilder (Gene Wilder the star of the film’s wife):

(the video has since been taken down from YouTube)

I want to thank all my students in my “Introduction to Business 101” class for all their hard work on this presentation.

Sincerely,

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO/Co-Founder

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.