Tag Archives: history

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Three Private Members Night ‘Met After Hours’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art March 20th, 2025

Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring The Upper East Side of Manhattan, Historic New York City neighborhoods, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Walking around Manhattan, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I love being a member of the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue

https://www.metmuseum.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d105125-Reviews-The_Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art-New_York_City_New_York.html

It is especially nice when the museum is closed and you can visit the museum with all the other members in a private event just for us.

It was time for another ‘Met After Hours’ member event

I wait for these evenings as a member. It is so much fun to walk the halls of the Met after the museum closes and just relax, look at exhibitions that I might have missed on my last several trips to the museum, have a much needed cocktail (one specialty drink is more than enough) and enjoy listening to the speaker.

Entering the main hall of the museum

The beautiful Cherry Blossoms are in season in all the urns

Walking through the Greek Galleries on my way to the exhibitions that were open that evening

The Jesse Krimes Corrections exhibition

https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/jesse-krimes-corrections

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/artists/jesse-krimes-met-museum-exhibition-1234728767/

I decided to start on the second floor of the museum since most of the members seem to settle on the first floor. My first stop was the Jesse Krimes exhibition ’Corrections’.

Krimes’s image-based installations, made over the course of his six-year incarceration, reflect the ingenuity of an artist working without access to traditional materials. Employing prison-issued soap, hair gel, playing cards, and newspaper he created works of art that seek to disrupt and recontextualize the circulation of photographs in the media (Met website).

Displayed at The Met in dialogue with Bertillon, whose pioneering method paired anthropomorphic measurements with photographs to produce the present-day mug shot, Krimes’s work raises questions about the perceived neutrality of our systems of identification and the hierarchies of social imbalance they create and reinscribe. An artist for whom collaboration and activism are vital, Krimes founded the Center for Art and Advocacy to highlight the talent and creative potential among individuals who have experienced incarceration and to support and improve outcomes for formerly incarcerated artists (Met website).

The description of the show ‘Jesse Krimes Corrections’

The art work ‘Purgatory’ where the artist put faces of the artist’s imagination while in solitary confinement.

The signage for the piece

The sculpture ‘Naxos’ with thousands of pebbles from prison yards

The signage for ‘Naxos’

I then toured through the Asian Galleries to see what exhibitions were open that evening. Some of the displays for Chinese New Year were still prominent in the galleries and I admired them in the cases.

This very evil looking statue just stares at you while you pass it

I admired the Chinese Zodiac sculptures in the Asian Wing and found my sculpture in the year of the Snake. Chinese New Year was over but the displays for the year of the Snake were still on display.

The sculptures of the Chinese Zodiac

The sign for the Zodiac animals

At the entrance to one of the galleries, one sculpture stood out to me that has been accented by peacock feathers.

The peacock sculpture ‘Mahamayuri on Peacock’

The sign for the sculpture

The piece stood out for its grace and its beauty. There was something unique about it.

I then visited the other side of the floor that was open in the Arabic Wing. I had visited the gallery in length during one of the other member nights when they officially reopened. I love all the displays of rugs and decorative objects throughout the various rooms.

Walking through one of the rug gallery rooms

What I admire the most from some of these artisans is the approach to precious items like gold, silver and jewels in the works. You could really see the amazing detail to these works.

Several decorative items in the display case

One of the special exhibitions in the Arabic Wing was the Merchant Ivory exhibition ‘Ink to Ivory’ from the Director’s private collection.

The sign from the ‘Ink and Ivory’ exhibition

https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/ink-and-ivory-indian-drawings-and-photographs-selected-with-james-ivory

This focused exhibition presents a selection of superlative drawings from the courts and centers of India and Pakistan (with a few related Persian works) dating from the late sixteenth to the twentieth century. These works are mainly selected from The Met collection in partnership with film director James Ivory, whose recent gift to the Museum of nineteenth-century photograph albums will also be featured in the exhibition (Met website).

The drawings will include fresh and informal preparatory exercises for paintings as well as beautifully finished works in their own right. The photographs will present the subject matter and styles that came about in the contexts of royal patronage and ceremony; views of architecture, cities, landscapes, and people, among others. As an artist and filmmaker, James Ivory will help us appreciate this material through his unique gaze (Met website).

The description of the show at the Met

The exhibition was a selection of drawings and photos from the British possession of India. I could see from the pictures the Caste system that had been created. The drawings though were quite interesting and showed a different perspective of Indian life at that time. I liked the mix of royals both from England and India.

When I got to the first floor, I noticed the time as getting late in the evening. This special evening was ending at 9:00pm rather than the usual 10:00pm and after the last three weeks that I had with Midterms and papers to grade and leading a recent field trip with my students. I really needed to relax and have a drink.

The Temple of Dendur gallery was lit for the evening and music was playing when I arrived. I guess all the other members felt the way I did as the place was packed. I was wondering why the halls were so quiet.

The Temple of Dendur Gallery was set up for the Members Bar

The lighting really accented the ancient temple

The crowds really packed the cocktail tables

Everyone had to get drink tickets to get a beverage and trust me this did not look like the soft drink crowd. They were featuring a ‘Berry Fizz’ as their signature drink that evening.

The signature drink ‘The Berry Fizz’

Relaxing at the end of the evening on the rim of the pool at the Temple of Dendur Gallery

Relaxing and talking to other members at the Temple of Dendur that evening

The bewitching hour of 9:00pm came and the bar area was still going strong but other parts of the museum began to clear out and close for the evening.

As we left, members of the staff handed out Chocolate Flowers that represented the Cherry Blossoms that were prominently featured all over that entrance and would be blooming all over the City in the next few weeks.

The Chocolate Flower we got when we left. I think this was a nice touch as was the pumpkin at the Halloween members night

All the Cherry Blossoms around the Great Hall entrance as I left

It was not a pleasant night as we left for the evening. It was pouring down rain and I could see this when I was in the Temple of Dendur Gallery.

I walked to East 72nd Street and had dinner at Shanghai Chinese Food at 1388 Second Avenue for dinner. This little hole in the wall restaurant has some of the best Chinese food in Manhattan.

I needed the ultimate comfort food that night and ordered the General Tso’s Chicken with Pork Fried rice. That took the gloom off this rainy evening.

https://www.mapquest.com/us/new-york/shanghai-chinese-restaurant-527392156

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d3579862-Reviews-Shanghai_Chinese_Restaurant-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=69573

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

Shanghai Chinese Restaurant 1388 Second Avenue New York, NY 10021

The crispy rich sweetness of the dish is so satisfying

I love this delicious dish

Each piece was a delight

The nice part was that the staff let me relax and finish my dinner. Since I was still dressed in a suit from classes earlier in the day I just assumed they thought I worked at the hospital nearby. It is always so funny to see peoples reactions to me being all dressed up.

It was a nice relaxing evening and a great way to end the day.

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-One Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents “Promoting the Lyndhurst Schoolhouse Museum for Tourism-Be a Tourist in your Own Town” December 12th, 2024

"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Historic Bergen County NJ, Exploring Lyndhurst NJ, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New Jersey, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

As part of the semesters project, I wanted to choose a location that was close to the college that we could promote and staying within the Lyndhurst area. I felt that Lyndhurst’s downtown was a bit fractured with gaps in the downtown making it tougher to market than other downtowns. Then I remembered the Red Schoolhouse Museum that I had visited over the summer to update my blog and thought that would be the perfect choice.

The Lyndhurst Red Schoolhouse Museum at 400 Riverside Avenue in Lyndhurst, NJ during the summer months

The museum grounds in the Summer months

The inside of the Lyndhurst Schoolhouse Museum

https://www.facebook.com/LyndhurstHistoricalSociety/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46586-d3207980-Reviews-Lyndhurst_Historical_Society_Little_Red_Schoolhouse-Lyndhurst_New_Jersey.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Little Red School House Museum/Lyndhurst Historical Society 400 Riverside Avenue Lyndhurst, NJ 07071

The museum is close to campus, was a historical site and really needed some new publicity. So I approached their volunteer Board and we developed a partnership on this project:

The Team Project:

BCC-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. 2024 Lyndhurst Schoolhouse MuseumDownload

It was going to be a tight project as we only had five weeks to pull it off and we had Thanksgiving Weekend break in the middle of the project. I created one less Team and gave them a fair amount of work to develop and then we started the project.

I had an extra credit Team Field trip to the museum that Sunday and about a third of the students showed up. The museum is a one room schoolhouse so it is easy to tour.

Team members touring the museum on the extra credit trip

Touring and planning ideas in the museum’s backyard and gardens

The next week during class time, I took the students on a more formal tour and lecture on the museum where they met with the Museum Board, their volunteers and it was time to ask questions and view the museum from the vantage point of how to we promote this museum and how can we bring people in from outside the Bergen County area.

First we met with the staff at the museum on class night

We started with a discussion of the museum, its history and its direction in the community. We also got to meet the Volunteer Board of the museum.

Then we toured the museum

The Kingsland Explosion Fire display

Going over the project steps with the Museum Board

Our Team picture with the Museum Board of the Lyndhurst Red Schoolhouse Museum

After our visit to the museum, I took the Teams to Mr. Bruno’s Pizzeria in Lyndhurst for a Team Building dinner that I host with all my classes. It is hugely popular with the students and gives them a chance to get to know one another. Nothing is better than Team Building over pizza.

Mr. Bruno’s Pizzeria in Lyndhurst, NJ has a complete dining room

https://www.theoriginalmrbrunospizza.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46586-d2345529-Reviews-Mr_Bruno_s_Pizzeria_and_Restaurant-Lyndhurst_New_Jersey.html?m=69573

Team Two setting up their game plan while dining at Mr. Bruno’s that evening

Team Two doing together and putting together their game plan

Team Three enjoying dinner together

The restaurant staff at Mr. Bruno’s could not have been nicer to us and everyone enjoyed dinner. It was a really productive evening for everyone. It was a nice Team Building event and the students that dined that night really got to know one another and start setting up their presentations. From this point on, it was up to the Student Consultants to put their projects together and make trips out to the museum on their own time.

The Lyndhurst Team will have three Teams compete with one another in a series of projects that are part of program in “Promoting the Small Museums of Bergen County”. The goal is to create a new Digital Marketing Campaign for the museum, a series of special events that includes events at the holidays, a Children’s Walking Tour and a fundraiser for the museum.

The Teams are to create two holiday events that include a ‘Holiday Village’, a secular December family holiday event where people can enjoy walking around the museum in a festive environment with delicious food and activities. This is the same with the “Spring Event”, another festive event where the museum is decorated for the day with engaging activities and delicious food all in a way to showcase the museum.

Some of the ideas that the museum asked of us was to create a Children’s Walking Tour for school age children who visit with their parents and with their local schools. This is a way for the docents to engage with the children and create a fun environment that speaks to them. The other request from the museum was to create a fundraiser or a series of fundraisers that will raise $10,000 for the museum to help with expenses in running the museum and mounting new exhibitions. It will be interesting to see what the students create to promote the museum.

This Team had it the toughest of my four Teams as they had four weeks to put their project together with one of the classes being the formal tour. They did a wonderful job putting it all together in a short period of time.

The week before the student Teams made their presentation, I gave all four of my Teams the ‘Holiday Project’ Quiz Four, in which each Team was asked by the Corporate office to create a holiday menu proposal for the company dinner, create an invitation and then film a holiday greeting in English and Spanish. That produced interesting presentations.

Video on the Holiday presentation:

PowerPoint Holiday Presentation:

The next week on December 12th, 2024, the students presented the project to myself, the Board and members of the Lyndhurst Schoolhouse Museum and to parents and other invited guests. For a four week project, the students did a good job.

The Bergecco-Parc Corporate Website for the Lyndhurst Schoolhouse Museum Team:

https://littleredmuseum.wordpress.com/?_gl=11eisv45_gcl_au*MzA4MzYyMTAxLjE3MzMyNzg1MDU

The start of the Presentation that evening:

The start of the Team Presentation that evening

Video of the Presentation:

PowerPoint of the Presentation:

Team One starting their presentation

Team Two ordering their ideas to the museum board

Team Two presenting their Holiday events to the Board

Team Two presenting their Holiday events budgets

Team Three making their presentation

The Lyndhurst Schoolhouse Museum Team at the end of the presentation

At the end of the Presentation, we had a Q &A with the Board of the Museum, who really loved the ideas that the students came up with and how creative they were with such a small museum. The President even admitted to me that she, like all the other museums I worked with this semester, would miss having the students visiting and touring the museum. That made me feel good, that in some small way we made a difference.

I don’t know if the museum will ever use any of these ideas or if all the things will be successful in the end but I could see these events a nice addition in making the museum more successful and create better visitation.

Again, I am very proud of these students.

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-Eight Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents “The Bergen 250: Visiting Bergen County, NJ Museums: Promotional Plan for Visiting the Behnke Museum, Bergenfield Museum, Walking Tour of Coopers Pond Park and a Graveyard Walk of the South Presbyterian Church” December 11th, 2024

"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Bergenfield, NJ, Exploring Historic Bergen County NJ, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Paramus NJ, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Historic Churches of New Jersey, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, Interesting Parks and Zoos in New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., The Bergen 250-250th Anniversary of the Revolutionary War in Bergen County, NJ, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New Jersey, Walking in Bergenfield, NJ, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

The Behnke Museum Project:

I created the Behnke Museum promotion as a way to promote this wonderful museum located right next to the Bergen Community College campus for tourism. It is such a terrific museum but it never seemed to have any visitors. Not only that, it seemed that no one at the college including the Professors had been there or even knew what it was as they passed it everyday on their way to work. This project, which was the first project in the class, was going to change all of that.

With the help of Fred Behnke and the Board of Volunteers, we partnered together to help the museum promote itself for tourism and put the museum on the map. I created with the help of the Executive Team and the Student Consultants, a series of promotions, commercials and ideas to bring traffic into the museum. The Student Consultants also created an Instagram site for the museum, helped create a website and translated pamphlets into Spanish, Korean and Pilipino to help promote the museum to an outside audience where English may not be the first language. We started the project out with a tour of the museum.

The Fred Behnke Museum at 330 Paramus Road

https://www.facebook.com/FritzBehnkeMuseum/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46712-d4973052-Reviews-Fritz_Behnke_Historical_Museum-Paramus_New_Jersey.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

The Fritz Behnke Historical Museum of Paramus 330 Paramus Road Paramus, NJ 07652

The Sunday Extra Credit tour that my class at the museum

On the Sunday before the formal Class tour of the museum, I gave the students extra credit towards their project to come in on a Sunday and tour the museum at their leisure. About a third of the class took advantage of it.

The next class, I picked my Teams, set up the Executive Team and then it was ‘full steam ahead’ with the project.

The Team:

BCC-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc 2024 Behnke Museum Project Team MembersDownload

The Project:

BCC Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Behnke Museum Project 2024Download

We arrived at the museum later that week for our formal walking tour of the museum and the class was broken up into two teams one upstairs and one downstairs.

The Class Field Trip to the Behnke Museum as part of the project

The Team Field Trip to the Behnke Museum

Touring the first floor of the museum

After the tour was over, we took our official Team Corporate picture for the project. Even though it was a gloomy day, it was all energy and smiles and a lot of promise to help the museum gain more visitors.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Behnke Museum Team picture with the Museum Volunteer Staff

The Student Consultants had a week to put the Presentation together and create a commercial to promote the museum and their PowerPoint on their ideas to create excitement at the museum. Here is their project Presentation and PowerPoint on the project. Please remember that they had seven days to do this.

The PowerPoint:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1atn7BlTHfG88tND0P8fU1yNzmEpFrEG4/view?usp=gmail

The Video of the Presentation:

https://www.youtubeeducation.com/watch?v=krZNmHevETA

The Team Picture after the Behnke Museum Presentation to the Museum Volunteer Staff:

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Paramus Team for the Behnke Museum

The Behnke Museum Volunteer Staff was impressed with the students ideas and thought there was a lot good ideas that they can use.

Commercial Group One:

Commercial Group Two:

Marketing Commercial Team Two:

Commercial Group Three:

Marketing Commercial Team Three:

Commercial Group Four:

The Bergenfield Tourism Project: The Bergenfield Museum, Coopers Pond Park and South Church Graveyard Tour Project:

This is when I got the idea of doing the same project in a larger form. I saw the Bergenfield Museum, a small gem on the other side of Coopers Pond Park, that did not much traffic considering the museum is open both during the week and the weekend. The building was an original Demarest homestead and the family had their family plot in the South Church which is located right next to the park. So I approached both the museum and the church to partner with me in creating a project to promote this corner of Bergenfield, NJ for tourism.

Cooper’s Pond Park during the Summer months

So I set up the next series of tours for my students that encompassed the Bergenfield Museum, Coopers Pond Park and the historical South Church graveyard where the Demarest family plot was located. The Bergenfield Museum building is the original Demarest family homestead so it tied in nicely to the project.

Walking through Coopers Pond Park inspired this fascinating project

https://bergenfield.com/notices-announcements/oem-notices/cooper-s-pond-update

Two weeks after the Behnke Museum project, I introduced this project and the next week we took a walking tour of all three sites starting with walking through Cooper Pond Park, a WPA project and one of the most beautiful and underrated parks in Bergen County.

We met with the Bergenfield Volunteer Board at the museum to start the tour

The Bergenfield Museum at 100 Cooper Street in Bergenfield, NJ

https://bergenfield.com/museum-society

https://www.facebook.com/bergenfieldmuseum/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/R4960NKjustinw/photo/776032151?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

Bergenfield Museum Society 100 Cooper Street Bergenfield, NJ 07621

The President of the Bergenfield Museum Board, Joanne, helped me organize the Team Field Trip of the museum. She had four other docents from the Board helping in four different rooms so each Team would follow each other through the rooms. Each Team had about ten minutes in each room for the docent to explain the collection to them. The Student Consultants got to visit the museum on their own time as well.

Our class being greeted by the President of the Bergenfield Museum, Joanne

Touring the Living Room of the old Demarest Homestead

Touring the old Dining Room and the Chair Factory display in the museum

Touring the Kitchen area of the old homestead

Touring the Military Room of the museum

Discussions of the function of the kitchen on the farm

Discussing the Chair manufacturing in Bergenfield, NJ

The Student Consultants touring the Living Room

The Teams taking notes during the tour

After our tour of the museum was over, we took a group picture outside of the museum with the Board of the museum.

The Student Consultants from Bergecco-Parc Consultants Inc. visiting the Bergenfield museum

After we took the group shot, we walked through the park again to my take note of its Depression era past and beautiful views and colors and made our way to the historic South Presbyterian Church and its historic graveyard where the second half of the project would take place.

South Presbyterian Church at 150 West Church Avenue

https://www.southpresbyterian.net/

https://www.facebook.com/southpres/

The historic marker for the church

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g46301-d32842329-r988828266-South_Presbyterian_Church-Bergenfield_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/author/jwatrel/page/2/

The Demarest Family plot in the church graveyard

Touring the South Church graveyard for the historical walking tour with members of the Church volunteer staff

The tour was lead by Bob Carpenter, a historian who is helping renovate this historical graveyard

The tour of the historical Demarest family plot, which ties into the museum building’s historical past, was lead by historian Bob Carpenter, who is helping the church renovate and restore the graveyard. Mr. Carpenter explained to us how he was fixing all the plots and historic tombstones and how the maintenance of the stones needs to be carefully done.

Mr. Carpenter explains how to maintain the tombstones in these historic graveyards

Video of the walking tour of the historic graveyard:

IMG_2497Download

Both the church volunteers and Mr. Carpenter explaining to the students how families were buried in the 1700and 1800’s

We finished the tour that afternoon inside the South Church to learn its history in the community. Though it will not be part of the project, the church offered the students a glimpse into Bergen County’s past as the original church was built before the Revolutionary War.

The Student Consultants touring the pews of the South Church

Once the tour was complete, the Student Consultants had a better understanding of the locations where the project will take place.

The new project will include walking tours, historical aspects of all three locations, and ways of creating a Destination Marketing Plan for domestic and foreign tourism. This will take place when the Student Consultants present their ideas to myself and the museum and church staffs.

The student consultants had four weeks to this project and put together their game plans. The had to put together commercials to promote the Bergenfield Museum, Coopers Pond Park and the historical cemetery of the South Church. As an extra credit assignment, I had the students develop a Halloween walking tour with food and create a separate commercial for this of which three of the for groups completed.

Quiz Four-The Holiday Project

Before the Team made their final presentation, they created Quiz Four-The Corporate Holiday Party

The Proposal for the Holiday Party Project:

BCC Quiz Four Fall 2024 Team Bergecco Parc Holiday ProjectDownload

Video of the Team’s Holiday Party Project:

They did a great job on the ideas for the Corporate Holiday Party and came up with some clever menus and logos.

The Holiday Project PowerPoint:

The Christmas Greeting from the Executive Team:

Executive Greeting:

Team One Greeting:

Team Two Greeting:

Team Three Greeting:

Team Four Greeting:

Then came the big Presentation on December 11th, 2024 and this group did an amazing job with ideas for the Town of Bergenfield promoting the Bergenfield Museum, Coopers Pond Park and the South Church’s Historic Cemetery. Each Team tried to top one another.

The whole idea of the Bergenfield Project was not just to promote the museums, parks and historic churches but to create Destination Marketing Project to promote the Town of Bergenfield as a place to visit for both domestic and foreign tourism. This is the project that promotes that vision:

The Bergenfield Team website for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc:

https://bergeccoparcconsultinginc4.wordpress.com/

The presentation on the Bergenfield Museum

The day of the presentation the students had to be in professional dress with men expected to be in Jacket and tie or a suit and the ladies in blouses, slacks, suits and dresses. We presented this project to the Board and members of the Bergenfield Museum and to the Communications director of Bergenfield, NJ, which really gave the students a stamp of approval.

Video of the Presentation:

Part One:

Part Two:

PowerPoint of the Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VUbI7TwxcOVTjXf-Ra-7GbC7fErs0-VU2JSHVMDX9rc/edit?usp=sharing

I thought the commercials the students came up with were very clever.

The Commercials of the Bergenfield Museum:

Team One:

Team Two:

Team Three:

Team Four:

The Children’s Walking Tour of the Bergenfield Museum:

Team One:

Team Two:

Team Three:

Team Four:

The Coopers Pond Walking Tour:

Coopers Pond Park sits between the Bergenfield Museum and the South Church and is one of the most beautiful parks and underrated parks in Bergen County. The students were tasked with creating a Walking Tour of the park.

The beauty of Coopers Pond Park in Bergenfield, NJ during the Christmas Holiday season.

Team One:

Commercial One:

Commercial Two:

Team Two:

Team Three:

Team Four:

The Historic Graveyard Tour of the South Church:

The South Church Cemetery is one of the oldest and historic cemeteries in Bergen County and home to the Demarest family plot, one of the most prominent families in Bergen County. The students were tasked with creating a short Walking Tour video promotion for the project to promote the South Church for tourism.

Team One:

Commercial Two:

Team Two:

Team Three:

Team Four:

Some of the Student Consultants also for extra credit created a Halloween Walk for the Church.

The Corporate Picture at the end of the Presentation:

The Executive Team of the Bergenfield Museum project

Another excellent Project from the Student Consultants of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.-Paramus Benhke/Bergenfield Team

I couldn’t have been more proud of a group of students who created an excellent project!

Day Three Hundred and Thirty Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents: “It’s Razzling in Ramsey, NJ-Be a Tourist in your Own Town” December 11th, 2024

"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring ' The Northwest Bergen History Coalition', Exploring Historic Bergen County NJ, Exploring Historic Towns in New Jersey, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Ramsey, NJ, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New Jersey, Walking Downtown Ramsey, NJ, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

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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 wanted to create another project on Destination Tourism for one of the town’s in Bergen County to follow the projects previously created in Paterson, Rutherford, Westwood and Glen Rock. I narrowed it down to two towns, Hillsdale and Ramsey, NJ.

I toured both towns and looked at their parks and then studied their town websites for events taking place in town. The reason I chose Ramsey is that they had the Old Stone House Museum, where we could create special events and promote this wonderful historical site for tourism.

The Ramsey Team Project for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.: “It’s Razzling in Ramsey-Be a Tourist in your Own Town”

BCC-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. 2024 It’s Razzling in Ramsey, NJ-Be a Tourist in your own TownDownload

I presented the project to my students, created an Executive Team with many Alumni from my Introduction to Business and Marketing classes and broke the class into a corporate hierarchy with a Marketing Team, Historical Team, Special Events Team and a Talent Team. I had the students get their What’s App group chats in order and get to know one another.

I was very proud this semester to promote many of the Student Executive Consultants from previous classes to lead this project. My President this semester had been a Vice-President in two previous projects and through time and experience on the previous project led a wonderful Team. My Senior Vice-President of Operations was a former Vice-President as well on a winning Team for a previous project as well. Several of my Vice-Presidents and Team Leaders were Student Consultants from projects over the last three semesters and they really ‘stepped up to the plate’ for this project.

Then we took the Team Field trips to Ramsey to better understand the town and how it works and what everyday life is like in the town. Being ‘out in the field’ is very important to the class to better understand how create a game plan for the town.

On a warm October afternoon in lieu of class, we all met in Finch Park in Ramsey to tour the park where the location of the Strawberry Festival would take place as well as other activities would be planned. We were joined by the Borough Administrator, Bruce Vouche, who joined us for our afternoon tour of the town.

The Student Executives at Finch Park at the start of the tour

We made our introductions, I took attendance and we proceeded tour the park where we would be holding the event. We looked at the logistics of the park with parking and locations for things like tables and tents. Bruce was able to give us ideas on things like police involvement in traffic and security and permits that would be needed. Before we left the park, we took our group picture.

Our Team group picture at Finch Park

Then we all drove to Downtown Ramsey where we would be touring the business district. We would be looking at traffic patterns, parking and where the Farmers Market takes place and where the historical Trolley line that ran through Bergen County once stood along with the Trolley Building.

Our Team group shot by the Ramsey Train Station where the Farmers Market takes place

After we finished the tour of the downtown, I invited the Team for our corporate lunch at Anthony Franco’s Pizzeria, where we ‘break bread’ and enjoy a meal together to get to know one another and put our game plans together. It is a nice way to end the afternoon.

Anthony Franco’s Pizzeria at 128 East Main Street

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My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46762-d4918283-Reviews-Anthony_Francos_Pizza-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=69573

The lunch was very successful and the students had a good time getting to know one another. This is the way the Teams jell.

The Marketing Team ding with one another

The Historical Team planning their projects

The Talent Team Dining with one another

The Special Events Vice-President an Team Leader and the Divisional President having lunch that afternoon

After lunch was over, the Teams stayed for a bit and got their game plans in order and left to go back to classes and work. There would be a lot of Team meetings and get togethers in the future. In class, I would let the Teams meet to work on the project, followed by Board Meetings on the progress for the project.

Right before the Thanksgiving Break, I was able to arrange with the Borough Administrator and the President of the Ramsey Historical Society s tour of the Old Stone House Museum. It took a lot of effort and phone calls and emails but we got the tour of this historical site.

The Old Stone House Museum at 159 Island Road

https://www.ramseyhistorical.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westervelt%E2%80%93Ackerson_House

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46762-d20323524-Reviews-The_Old_Stone_House_Ramsey_Historical_Society-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/tag/the-old-stone-house-ramsey-nj/

The front of the Old Stone House Museum

The back of the house and its grounds

The historic barn and the fall foliage

The Old Stone House is run by the Ramsey Historical Society. The Student Consultants were given a tour by the President of the Ramsey Historical Society, Daniel Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy toured with the Student Teams all the rooms in the house and the barn. We got to see all the artifacts, room designs, displays and then tour the barn display. This helped the Marketing and Historical Teams with their proposals and gave them some time to film their ideas. It was a very interesting tour.

The Marketing Team touring the Old Stone House

The General Store concept of the home when it was center of the community

The Talent Team touring the house

The Dutch Bible inside the Old Stone House

The Historical Team touring the Old Stone House

Inside of the Old Stone House of the Second Floor Toy Display

Touring the barn on the house grounds

Touring the Barn on the Old Stone House property

The Student Consultants touring the barn on the property

The inside of the barn with farm equipment, a sleigh and historic markers

The Farm equipment in the barn

Historical Marker for the Revolutionary War years

Ending the tour of the herb garden in the front of the house and the stone basement

Our Team Group picture in front of the Old Stone House

These tours of both the Downtown Business Districts, Parks and the Historical sites gave the Student Consultants a perspective on what the town looks like, how the town is run and what the vibe of the town is to live and visit here. From the Student Consultants developed the project.

This project had several different components to it that we wanted to discuss and we wanted to invite the Council to join us for the presentation so a small group of us attended the November work session at Ramsey City Hall.

I presented a copy of the project to the Council and explained what the students were creating for the town. The Council took an interest in the project and that is when I invited the Council members to the presentation.

Since so many of them had full time jobs and the students were presenting the project to me on December 11th, that was also the night of their next work session. So they invited us back to City Hall to repeat the presentation that night to the Council in Chambers. Myself and the students who attended the meeting were thrilled by this and it upped the game.

I went back to the class and asked who would like to come to the Council meeting and about half the class wanted to attend the meeting. So I arranged for the class to attend the Council meeting that evening. Who knew it was going to rain the way it did that night?

The presentation during the day went by really well. We had a few parents and friends attend the afternoon presentation and we had a few interesting questions. I for one had many on how the students were going to implement the ideas the way they explained it.

The Marketing Team explaining their game l pool plan for the Borough of Ramsey

The Talent Team explaining their game how they were assist our employees

While the presentation went on, the other Teams got to ask questions of their classmates. It helped each group know how they assisted in the other Team’s work.

The Talent Team’s Corporate gift for the night of the holiday dinner

The Corporate Team listening constantly to the presentation on the Paramus campus

The PowerPoint of the Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r7vMi-pDMDRtvKnh_FAyO1Xl4CLfsITEr13sAfMoo5U/edit?usp=gmail

The Video of the Presentation on the Paramus, NJ:

The Welcome and the Historical Team presentation:

The Introduction and the Historical Team

The Historical Team had to create a Historical Promotional video of the Borough, a Tour of the Old Stone House Historical Museum and for extra credit created a very clever video on the “Mr. Pumpkin” event.

The History of Ramsey video:

https://www.youtubeeducation.com/watch?v=wt8vrB5Ks_o

The Mr. Pumpkin Event:

https://www.youtubeeducation.com/watch?v=qbs2jhkrNWE

Tour of the Old Stone House:

https://www.youtubeeducation.com/watch?v=ndwsF047eUQ

The Special Events presentation:

The Special Events Team

The Marketing Team presentation:

The Marketing Team

The Marketing Team created three videos to promote the Borough of Ramsey: The Promotional Commercial of Ramsey, the new Town Song and a promotional video on the Ramsey Farmers Market. All of these created a pleasant and fun approach to what the Borough of Ramsey is like to visit to Dine, Shop and Entertain in.

The Marketing Videos:

The Town Promotion

The Town Song

The Promotion of the Farmers Market (Extra Credit)

The Talent Team presentation:

The Talent Team

The first run of the Presentation in the classroom went by really well and it got a nice applause. After the Questions & Answers portion of the project, we took our Corporate Team Picture:

The Bergecco- Parc Consulting Inc. Ramsey Divisional Team after the Paramus Presentation

CEO Professor Justin Watrel with SVP of Operations Kamil Malec and President Demetre Gratiashvili

After the Presentation, I held a small reception for the class where I bake cookies, brownies and muffins for the party along with chips and snacks, soda and water. It is a way to celebrate a job well done.

The President and SVP of Operations then created the website for the project:

https://www.ramseyrazzling.com/

Later that evening, the students met on an extremely rainy night, the Executive Team and part of the Team who could meet that night met at Ramsey City Hall to present the project to the Mayor and the Council of the Borough of Ramsey. It was an hour and a half presentation of the same project that impressed the Council.

The Presentation was made at the 7:00pm Ramsey Work Session Meeting on December 11th, 2024

The YouTube Presentation to the Borough Council in Ramsey, NJ December 11th, 2024

The Student Consultants really dazzled the Council with all sorts of ideas on promoting the Borough of Ramsey for domestic and foreign tourism by promoting the Downtown Business District, the Old Stone House Historical property and the Borough for the holiday season. Many of the ideas could be adapted with little budgetary concerns depending on how they wanted to run them and added on to many existing programs the Borough already ran.

The best part that seemed to impress the Council was the Town Promotional and Historical videos and the new town song “Welcome to Ramsey” created by one of the Student Executives. This was all capped off with a special sampling of homemade Strawberry Shortcake that the Team Leader of the Special Events team baked as an example of what could be done to expand on the Strawberry Festival. I could tell by the looks on the faces of the Council and many of the parents who attended that night that they were more than impressed. They treated this as it was a real Consulting Project and a very Professional one at that. “Hats off” to the students who were there promoting this project.

The Corporate Holiday Project: Quiz Four

For Quiz Four, I create the Bergecco-Parc Holiday Party Quiz where each of the Teams has been asked by the Corporate Division to create a proposal for a Holiday menu, an Invitation and then create a holiday greeting for Corporate. The class has 45 minutes to pull it all off and it is a great Team Building Assignment. Everyone seems to love this quiz because it has nothing to do with the textbook.

The link to the Project on Quiz Four:

BCC Quiz Four Fall 2024 Team Bergecco Parc Holiday ProjectDownload

The Holiday Team Presentation ideas from the Paramus, NJ Team

I was another very successful project by Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. On the last day of class, I presented my President Demetre Gratiashvili with his official President’s Corporate hat. Only the top executive of the firm receives this. It was an honor well-served.

This is a perfect beginning for many of these students who will begin their careers in corporations all over the world. I could not be prouder of them.