During the winter semester, BYU–Hawaii Marketing Research students participated in a consulting project with Turtle Bay Resort in Kahuku, and on Wednesday, April 13, 2011, the students presented their recommendations to Turtle Bay Resort executives, including the general manager and resort manager. The project dealt particularly with the Turtle Bay Escape Club and was given to students early in the semester with a Request for Proposal. Throughout the semester, students prepared a proposal, conducted and transcribed two focus groups, wrote and collected data on two surveys, and analyzed the data before presenting their findings and recommendations to the manager of the Escape Club. Dr. Lenard Huff, the Marketing Research professor, stated, "The general manager was so impressed that she wants to talk with us about setting up some permanent student internships for BYU–Hawaii students."
Keoki Wallace, Public Relations Director for Turtle Bay and an adjunct professor at BYU–Hawaii, posted an article on Turtle Bay’s blog regarding the project. He referred to this event as representing "a continuation of the relationship that Turtle Bay Resort has with BYU–Hawaii." In his article, Wallace also quotes Robin Ide, Director of Sales for Turtle Bay Resort, saying, "The presentation was exceptionally well done. … They gave us a lot of information we can really use going forward to make our programs better."
Dr. Huff remarked, "I want my students to know how proud I am of them, both for offering to go to Turtle Bay to make the presentation during their [Spring Break] and for doing an outstanding job. They represented themselves and BYU–Hawaii very well."