{"id":2568,"date":"2021-10-03T15:23:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-03T22:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2568"},"modified":"2021-10-03T15:23:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T22:23:18","slug":"spartan-grad-is-executive-at-worlds-largest-hotel-after-disney-and-newspaper-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/lifestyle\/2568\/spartan-grad-is-executive-at-worlds-largest-hotel-after-disney-and-newspaper-career","title":{"rendered":"Spartan grad is executive at world\u2019s largest hotel after Disney and newspaper career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keith Salwoski, who earned a journalism degree at Michigan State University in the late 1980s, first blended tourism and show business when he, as a very young man, took a Christmas gig dressing up as a \u201cBah Hum-Bear\u201d at Detroit Metro Airport and passing out coupons to travelers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle did I know it would start a career that took me to Disney and here to Las Vegas,\u201d said Salwoski, who, after positions as a suburban Detroit newspaper reporter and publicity staffer in Orlando at Walt Disney World is now the executive director for public relations for Venetian Resorts. \u201cI knew since I was a sixth-grader delivering newspapers that I wanted to be a reporter. I really liked to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/a>

Find gondolier glory at The Venetian. (Photo by Harrison Shiels)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Salwoski said his proudest moment as a scribe was when Downriver\u2019s News Herald Newspapers turned over its Home and Garden section to him for the summer. \u201cI knew nothing about gardening but as a journalist and storyteller I found people to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salwoski also recalls his \u201cHappiest Place on Earth\u201d moment as a Disney cast member. \u201cWalking through the parks when no one is there is magical.\u201d Like many Michiganders, he grew up a Disney fan vacationing in Orlando. What boy doesn\u2019t dream of having the keys to the Magic Kingdom? So, while at MSU, Salwoski took a semester away to work in the parks and take Disney University classes. That internship redirected his career from being an ink-stained scribe to being a flack for various hotels in the Disney\u2019s Orlando orbit, also.<\/p>\n

Salwoski\u2019s next professional transition took him to America\u2019s other most-visited vacation playground Las Vegas, which, especially at The Venetian Resort, can be described as Disneyesque. Its theming is more extensive than the Italian section of EPCOT\u2019s World Showcase. Venetian visitors can ride gondolas on the resort\u2019s \u201cGrand Canal\u201d which runs through a recreated St. Mark\u2019s Square and beside a Rialto Bridge replica.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt The Venetian we even offer a \u2018Gondola University\u2019 where you can learn what it takes to be a gondolier and try out that experience if you have your heart set on it. The steering and singing are real,\u201d Salwoski said.\u00a0\u201c<\/b>The difference between our gondolas and the ones in Venice is ours have little motors to help propel them. Our professional gondoliers have good voices because we work with a local talent agency to find them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019s worked at the two most-famed American approximations, Salwoski\u2019s never actually been to Venice – but said he feels like he is there every day. The Venetian encompasses other experiential Italian representations, as well. The newest is Brera Osteria \u2013 an Italian restaurant modeled after the sidewalk cafes of the Brera district of Milan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere here takes you to another place,\u201d Salwoski said. \u201cWe try to bring the warmth of the Italian people. We have 10,000 team members who operate The Venetian, which created a new category in Las Vegas called the \u2018integrated resort.\u2019 It combined the best elements of a resort \u2013 an entire shopping mall, 40 restaurants, theaters, nightclubs, 2.5-million square feet of convention space and 12 swimming pools all in one 7,000 room, all-suites hotel with the Strip right outside our doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salwoski said its more about escaping and less about gambling and The Venetian is the most success casino in Las Vegas by most measures. \u201cIt is fascinating to be a public relations guy here because there is so much to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

And family life in Glitter Gulch?<\/p>\n

\u201cLas Vegas is a great place to live with nice neighborhoods away from the Strip. Most people are in the hospitality industry here so you have great neighbors who have friendliness in their nature and there are great schools,\u201d said Salwoski, whose wife, Amy, was in theme park business and daughter, Ella, performs as a competitive figure skater. \u201cPeople are surprised by the beauty and the mountains that surround here. Red Rock Recreational Area has a 13-mile loop that will make you feel like you\u2019re far away from Las Vegas. Most people come for two or three days, and that\u2019s fine, but if you want to explore the region our international guests, for instance, stay for a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/i>MShiels@aol.com<\/i><\/a>\u00a0His radio program may be found at\u00a0MiBigShow.com<\/a>\u00a0or weekday mornings from 9-noon on WJIM AM 1240<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michigan State Journalism graduate Keith Salwoski speaks on his career, and Las Vegas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[224177,109,1023745],"class_list":["post-2568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-michigan-state-university","tag-las-vegas","tag-the-venetian-resort"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2021\/10\/B9347526771Z1_20210929124407_000_GU6UBFD6U1-0-e1633299619180.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2568"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2570,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2568\/revisions\/2570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}