Friday, November 20, 2009

Dueling Pianos

Last nights work event went off great. This was the first year that I actually had a good time. Besides having to smile all night and having sore cheeks this morning, the event was a huge success.

Previously the event was in one room at the Palliser with the food in the middle of the room and a smaller presentation room to the side. Everyone hated having to squish into the smaller room for the 20 minute presentation. Most people were just there to drink and have a good time. If you wanted to get at the food, you had to get there quickly as if you did not get in line and continually walk around the tables in the centre of the room you would not get any food. Also there was never any entertainment.

Last night was different, which is mainly due to the new Sales Director. He did a great job of changing things up and making the event successful. I over heard him say he was tired of the comments “that is how we have always done it” and changed things up. We still had the same rooms as always, but the food was in the two smaller rooms off the main room. Besides being able to access both sides of the tables in these rooms, the food was different in each room. Also I’m not sure what changed but the food was a lot better. Plus it was stocked all night so you didn’t have to fill your plate and hope to get more later on. They had a hot plate in the back of each room – one was making filet mignon on a bun (like beef on a bun but more high class) and the other room had flaming shrimp. Both were really good. Also there was sushi in the one room and seafood – shrimp, crab, and escargots – in the other.

This left the main room for mingling with clients. There was tables’ setup around the room so you could stand and drink/eat while having a conversation. Also in the main room they had two pianos on a raised stage. The entertainers had put pieces of paper on each table where you could write down the song/artist you wanted them to play. It was a lot of fun trying to stump the piano players and they did an awesome job. I don’t think they did NOT play anything that was requested. Songs from Sonny & Cher to Ozzy Osbourne were requested – they played them all. It was very entertaining and they got the crowd singing along with them.

I think the best part of the evening was NOT having the 20 minute presentation. There was a short speech by the President/CEO but nothing long winded as in the past.

There was an after party at a local pub afterwards but I did not go to that. I’m not a drinker and it is just a big drunkfest. Plus I’m tired from my late night classes and needing to catch up with my sleep.

I do have a sore throat this morning, but that is from a lot of loud talking due to the amount of people in the room last night. I do feel like I was out drinking but didn’t touch a drop! The event cost about $65K but we had sponsors from various hardware and software companies sponsor us so I’m not sure what we actually paid.

Everyone I talked to last night really enjoyed the evening – myself included!

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