PA Life Editor Amelia Walker hosted the third in our series of roundtable discussion with PA Life readers. This sessionโs topics โ sourcing venues and the importance of good service.
Amelia: You ladies obviously work with a lot of venues; your suggestions can make or break an event with your boss and company, correct?
Lee: Yes. Iโm not going to send people places that Iโm not going to go to myself so everything has to be en pointe.
Emily: Absolutely. Itโs your reputation thatโs on the line. Once we trust a hotel or venue enough to book them for an event and then find on the day for example that they havenโt got enough chairs or wine glasses, that isnโt acceptable. The hotel is responsible, but as itโs our job to ensure things run smoothly then it is our responsibility when things donโt go to plan. Most of us make a mental note to say I am not using them again โ theyโve let me down.
Lee: I had that happen with a well-known West End venue. The week before my event there the guy that I had been dealing with the entire time left, but didnโt even have the decency to tell me. What I had agreed with him and what happened on the day were two different things. Because I felt like it was going to be fine, I hadnโt gone there on the day, which was my own mistake.
One example why it wasnโt acceptable โ I get a phone call saying that thereโs 14 directors making their own coffee on only one machine. I reminded the hotelโs team that I spoke to them that very morning and stated that everything should be self-serve, in jugs, but it was not actioned. And that is London five-star apparently โ anything but.
Emily: Service shouldnโt dip because someone leaves โ it plays a large part in why we choose to book venues.
Amelia: Did they give you any compensation because you werenโt happy with what had been provided?
Lee: No. I thought letโs pay it and be done with it โ weโre not going back there again.
Jessica: They should definitely have done something to acknowledge that they havenโt provided the event to your full satisfaction and said to you: โthere was a lack of communication on our side, and we still want your business; let us make amends.โ
Lee: I had an interesting experience at another well-known hotel. Their breakfast is amazing but ridiculously expensive; what you donโt realise when youโre choosing an item off the menu is that you also pay for this whole table of food that you havenโt even eaten! We had avocado on toast, bacon and eggs, two coffees and two juices โ and it was over ยฃ70.
Jessica & Emily: What?!
Lee: Bearing in mind we were booking a function there anyway โ and the host was recommending us things to try, so naturally we actually thought she was โcompingโ for us anyway, knowing that there was an opportunity for them to be potentially working with us a lot. Youโd think the host would have thought โlet these girls have breakfast; they are going to be spending thousands with us and hopefully this will in turn bring repeat business.โ Bad service really.
Jess: For good service in London Iโd definitely recommend our office favourite โ a local Italian called Dโmartinos on Great Portland Street. It is a very casual little Italian. The food is good, courtesy of an authentic Italian chef in the kitchen. Itโs the little details, like when my boss walks in they say: โMr Ian, weโve got your favourite today!โ Aqua Nueva has just recently had a refurbishment that is really lovely so my boss goes there too. My private aviation boss Adam McIver wanted somewhere special for his wife, so went to a restaurant named Clos Maggiore; it was really romantic with great food and an amazing wine collection. You absolutely have to go there.
Actually we did the most amazing familiarisation trip for me and 10 other PAs at an incredible venue โ Aynhoe Park in Banbury. It is a massive country manor filled with taxidermy, crazy artwork and every room in the main house is named and individually designed. I stayed in the Matthew Williamson room, which has a massive four-poster bed, copper palm tree light feature and the best bathroom I have seen โ it is fantastic. The service is amazing, and the food too, and all of the different rooms are really something special. The east wing of the house has a different feel to it; it was more relaxed with dark wood, cashmere blankets โ very country style. It even has an underground bar. Iโd definitely recommend this place to PAs for away days, large parties, or even weddings. Itโs really near Bicester Village and Silverstone, so great when the British Grand Prix is on.
Amelia: Do you work directly with hotels or work with the PRs when booking venues, and how do they treat you?
Lee: It depends what Iโm doing. I tap other PAs at work for suggestions, but I prefer to go direct to the venue. If you have another person involved then youโre not necessarily communicating with the right person; you tell them one thing and are not sure things are getting translated.
Emily: I think the problem is that some people still donโt understand the PA role, so when PAs call to book venues, the people at the other end of the phone donโt realise that it is us that have the ultimate say in whether or not we say yes or no. As PAs we are not just secretaries โ we are decision makers. In the job I do I sign things off, I budget, I organise without having to run things by my boss. And when booking an event it will be me that decides where we do it; my boss wonโt get involved at all. Many people perceive us as secretaries. We are slowly, as an industry, moving in the right direction but we are still not fully understood.
In conclusion
Amelia: When sourcing a venue for an event, it is not simply enough for the venue itself to be the main reason to choose a location. Great service is paramount and can make or break a booking and the event overall. Bad service = no repeat bookings.
Part two of this roundtable discussion will be featured in the September/October issue of PA Life. Topics to be discussed are: the EA/PA debate โ the difference between business and private PAs and email management.
With special thanks to Shaka Zulu for their generous hospitality; shaka-zulu.com.
