The Dinner That Didn't Exist at Lunch | Nicci Grotefendt

Mid-event in Orlando, the educator decides at midday: everyone to dinner tonight. Somewhere nearly impossible to book.

Two hours. Every favor called in. Reservation secured. Party bus found. The dinner didn't exist at lunch. By evening, it did.

The group hears that we're going to dinner. They don't hear the calls it took to get there. They don't need to. That part is mine.

A reservation is only one piece. Everyone still needs to get there and get back. The dinner and the transport have to work together, not become two separate problems for the educator to solve.

You can have a wonderful idea at lunch. But if nobody can find a table or get the group there, it stays an idea.

That's why I don't think of logistics as the thing around the event. It is the event. It's the difference between talking about dinner and sitting down to it together.

I'm Nicci Grotefendt of Travel GHR. I run corporate events at Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, from the room block to the last sendoff.

My background is hotel general management. I'm used to the work that happens out of sight, while everyone else gets on with what they came for. Sometimes that means every favor called in, in two hours. Then I quietly handle the next thing.