Accommodating Special Requests Within These Markets
As any property or vendor representative can attest, there are not many events where some kind of special request doesn’t come up at least once or twice. Roberts Event Group frequently has had groups request specific dietary catering options (such as kosher meals,gluten-free,dairy-free and vegan foods).According to Jeff Feinberg,venues tend to be very adaptable when it comes to the menu,as long as they have enough advance notice of any such request. Some even will have kosher meals delivered to the venue if they aren’t able to accommodate such orders in-house.
“We had a group that booked a local art institution because of its location and catering,”said Feinberg. “However, the group didn’t want to have any of the art visible.Due to industry regulations, it couldn’t provide entertainment to guests - and the paintings were considered entertainment. The venue was able to close gallery doors and use stan- chions where necessary to keep attendees from viewing artwork. Staff was positioned at gallery doors to prevent guests from wandering in on their own.”
At times,Roberts Event Group’s staff find themselves working in venues where a tight turnaround is necessary. When using a museum or other public facility, they usually aren’t able to set up for receptions until the museum has closed, which typically happens around 5:00 pm – meanwhile,Roberts must prepare for events that start at 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm. Such venues are usually very accommodating in allowing rental items to be hidden during the day or kept in staging areas to allow for quick set-up immediately after the property has closed to the public.
Special requests can run from the mundane to the unique and unusual,and Roberts Event Group has had its share of both varieties.
There was the time when a chief executive officer of a company wanted to enter the general session of a meeting on a horse while dressed in colonial attire,notes Feinberg. Since entering through the hotel’s front doors and lobby was not an option,another entrance had to be carefully thought out that could accommodate the size and weight of the equine guest - and it had to be the least obtrusive pathway so as not to interfere with guests of the hotel. Roberts Event Group’s staff came up with a creative solution - they had the horse traverse the property’s garden,which was located in back of the hotel,and they built ramps that were able to support the weight of the animal over existing steps of the hotel.
Event Strategy Group has plenty of experience with special requests,as well, such as the time they had a local client who originally projected 300 guests for a four-day conference. Based on these projections, three different venues were identified and targeted that would fit within the client’s goals as well as their budget.
“Just as we were about to‘pull the trigger’and book one of the facilities, the client changed his mind on the amount of rooms he wanted in the room block,”said Laura DiFelice. “Since we were so late in the process, the client wanted the rates to remain the same. The venue that won the business was incredibly flexible and understanding about our situation. They were able to renegotiate with us so that our client’s expectations could be managed correctly.”
When SEI launched a corporate-wide“Innovation Project” last spring,100 of the company’s leaders were invited to take part in a two-day off-site conclave at the Loews Hotel in
Philadelphia.The hotel’s ballroom was transformed into 10 separate vignettes that each reflected different themes. In creating this far-from-normal ballroom setup, the staff at Loews Philadelphia remained flexible and always kept a “service-first”mindset. Caryn Taylor-Lucia of SEI noted that the hotel staff handled a variety of unusual and challeng- ing requests with enthusiasm as well as commitment to get- ting the job done properly,and did so in accordance with SEI’s wishes.
Executive Conference for SEI at the Four Seasons Hotel in Scottsdale, AZ
14 May June 2015
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