Conventional
sense of place
Center employees learn
By Nadine Kam
that they must live aloha before
they can share it
Assistant Features Editor
Star-BulletinALOHA doesn't seem to be worth much these days. It might be compared to a penny that's been tossed about, defaced, trampled or ignored, left sitting unused in a jar on a dresser top.
At the Hawai'i Convention Center, a program is in place to restore the luster formerly associated with aloha and the aloha spirit, so they are reflected not as mere words to be stamped across a T-shirt or baseball cap, but in the thoughts and deeds of center employees.
The coach in matters of aloha is Hawaiian scholar and author Dr. George Hu'eu Sanford Kanahele, who's been a visitor industry consultant for 15 years, helping many resorts to develop and maintain a Hawaiian sense of place.
One would think that, being in Hawaii, having a Hawaiian sense of place would come naturally, or that everyone knows the meanings of aloha and aloha spirit.
"Most people have some intuitive sense of what aloha means, but very few can articulate it," said Kanahele. "You have to teach people. Part of the process is to make sure they understand these concepts in common. They have to have some understanding as a team so when they make decisions, the context for the decision is the same."Kanahele begins workshops for center employees by asking, "What business are we in?"
By rote, his students respond, "Hospitality."
Here are the dictionary meanings of "aloha" and "aloha spirit," from George Kanahele: 'Aloha' means ...
Aloha -- In addition to hello and goodbye, aloha means love, compassion, affection, mercy, pity, sympathy, grace, sentiment, charity and kindness.
Aloha spirit -- Is the multicultural expression of aloha, involving the highest ideals of various ethnic groups that make up our multi-ethnic society. It is the label or name for the value system we have developed as a caring, multi-ethnic community.
And what does hospitality mean? The chorus recites, "To welcome and entertain guests and strangers with warmth and generosity."
From there, they learn key phrases in the Hawaiian language, a bit of Hawaiian history, the symbolism incorporated into center architecture, and the importance and significance of its place names.
When an employee jokes about the name of the mauka courtyard Pa Kaloka (Charlot Courtyard), calling it "pakalolo," she gets a reprimand from Kanahele.
He tells about Shigeharu Yamada's sculpture, "The Gift of Water," in front of the center, which when unveiled was mocked when people started calling it Akebono, in reference to the sumotori."We cannot afford to say things like that or make jokes because other people will start making jokes and you cannot encourage that to happen," Kanahele said. "Don't make jokes because it will come back to you. People are saying enough things about you already."
Kanahele said, "Not only will having the right information give employees more credibility, but it also makes them feel confident and comfortable about their own knowledge.Without it, they can't create the right ambience."
"It's sounds corny, but we talk about it all the time," said Robb Taone, employment benefits coordinator for the center. "We go to lunch and someone will ask, 'What business are we in?' and someone will respond, because the only way we can make these ideals our own is to repeat."
The lessons in aloha carry over to his non-working life as well, such as when he starts to feel a burst of road rage on the freeway. "I'll start to get mad but I tell myself to drive aloha and I calm down. The repetition makes it come more naturally."
Taone said that attendance at the workshops is not required, but he enjoys them and is receptive to Kanahele's message after living in Oregon, where he said, "There's a place called Aloha, but there is no aloha there. It's just a name."
For most conventioneers, the center may be their only impression of the islands. Taone said, "Most will come to their convention and go home. They won't have time to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center or the Bishop Museum. They may not be able to go to Foster Botanical Gardens to look at the plants, but they can look at the plants on our rooftop."
Kanahele first connected with the idea of bringing Hawaiian values to the visitor industry in 1984, with the development of the Maunalani Resort on the Big Island.
"There was a moral issue involved in how to give back to the culture after profitting from it," he said. "It was important to identify the values of the culture and integrate those values into the management of the hotel, in determining processes, relating to employers and guests, and above all, relating to the community.
"It goes beyond putting on hula dances or craft-making demonstrations. It requires something more authentic. Authenticity can only happen when the value system is internalized by employees."
This may sound like a whole bunch of touchy-feely New Age rhetoric, but slowly, more people in Hawaii are realizing that with few economic options, tourism is vital to the state's future.
Aloha and the aloha spirit are the last cards the state has to play in the tourism game as more developing nations in the Pacific Rim enter the field with beaches and sunny skies of their own. Ultimately, people will come to Hawaii for a taste of a unique culture and return because they feel welcome.And Hawaii is not alone in the pursuit of aloha. On the mainland, a growing "social potential movement" aims to create a kinder, gentler nation; one that stresses humanitarian values over corporate greed and technological overload. There is greater desire to leave the fast lane for more balanced lifestyles, to rebuild communities and preserve nature. And here, classes in aloha serve as a wake-up call.
"I look at myself as an aloha type of person," said Laura Fields, security officer for the Hawai'i Convention Center. "I have a big heart, but these classes have taught me to catch myself when I'm not as nice as I could be, and shown me how to extend kindness to people raised with different cultural backgrounds, help me to be more kind to them.
"I've seen and I believe people can change. After the first class I could see the difference. I see a lot more people smiling now, who never did look at you. It's hard when you're trying to be kind to management and they don't even have the time for you. Now they have the time to ask, 'Do you need any help?'
"It makes us feel more comfortable working here and working with them. Now the point is to keep on with it, not like saying, 'OK, pau the class. Enough with aloha.' "
"Aloha spirit is something we miss when we're away from Hawaii, and something we tend to take for granted when we're here," Taone said.
Kanahele compares aloha and aloha spirit to force fields, such as electromagnetism. "You can see the effects, but they are clearly invisible," he said.
"In the same way, there are force fields within organizations," Kanahele said. "The force fields are created by beliefs and feelings that become habits. When these are reflected consistently, they build a force field of energy in that building. That is what people talk about when they refer to aloha spirt. Its presence, or the lack of it, is what they feel."
Of course, change comes slowly here and Kanahele has learned to be patient. "One thing you have to do is get into peoples' heads. And before that, you have to get in their door. Once you get in their heads, you've got to change mental models which represent a lifetime of learning and habit."
He thinks his message is sinking in with the convention center staff. "It's a big burden to carry to be working here and thinking of all these things and the $350 million invested in the center.
"These people understand that part of their responsibility is to take care of that investment and make it successful," Kanahele said. "The whole economy may be based on that success. What they do transcends a job. It's a mission."
Grand opening
The Hawai'i Convention Center will host its grand opening June 11 through 13. Events are as follows:
June 11: Free public dedication, 10:30 a.m. Grand-opening reception and dinner, 6 p.m. Tickets are $250. Reserve at 943-3500 by Friday.
