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# SM 101: Workers as liaisons
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/sm-101-workers-as-liaisons/
- Published: 2007-06-29T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T01:28:37.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Education, Downtown, #archive-import, Homeless

DOWNTOWN By the fall, the city’s roughly 12,000 waiters, concierges and other service employees can be trained in all things Santa Monica as part of a customer service initiative being spearheaded by the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The three-hour workshop, to be taught by a professor with Santa Monica College’s Small Business Development Center, will not be mandatory, but restaurants and hotels are encouraged to participate. The program would be paid for by a grant from the center, said Chito Cajayon, dean of workforce development at SMC.

Following the completion of the workshop, a graduate would receive a certificate and possibly a pin or some other indicator so visitors know they are ambassadors capable of answering just about any question a guest may have about Santa Monica’s history, its public transportation system, the homeless or local laws that may be unfamiliar, such as the comprehensive smoking ban.

“It is intended to increase customer satisfaction,” Cajayon said. “Santa Monica attracts workers from all over the region and it is up to us to give them the tools to better handle customers in the most professional and appropriate way.”

The goal is to start with the workshop and then create a more intense curriculum that service employees could tackle and earn education credits at SMC that could prove to be an incentive for them to continue their studies and possibly earn a degree in management, said Kim Baker, marketing manager for the CVB.

“It’s because of collaboration that things like this can happen,” Baker said, referring to the support CVB has received from SMC, the Chamber of Commerce and City Hall. “This is a pretty big undertaking and the support of the city, the college and the chamber have been vital.”

The workshop, which will be taught in both English and Spanish, will be highly interactive and require participants to role play and be vocal during discussions.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 29, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)