Recently I had the opportunity to work with Kristen Stacy, co-owner of Royal Fig Catering (www.royalfig.com) and Thomas Meredith co-owner of Rojo Photography (www.rojopictures.com) during a dining tutorial for BZ Events (www.BZevents.com).
Upon my arrival, Kristen was setting up the table and Thomas was working on the lighting. He’s familiar with the space and their delicious food which is evident by his framed photographs of their culinary creations and shared office space. Kristen was the first to greet me with an extended hand, a warm smile and the questions I appreciate most, “ What do you need?” and “How can I help?”
Kristen and I went back and forth with plate sizes, goblets vs stemware and the number of forks needed before she accidentally cracked a glass! Not blinking an eye, Kristen continued to make sure I had all I needed for a successful presentation.
While I was setting up my cumbersome, poster-size demonstrative of a proper place setting I started hearing clicks and suspected a zoomed in lens. It was there I re-met Thomas Meredith.
Thomas also extended his hand and made great eye contact as we exchanged names and realized we had met before. How comforting to have a familiar face and now friend!
The event was seamless as each expert did their part. Cortney, the wedding planner, had a detailed agenda. Kristen had the table set and the food served. I spoke about forks, handshakes and hosting. And Thomas photographed the whole event.
Not only was the interaction on site with all three companies comfortable, hospitable and fun, but my interaction after the event was even better! I was interested in getting some copies of Thomas’ photos but only had the contact information for Kristen. Within the day I had heard back from Kristen, e-mailed Thomas and been promised photos of the presentation by the next day’s close of business.
And then I received another e-mail. From Thomas. His computer crashed. The photos were lost.
Such news is disheartening for me who was going to receive great photos to post and write about. Such news is DEVESTATING when your entire career’s worth of photos are on your crashed hard drive.
I couldn’t tell if Thomas was more devastated about his crashed hard drive or telling me I wasn’t going to get the photos… he e-mailed me frequently with prognosis updates and software-doctor’s “surgery”. How generous and kind.
Why was Thomas updating ME about this crashed hard drive?
Thomas had promised me pictures and he is a man of his word. Finally, the good news came through. Thomas had recovered a few files and the BZ Events/Fig Catering/RojoPictures/CLM Business Etiquette Consulting event was one of them.
The amazing pictures attached to this post are from Thomas; a man of his word, integrity, willingness to help and above all, superb business etiquette.
We all have a lot to learn from Thomas. If you give your word, even as a favor, keep it!
