9 Break-Out Rooms, They Won't Need Anything

Just another day in banquet paradise...

My favorite sales chick did it again. She booked a small group for 3 days, no big deal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner & all day breaks. Again no sweat. We refreshed their general session room along with the 3 breakout rooms each day, even though didn't use them until around 4pm each day. Then on the last day we got the curve ball.

Around 7am in the morning, we get a call from the Front Desk saying the group wants to know why their breakout rooms are not setup. "We did setup the breakout rooms", I told her. "Well I guess not 'cause the guest is here complaining that his room is not set for his meeting at 8am". I thought maybe I was loosing it and didn't notice that my housemen never refreshed the rooms. I told the front desk chick that I'll call her back after I check it out. So I hung up right away and ran upstairs.

Just as I expected, all 3 breakout rooms were perfect, in showroom condition. What the hell was she talking about? Just then my radio and cell phone goes off. "No no, it's not the breakout meeting rooms it's the 9 hotel suites that they are using for the one-on-one interviews today" she yelled. "What other 9 break-out rooms"? "Where did this come from"?

I race to the front desk to talk to her, expecting to also get badgered from the customer but he left and went back to one of his "9 breakout rooms". Front desk chick says, "Didn't you know about this"? "Hell no" I tell her. "Nobody said anything about this, we even went over this group in the BEO meeting yesterday - NOT A WORD ABOUT IT...

So I yell for my housemen to get a few cases of bottled water, pens, pads, mints, 9 flipcharts & markers, 3 speakerphones, a few extension cords and the rest of my mind that I'm loosing right about now. We get it all set before 8am and the event starts off with no issues.

Guess where I went next? You got it! The sales chick's office. "Did you know about these 9 breakout rooms in the suites? "Yeah, what's the problem" she cracked. I almost put my size 12 shoe upside her head. "They said they wouldn't need anything for these rooms". "They are using their personal sleeping rooms for these interviews, she wimpered (she must have seen the steam coming out of my ears). "Didn't you think to ask a few more questions"? Don't you believe that we are supposed to be the experts and must guide our guests and be pro-active and actually think for them" I yelled. "We're supposed to be better that that" I screamed. "Go back to McDonalds will ya!

When I finally calmed down, I said, "Are they going to want any coffee"? "Oh no, I don't think so" the "rocket scientist" tells me. "I hope not because if they do, you're the one that's going to bring it to them" I shot to her. Then I left.

Guess what happened around 8:45am? You guessed it. Over the radio came the call from the front desk that the group contact wanted coffee & diet Coke's brought to each room a.s.a.p. Very calmly I walked to the sales chick's office and gave her the good news.

As she went running around the back of the house looking for coffee cups and soda, I went back to my office while humming a happy tune. Sometimes life is good for a banquet manager...

Next Post: That Friggin' Chef