[Namron] Recruitment and Retention

[Samarrah bint Annaan]

I probably need to preface this post with a warning that I'm rather
cheeseed off this morning...and that is why I write.

Last night, at populous, a great deal was said in regard to the
recruitment of new members and the retention of old members.  I think that
many of the suggestions and ideas given were good ones, and I know that I
am sharing my love of the dream with people in my area in hopes to bring
"fresh blood" to the barony.  This part of the evening I found to be
encouraging and pleasant.

After pop meeting a LARGE number of us descended upon the local IHOP like
a ravenous plague of Locusts.  It was a late hour, and we're a loud,
rowdy, colorful bunch, so I'm sure our arrival was met with some fear and
confusion by both staff and other diners.  We were all seated together in
one half of IHOP as the rest of the mundanes went on about their business
or waited for seating...which would be long in coming with a group as big
as ours "taking over"...lol.

Now, I'm sure I'm not the only one of the bunch who's had the benefit of
being employed as wait staff at some point in thier lives.  For those of
us who have, we know that it is a hectic, stressfull, exhausting, and
often thankless job, and seeing a GIANT and WEIRD crowd like us near the
end of a long and tiring shift would make even the strongest
waiter/waitress tremble in fear...if not outright terror!

>From what I observed last night, IHOP was not ready for our group and did
not have enough wait staff to handle us in as prompt a manner as we would
have liked.  BUT they rallied the best way they could and they did assign
a young lady to us that worked hard to take care of our loud, rowdy and
fun loving...albeit ravenous, crowd.  It appeared to me that most of our
orders came out ok and as quick as the could considering our large numbers
and the large numbers of mundanes that happened to be there that night as
well.  Some of ya'll might not have noticed that while we filled the north
half of the building, the mundanes filled the south half...so the wait
staff was sorely taxed by all that were there.

Now, as we were having our fun and milling about, I KNOW we were noticed
by the mundanes.  While traipsing to the ladies room I would hear people
asking each other what was going on...and they would be obviously
referring to us.  So I'd smile at those who caught my eye and tried to be
ready to answer any questions directed to me, should the opportunity
arise.

So, I hope to have established the fact that when we are out...PEOPLE DO
SEE US.  The see how we look, the hear how we sound, and they see how we
act and how we treat people.  The way we behave to the mundane people
around us is our best recruitment tool.  And I would say most of us did a
fine job, silly and rowdy as we may be, of representing our barony.

HOWEVER, one of our group, who I will neither name or describe for reasons
I will state later, I feel dropped the ball in representing our beloved
barony.  This person was not happy with thier order, or thier experience
at the IHOP.  I do not know the exact problem as I came up on the back end
of the situation, but my mundane guest, my new recruit, was their to
witness it all...and was very dissappointed.

That person blew up at our waitress, complaining in such a manner as to
bring our waitress to tears...and that person did this in front of my new
friend as well as a large crowd of mundanes who were simply waiting for a
table.  By the time I got to the register to pay for my meal, the young
lady who tried very hard to meet the demands of our chaotic bunch, was
doing all she could to hold it together and take care of the rest of us
and other customers as tears just poured down her face.

I made a point of telling this young lady that I've waitressed before and
I know how hard it is to deal with a large crowd like ours at that time of
night and that I think she did a fine job of dealing with a bunch of crazy
folks like us, and I told her to not let that complaint get to her and
thanked her for her efforts in making our visit a pleasant one.

Did I tell her I never got the coffee I ordered? NO, I got everything else
and enjoyed everything else, and she was as polite and attentive as she
could be with the 30+ people that showed up in our group.  Should the
manager have given us more than one wait staff...probably, but it looked
like they only had two waiters on duty that night and I'm sure they did
not expect a big group like us at that hour.

Do people see the way we treat employees as well as each other....Oh,
yeah, you bet they do.  And WAY too many people saw the way the waitress
was treated.  Complaints, while they may be valid, can always be done in a
constructive manner.  It may make one feel more powerful and vindicated to
give someone a "propper dressing down"...and sometimes that might even be
a necessary thing, but it's rarley necessary to humiliate someone in a
public arena, especially when one is representing our barony.

As to the rest of our crazy bunch, I know that when they saw the distress
our waitress was in that they rose to the occassion and either offered
comfort or a descent tip.  I know this because I know our family and I
know that we are a kind, warm and loving bunch...the majority of which
treated our waitress with kindness and respect.  And as to why I do not
describe or identify the person who was cruel to the waitress...it is to
spare that individual the same treatment as that individual had given to
the waitress by those members of the barony who would be angered by this
situation.

So, thank you for allowing me to rant.  And thank you for allowing me to
encourage us all to be on our best baronial behavior when we are out and
about among the mundane masses. (Though I think most of us know this
already).   If I did not love the dream, and all of you, I would not bring
this to your attention.  

With much love to all.

Samarrah



Lady Samarrah bint Annaan, "Princess" of Pie Procurement, Den Mother of Pukhta Lovvek University, Mother to Michaella the Merguard and Billy the Mortally Mundane,wife to her beloved Rouda Bjorn Wilhelmson, The Iron Bear of Bjornsstead.  (DISCLAIMER:  NOT A REAL PRINCESS!! "Princess" used in the context of a term of endearment ONLY!.  Thank you, and now, back to your regular programming)

God be with you in every pass. Jesus be with you on every hill. Spirit be with you in every stream, headland, ridge and law, each sea and land, each moor and meadow, lying down and rising up,in the trough of the waves or on the crest of the billow. Each step of the journey you go, go with God.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com