Shout out to Texas Roadhouse!

We came across this article at planyourmeetings.com and have been quietly (OK, and not-so-quietly, too) applauding Texas Roadhouse President and CEO G. J. Hart. These days, messages like this are few and far between, and it does our heart good to hear someone speak out in defense of what we’ve been doing for so many years.

You can read the article here: http://bit.ly/11GyYF, but basically Mr. Hart was criticized on CNBC for holding an employee appreciation event. “How dare you have a good time,” was the quote from the news anchor.

Mr. Hart’s response? “We’re going to have a good time, but we’re also going to be serious about what we’re all about … our people and our culture. Our people are the biggest asset we’ve got. … We have a philosophy in our company that if we take care of our people, they will take care of our guests.”

Excuse us, but … YEAH! We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. Thanks, Mr. Hart!

Anyone up for lunch at Texas Roadhouse?

What Happens in Vegas Should Not Stay in Vegas

Just got back from an event at the Bellagio, and what a success it was! Big thanks to the amazing Bellagio staff — especially Shakeh Terzyan and Patrick Sterrett. Shakeh and Patrick made themselves available to answer all of our questions, work within our budgetary and time constraints, and were very open to sharing their history and knowledge of the client’s event. Shakeh, Patrick and their staff exemplified the superior customer service one should expect from a fabulous property like the Bellagio.

For the client, Team MB produced a 2-day employee recognition program. And since budget constraints necessitated a compressed schedule, those were two busy days. On Thursday, we kicked things off with a 6:00 a.m. crew call to load-in and set up for a noon rehearsal with executives. At 3:45 p.m., we were standing by for doors and a 4:00 p.m. start for the three-hour awards show.

Host/emcee extraordinaire and good friend of MB Jim Cunningham was charged with the challenge of announcing just under 500 international names. Thanks to an intensive “Pronunciation Boot Camp,” Jim flawlessly announced all 500 award-winners’ names – live — and wowed the clients, who thought it just could not be done!

On Friday, our day began with a breathtaking rehearsal (no, that’s not an oxymoron) by the Peking Acrobats. Bending, contorting, balancing, human pyramids on a bicycle, beautiful costumes, lion dogs … what more is there to say? Even though space on stage was limited, not one teleprompter paddle was shattered! Fantastic!

That evening, the award winners enjoyed a gourmet dinner, the fabulous Peking Acrobats, and their moment in the sun as they were recognized for all their achievements of the past year. Once again the Bellagio staff came through, moving quickly and effortlessly as they delivered the multiple-course meal to the deserving attendees. (We know it was good since MB staffers constantly overheard rave reviews about the tomato soup and the artistically-sculpted desserts!) The show would not have been a success without the expertise and can-do spirit of the Bellagio staff. Together, we made a great team, and put on a great show … sending the audience home refreshed, renewed, reinvigorated …and ready for another great year!

The Sky’s the Limit!

The Sky’s the Limit!
You know, we work in a lot of ballrooms. A LOT of ballrooms. And ballrooms come with standard complaints – the ceiling’s too low, there are no good rig points, the carpet’s moldy and the AC is too cold.

So, we decided to find a space that had none of those problems. Plenty of room, good air circulation, no mold. Yup – we took it outside.

Outdoor venues are really a mixed blessing. On our last show, we couldn’t drum up a lot of sympathy from the other half of our crew who was shivering in a dark ballroom, since we were outside … in the sun.

Sounds perfect, right? But outdoor venues have a whole set of challenges of their own. For example, dark time. Dark time is when lighting designers get to write all their cues, the video crew checks and perfects all the images on-screen, and everything can come together and look like it will during the real show. In a ballroom, dark time happens every time you turn the lights off. Outside, dark time happens ….well, when it gets dark. Which means a lot of lighting cues are designed in the wee hours. On the plus side, though, how many lighting designers get to write a full moon into their cues?

The very public nature of an outdoor venue can be a challenge, too. Put a big staging rig outside and you’re gonna attract some attention. Our crew got a little tired of answering the “What’s going on?” question all day, so they got creative. Rumors were flying that everyone from U2 to an Eagles Reunion was happening onstage.

Lighting is another challenge. Sometimes, in ballrooms, we have lights on “trees.” That’s when the lighting instruments are hung on stands instead of being rigged from the ceiling. Well, outside, our lights on trees were really on TREES.

And don’t get me started on the wind. My indoor friends had the luxury of setting papers down wherever they pleased. But those of us in Nature’s Ballroom had to hang on to everything for dear life, or weigh our valuable paperwork down with flashlights, monitors, Coke cans or whatever we could find. And sometimes it was windy just before it rained …

But in spite of all the challenges, at the end of the day, when the sun is setting behind the stage, the wind is blowing through the twinkle-lit trees, music is floating from the speakers rigged in the branches and you’re sporting a light sunburn, you just can’t beat an outdoor venue. The sky is, indeed, the limit.

Shoot. A bird just scored a direct hit on my computer screen. Hey, which way to the ballroom?