Catching up on 2016: 2015 in Review (Part 1 of ???)

Awesome, I'm finally sitting down to write a blog post.  Its been a horribly long time and I have to say its been healthy.  There is no better way than to close off 2015 with this post to kick off 2016. 

In retrospect 2015 was quite a blur despite my good memory.  Last time I posted it was in May and after September everything seems to have hit a fast forward all the way to a crazy Cuba trip, a quiet holiday and unplugging from all things internet, event planning and expectations for the holiday.

Lessons from Cuba

I'll get right to the point here and say yes I had a horrible time.  I very quickly learned that I am not an all-inclusive resort person and trying to go against better judgement and fit into such a role is NOT FUN.  

Taking this as a learning lesson for Simplicity I reaffirmed the following when it comes to service:

Its all about expectations. Managing others and your own. If you're at a place that is touted as "Four Star Resort" managing ones own expectations is key.  Ie.  Don't be fooled by the ratings.  I know this sounds a bit trite, but when you're at an all-inclusive resort that doesn't include running hot water in the first two rooms you've had to fight to get exchanged, the experience only goes down from there.

Saying the food is good at this resort when all the reviewer tried is based on the soup is just plain ridiculous and should be taken with a grain of salt (soup?).

Eye contact is everything.  The eyes say a lot about a person and when you have that momentary glimpse with someone in the service industry holding eyes, scanning the room and checking in with those making eye contact with you goes without saying.  Unless you were at this resort.

Trying harder.  This goes without saying when you know you've made mistakes, but its telling when your staff suddenly try harder when it coincides with "High Season" where prices go up and the resort fills up with more people.  This leaves your existing guests (who've been there since before "High Season" notice the sudden shift and this leaves them all the more jaded to your services.

Volume doesn't make up for quality.  It goes without saying that food at the resort wasn't exactly stellar.  (It also probably didn't help that I, as an Event Catering professional was there.)  Regardless quantity doesn't make up for quality.  This coupled with the poor quality control of drinking water sanitation (hands pushing ice into a decanter isn't sanitary) left me literally feeling unsettled (in the tummy and as a hospitality professional) for days and about a week after I got back home.  

In review of the photos I took there is a marked end to the photos I took about 4-5 days in.  By that point I'd tried everything on their menu, finally gotten hot water in our 3rd room and simply just wanted to go home.   #CamagueyNeverForget

More to come in a bit (Fingers crossed)

Truly a Magician of Paper...

http://magicianofpaper.blogspot.ca/

This is the work of a good friend of mine.  Alex is a wonderful friend and his work has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of origami and events.   Whether it be cards, set pieces or table decorations I'm all for it and looking forward to a way to incorporate it into Simplicity's event designs.

I am more than happy to start 2016 with a plug for a wonderful artist and friend.  Check it out folks!

France passes unanimous law to ban Grocery Stores from wasting food

France just unanimously passed this law. Grocery Stores are now banned from wasting food! We need to catch up and join them in this wonderful idea. http://ow.ly/Njm60

Growing Old together...

This is a wonderful social experiment. I wonder if more couples did this before they got married, how it would shape their view of each other and how it would shape their relationship and their marriage?
 http://ow.ly/NdnGZ 

 http://www.boredpanda.com/young-couple-aged-with-make-up-field-day-tavis-christie/

A new way to harvest honey?!

Hello everyone! Its been ages, but I thought I'd restart posting with something that I've always loved. Honey! A while back I've cut out as much white processed sugar out of my diet and switched to honey. My guilty pleasure of coffee just seemed to taste so much better. My wonderful gal drew my attention to this innovation on how to harvest honey. What has always struck me is that gathering honey is so invasive in terms of labour, disruption and messy sorting of bees caught in honey. 

http://www.honeyflow.com/ 
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flow-hive-honey-on-tap-directly-from-your-beehive

Pearson, the intern has landed!

So....blog... its been entirely too long since I've last added things to you. Its been another crazy time in which I've been completely and utterly drained creatively. Thankfully I have tons of news to report on. The biggest and more interesting is that ... WE HAVE AN INTERN! As of yesterday, our intrepid traveler has landed in Toronto, flying all the way from Paris, France! I'm truly honoured and excited to have her on board with Simplicity and for her to have chosen us out of all the Event Planning, Catering and Staffing firms in Toronto. These next few months do sound promising and I'll keep you all posted on whats been going on and also revisit the past. I've been totally swamped and have such a back log of updates!

Tossing the Intern into the thick of it: Melanie and I network it up at a new venue event for in-industry professionals at Ballet

Speech writing - The little highlight that means a lot

Recently I had a great opportunity to help a friend write his Groom's speech for his upcoming wedding.
With any event, the big ticket items can easily outstrip the importance of everything else that goes into an event, especially a wedding. But as I worked late night with my friend online and over chat on his speech. I don't think anything could be more personal or intimate between a newly wed couple and their circle of friends than this address.
I've come to realize I've listened to A LOT of speeches in my 9 years in the hospitality industry. Part of that realization is that I discovered what I feel are key aspects of a Couple's speech truly memorable.
Short and sweet - This is the bottom line, nothing could more effective than this. If its over 5 minutes, you'll lose your guests.
Service during speeches - This is something to really consider because a long speech can leave people wanting for service, or perhaps leave your guests without something to drink to a proposed toast.
Eye contact - Never ever read from the cards for your entire speech. Eye contact is intimacy and this is all about intimacy. Look your guests in the eye and the person you're speaking of
Pause - Nothing could be more effective than a good pause at the right moment.
Stories - Keep them short and succinct. If they are relevant they really do amplify what you're trying to convey. It also makes the speech more memorable, changes things up and keeps things interesting. People always love stories.
Quirks - With wedding speeches its important to bring everything that is you and what you're speaking about. Humans are not perfect and its what makes a wedding speech so intimate. Tears, sobs, pauses, its all important in bringing all your guests into sharing one of the most memorable moments.
Thank you Tim! It was so awesome to help you!