Confessions of an Event Planner: Case Studies From the Real World of Events--How to Handle the Unexpected and How to Be a Master of Discretion

by Judy Allen

  Dee Dee and I made a hasty retreat before the singing started. Apparently it’s a daily opening and closing ritual. CompanyPres had received his breakfast tray, the Mrs. was happy and it was time for us to disappear and work on departure day logistics. I told the program directors that in the morning we’d be working from the restaurant overlooking the ocean—the restaurant only opened for lunch and dinner and the hotel was pleased to make it available to us in the a.m.—and then we’d be in meetings with accounting, bell staff and front office staff in the afternoon. I also gave them a time and a place to meet for dinner.

  Just another day hard at work in the office. The only difference is that today my office comes with an incredible ocean view. Of course, I could have worked from my room but when you find yourself working in tropical paradise that would be unthinkable. Working from an open-air pavilion, perched over the shimmering azure water, with the sunlight filtering down through palm fronds and cooled by ocean breezes, can make even the worst program bearable.

  DECEMBER 22

  Busy day. Today is play day followed by an awards dinner. Private tours have been arranged for the group. The men are heading out for golfing and lunch at the clubhouse. The majority of the women have opted for the spa in the morning followed by lunch and shopping. And the kids and some of their moms are going to the waterfall, where they will have a blast climbing. TheMistress has chosen, of course, to go golfing with the men and has informed us she will then be going shopping by private car—courtesy of CompanyPres—and will return in time for this evening’s festivities. Dee Dee and most of the other program directors will be advancing each of the sites. I, along with another program director, will dispatch the private minivans, making sure they are stocked with drinks and snacks, and on the ones going on the sightseeing tour, beach towels. Once the different groups get to their respective sites, the program directors will stay with them for the rest of the day.

  I decided to stay back at the resort with one of the newbie program directors to take him through the steps of overseeing gala dinner preparations. After the minivans departed we headed down to the lower section of the restaurant that had been reserved for the group’s dinner to see how the move in and setup of the decor was progressing. The main restaurant has two levels; the upstairs is open air and is used for hotel guests, while the bottom is more enclosed, has a set-in stage and is used for private parties—and was perfect for the awards presentation. Everything here was under control and progressing nicely. We stopped to have lunch and then headed into a meeting with the general manager to run through a few final details.

  After our meeting, we were sitting in the hotel lobby, waiting for the first of the minivans to return. We still had plenty of time. I was just in the middle of explaining to the newbie the importance of always being in contact on-site and had just said the words “because you never know what can happen” when all of the sudden the hotel chef and his assistants came flying out from the kitchen screaming that their stoves were on fire! Now, hearing that the hotel’s stoves are on fire when you have 150 guests expecting a lavish farewell dinner is not a good thing.

  Fortunately, our newbie is a volunteer firefighter and he was up on his feet and into the kitchen in a matter of seconds with me hot on his trail, pardon the pun. Flames were leaping from the huge cooking ovens and on fire were the prime rib roasts that we’d ordered especially for this evening’s event. There was nothing else that could be done except for the newbie to use the fire extinguisher on them. He quickly was able to bring the fire under control, thank goodness, but the meat was doused in chemicals.

  The head chef returned to the kitchen and said, “no problem, mon”—he would just rinse the roasts off and resume cooking them. Visions of 150 guests being poisoned danced in my head and we got into a heated argument. I wanted the stoves scrubbed from top to bottom as well as anything else in the vicinity, all the roasts destroyed and new ones found, and that was simply the way it was going to be. The chef and his staff were saying no, can’t be done, no problem to serve this meat.

  I instructed the newbie to firmly plant his butt in the chair in the kitchen, keep his eyes on the roasts and don’t let them out of his sight. I quickly ran and got the general manager and explained the situation to him. He accompanied me back to the kitchen. I asked that all the meat that had been affected be visibly marked in front of me immediately and I wanted to see them all present and accounted for after dinner had been plated and served to my guests. New roasts had to be found. I didn’t care if they had to borrow them from other hotels. What mattered most was that dinner go on as planned, with no one the wiser and no one served a morsel of the meat that was sitting there. And I expected no extra charges to be on our bill. I knew they weren’t happy about the additional expense, but that would be minimal compared to the loss of their reputation and the cost of being sued if they served contaminated meat knowingly to hotel guests. They saw the wisdom in what I was saying ever so nicely. Man, imagine if we hadn’t been sitting there to see this take place. Timing is everything in this business.

  I told the newbie he was to stay and not move from the kitchen until Dee Dee returned and took over from him. I watched as the meat was marked as being tainted and then went up to meet the first minivan, and the general manager and the chef set out to track down a replacement dinner. When CompanyPres passed by the lobby later that afternoon, he remarked that something smelled as if it had been burning. Little did he know it was his banquet dinner.

  The weather changed just at the dinner hour. It teemed “liquid sunshine,” as the Jamaicans are fond of saying. The hotel guests initially were not too happy that we had the bottom part of the restaurant reserved exclusively for our event, but were thankful about it when the rain started coming down in sheets and they realized how wet they’d be if they were dining upstairs. The program directors kept busy escorting our guests from the main building to the restaurant under huge umbrellas.

  While the weather wasn’t cooperating, everything else was right on. The food was wonderful and under the vigilant eye of Dee Dee and the newbie program director the marked prime ribs were still where we left them, waiting to be thrown out after dinner. The chef apparently was still furious at me with having to throw out “perfectly good meat.” The decor was fabulous. The entertainment couldn’t have been better.

  I had to snicker when I caught CompanyPres and VicePres discussing the wonderful body on the lead limbo and fire-eater performer and how much they would like to get her alone to practice her act on them. They were egging each other on to go talk to her. I had seen this show many times and I knew that this talented performer was actually a man. They were in for a little surprise. Not my job to spoil the fun in this case. Mrs. was looking subdued tonight while TheMistress was busy flashing around an eye-catching piece of jewelry. She had purchased it today on her private shopping excursion and the dazzling bauble she had picked out for herself was being billed to the group’s hotel master account. CompanyPres had told Dee Dee to make the arrangements. Nope, I’ll happily let CompanyPres find out about the “hot” fire-eater all on his own. The man has nerve, salivating over yet another want-to-bed conquest in front of both his wife and mistress. Payback can be rather unpleasant.

  But I was in for my own little surprise. Man, what were they thinking? And how did they get it through customs? These were the two thoughts uppermost in my mind when during the awards CompanyPres started to hand out Cartier watches to their top twenty-five performers, with both the men and their wives receiving one along with bonus checks in the thousands of dollars. These Cartiers retailed from between $20,000 and $30,000 each. And of course, CompanyPres announced how much they were worth. The jaws of the hotel staff, musicians and entertainers dropped, along with mine. Where had these been sitting the entire stay? The checks are no problem. It’s the watches I’m concerned about. The General Manager, who was standing beside me, said that they had not been stored in the hotel safe. I decided right then that I would need t
o assign a couple of program directors to oversee guest bag security as they were being dropped off at the front lobby door tomorrow morning waiting to be loaded onto the motor coaches and again at the airport. Chances are, word will get around about the watches and it pays to be safe. I need to make sure no bags are left unattended because I know most of those watches will be packed, not worn through customs or declared coming back into the country, and most likely not listed on their income tax return either. Had we known in advance—and we had asked what was being brought into the country with them with regard to the meeting and awards ceremony—we could have advised customs that these items had been brought in for the event, bought in their home city and coming out of the island and they had not been purchased locally. We could have made proper arrangements regarding the shipping and handling and had them stored in the hotel’s safe. It would serve someone right for not telling me about this, but it might have been a simple oversight. Regardless, I have to do my job and ensure everything’s safe from here on out.

  I just got word that the motor coach drivers have arrived. Rather than chance delays on the return back to the airport tomorrow with the motor coaches coming up from Montego Bay, I arranged to have the motor coaches and the drivers overnight at the hotel. They know they’re here at the resort not to party but to enjoy dinner and make sure they’re on duty early tomorrow morning. I’ll get them settled in and then head back downstairs.

  The men are drinking heavily tonight. They’re going to pay for that tomorrow on the long, winding transfer back to the airport. Note to self: Make sure there are some sickness bags on board each motor coach. The party should soon be dying down.

  I took care of the drivers and rejoined my people. The program directors and I went upstairs to sit down and finally have dinner. We had the same food as the guests did. When my plate came, remembering how mad the chef still was with me, I decided that I was better off just having soup, salad and dessert. While the roast beef looked temping, I was not that trusting of where mine had been cut from. And I wasn’t up for any more surprises tonight.

  DECEMBER 23

  The scratch band was there to bid farewell to the group. Some of the men looked a little worse for wear and their wives were fussing at them. They wanted to continue drinking on the motor coaches and were trying to smuggle beer and other drinks onboard. We had stocked only soft drinks and juices for the return. CompanyPres was pleased how everything went.

  Dee Dee has advanced the bathroom stop and all is in order. She’s now on her way to the airport and will arrive well before the motor coaches. The rest of the program directors are traveling with the group and I am staying behind and catching a flight to Miami tomorrow.

  I’m happy to wave goodbye to the group. I’m going directly from here to another site inspection aboard a brand new luxury cruiseliner, which unfortunately will have me away from home for the holidays, but that’s what happens in the event planning world. I have time for one more bubble bath and a leisurely lunch on my balcony before I finish packing and head to a resort by the airport to check it out in case it might work for a future event. Staying overnight will break up the trip and make traveling tomorrow less of a pain. Packing for both here and the cruise had been a challenge. Thank goodness for on-site laundry service. I still need to stay close to the telephone in case anything goes wrong on the way to the airport.

  Dee Dee checked in from the airport. All went well except again the bathroom spot wasn’t open when the motor coaches pulled in. You can advance but if you are not standing physically there, there is no way to guarantee that what you have asked for will take place. Learning lesson there. Next time I will have someone in place coming and going to make sure that we don’t run into this problem again. The ground operator was supposed to have everything in order and it was when Dee Dee got there—what caused them to close up I don’t know. Have to follow up on that later. It was very unfortunate because thanks to all the drinking, some of the men realllllllly had to use the facilities. Apparently there was a lineup of bare male bottoms taking care of business out in the open. Hope no one on board the motor coaches used that as a company photo op.

  Heard again from Dee Dee after I checked into my next hotel. All went well on the flight home. CompanyPres Mrs. and TheMistress again were seated directly behind one another in first class, and Dee Dee said she had to laugh at one point when they both raised their left arm at the same time and she saw they were now sporting identical Cartier watches. And they both, unbeknownst to the other, bought the same brand of duty-free perfume, each saying to the stewardess “it’s my husband’s/boyfriend’s favorite.” Wonder if his ears were burning. Have to hand it to CompanyPres—that’s one way not to have your clothes smelling like the other woman’s perfume.

  At least for the next eight days, it will be just me and one client to worry about aboard one of the newest luxury liners. How difficult a week can that be?

  SUN JAMMIN’: Q&A

  Uninvited Guests

  Q: What can be done in advance to prevent uninvited guests from showing up at an event and what should be done on-site when confronted by surprise arrivals?

  A: In advance, the client needs to be made aware of fire marshal rules and regulations that need to be met, as well as permits that may be required to host their event elements. Room capacity falls under this area. It is important from a legal perspective and for guest safety and security that the client clearly understands that by adding last-minute guests, the guest count could exceed the maximum limit legally allowed.

  It is not simply a matter of changing the table seating arrangements to ten as opposed to eight and squeezing everyone in. If you are already at maximum capacity, the room that had been carefully selected as having the right energy and ambiance for the event may no longer be an option, and the alternative choices may be too large or not the best fit in terms of layout and event design. If extra tables are added to accommodate the extra guests, then guest comfort may be compromised if the room is too crowded to maneuver around or if guests can’t access food stations, the bar, etc.

  There is also the cost factor to consider. Along with extra food and beverage costs, there also may be a need for additional table linen rentals, chair and chair cover rentals, centerpieces, take-home gifts, etc. There needs to be an established guest list cutoff time so that room layouts that encompass space required for tables, chairs, staging, dance floors, bars, food stations, and lighting can be finalized.

  Unexpected guests can show up at local events as well as out-of-state, -province and -country events. At one head office product launch that was being held out of country, some company representatives took it upon themselves to tell a few of their local sales counterparts about their farewell event and invited them to stop by for a drink, without telling the people heading up the event at their company about their spontaneous invitation, figuring one more drink at an open bar would not be something that their company would be upset about. They did not stop to think about what would happen when local higher-ups found out that their staff, and not they, had been invited to attend the evening’s festivities.

  The decision not to invite the local staff had been made previously by the client because of company protocol and the increase in numbers that would mean, especially if the local guests were then encouraged to attend dinner and the show. The situation did not reveal itself until a group of 30 local sales reps and their partners showed up looking to take part in the evening’s festivities and found that their names were not on the guest list. It put them—in front of their dressed-up spouses—in a very awkward position, just as it did for the company head. The decision was made to allow the guests to join the cocktail reception but not the dinner. It was explained that unfortunately, because room capacity was already at the maximum (and table seatings had been strategically set to meet event objectives) they could not stay for dinner.

  All this was handled with discretion and finesse by the event planning staff, who had become aware of the
situation by having a guest list and table assignment station set up at the cocktail reception. Had no controls been in place at the entrance of the cocktail party or if some of the guests were encouraged to stay for dinner and just take a seat anywhere, the situation could have been much more embarrassing for everyone involved—and potentially for the other guests.

  At another event, it was discovered when guests started showing up at the door inappropriately dressed for a private event that the lead singer from the evening’s entertainment had invited potential wedding couples to come and hear her perform. The couples, understandably, were initially very upset at being turned away as they felt they had been legitimately invited, but when asked how they would feel if this same singer invited guests to their wedding reception and dinner without their approval they left in a better frame of mind. The event planning company gained a new awareness of what to add to the entertainment function sheets to avoid this from happening at another event.

  Assignment

  Using different events in this chapter, discuss various ways that integrity can be maintained both to ensure that no uninvited guests show up and that all goes as orchestrated with respect to having specific people seated at the same table, on the same team, etc., with no crafty changes being made by attendees. The guest list is just one example. Visual identification can be used, as can room gift drops tied to the event with instructions to bring the item to the event or wear the item, e.g., team shirts for a car rally, logo’d beach towels for a fun day outing, a flower delivered to each guestroom to identify which couples are going to a specific dine-around restaurant (and they will find out their evening companions when everyone meets in the lobby for departure to various different restaurants, etc.). Review ways in which uninvited guests could be handled without invited guests in the room witnessing any kind of altercation.