Saturday's Passage Of The Week

In my upcoming book, Service IS The Business (working title) I share a behind-the-desk perspective of what it is like to work at a real San Francisco hotel concierge desk.

Enjoy this brief segment from the second chapter.

At the Franklyn, I discovered that many different restaurants and tour companies offered invitations to the hotel staff, yet oddly no one ever seemed interested in accepting them. But I did. I remember a sightseeing tour company had a party at a fancy hotel to promote the upcoming summer tourist season. One of their marketing managers actually walked into the Franklyn Hotel to personally invite the front desk and bell staff to their event.

To my surprise, my colleagues told her that they were not interested. I interrupted and told her that I was. I speculate that, for my colleagues, this was just a job. But for me, it was different. I was beginning to become aware that I was not only fascinated by this life; I had an aptitude for it. And as I went to these various restaurant invitations and museum openings, I started to meet other concierges.

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For me, the sightseeing tour event was like a child walking into a university’s student union. Everyone I met was either a concierge or event planner of some kind. I was the only bellman there, yet they welcomed me as one of their own. Most people think this was an epiphany because that’s where you learn that hospitality events have great free food.

But what struck me was the access to information, resources, and networking. I don’t mean networking like when you’re trying to find a job. I mean the kind you engage in to educate yourself. I didn’t know it at the time, as I was pursuing a career in the film business, but it was at these events I began to have unconscious stirrings that this was a profession I was drawn to.

After three or four years, I was still surprised that none of my colleagues wanted to take advantage of the invitations we received, so I continued to go to various events and openings. As I continued to meet other concierges, I gradually I realized that I had actually been doing concierge work all along, and it was time to move on and expand my horizons.

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