Hhmm...stuck at the starting line

I spent most of yesterday recovering from a fun night out celebrating the beginning of 2010. I did eventually get out on a date with someone I hadn't seen in over a year. Then I came home, bought and ate some junk from CVS, and watched random stuff on the tv. Not exactly how I pictured my 2010 to start out. However, I did end the day watching CSPAN do interviews with Justice Sotomayor and retired Justice O'Connor. It made me feel a little less like a blob of nothing.

Today hasn't been a whole lot more productive. I ate a pumpkin muffin and some macaroni and cheese, read and drank some coffee at Firehook, and did a bit of cleaning and dishes. Much better than yesterday, but still very 2009. I need to sit down and plan better for how I am going to approach all of this. Desire for success and change only goes so far when fighting with so much ingrained bad behavior. I think Sundays are good for that kind of stuff, so I'm going to be lazy and put it off until tomorrow.

In an effort to preserve it forever, I am posting the email we received after the very fun NYE party we attended descended in chaos.

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To All Those Who Attended the 20s & 30s New Year’s Eve Gala:

Well…where to begin. I think everyone can agree that we had a phenomenal time last night until being thrown out of the Harman Center at 12:45am. The décor was great, the music was rippin, and the vibe was joyous at midnight. Unfortunately, starting at about 12:15am, these good times unfolded in the span of 30 mins. And I think everyone deserves an explanation as to why, and how, things unraveled last night.

At approximately 12:15am an ambulance had to be called for a person who was presumably over-intoxicated, and non-responsive to attentive care. Then about 5 minutes later, the incident repeated itself, and another ambulance had to be called for a different person....also presumably over-intoxicated. The fact that the level of alcohol consumption had reached this level made JT and I, the caterer, and the venue very nervous…and we needed to take immediate action to prevent further incidents. Due to the obvious liability of such incidents, the Harman Center wanted to completely shut down bar service. But JT and I negotiated with them to suspend the service of alcohol for 30 mins. The intent was to give people time to sober up, let them dance and work off the alcohol, then resume bar service (cautiously) at 1:00am.

So at 12:30am the decision was made to suspend the service of alcohol. There were some misperceptions that the party had run out of alcohol at 12:30am. *But that was not the case*. Believe me, we have pleeeeenty of alcohol leftover.

Most people were OK with this 30 min suspension….but there were some who became rowdy and belligerent when denied alcohol. In the span of 10 mins we had 4-5 fights break out…and in at least 2 situations the bartenders were physically accosted for not serving alcohol. The Harman Center was obviously not happy with this.

Then in another act of billigerence, one of the glass decorations at the Harman Center was smashed. This was the coup de grace for the Harman Center, and at 12:45am they told us our event was terminated and our group had to leave. Though our contract with the Harman Center was until 2:00am, the Harman Center reserves the right to terminate the event should they feel things have gotten out-of-hand, and public safety threatened.

And so at 12:45am the announcement was made that our party had been terminated by the Harman Center, and we were being asked to leave. Though it was only the result of the actions of a few, unfortunately that’s how things like this get decided.

So at 12:45am we had 600 people descend on coat check. The coat check area was staffed by 3 people, which would have been plenty for the anticipated, gradual exodus of people from 1-2am. But the event being abruptly terminated at 12:45am, with 600 people all needing their coats at the same time, stressed the system. And as people became frustrated with the long wait, 2 more fights broke out, which had to be dealt with. We then brought in 6 more people to help staff the coat check area. And while this helped, it still wasn’t enough to handle the rush of 600 people all needing their coats at the same time. The coat check area become chaotic, and was frankly a nightmare.

It’s truly amazing that an event can go superbly for 3.5 hrs, and then absolutely crumble in the span of 30 mins. Further, it’s unfortunate that the actions of a few determine the consequences for the many. I hear it was a Full Moon last night, so perhaps that explains some of this.

Anyway, JT and I *truly* regret how last night’s events unfolded. And though it may not remedy last night’s unfortunate events, we at least wanted to get this email out so everyone understood why the party was terminated early, and how the coat check became so chaotic.