NICOLE KLIEST
Staff Writer
A first-ever visitor’s center for the city of Malibu moved a step closer to existence through the efforts of five Pepperdine students involved in a Service Leadership class last semester.
Seniors Alexis Padis, Mallary Hamilton, Dan Evans, Lauren Weldon and Sean De Torres were students in Professor of Organizational Behavior and Management Jere Yate’s Service Leadership class last semester. They were assigned to work collaboratively with the Malibu Chamber of Commerce to assist in planning the development of a visitor’s center that could possibly open this year.
Rebekah Evans, CEO of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce, asked the group to aid in researching the financial and advertising needs of a visitor’s center in Malibu. Weekly meetings between students and the chamber created a working partnership between Pepperdine and the Malibu community.
“It was my pleasure to encourage their steps and facilitate the stages they set … I truly believe they had hands-on learning by working in this project,” Evans said. “I hope to have more students in another class take their suggestions to the next level of implementation.”
While working with Evans, the students were first asked to figure out if a visitor center would be beneficial to the Malibu community. They were next instructed to determine what steps were needed in order to make it a reality.
“We worked with Rebekah and other members of the community to figure out the legal issues, business and residential interests in a visitor’s center, and of course how we would be able to supply tourists with proper information about this wonderful city,” Dan Evans said.
Although the expectations were high, the students said they believe they fulfilled their duties.
“I believe the expectations they had for us was that of college students willing to help out in a nonprofit-type setting,” Dan Evans said. “They wanted fresh ideas and hard work. I believe we went beyond the expectations.”
Though the students’ majors vary, this experience provides them the tools that other students without this opportunity may not be equipped with upon graduation.
“I am planning on going into the hospitality industry, so working in the tourism industry was especially interesting to me,” Weldon said. “I know that this experience will benefit me in my future career.”
Though this project pertained to building the students’ experience, the final results will be beneficial to the city of Malibu as a whole.
“We felt that the most important thing to consider in this project was to gain the support of the Malibu community and the businesses of the city,” Weldon said. “We put together a campaign called Businesses on Board to gain their support in this endeavor.”
In addition to the experience they received, the students were passionate about their project.
“The visitor’s center is an important resource for the Malibu community because it helps point visitors to the unique activities in this city,” Weldon said. “Yes, visitors can find much of this information online on the Chamber Web site, but it is very helpful for visitors who want to ask for personal recommendations about the best Italian restaurant or the best hiking in town.”
The city hopes the center will not only benefit visitors, but also those community shops that have made Malibu the quaint beach town that it is.
“Equally important, the visitor’s center benefits the business owners of Malibu,” Weldon said. “Because this is such a small town, Malibu business owners need the support of outside patrons to sustain their business. We all know that we want to keep fun, small restaurants like Howdy’s, John’s Garden and Coral Beach Cantina rather than have them go out of business and be turned into yet another Starbucks.”
The Malibu Visitor’s Center is a work in progress, but there are many financial and political barriers to overcome before it will really be a helpful tool.
“There is a lot of work to be done,” Hamilton said. “We conducted necessary research and really just started the groundwork. However, it should be opening early this year if the Chamber is able to find the necessary funding to open the visitor’s center.”
01-31-2008
