« Kvetching for the Disabled | Main | Let Them Entertain You »
July 25, 2006Gate Crashers Beware
Posted by Vincent Alonzo under Hospitality
Responses (2)
Recently I attended a meeting that had a problem with gate crashers. I was intending to blog about it, but before I could, I received an e-mail on the topic from Peggy Day, president of the Edison, NJ-based Peggy Day & Associates, Inc. Turns out that Peggy nailed the topic with far more passion than I could have. So in the interest of furthering the trend in citizen journalism, here is Peggy’s manifesto on fighting gate crashers.
GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY BAGEL!!!
Meeting planners have to be so many things to so many people and so many aspects of a meeting. But there’s one area we don’t talk about too much. That’s the part when we’re security guards protecting the material at the registration desk, the coffee breaks, even the lunches, receptions and dinners. People who are not part of the meeting think nothing of coming up to the desk, reading (and taking) material that does not belong to them.
While running a meeting in Chicago, a man walked by my desk, leaned over me and took a bagel and coffee. I’ll admit I was tired, and I wasn’t in the most giving mood. So I waited until he reached the lobby of this very busy and very large hotel. I ran, caught up with him and demanded he return the goods!! Heck, I’m 5 ft. 6 in., so I know he saw me when he tried to steal what was definitely not his. I say steal because that’s exactly what it is. It’s theft!! I’ve had people walk into a private reception and start selecting hors d’oeuvres. If they don’t have a name tag on, I’m like a pit bull and I must admit, I secretly enjoy embarrassing them as I quietly escort them out the door. I feel like a one-woman campaign against what I feel is becoming an epidemic—theft at meetings!!
Hotels are public places, so are function areas where food and beverages are served, but it’s not for anyone who walks through the hotel. These people have come to think that if they act like they belong somewhere, no one will notice. Well, I do notice and it makes me crazy!
A few months ago, I was running a meeting in New York when a very well dressed lady walked directly to my client’s breakfast buffet and started plating up a breakfast. I say she started, but she never got to finish. I simply asked her what meeting she was attending and she looked me I the eye and said she was a guest of the hotel. She may have been a guest of the hotel, but she wasn’t a guest of my client’s meeting. Then when I asked her to put the plate down, she walked back to the elevator and as the door closed, she called me a name that I will not repeat.
There are people who walk into a hotel with empty shopping bags and when they leave the bags are full of not only food items, cans of soda, bottled water, but often gifts that are intended for the participants of a meeting. Again, I say—no—I shout, “This is theft!!!!”
What I don’t understand is that in every instance, these people are well dressed and obviously can afford to buy their own meals. I’m the type of person that if you asked me for a cup of coffee (and you asked nice), I’d give you one, but don’t insult my intelligence and steal one.
I don’t know if this will help any of my fellow planners, but I feel better already just getting this off my chest.
Thanks for listening.
Peggy Day
Peggy Day & Associates, Inc.
Edison, NJ
Respond to article (2)TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5cc553ef00d8342a830753ef
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Gate Crashers Beware:
» Event Security from Event Marketing Strategies
Okay, I guess I'll succumb to peer pressure and publish my first post. While doing some research I ran accross this entertaining post: Gate Crashers Beware. It highlights some of the event security concerns that I think most of us [Read More]
Tracked on Jul 26, 2006 10:47:41 PM
Comments
THANK YOU FOR THIS ARTICLE! I have had meetings in very expensive NYC hotels over the last 20 years and am still amazed at these people who convention hop and act like they belong. Last week I had to tell a man to leave my meeting space several times, after he led me to believe he belonged there. Don't get me wrong, I never want to see anyone go thirsty or hungry, but I spend a lot on F&B for my guests and refuse to let someone walk in off the street and take advantage of me! Guess we need to add "bouncer" to our resumes!
Posted by: Diane | Jul 27, 2006 12:13:55 PM
I've had similar problems; in August 2006, at a hotel at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, I had to deal with members of the general public coming up to the hotel mezzanine level from a shopping mall escalator. My meeting started on a Sunday, and early in the evening, I walked into the staff office with a well-respected speaker only to find a strange man, dressed VERY casually (cargo pants and a tank top) in the staff office checking out the staff break/refreshements. When I advised him that he was in a private office, he walked up to me, became very loud and beligerant and told me the room should never be left unattended (my staff were 20 feet away setting up for the following day's registration.) Keeping calm in front of the speaker (who was mortified, I might add) I again told the intruder to leave, and called security from the house phone. The intruder left, and headed straight for the escalator leading to the mall, turned around, then headed toward the hotel elevators. I started following him, and lost him on the lobby level of the hotel as he went back into the mall. Within about 15 minutes, hotel security spotted the intruder in the mall, with 2 sodas (the small break size) in his cargo pants' pockets. They asked me if this was the intruder, and I told him yes, and filed a formal complaint. The following morning, I insisted (much to the displeasure of the hotel staff) that a security guard be placed at the top of the escalator and near the break foods. I was not only protecting my clients' investment in the food, but also the attendees who should not have to deal with anyone who should not be on that floor of the hotel.
During that same meeting, I had another type of theft occur....Internet bandwidth. The hotel offered wireless Internet in all public areas but failed to advise me that it was changing Internet providers the Friday prior my meeting. So...wen we tried to log onto the Internet on Sunday and Monday...with no luck. I complained constantly until the hotel provided me with complimentary Internet service at the our registration desk and the staff office, as well as complimentary Internet in all staff sleeping rooms (that service, of course was working.) On Monday afternoon, I noticed an unusual number of people hanging out on the comfy chairs and couches on "our" side of the mezzanine. One of my vendors (thank you Lee, from Rent-a-PC) noticed that the Internet was running far too slow for the number of staff using it. Low and behold...he discovered that the people who were hanging out near our meeting rooms ( from another meeting) were unbeknownst to them, tapping into the bandwidth (since they, too, knew that wireless Internet service should have been available in all public areas.) Well, Lee began blocking their signals and knocking them offline. I approached their meeting planner to advise her of the situation, and asked if she minded if I spoke to those attendees to explain the situation. She was fine with it, and her participants very understanding, closing down their laptops, and oging back into their meeting.
The good news: my meeting went off without the client not noticing anything was "off"; the bad news: not once did the hotel come up with or offer a solution to the issues that were clearly their responsiblity. I expected much more from the brand, and its staff.
Posted by: Pamela Milan | Sep 10, 2006 6:02:45 PM
Subscribe to the RSS Feed
