Fritz Smith

Briefly describe your job and responsibilities.

I lead a team of 10 full-time and 7 part-time team members. We are tasked with marketing Centre County, PA— which we call Happy Valley—as a destination of choice to visit, hold your meeting or sports event, reunion, or anything else that would cause you to travel here. We also operate three visitor centers in the County.

What does a “typical” day at work look like for you?

I know it’s a cliche, but there isn’t really a typical day. A consistent presence on my schedule is preparation time for board and committee meetings where I have to review the budget and finances carefully, work with our Executive Committee to design an agenda, and also try to imagine the time and “flow” of the meeting. I also spend time with each of my direct reports every two weeks, having a dialogue with them about their goals, what they are trying to achieve, what barriers they are encountering that I can try to help with. I spend a significant amount of time with constituents also. We have over 400 member organizations and many of them want to come in and discuss ideas they have about how they can fit into our overall marketing efforts. I also serve on several boards in addition to PRLA, including our Downtown Improvement District in State College and our Chamber/Economic Development Corporation, and I am a task force member with Destinations International, which keeps me in touch with what’s happening in our industry around the country.

What was your first job in the hospitality industry?

Hospitality is a very broad term, but the job that I considered to be the first was when I was a caddy at Columbia Country club in Chevy Chase, Maryland just outside D.C. I wasn’t very good at it, but therein lies an important lesson – sometimes you have to understand your strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, I learned a lot from the old guys who had been doing it for a long time. It was when I realized for the first time that there is such a thing as being a professional. When somebody takes pride in their job and does it exceptionally well, there are great lessons to learn just from watching them. I also had the requisite bartender, waiter, dishwasher jobs in restaurants. Character building!

When did you know this industry was right for you?

When I started at the Washington Hilton, in a job that I thought would be temporary, I fell in love with it from the first day. I was fascinated by the ever-changing mix of customers, and the work force which was represented by people from all over the world and every socio-economic stratum you could think of. It taught to work with all kinds of people and the joy of working in a team to deliver exceptional customer service.

Briefly describe your career path and how you got to where you are today.

Growing up in Washington, D.C. I think that I was sub-consciously influenced by what seemed to be the two major industries there in that time period: specifically, tourism and government/politics. I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of those two sectors and have spent much of my career in that space. I loved traveling with my family when I was young, and had a fascination with maps even then. I kind of loved figuring out trips. I loved hotels, restaurants, tourism attractions, national parks, etc. but as a child I don’t think that I understood there was a career path there. I got into the hotel business almost by accident and stayed almost ten years. A friend who had been in the hotel industry ended up getting a job in the State Tourism Office in Pennsylvania and asked me to join her team and it was there that I got into the destination marketing world. Also, as it was a government agency, I really got an indoctrination into that side of the fence so to speak, and it became almost a perfect job for me because of that intersection of politics and tourism that I referenced above. Later I moved to Philadelphia and spent almost ten years helping to sell and market that great region. From there, this opportunity in Happy Valley came up and I’ve been here ever since.

What is your favorite part of your job?

I love it when we pull off a big event successfully. When we do, it’s a win-win all around. Our constituents do good business, our team members feel a sense of accomplishment, and the community feels a sense of pride. I also love to watch young staff grow, learn and develop their skills and get better and better at their jobs.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

Watching a business struggle. When you see someone who has put their life savings and work into their dream, and sometimes circumstances beyond their control (like a pandemic) cause them to fail, my heart really breaks for them. I want to drop everything I’m doing and help them as much as I can, but I have to catch myself and understand that I have to keep focusing on the big picture and help the entire destination thrive.

What advice would you give to students interested in your profession?

Learn as much as you can – be a sponge. Be relentlessly curious. Also, I would not start your career at a destination marketing organization. Get some experience at a marketing agency, a hotel, restaurant, or tourism attraction and learn how the industry works. If you eventually transition to a destination marketing organization, that experience and perspective will have been invaluable. A critical skill that I will emphasize to anyone is learn how to be a good writer, even if it doesn’t come naturally to you. Being able to communicate both verbally and in writing is a skill that is deteriorating alarmingly fast in this era of people glued to their cell phones and being uncommunicative. Being able to write well has helped me in every job I’ve ever had. You will stand out if you are able to articulate yourself, and you will be viewed as valuable to the people you work for. I can’t stress this enough. Lastly, when you get out into the work world – don’t be in a rush to get to the “top job.” Some of the best experience I gained came from lateral moves that I took. It may have slowed my career progression down some, but in the long run the knowledge and experience that I gained was worth it.

What achievement are you most proud of?

There are many, but in general I would say that in most cases I think that I left the place that I was last working in a stronger position. Centre County, PA has had the 2nd fastest growing visitor economy in PA since 2019 in terms of visitation, spending, economic impact etc. according to the state’s own statistics and I am enormously proud of that achievement on the part of my team and the many talented people comprising the hospitality industry in Happy Valley.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I really love to read. Fiction, History, Biographies. I also still love going to the movies, even though sadly that’s starting to seem like a thing of the past. I hope there will be a resurgence soon. And of course I love going to Penn State football, basketball games and other athletic events as well as taking advantage of the many cultural opportunities on the campus. The Eisenhower Theater has Broadway-worthy performances, and the Bryce Jordan Center is great for concerts, comedy acts, etc.

What is your favorite food to make or eat?

In case my wife reads this I better not fib about the “make” part, but in terms of favorites to eat, I love Greek cuisine more than anything else.

What’s at the top of your bucket list?

To stay at some of the world’s top hotels all around the world and find out what makes them tick!