by Judy Allen
Assignment
List the various ways event planners can work with nonprofit organizations to the mutual benefit of both companies.
CHAPTER 12
ROCKING THE CASBAH
Em has another encounter with DiamondDiva but this time around she is going in knowing exactly what to expect and how to handle her client demands in a way that causes her no stress and protects her client, her company and her own composure.
DECEMBER 13
What a week. Just back from a whirlwind site inspection with DiamondDiva and Wills, covering one end of Morocco to the other by private—white, of course—stretch limousine through the Atlas Mountains. Casablanca, Marrakech, Fez, Rabat and Meknes were just a few of our stops. DiamondDiva was in her element. Champagne was within arm’s reach for the duration of the trip but was carefully monitored, and we ensured there were numerous stops so that she was not just sitting in the limo and drinking for extended periods of time. Bright, shiny, expensive objects were still very effective in distracting DiamondDiva from drinking. They are her true passion.
And we fed her love of adventure. Staying in palaces. Bargaining for jewelry in the medina and souks. Rescuing a blonde-haired and blue-eyed young maiden who begged us for help, as she came upon us and our guide in the maze. DiamondDiva being rescued in return from the snake charmers in Djemaa el-Fna Square in Marrakech. DiamondDiva ordering bastila (pronounced basteela and translated means pigeon pie) for all of us to dine upon, and electing to sleep in the limo overnight as opposed to any of the hotels we saw in one area. Shudder. Taking part in a traditional hand washing ceremony, where rosewater is poured from a silver urn, before being served a typical Moroccan dinner of salads, couscous, tajine, lamb and other local specialties in a private tent in the middle of the desert and being entertained by folkloric dances, while sitting on thick Moroccan carpets with traditional low tables. Watching an exhibit of Arabian horses ridden by acrobats and cavaliers demonstrating traditional forms of old military combat under a desert sky filled with stars with a flaming grand finale. Just another typical week at the office, but with a much longer commute.
Can’t believe a year has already gone by and it’s starting to become a tradition that I spend part of my December with DiamondDiva, but this trip was so much better because we now had a handle on our client and an understanding of her—and her participants’—needs. That is the beauty of repeat business, which often leads to referral business: you get to know how to choose exactly the right event elements that will be a fit for your client.
I hadn’t been back in Northern Africa since I had traveled there on a site inspection alone when I first started out in the business. That had been a learning adventure. And it stirred up a lot of old memories. I had placed my self in unsafe situations a couple of times by being too trusting and forgiving too easily. If the general manager of one of the hotels had not turned on the radio in his car when he did while were were supposedly on our way to dinner and heard the news that made it imperative to get immediately back to his hotel, I don’t know what would have happened back then up on that lonely mountaintop when he kept saying, “Nice girls say no but they really mean yes”—but that’s a story to be shared someday at a later time.
Right now it’s time to decompress DiamondDiva, catch up with loved ones and make my way slowly into the office. Note to self: I have got to learn to start requesting advance copies of menus when traveling with DiamondDiva. Thank goodness she missed seeing camel meat on the menu.
Next week I am heading back out again, this time to the South Pacific on a luxury yacht cruise that we have taken over exclusively for our client and his guests. Only Daniela will be staying behind. An incredible week is planned, complete with dinner served by tuxedoed waiters in the ocean. Will be well worth the longer commute to get to our floating office. . . .
Rocking the Casbah: Assignment
Design an overview of a seven-day program in Morocco that would hold appeal to DiamondDiva and list the important event elements that would need to be included in her program. Make notes on what staff would need to be aware of (past learning lessons from other chapters that would apply to any DiamondDiva event, e.g., make sure that staff do not dress in a manner that outshines DiamondDiva, arrange security for purse full of gems).
CONCLUSION
The past 12 chapters have introduced various real-life situations that show the value of having company policies, procedures and protocol in place, and illustrate that having a thorough understanding of what can be done—or should not be done—in emergency situations will serve to protect all involved. For example, if Em had listened to DiamondDiva’s pleas not to let the crew see her when she was ill from too much drinking and not summoned medical personnel and if Diamond Diva had ended up having alcohol poisoning, or slipped and fell getting in and out of the shower, or choked if left on her own while still incapacitated, a lawsuit could have been the end result. The appropriate course of action was to summon professional help and to write up a report that would serve as legal backup.
There are times when you will be able to clearly assess the situation unfolding before you and follow the required course of action established by the agency and company lawyers, and there will be other times when you will not have a moment to think, such as when MrArrogance attempted to push his superior through a plate glass window. If emergency policies, procedures and protocol has not been established and discussed in advance around what needs to be done and where and why security had to be brought in to handle the situation, precious moments would have been lost and the situation could have escalated out of control in front of the guests. Had staff instinctively acted to physically stop the fight, they would have found themselves in the middle of it instead of moving into programmed crisis management control.
Sending staff out unprepared or allowing yourself to go out unprepared as to required company codes of conduct is irresponsible and can have serious legal, personal and professional repercussions. You can plan an event, you can anticipate all that can go right and wrong, and you can have a backup plan, but if you neglect to establish company policies, procedures and protocol and outline expected codes of conduct and crisis management courses of actions, then you have missed an essential step in successful event execution and in running a successful business that has the best interests of their employees, their suppliers, their clients and their guests.
You can never know what will happen when you combine people, personalities and a partying environment—and that combination is not limited to being on-site during an event. One event planning company, attending supplier functions at a trade show, took the right step in hiring a limousine to take them from party to party but they forgot they were still attending business functions and that they were not just partying with their peers but corporate clients as well. Their behavior, as company representatives, was so obnoxious that clients attending the event wanted to know which event planning company they worked with so that they could avoid doing business with them. That was a very costly event for the event planning company to find their employees displaying a total lack of professionalism. Establishing personal as well as company policies, procedures and protocol will elevate your company’s commitment to professionalism and should be regarded as an essential event element.
Final Assignment
Create a policy, procedures and protocol outline that will cover in office, client meetings, supplier presentations, fam trip and site inspections, and on-site codes of conduct expected from staff, clients, suppliers and participants.
Have an open discussion on what is expected behavior, what will require a lawyer’s input and when and where lines have to be drawn.
chive.
