Daniel speaks with BDN about importance of good manners
Harold Daniel, an associate professor of marketing in the Maine Business School at the University of Maine, was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News for an article about the importance of good manners. “Manners are very important,” Daniel said. “We have found our students feel a strong need to have those rules taught to them and to understand them.” Every spring, Daniel’s department offers a business etiquette dinner organized by students in the UMaine chapter of the American Marketing Association, according to the article. “We create a situation where students can experience a white tablecloth formal dinner and the behaviors that go with that,” Daniel said. “I think the students really feel there is a need to know how to perform in formal settings that just might be part of future job interviews.” At the dinners, which have been going on for about 20 years and served around 120 students this past spring, Daniel said they cover how to handle the various utensils and a formal setting, how to direct and participate in the flow of conversation and how to interact with the servers and fellow guests. The event officially ends with written thank-you cards, the article states. “One would think handwritten notes are no longer needed these days,” Daniel said. “But I have been told time and time again, it is a great way to stand out.”