Murray J. Anderson

    

Introduction Welcome to the online résumé of Murray J. Anderson. A goal-oriented team player, I have over twenty years of hands-on experience in multiple areas of Food & Beverage Service / Management and Hospitality / Guest Services Management. A voracious learner, I have continually reinforced my practical skills through thousands of hours of specialized training and credentialed classroom education. Given my experience with the extremes faced by seasonal hospitality businesses (from closed with no staff or stock, to full Guest operations in under two weeks) I am confident in my ability to quickly familiarize myself with any operation and immediately begin working towards the maximum profit margin & Guest satisfaction possible.   Objective I am currently engaged in a position that requires my full attention during regular weekday business hours. What I am seeking is a Part Time evenings & weekends position (Thursday through Sunday would be my preference) within the Hospitality Industry. I am an experienced Bartender (ASIP Certified), Journeyman Chef (both Restaurant & Catering experience), and Guest Services Agent (with a Diploma in Hotel & Resort Management). My ideal role would be one that challenges me to deliver excellent Guest satisfaction while sharing my industry experience with a high energy team that has a positive " I want to be here! " service attitude. While I'm not necessarily interested in being in charge, I am more than willing to be responsible.   Current Responsibilities Sysco Calgary – Merchandising Product Specialist 4639 - 72 Ave SE, Calgary, AB December 2011 - Present As a member of the Merchandising Team I work closely with Brokers and Vendors to ensure that our Sales force has the right products at the right time to best serve our Client's needs. Responsibilities include; researching & listing new products, assisting Marketing Associates with product information and application knowledge, timely procurement of special order items, resolving equipment & smallwares delivery chain issues, and coordinating Vendor product returns.   Recent Employment Whitemud Catering – Operations & Logistics Manager (Contract Position) Box 7497, Peace River, AB June 2011 - September 2011 All facets of the daily operations of a Catering company that provides personal & corporate catering as well as kitchen & room attendent services for remote location Oil/Gas Industry camps. In addition to duties noted below in Consulting Chef role, also responsible for employee training, maintaining service standards, and ensuring client satisfaction.   Best Canadian Motor Inns – General Manager (Contract Position) 9810 98 Street, Peace River, AB July 2010 - June 2011 Responsible for all facets of daily hotel operations including, but not limited to; recruiting, scheduling, training, payroll, accounts payable & receivable, asset acquisition & management, corporate client relationship building, review & respond to Guest concerns, enhance community & public relations. Accomplishments of note include: Coordinated $250,000 of renovations that saw 29 rooms completely gutted and then rebuilt with new carpet, paint, furniture & décor and 43 rooms upgraded to energy efficient Package Terminal Air Conditioning systems. Managed operational recovery and $400,000 facilities rebuild after a fire destroyed the laundry room and severely damaged the maintenance workshops and Guest units.   Whitemud Catering – Consulting Chef (Part Time) Box 7497, Peace River, AB August 2007 - June 2011 Assisted with seasonal facility start ups & shut downs, menu planning, purchasing, cost controls & food production. Accomplishments of note include: Played a decisive role in Whitemud Catering winning the contract to provide food & beverage services to the 2010 Alberta Summer Games,an event which required approximately 40,000 meal services (hot breakfasts, hot dinners & bag lunches) over a one week period.   Sysco Edmonton – Marketing Associate 26210 Township Road 531A, Acheson, AB August 2007 - July 2010 Operating in a self-directed work environment (with full support from a broad spectrum of product and sales specialists located in Edmonton) I provided food, equipment, culinary consulting services and business support to a variety of restaurants / food service outlets within my assigned sales territory. Accomplishments of note include: Assisted a hotel client with opening of two food service outlets (family restaurant & cocktail lounge) in a new facility. Coordinated initial set up of kitchen service stations and trained staff in use / maintenance of new equipment. Supervised receiving of initial Sysco orders to ensure proper product handling and stock control training was in place. Engineered a custom menu, produced menus, instructed culinary staff in preparation of menu items and created a photo-illustrated plating / portion guide for future reference. Received recognition for several sales achievements resulting from effort devoted to both in house product promotions and vendor sponsored product promotions.   Bearhead Creek Investments – Property Management (Part Time) 7916 99 Street, Peace River, AB May 2006 - July 2010 Assisted investment partners with property management duties (leasing, maintenance, contractor coordination, and security) at two Peace River apartment buildings.   Peace Valley Inns – Food and Beverage Manager / Executive Chef 9609 - 101 Street, Peace River, Alberta September 2005 to July 2007 Leading a team of six outlet managers and supervisors and a staff that numbered between thirty-five and fifty people (depending upon the season), I was responsible for all day-to-day Food & Beverage operations at a three-and-a-half star hotel that featured a licensed Smitty's franchise, a traditional English Pub, multiple conference / banquet facilities, and an outside catering service. Specific responsibilities included (but were not limited to): Recruiting staff (because of the location, this often included arranging transportation & accommodation) and then assisting outlet managers & supervisors with training these new team members. Ensured that all Smitty's corporate standards and guidelines were implemented in a timely & cost-effective manner and then strictly followed by the appropriate team members. Designed & implemented inventory and asset control systems to analyze, establish, monitor & maintain acceptable profit margin levels. Routinely evaluated and engineered pub, banquet, and catering menus to ensure a popular menu mix and desirable return on investment. Programmed & maintained a Micros 3700™ Point-of-Sale system and performed routine data back-ups & maintenance on multiple hotel computer systems as part of a corporate technology audit intended to minimize the fiscal risk associated with hardware failures.   Mount Seymour Resorts - Assistant Food and Beverage Manager / Executive Chef Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver, British Columbia January 2002 to April 2005 (Winter Seasonal) Responsibilities included: The day-to-day operation of The Seymour Café (a 250 seat line service cafeteria), The Rock Chute (a 94 seat licensed family restaurant), Ole's Express & The Seymour Kids Café (two express service coffee & snack outlets), and coordinating any special or media events requiring catering services. Managerial duties included hiring, training, scheduling, and direction of supervisory staff, all back-of-house kitchen staff, and front-of-house guest service staff. Operational duties included ensuring quality control of all food products prepared and served and responsibility for ordering, receiving, and monitoring/controlling use of all dry and food stock inventories. Accomplishments of note included: Designed and produced Rock Chute Menus, Table Talkers and related menu instructions. Prepared critical resource documents such as Food and Beverage Employee Training Manual, HACCP Food Safety Plan, and Equipment Operation & Cleaning Instruction Sheets. Minimized the seasonal training budget by achieving a returning staff rate of over 60% (a record for both Food & Beverage and all resort departments requiring ten or more team members). Implemented a Windows based, touch-screen POS system (PixelPoint) in The Rock Chute. Participated in product selection process, assisted with physical installation, and took lead role in programming database and maintaining the user interfaces. Streamlined the scheduling process through the creation of a staff schedule website and the use of E-Mail to coordinate staff requests for shift changes or time off. Redesigned the inventory and ordering system to limit over-ordering and spoilage waste while drastically reducing occurrences (compared to previous years) of menu items being "86'ed" due to a lack of stock.   Sea To Sky Park Services - Resident Park Manager / Critical Incidents Manager Mount Seymour Road, North Vancouver, British Columbia May 2003 to October 2004 (Summer Seasonal) Park Manager Responsibilities included: Served as Resident Manager / Park Warden for Brandywine Falls Provincial Park & the Rubble Creek / Black Tusk Trailheads to Garibaldi Provincial Park (2004 Season) and Porteau Cove Provincial Marine Park (2003 Season). Managerial duties included scheduling & assigning Guest reservations, collection of park user fees, monitoring and servicing electronic parking ticket dispensers, and timely completion of administrative paperwork mandated by BC Parks. Operational duties included responding to Guest inquiries about the parks and BC Tourism in general, ensuring Guest safety, and general park facilities maintenance & repairs. Critical Incidents Manager Responsibilities included: Responsible for responding to, or coordinating a response to, and documenting any emergency incidents that occurred within the nine BC Provincial Parks operated by Sea To Sky Park Services. On call position that required 24 / 7 accessibility and ability to travel the Sea-to-Sky corridor between Keats Island (in Howe Sound off Horseshoe Bay) and Birkenhead Lake (90 Km North of Whistler).   Relevant Education Alberta Association of Recreation Facility Personnel Edmonton, Alberta October 2010: Swimming Pool Operator Level I Alberta Gaming & Liquor Commission Edmonton, Alberta February 2007: Video Lottery Terminal Customer Service May 2007: Alberta Server Intervention Programme St. John's Ambulance Brigade c/o Peace Safety & Environmental Training Peace River, Alberta January 2007: First Aid (OSHA Level 1) January 2007: C.P.R. with A.E.D. Endorsement Peace Regional Health Services Peace River, Alberta March 2006: Alberta Provincial Food Safe Certification Canadian Tourism College Vancouver, British Columbia March 2003: Hotel & Resort Management Diploma March 2003: Increasing The Appreciation Of Travel For Disabled Clients Educational Institute of The American Hotel & Lodging Association Orlando, Florida March 2003: Front Office Operations Specialist Diploma February 2003: Hospitality Supervision (Honors) December 2002: Understanding Hospitality Law October 2002: Hospitality Industry Computer Systems September 2002: Housekeeping Management (Honors) September 2002: Managing Front Desk Operations August 2002: Security and Loss Prevention Management Hospitality Industry Education Advisory Committee Vancouver, British Columbia March 2003: Serving It Right for Servers December 2001: Serving It Right for Licensees TrainCan Toronto, Ontario March 2003: Serve Safe Food Safety (National equivalent of BC's "Food Safe" programme) Tourism British Columbia Vancouver, British Columbia March 2003: Superhost - Service Across Cultures The Training Resource Vancouver, British Columbia November 2002: Giving & Receiving Feedback Workshop   Volunteer Experience Ad Astra Literary Society (Toronto, Ontario) Ad Astra is a Toronto based literary convention that attracts between 600 and 1,000 people annually. Between 1987 and 2001 I served on the Board of Directors twice and worked in a variety of hospitality related positions on the Convention Committee including Green Room Staff, Guest Wrangler, Hospitality Suite Staff, and Hospitality Suite Supervisor. From 1993 to 2001 I was responsible for organizing the Hospitality Suite Charity Fund Raiser to benefit Casey House Hospice. Each year we generated net proceeds of between $ 400 and $ 600 in a single evening of activity. Society for Creative Anachronism (Various Locations) The SCA is medieval living history group that has over 250,000 members worldwide. Between 1990 and present day I have regularly volunteered to participate in the preparation and service of medieval style feasts for groups of between 50 and 200 guests. Because of my real world F&B experience, I have regularly been called upon to coordinate and/or manage bar and liquor services at these events. From 1996 to 2001 I served in a senior staff position with, or as Director of, Water Services at Pennsic (a medieval camping festival held annually in Butler County, Pennsylvania). Utilizing a staff of between thirty and fifty volunteers per year, my duties were organizing and maintaining the delivery of filtered drinking water for the 10,000 to 14,000 participants that visited the two-week event. Captain Brant's Volunteers(Brantford, Ontario) Captain Brant's Volunteers is an 18th Century living history group in Ontario. From 1995 to 2000 I regularly assisted in the preparation and service of 18th Century style feasts (at both indoor and outdoor venues) for groups of between 5 and 20 guests. Runnymede Lodge 619 (Toronto, Ontario) Runnymede Lodge 619 is a branch of the Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario. During 2000 and 2001 I was responsible for organizing hot and cold refreshments at bi-weekly lodge meetings. In 1998 I was asked to organize, cook, and serve the Senior Warden's Dinner (a formal meal for 125) after the scheduled caterer cancelled with minimal notice.     If you would like to contact me please click here.