Service Entrance

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I work in a hotel in New York City.  I love working in hospitality.  Love love love.  It's where I was meant to be and it ONLY took 4 years of college and 3 years working in unrelated fields to figure it out!  I consider myself lucky.

Now though the field is mostly fresh roses for me, sometimes the building I am in is not.  This is something I've noticed several times and I want to take the time to note it here for anyone interested in designing hotels or venues of any kind that offer good customer service.  GOOD mind you.  If you're looking to provide terrible or mediocre service at best, then feel free to ignore this note.  This is also a note to myself as I continue along my career in hospitality.

Anyway, back to what I was saying...  Ehem.  One thing our building lacks is a service elevator to ALL floors.

One of the things that make civilization amazing

I'm here to say this is a HUGE oversight on the part of the planners.  I understand that sometimes there just isn't the space for these things.  But darn it!  I studied architecture and you can MAKE space.  This perhaps small matter originally makes it really hard to do our jobs.

The staff interferes with the flow of traffic of the guests and there can be several awkward encounters A DAY where your hands are full of laundry or garbage or something and the doors open to a high level guest who is in a hurry.  You're both embarrassed as they edge into a corner in a nice outfit under your load of stuff and reach to press their floor.  No this hasn’t happened to me.  Yet.

Uhm... could you just move to the... never mind

What I'm saying here is that back-routes to places are a MUST to provide OPTIMAL service for guests and staff alike.  There are service entrances, back stage, back doors, alleys, and if we reach a little back in history, servant quarters and servant stairs.  All for the purpose of providing an efficient way for staff to get around and do their jobs better.

I’m not arguing about classist issues.  I work at the Front Desk of a hotel and I don’t believe I’m any less than the people I service on a daily basis and I’m sure most of them don’t have that attitude toward me.  BUT as a guest, people don’t really want see that it takes to make your stay/event/whatever run.

Perhaps that’s a human psychological thing.  We as guests want to see things that we want appear before us like magic.  And truly amazing people in hospitality and event planning want to provide just that for you.

So please.  Keep staff areas in mind when planning buildings and events.  Have them readily available and easily accessible for your colleges and the staff that are the life blood of any production.  Thank you.

Conferences Lesson 2: Onsite Phone

Originally this blog was called "What I Learned from Conferences".  I have done many other kinds of events (and hope to continue to do so) since, but I found an old Word doc with notes I wrote to myself to remember things I've learned from each.  Here I attempt to outline the lesson I learned about phones when you are out of the office at an event.

Rent a cell phone.  Period.

If you can find a way for the office number to be routed to that cell phone.  So much the better.  OR just some device which you and the other staff members can be reached through.  People tend to freak out if they cannot reach you... or when they are traveling... or when they can't find you.  Anytime really.

It's actually a good idea to have a mobile number where staff can be reached at any time by the participants. And DO NOT give out a staff member's personal number. NO. DON'T DO IT.  That's just asking for pestering later.  Maybe if it's a company phone that might work.  But keep pros and cons in mind.

I've been in situations where there was no way for the staff to be reached except through the venue's phone lines.  It was a huge disaster and personal numbers were given out to cover the gaps.  You can imagine how that snowballed after.

Online solutions are also available.  Being present and accessible by instant message would be a huge help.  It is the age of technology and most people have smart phones that can gain them access to anyone anywhere anytime.  Use it.

"Out of the Office" is not a valid excuse anymore.  ... hmm... though the repercussions of that may not be so great...

Life Re-Cap

Good afternoon to you all. ^_^  It's been - wait let me check - nearly 2.5 YEARS since I last posted!  Oh dear.  Well I'm hoping to remedy that now.  Quick!  Life catch up!

Yep.  That's New York City.  Where I've moved to in July 2010.  I was starting out a career in the for-profit world in hospitality.  I want to be an event planner and I figured this would be a good place to start.

It took a little bit of doing and using my connections but I was finally able to get a job at a hotel near Times Square.  This is a party of the city that NEVER sleeps.  But that works for me. ^_^

I live in the northern part of the Manhattan Island with 2 roommates whom I love.  We're all about the same level of cleanliness which is something you don't realize is incredibly valuable until you live without it.

My sister recently got engaged and now I'm helping her plan her wedding.  Or more accurately I'm collecting and throwing a TON of ideas in her direction.  She's wanting something crafty, rustic, and personal for her and her rugged Alaskan fiance.  And low budget, of course. ^_^  So I've been focusing a lot of my time on DIY (Do It Yourself) ideas.  Which are cute and I love anyway.

Source: ohhappyday.com via Nari on Pinterest

I promise you will see a lot more of these as I continue on with this blog.  I had a friend recently ask if I blogged and when I said "no, I havn't in a while" he was really surprised.  Turns out he was right.  I should be blogging.  And so now I return to offer my thoughts to you.

May you let your own light shine and inspire others to do the same. ~ Nari

At the Registration Table

Over my time at a registration table, either as a general member of the team or as a manager, I've noticed some things that really help the effectiveness of the staff. What are the most important things for the people manning a registration table to feel? Comfortable and confident. This will reflect on their work and ESPECIALLY how they interact with the guests. That makes this ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to the success and environment of an event.

The registration table is the FIRST point of interaction a guest has with the event. And as most people know, first impressions mean a lot. You want the table to have just the right atmosphere.

Here are some tips and tricks that I've discovered over time to boost the registration table staff's confidence:

1) Water bottles, lots of them

Your staff will be talking A LOT, and a dry mouth is uncomfortable and awkward. When I have a dry mouth I get distracted more easily and start looking around for something to drink. That definitely takes away from actively listening to your guests and then when you can't stand it anymore you get up and leave your post! Not good. Especially if your job is important and there isn't someone there to fill for you.

2) Breath Mints!

There are few things that make you feel like NOT opening your mouth like the suspicion that you have bad breath… or that you actually do! Guests will notice and you will be embarrassed. Just smiling and nodding doesn't work here.

3) Cheat sheet of FAQs and Schedule

Guests expect the staff to know what is going on in the schedule and with ANYTHING that has to do with the event. Registration tables are also information desks. You DON’T want the staff to keep saying “I’m sorry, I don’t know”, say the wrong thing, or make something up. These aren't good employee practices anyway, but it's also NOT professional. As a manager, you also don’t want to constantly be asked questions. That takes you away from doing what you need to do and what they need to do. So the key to this is try to beat it to the punch.

Provide a schedule and cheat sheet of FAQs to all your staff IN ADVANCE. Let them know what it is and review it together before hand. That way if they do have questions, they can ask before the rush starts. Most guests ask the same questions over and over again anyway. ("Where's the bathroom?") So if you get these covered, that's a major load off.

4) Manage your staff

If you are a manager, MANAGE. Walk around and keep tabs on whatever your staff is doing. Make sure they are comfortable so they can do their jobs well. Make sure they know you are available to them when in need. If they need more water bring them some. APPRECIATE THEM! And they will work harder and better for you in return. ^_^

Hello World

Hello World.

Haha. Just thought I'd start with that since it's kind of fitting for a new website/blog. ^_^

Well I've been saying that I would start something like this for a while. Almost since I started working as a conference administrator. It's been 2.5 years since I started working for various organizations in this field and, quite frankly, I LOVE it.

Yes it's stressful. Yes I get almost no sleep close to a conference/event. Yes I have to deal with ALL SORTS of people and situations (wink wink). But honestly, nothing beats the excitement, energy, and variety that event planning does for me. And those thank you's afterward are priceless for me. I appreciate the appreciation. ^_^

So here's to all the lesson's I've learned and all the future lessons to come.