Avernakø Landhotel

I have chosen to involve a small selection of the work I did as the hotel manager and a designer at the hotel to demonstrate my knowledge and skills in project management and general design.

My work as a hotel manager involved various tasks such as staff management, marketing, stakeholder collaboration, business innovation, etc. However, I have chosen to highlight project management and some design-related work, because I believe this experience is a great addition to my portfolio.

Project Manager

I collaborated with the owner of Avernakø Landhotel to manage and create the "Seasonal Expansion" project, with the objective of boosting income and customer traffic by 25% during off-season periods (i.e. fall and spring). Our focus was centered around anglers, and we leveraged various tools from my project management arsenal to achieve success.

After researching which stakeholders would have an interest in the project we established a collaboration with Geopark Det Sydfynske Øhav and Havørred Fyn primarily in order to gain insights into user needs and preferences. We had several meetings with our contacts in VisitDenmark in order to expand our network and gain more knowledge of our target audience.

To fund the project, we applied for a grant from the European Union through LAG. This grant application was a comprehensive undertaking and provided valuable lessons on the complexities and requirements involved in applying for larger grants.

I am pleased to report that the project was a resounding success, as we met our goals and increased the number of angler guests by more than 25%. This experience was incredibly rewarding and provided me with valuable insights into project management and stakeholder collaboration.

This movie was created as part of the project in order to target anglers. Even today, anglers continue to praise the video for its user-centered approach, and for making them feel that their passion and needs were truly understood and accommodated. The video was created in close collaboration with professional angling promoters.

Miro

Miro, the collaborative software, proved to be an invaluable asset to the project. I utilized a single Miro board to collaborate on tasks, engage stakeholders, manage processes and track budgets. The platform offered a host of benefits, including the ability to collaborate remotely and unparalleled accessibility. With all members granted access to the board at any time and from any location, we were able to seamlessly edit and contribute to the project in real-time.

This feature proved particularly advantageous in the project, as it allowed for quick and efficient communication amongst team members, even those working remotely. It also helped us to maintain focus and track our progress throughout the project's lifecycle. Overall, the use of Miro was a tremendous success, enabling us to effectively manage the project and achieve our goals with ease.

Snippet of the miro board whilst in the process of organizing it.

Design-related work

Vinyl signboard

Whilst servicing the walk-in customers upon arrival I began to notice a pattern of confusion regarding the services the hotel provided. This made me reevaluate the road board signs located by the main road leading the customers toward the hotel.

I decided to clear the area and start over with a new design and setup. I designed a board in Adobe Illustrator highlighting the main services of the hotel. I printed it out on vinyl using a vinyl plotter and mounted it to a tall sign using a heat gun and other tools.

WordPress

Every hotel needs a website and so I took on designing and creating the hotel's website (https://avernakoelandhotel.dk/) using WordPress. As part of this, I made a webshop for the retail section of the company and initiated the online booking system.

The website had to be frequently updated and edited in order to stay up-to-date and present the newest content and events happening at the hotel. This was my responsibility and I enjoyed gaining experience in managing and designing a website. Furthermore, I used the plug-in Jetpack in order to gain detailed information on how the visitors located the website and navigated within it which helped me to optimize the SEO.

General design

I found it very fulfilling to apply the design hard skills I learned during my MSc program to the everyday design tasks I carried out at the hotel, such as creating posters, pamphlets, souvenirs, wooden signs, and jewelry displays. Most of the wooden products were designed using Adobe Illustrator, cut and engraved on plywood with a laser cutter, and then polished with an eccentric sander before being finished with boat varnish.