All those sleepless nights

Last October, I entered a competition sponsored by the Emerald Publishing Group and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Research for the Outstanding Dissertation Research Award in Hospitality (hehe, what a mouthful). Dr. Shanklin and Dr. Back encouraged me to apply and so I did.

Early in December, I got an email informing me that I was on the short list--one of seven chosen as “highly commended doctoral researchers.” The top prize was to be announced during the 14th Annual Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in Las Vegas early this January. I was not able to go, but I had the whole K-State crew there to let me know the results. Out of curiosity, I checked out the “competition”. Below is the list of the seven:

Li Miao
"Consumers' emotional responses to service encounters: the influence of other consumers"
Hospitality and Tourism Management Dept, Purdue University, USA
Doctorate conferred by Penn State University, USA

Amelia Adora Asperin "Exploring brand personality congruence: measurement and application in the casual dining restaurant industry"
Applied Research Division, NFSMI, The University of Southern Mississippi, USA
Doctorate conferred by Kansas State University, USA

Chih-Chien Chen
"What revenue-optimizing firms can do about their deal-seeking consumers: the role of price patterns, timing, and cancellation policies in travelers’ advanced booking decisions"
Recreation, Sport and Tourism Dept, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

Sameer Hosany
"The determinants and consequences of emotional responses towards tourist destinations"
School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
Doctorate conferred by University of Surrey, UK

Michael Gross
"A conceptualisation of lifestyle tourism"
School of Management, University of South Australia, Australia

Kevin Murphy
"An exploratory study of high performance work practices for unit level managers, in the casual segment of the us restaurant industry"
FLM, Rosen College, USA
Doctorate conferred by Virginia Tech, USA

Karen Kelly Wollard
"Best practices in exemplary service delivery: a multiple case study of service quality"
Adult Education & HRD, Hospitality Management, Florida International University, USA

I did not win the top prize...but in the greater scheme of things, to make it to the top seven worldwide is still worth a ton of celebration and definitely something to be proud of!

Thank you, Lord, for keeping me coherent all those sleepless nights:) I guess sleep deprivation in grad school paid off!

P.S. If you’re curious, Li Miao won the top award.