Remember a few posts ago when I was suddenly stressed and couldn't talk about it...now I can. This past Saturday, the Alabama Democratic Committee, was on property at the hotel and while planning this conference I was told that Senator Hillary Clinton would be the keynote speaker for the lunch. Let me back up and give some history with this conference. When I was given this contract to plan, the luncheon on Saturday was to be for 250 people. With the announcement that Senator Clinton would be coming this quickly jumped to 700 people. This caused some major logistical/fire code/operational problems. I had heard of Secret Service horror stories by other hotel meeting planners. Having to feed 700 people and flip an entire hotel that had run at full occupancy the night before, I knew that it would be a crazy day. I arrived fairly early for a prayer breakfast (note: At this "prayer breakfast" no prayer happened, hmmm...).
I then met with the Secret Service Agent that I had been working with over the past 4 days. He was fantastic...really, he couldn't have been more accommodating throughout the week. We had the same opposing political views from the ADC, both had to do our jobs, and had get through the day. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one in the ballroom rolling my eyes through lunch. I was really glad I came out of this experience without a SS horror story.
The function itself went well, it could have gone better. We had to hire several temp servers for the meal and some how 3 tables were not touched the first 30 minutes of the lunch...never a good thing. I had to jump in and help with service, which was interesting considering I still don't know where everything is located back of house. Oh, and an entire tray of salad plates were dropped, outside the room, thankfully!
Regardless of my right wing and sometimes apathetic political views, it was a really cool experience. Senator Clinton is a dynamic speaker and knows how to spin her message to the audience she is addressing. It was fun to think that I was able to take part in a small part of history. I did not have time to take pictures of the function, like some of my star struck servers did (seriously, camera phones out in the middle of the lunch, ugh!). I don't like taking pictures of high profile individuals. They're just people! After living in a tourist town, I never ever want to be a gaper (a nice Colorado term for tourists). Sure, it would be cool to show others, but at work, HELLO...highly unprofessional. In lieu of my own, I have posted a few pictures, courtesy of the Birmingham News.
I then met with the Secret Service Agent that I had been working with over the past 4 days. He was fantastic...really, he couldn't have been more accommodating throughout the week. We had the same opposing political views from the ADC, both had to do our jobs, and had get through the day. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one in the ballroom rolling my eyes through lunch. I was really glad I came out of this experience without a SS horror story.
The function itself went well, it could have gone better. We had to hire several temp servers for the meal and some how 3 tables were not touched the first 30 minutes of the lunch...never a good thing. I had to jump in and help with service, which was interesting considering I still don't know where everything is located back of house. Oh, and an entire tray of salad plates were dropped, outside the room, thankfully!
Regardless of my right wing and sometimes apathetic political views, it was a really cool experience. Senator Clinton is a dynamic speaker and knows how to spin her message to the audience she is addressing. It was fun to think that I was able to take part in a small part of history. I did not have time to take pictures of the function, like some of my star struck servers did (seriously, camera phones out in the middle of the lunch, ugh!). I don't like taking pictures of high profile individuals. They're just people! After living in a tourist town, I never ever want to be a gaper (a nice Colorado term for tourists). Sure, it would be cool to show others, but at work, HELLO...highly unprofessional. In lieu of my own, I have posted a few pictures, courtesy of the Birmingham News.
No comments:
Post a Comment