My Final Post

Well after 3 years and 370 posts, I must say farewell to this blog and the people that have been my faithful readers.

It's just that after all these years, its getting harder finding the time to sit down at my computer and tell you what it's like to be a banquet manager.

I never wanted to rehash an old story, or make up something that didn't happen, just to find some words to post on this blog.   That's not my style.

I want to thank all of you that have supported this blog over these years and took the time to post a comment.   

A special thank you goes out to the fellow hotel managers and servers/bartenders that have linked their blogs to mine.

The additional readers that have come here because of this are too many to count.  I only hope that you too have attained many new readers that have come from here to your sites.

Because of your support, we reached many milestones too.  This blog received some awards and many of my posts have been copied and posted on other blogs (hey, shouldn't I be paid for that?).

But what I'm most surprised at, is that this site is still ranked 1st of any site on the web for the search term "banquet manager".  We're still number 1 on Google, Yahoo, Bing and Aol. Kinda cool right?

In closing, thank you all for using some of YOUR precious time and stopping by to read the latest from my world.  It's appreciated more than you know.

Take care...

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It's National Waiter and Waitress Day, Again!

…are they kidding?
 

This is a great country for so many more reasons than I could ever name, especially here. We celebrate political, religious, cultural and sexual diversity in every form. We even go so far as to name a “special day” after various types of people to remember and commemorate them.

We have the normal days:

• Presidents Day
• Mothers Day
• Fathers Day
• Grandparents Day
• D-Day
• Independence Day
• Flag Day
• All Saints Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• New Years Day

Then we have the “cute” days:

• Groundhog’s Day
• Girl Scout Day
• April Fools Day
• Administrative Professionals Day (give me a break!)
• Beautician’s Day
• Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day
• Forgot Day (I forgot that one)
• Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Day
• National S’mores Day
• Left Hander’s Day

Now guess what the brain trust of the country came up with?

Drum roll please………..

it's...

The National Waiter and Waitress Day! (May 21)

WHAT! You have got to be kidding!

I have an idea for a day to celebrate waiters and waitresses. How about a few of these winners:

• Get your butt to work on time day
• Wear a clean uniform day
• Take off those gangster earrings day
• Get the order correct day
• Don’t let the buffet run out of food day
• Serve from the left and clear from the right day
• Offer them a second cup of coffee day
• Stop complaining day
• Do your closing side-work before you go home day
• Punch-out for your shift day

I can go on forever…

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Now I Gotta Call More People In For This Shit!

We have a large social church group in today that ends at 5pm tonight.  That's great 'cause it gives me plenty of time to flip the ballroom for Mother's Day tomorrow.  

I have my housemen all set with tomorrow's floor plan since we closed-out the seating and it should be an easy flip.

A few minutes ago that fabulous "Sales Chick" comes by, yes she's here this early today, and says that the social group today wants to delay the start of the the event by 1 hour to give them more time to get back here from the church. Now since I know the history of this group since they have been here 2 times before and that really means 2 hours not one.

Then when we try to get them outta the room it takes another hour or so 'cause they move as slow as shit.

Bottom line is that I know they won't be outta the ballroom until around 8pm tonight I can bet the house on this.  So now I need to call my pm housemen and change their call-times or they will be sitting around with nothing to do waiting for these slow-pokes.  Plus I probably will need another guy on as well.

Just the kind of shit I need before Mother's Day...

Enjoy your day with your mom.  Hope she enjoys it too.

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How Many Boxes Do They Have?

I get a call on the radio this morning from my shipping and receiving clerk Paul.  He seems kinda pissed and tells me I need to come down to the loading dock to see all the boxes that are coming in.  

I sort of expected a shipment coming in today for the big pharmaceutical group that is starting tomorrow for a 4 day meeting.  But I wasn't expecting all THIS shit!

There's 87 friggin' boxes, yes I said 87 boxes that are being unloaded from a special UPS truck that was sent here just for this shipment.  WTF!

There's logo pens, special pads, folders with the company name on it, and even different colored Post-it notes with their newest drug logo plastered across the top. The loading dock looked like the back of Costco or Sam's Club.

I call up to the Sales Chick, of course I gotta blast her for this, to ask her what's the plan for this crap.  Apparently Sales Chick didn't want to come down to see what we had 'cause she didn't want an earful from me.  After 10 minutes she finally arrived.

"How's all these boxes supposed to get to the ballroom", I ask her?  "Are we expected to be their personal UPS delivery men"?, came next.  "I'm not responsible for moving all this crap upstairs, they gotta help too".

Sales chick just stood there with those deer-in-the-headlights eyeballs.  For once she didn't have a smart-ass comeback.  "I didn't know anything about this Banquet Manager", she pleaded.  "I'm sorry, they never mentioned all this".

Guess I'm getting soft 'cause I kinda believed her.  

Now my men are moving all this shit up to the ballroom for tomorrow's meeting.  This sucks...

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Like I've Got Time for Another Meeting

Apparently the boss has forgot what "operations" is like.  I guess when you get so removed from the day-to-day tasks of running a department you think that everybody else has all the time to sit through another friggin' meeting.

We have the:

• BEO meeting (2 times a week)- to discuss the upcoming events (and where I terrorize the Sales Chick)
• F&B meeting (weekly) - to hear the F&B Director bitch about how high our food cost is
• Accounting meeting (2 times a month) - to listen to those pencil-pushers complain how we didn't make the banquet checks correctly
• Budget meeting - with the GM (thankfully this is only once a month)
• Final detail meeting (with the upcoming brides) - this is torturous, can't take listening to their worrying anymore about wanting their special day to be so different from the rest of the brides in the world.  BITE ME!

Now I need to take part of a new meeting called the "Property Assessment Meeting".  WTF is this?

I'm not in the maintenance or engineering departments, that's their problem.  They need to make sure that this place is in tip top shape not me!  I send them the emails and fill out the maintenance request forms when the lightbulbs are burnt out of there is a tear in the wallpaper.

Why do I need to sit through another meeting for this shit!

Just drives me nuts...

Who's gonna take care of the customers?  Who's gonna make the schedule?  Who's gonna order do payroll?  Who's gonna...

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Football Player Sexually Abuses Waitress

Updated Apr 27, 2011 5:42 AM ET

WASHINGTON (AP)

Washington Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth was charged Tuesday with misdemeanor sexual abuse, accused of fondling a server in a hotel restaurant in Washington.

A grand jury returned an indictment formally charging Haynesworth in the alleged incident at a downtown Washington hotel in the early hours of Feb. 13. If convicted, the 29-year-old two-time All-Pro faces up to six months days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, the government's evidence shows Haynesworth slid a credit card down the front of the server's dress and fondled her breast.

Telephone and email messages left for Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, were not immediately returned. At the time the server's accusations became public, Speck said "there seems to be no truth to these allegations."

Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie said the team referred all calls to Haynesworth and his agent.

Link to original story.

From the Banquet Manager:

"She should have kicked him in the nuts".  

Fellow waitresses/waiters, ever had to deal with shit like this?

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Easter Captain's Report

Date: April 24, 2011

Group Name: Easter Brunch

Event Time: 10:30am - 3pm (3pm last seating)

Covers: Reservations for 719, Actual covers 687

Room Setup: Assorted table sizes 

Food Presentation: Kitchen did a good job for food presentation.  Again this year, no large platters were used, just small platters that were easy to swap out.  Less waste this way.  A slight delay around 12:30pm in getting more Eggs Benedict but kitchen staff worked quickly to cook them.  Customer not affected by this delay.  One customer commented that they would have liked to see "king crab legs" on the buffet (yeah sure).  Overall no issues from the kitchen, another good job done.

Service Plan: Wait staff did a good job and worked within their 9 teams.  All tables were reset quickly (helped greatly by the 4 bussers).  Food runners worked well, even the new waiter (he seemed a little overwhelmed at first but held it together).

Other Items: Much less liquor was consumed this year than in past.  Only a few glasses of wine and 9 Mimosas.

Guest Comments: This is where we did very well.  Many great comments were given.  I have attached 4 comment cards this this report.  I gave out many of my business cards to guests that wanted to return for Mother's Day.  Overall a very good day.

Hey, fellow Banquet Managers.  What was YOUR captain's report like?

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