behind the backdrop

I do enjoy the organizational challenge of such a large event. But ironically, I hate nightclubs. For this evening, we specially made a Hollywood backdrop, celebrity bodies to stick your head into, sprinkled glitter on the carpets, ordered a white Limo, filled showcases with a sample of our work, cut out 313 stars and badges for a walk (wall) of fame, got cameramen and a photographer to capture the moment and made sure the Grammy-style invitations and dancers were in-line with the theme.

Despite the usual complaints and sleepless nights of prep, this company party was easier to pull off than the last. Behind the scenes however, we still had a few last minute issues to solve. Looking back on the event, it was quite humorous:

- The stretch Limousine was supposed to be parked outside 30mins before the event started. The company apologized from their cell saying they were stuck in their parking lot and couldn’t get out. So, people were lined up before the Limo arrived. Such is life.

- Our traditional DVD summing up the events of the year was finished no more than an hour before the start of the event. Of course, it hadn’t been tested. Another phone call warned me, there was a problem with the sound. I got dressed quickly and put on my “technician hat” and tried to find a solution with the guys at the club.

- The logo animation was also late. It came in the wrong format. So, even as the party had started, some guy at the office was remaking the mini video.

- Somewhere along the line the game rules had been changed since “it isn’t cool to be seen with your last name on the tags!”? At the last minute, we called four or five people down to the club to scout out and shout out 75 names to match names on stars around the club to nametags with doubles, triples of first names missing last names.

- VIP interviews with the four directors were meant to be done by Tracy and myself, but we couldn’t make them wait. So I did this live TV trash-style interview for our film in the Limo. As if there wasn’t enough good alcohol at the open-bar, we took a 3 minute champagne break in the Limo.

In the end, no problematic badges were drawn from the prize box. I was really relieved and had to smile. This year, I remembered the birthdays, called an on-call doctor (SOS médecins) only once despite 4 incidents and no pictures were erased from my camera by random drunkards.

We declined the offers to go to a second club yesterday morning yet still got in from the party at 5:30. We were officially the only two who were still sober at the party. That was probably the case by 10pm actually! We stayed to clean up the venue and tear down all decorations and cables we had scrupulously affixed Thursday afternoon to the walls and pillars.

By this time, Tracy and myself were little more than hungry walking mummies, mechanically cleaning up everything from forgotten mobile phones, scarves, coats and nametags. Once we put the lights on, the mess looked like a scene from Father of the Bride at the end of the wedding.
All in all, people apparently enjoyed themselves. I wouldn’t know – too busy running around. This weekend, the only thing planned is catch-up starting out with a huge bubble bath.

Ahh..