There was a time, early in my career, when I was working regularly at a downtown hotel and my clients were small associations and small corporations with special events. Three times within a two month period, my clients told me that they had a limited budget for the special event that would be the grand finale of their annual meeting.
I would plan their events and give them a bit more than they were budgeted to spend. It was a big bang for their buck. I also had a trick up my sleeve. The hotel had beautiful, 8 feet tall palms in large terra cotta containers lining the large concourse in front of the ballrooms.
After my crew set up the décor that the client had paid for, I had my guys bring in as many of the palms as we needed to enhance the look of the event. Everyone was thrilled with what was done.
The fourth time I went to pull my little trick, the palms wouldn’t budge from their settings. I asked my contact at the hotel what had happened. He told me that they got tired of having to move the palm trees back after I had used them so they anchored them to the floor.
It had never entered my mind to tell my crew to put them back after the event was over. I inadvertently outsmarted myself by not considering the hotel’s needs.
I learned a great lesson. Always treat all people that work on your job as a member of your own team. Their tasks should always be considered and should always be respected. You want them to cooperate with you, so you should set the tone and cooperate with them. Since then, teamwork has been an important feature of each and every event that I have executed.
by Paul Garner, Vice President
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