Maya Dubos

Kelly Simmons

Dubos, from Acworth, Ga., serves meals during an event at the Georgia Center.
Photographer Shannah Montgomery

For Maya Dubos, the class capstone project for students graduating from the UGA Hospitality and Food Industry Management (HFIM) program was like a dress rehearsal for her first real job.

It was the third year of the 2024 Hospitality and Tourism Summit, held at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel, but the first time the senior students had been charged with planning it. For their senior capstone, they identified speakers for panel discussions, pursued sponsors, planned meal and break menus, solicited items for a silent auction, managed the budget and staffed the event.

Dubos, who began work after graduation as an event planner for Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre, was tapped to serve as assisting coordinator for the summit. She oversaw staffing, making sure there were enough students scheduled to work every aspect of the event, and budget, talking frequently with the food and beverage committee to ensure costs stayed in line with the amount of money they had raised.

She also had to do a little troubleshooting. A professional auctioneer had offered to handle the silent auction, processing payments after bids were closed. Just days before the summit, the students learned the payments had to be processed through UGA Foundation accounts, so the auctioneer was not needed.

“We already had a staffing plan,” says Dubos. “This just meant at the end of the night we would need three or four more people to collect payments.”

The Acworth native’s job at Atlanta’s Cobb Galleria Centre, could include planning, trade shows, conferences, black tie events and performances.

Dubos says the opportunities she had through the HFIM program and the Georgia Center, which serves as a living laboratory for students, prepared her well for her career at the Galleria Centre.

We worked with actual clients and actual businesses. I really think it’s a program that puts the students first.