As a protocol and event organizer professional, I cannot help, when I attend to a social or professional event, review everything. In 2018 I went to Castellón (Spain) to attend to a silver anniversary. At the selected venue, which name I am not going to say (but believe me, I feel like doing it), I had one of the worst experiences ever.
I am not going to describe everything, because this article would be boring. But, I will give a list of the most important mistakes from my point of view.
– Lack of head waiter to supervise throughout the event.
– Incomplete menu. The selected plates were not the ones served. Furthermore, there were a lack of ingredients on them. We should have had ‘profiteroles’ as a dessert, and I am still waiting for them to be served.
– Suit jacket dirtied with oil, and sorbet rain on some guests. No one from the venue apologized to them, and nor offered to pay for the dry cleaner. I wonder if the venue’s management knew about what really happened there.
– Inexperienced waiters. It is ok to have them, everybody has been learning at some point. But this fact has to be kept in mind, in order to give reinforcement. Our client does not have to be aware of that.
– Technological means not reviewed. It was asked to project a video to the guests. Of course, you pay for that. The video stopped in the middle because of a computer’s failure. That ruined the moment.
– Excessive delay taking plates out. It cannot take two hours to take five cold starters out. The gastronomy’s rhythm in an event is a key factor. In this case, it was not taking care of. The dinner lasted forever.
-Insufficient amount of food. We need to be aware of the amount of food that we are serving at the table, and the number of guest that we have. Gastronomy is one of the most important elements in the event. We cannot afford overlook it. Not for rhythm, not for amount.
– Mistaking free bar with “table and drinks”. If we sell the concept free bar to the client, we cannot just put a table with bottles and glasses without a waiter. It is not hygienic and offers a poor image.
Ultimately, as a protocol and event organizer, I was from one shock to another all night. It was an absolutely nonsense. They ruined the event. Client service must to take care of every detail in events. There is no other key to have a successful event. When people trust you as a venue to their social event, they want to remember it with happiness and joy. But not like a bad dream because of a really bad service. Something like that happened to you? What measures can be taken to solve those and other issues?
