A Treaty of Malice

This lovely message is dedicated to the "Mean Girls" of the world, sponsored in part by those who don't care

for your bullshit. OR, otherwise known as, "Pt. 2 of My Last Post."

Suppose you were among these fabled groups of people who are "envied" by others. 

Would you relish in the "fact" that you have so "much"?

Would be as vicious and spiteful to those others outside of your network?

Look down upon them for being different from your friends, and even make them inferior because they ARE 

outside of your network and therefore "unworthy" to even be sniffed at? WOULD you wake up every day, refreshed and joyful because

your day will be spent doing what you love to do and that you can also do your job with a side of nastiness and get away with it?

Will this be your motivation for living? For enjoying your job? For doing what you want to do and get what you want to get out of life?

Well...that may very well be the case, but if you didn't notice, there are other types of people in the world.

There are those who DON'T give a DAMN about your snippy little social network. There are people living who couldn't care L ESS about the fact that you even exist today,

and even beyond that are bothered by the fact that you are taking up our air. So why are you? Why flounce about day in and day out,

doing what you do, going on through life with an air of nonchalant, and DARE i say it, conceit?

I tell you this, you serve a purpose. This purpose is to be a source of amusement for those see you-those who walk about,

living their lives, who actually DO give a shit about what happens in life outside of their bubbles. I hate to be to inform you of this,

but once upon a time, someone said something great: "GO FUCK YOURSELF".

Ahem--there. I'm sorry, my phase of bluntness has officially ended, I believe. But the point is, life does not require us to be

this way in order to live. What baffles me is how people even get to this place in their daily living. Is it an epiphany process?

Is it something they just wake up and decide to do, or some random thought that strikes them as they're on the toilet?

I don't know, and don't truly get it. At one point, I could somewhat comprehend this attitude-when things are going so well in your life

it would be very easy to take on this attitude to ride on the high of life and not care about anything that was happening.

BUT THERE IS MORE TO LIFE than being Helen-Head-Up-Your-Ass!!! I'm sorry-there I go again, oh well...

Your day shall come, Mean Girls. And when your Mannolo heel breaks on the cobblestone and you topple over, Dior sunglasses and

Gucci handbag fallen by the wayside, look up for help. You will see me. And I will keep walking, laughter rising from my lungs.

Signed,

The Ice King

And the Beat Goes On...

I dedicate this to the people around who live by the delusion that your life is essentially worthless if they're not involved in some form or fashion. When that becomes the first thing people think of about you, that is-in some ways, success (congratulations, you've got a REP now!!!) and in other ways, the personification of apathy. So yes, if that is indeed your goal, congratu-fucking-lations. You're a rock star, baby!

I felt the need to write this when realizing that this existence overshadowed the working part of my day. As if there isn't enough to deal with in the meeting spaces and service hallways, you have the "Mean Girls Mafia" every hair color represented, every style mimicked and imitated in some form or fashion. I've never found this to be an attractive lifestyle, and although at one point I almost adopted the M.O. I made the decision that people aren't worth that kind of self-compromise. Therefore, I've taken it upon myself to inform YOU-the masses, that this is neither clever nor cute. Leave the roles of the Mean Girls to the Lindsay Lohans of the world. They're paid to act out that BS-and YOU get BS for it in return.

I recommend doing the world a favor-stay in your room, sleep for another two hours, emerge with an attitude that people will want to see, not something to make them nauseous. Just a simple thought-i seem to have a lot of those lately ;-)

Cheers,

The Ice King

Because Time Is of the Essence...

What has your time gotten you lately? A fresh load of laundry? A much deserved paycheck? A wedding anniversary? A long-awaited promotion? A SLAP in the FACE?

While I have never been one to dish out slaps in the face this subject angers me greatly simply because of the message involved-namely, when time invested gets you little to nothing. It should go without saying that it is hard to maintain motivation when you don't see your efforts reaping any fruit. It can also be hard to maintain spirit and commitment when you see that others are being put ahead of you.

In this day and age you would think society had already made peace with the statement "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" but still the philosophy rings alien in the minds of others-so should anyone bother when so many choose not to?

Why should I withhold my harsh opinion of a dress when the next person is going to decide to ruin their day without concern of tact? Why should I not say what I feel when angered when knowing that if it were them I would have to hear of it along with the REST of America? Is it really fair to hold ourselves to standards that so many cast away as being "prudish" or "ignorant", or dare I say, "STUPID"?

That's your decision to make. But in returning to the topic, I will simply say this: there will come a day when those who valiantly put forth effort will have motivation no more to submit to a cause that has lost all merit. And when that day comes, those in need will suddenly realize...they're SCREWED. :-)

-Cheers,

The Ice King

A Day of Idiotic Proportions

Let's see...realizing that everyone is not a dedicated hospitality worker (or in hospitality period, for those undedicated individuals) I apply to the concept of this post a common principal: that of give and take. If you give 100 percent, then you should readily expect 100 percent. HOWEVER, if certain individuals decide they shall board the Train of Delusion by believing that giving 45 percent will reap them 100 or more then it is the rest of the world's job to inform them that they are MOST SADLY mistaken. 

Fifty or more calls about temperature for a room should NOT be necessary for initiative to be taken by the workers labeled as 'dedicated' by corporate training. Corporate training while effective in its theory, fails to maintain its penultimate influence outside of the training room-and while I am here, let's take a moment to ponder the life of brand training and the course that it runs-from one ear through the other :-)

A. Initial reaction to presented material takes attendee of training off guard; therefore, the material is brought during the moments of its greatest influence-the moment during which it either takes root or falls by the wayside, battered by the winds of rejection.

B. Continuing presentations will begin an imprint of attitude in one's mind (i.e. the thoughts 'oh wow, this is so true, I can compare this to situations I deal with everyday!' or 'fuck this stupid shit'.)

C. Depending on the class, participants may be called to engage by activity or offering an experience to contribute to the greater goal of the material. At this point, you have either won or lost a certain number of your participants. The material given during brand training at this point is probably bouncing about the room, searching for a willing mind to sink into and grow inside of.  Sadly, this happens far too seldomly...

D. While a fresh and new idea, the material taken from the course is vivid in the minds of those who attended. They can take from it what they will, or be the imbeciles they may desire to be, resolving not to care and refusing to take anything from it that will change their current modus operandi. 

Which brings me to...YOU.

Do me a favor and remember that we as hospitality workers are SUPPOSED to be working toward the same goal-pleasing the guest., whether that guest be in their room or in function space overseeing a meeting. Presenting yourself as rude to one in charge of taking care of these meetings will only confirm the rumors about you that are likely floating around the property, and unnecessarily place you in the category of "bitchassness". Yes, damnit, I said it! B-I-T-C-H-A-S-S-N -E-S-S ! Write it down, look it up, and GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!!! Please and thank you! It will make a VERY successful meeting and cause your boss less headache.

-Cheers,

The Ice King

Pick A Meal, Any Meal

So the thought randomly occurs to me that if one HAS to communicate something, it should be done so quickly, effectively, and absolutely. Not that anyone follows these practices the way they theoretically should (I for instance still suffer problems in this regard) but in the working world, more importantly the Convention Services world, holding information is equivalent to letting a patient die on the operating table. Not releasing it (saving that patient) could easily and quickly kill both meeting, function, motivation for staff, and hinder any profit extracted by host property.

That being said, all should go into the role of meeting planner with a game plan. Know what you're doing, before you do it. Nothing is more frustrating than a meeting planner who has tasks and information spilling all over themselves because they don't know what to do with it. It's ACTUALLY not that difficult to implement that goal seeing as to how society has deemed it necessary to print various "Meeting Planning for Dummies" tutorial kits so they can all hear the cliched phrase:

"SO YOU'RE GOING TO BE A MEETING PLANNER"

I don't smell rocket science anywhere in the vicinity, but I my nose could be failing me. Allow me to continue:

1. NO ONE is psychic
2. A 4 star property certifies you have a staff that is at least willing
3. Food already cooked can actually overcook when sitting due to last minute information that spilled out of someone's belongings and landed underneath the head table.

Please, please, please, give room to those who need it! If 90 degree weather presents itself with a relentless sun and staggering humidity, we cannot change it, we can only work around it (and uncomfortably I might add) But as the final word before the apocalypse, we are essentially powerless without word from YOU-the meeting planner. So I ask you--what is your word? Is it a beautiful day in the neighborhood, or are we screwed mercilessly with no KY? I for one do not like waiting to find this information out--and that's what it goes back to--INFORMATION and COMMUNICATION. And IC has a message for all of us-THEY WOULD LIKE TO BE USED MORE OFTEN!!!!!

(Or at least, that's the text I got from them this morning before they became legally separated) I don't know...what can I say...I'm just an industry worker like you. But my "you" is kind of annoyed-let me scratch it for a sec---)...

-Psychiatrist for You