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The Philadelphia Horror Story

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Mark Weber
Mark Weber

The presentation in Philadelphia faced numerous unexpected challenges. The hotel was experiencing a labor union strike which led to understaffing and issues [1]. Power outages caused by too many electronic devices overloaded the circuits and disrupted the presentation multiple times [2]. Additionally, a leaking decorative pond caused the carpet in the presentation room to become soaked, releasing an unpleasant smell [3]. Through perseverance and quick problem-solving, the presenter was able to complete the workshop despite the difficulties.

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The Philadelphia Story Having conducted hundreds of presentations, I thought Id seen it all and been thru it all but the presentation to a group of professional photographers in Philadelphia topped it all. Heres my story . . . First clue that things were going to be difficult? We booked the hotel months in advance and within a couple of weeks I started getting calls from a very determined hotel workers union that the staff was on strike and that things would not go well at the site. How they got my number I can only guess but one call turned into several, including some subtle hints that the group would possibly be heckled as they came and went from the hotel. Oh great. So, we called other hotels in the area and they were all booked, PLUS, all the registration information had been sent and people were booked, etc. Hope for the best? Bring our own security? Onward. Weve been up since 3AM and after a flight delay we arrive in Philadelphia get set up the day before the event. The taxi ride to the hotel was unpleasant and seemed another omen for things to come . . . it was. The hotel had a few union demonstrators outside the grounds of the hotel but it wasnt bad. The front desk was clearly working with new employees and things were taking longer than normal but we were making progress. So, were tired but ready to get set up so we dont have to rush in the morning. We get to the room and its not the size we requested. Did some haggling and got that worked out. Bring in our equipment and request the boxes that had ben sent in advance that contains our printed material and were missing some important boxes. We do the usual check on tracking numbers and according to our regular delivery service, it shows all had arrived at the hotel. Oh great. Is this a union issue or a true mix up in shipping? Eventually the boxes were found. Evidently they had been hidden behind some things. OK. So far, so good. We get set up and go to the hotel restaurant to eat. They closed at 10:00 PM and it was 10:05 PM. They would not help us. We are frustrated but too tired to argue and take a taxi to a restaurant. Thinking the worst was behind us (ha!) the real adventure was just about to begin. Our program is dependent on a Powerpoint presentation and an electronic worksheet that depends on people to bring their laptop to load the software on to. Theres always a few that have problems with loading the software (those darn PC users, ha, ha) but we know how to help them and for those that cant load it, we hand out a hard copy for them to use as a last resort. We handed out our last hard copy thinking phew, that was close. These are thick copies to make but we always have double what we ever need but today, we just had enough.
We had about 75 studios attending which doesnt sound too bad but when everyone of those people plug into the electricity, it started causing circuit breakers to pop. Funny thing tho, it didnt happen right away. It wasnt until we were midway through our presentation that the projector and microphone quit working. Me and another staff person scramble to plug into other outlets. We get back up and working again . . . for 5 minutes. Again, we loose the projector and microphone. Suddenly, everyone in the class says their computers are running on battery only. We scramble some more and I run to the front desk and try to calmly ask for help knowing that our tight schedule is getting really tight. I can tell by the look on the guys face that he doesnt have a solution. I realize that this must be the job of one of the guys on strike whos probably standing on the corner with a picket sign and I need him desperately but I dont have the guts to go ask and the guy behind the desk has even less. I head back to the room through a different route that I took the first time with the guy from the front desk on my heels and notice that the carpet is wet. What? This cant be! This is where we are having our lunch later (now becoming soon). He looks over at the decorative pond and says damn. Im like saying, what? What do you mean damn? He explained that they just had that installed and it must have started leaking . . . again. So, I put that on my deal with it after the power gets solved list. We walk into a dark room with a bunch of heads glowing from the light of dying laptop computers. For a moment, it looked like it could be from a horror show and Im the ringmaster. I let everyone know that the hotel is working on the power issue. We plug the main cords into the last remaining outlet that is working and within a minute, we blow the fuse on that one and now Im trying to maintain some sort of order and the schedule we had been on is out the door. The final plan is to just get my projector and the audio working. We run one really long extension cord out the back door and find an outlet in another room that is working and so were up with that. I instruct everyone that for now, we are going to have to run laptops off of battery power and we are going to make hard copies for everyone in the unlikely event that the power doesnt get resolved within an hour. I hear grumbling but mostly understanding. I give everyone a 10 minute break to get my brain back in order and go to the front desk with a borrowed copy of the 144 page worksheets. I tell them I need 75 copies by 1:00. Again, eyes get real big. I realize they dont have a copy machine that can handle that. I have to give them suggestions to outsource it but I must have it or the power back on at 1:00 and based on my experience with the power so far, Im not counting on that so I am counting on the hard copies. So, we regroup in the room that is only lit by the projector and my voice coming out of the dark. I notice one by one that laptop computers are dying as faces in the audience start to fade away. Because of my own glowing laptop, I cant tell whats happening in the dark room. I can only see when people leave because
the light from the door slits the darkness. I dont smoke but Im thinking of trying it at lunch. We break for lunch and the food looks and smells good. I remember the carpet! The carpet is wet! They move the tables as close to a dry corner as they can and even though you can see a noticeable change in the carpet color, no one seems to care or notice. Maybe the food acted as a distraction or they were preoccupied with the power situation? Either way, I notice that I am soaked from head to toe from the perspiration of worry. I skip lunch and take a quick shower and change. I head out of my room and look down at the group from the twelfth floor and the wet carpet has moved closer to the group. It reminds me of something evil about to devour our group. I get back downstairs and the smell of wet carpet is starting to overtake the aroma of our lunch. The status of the power is no further along but the hotel is trying to use their tiny printer to chip away at the 75 copies I need to get back to teaching. They bring me ten just before were ready to head into the dark room. So, we dont have enough copies for everyone. Gulp! The room is too dark for the ones that do have copies to even see what they are writing. The wet carpet is slowly approaching the room and I am one hour behind schedule. Just when I thought I would have to wave a white flag, the hard copies arrive from the outsource and we got enough power back to run the room lights and still keep my projector and microphone working. People had to shut off their computers but at least they had hard copies to work from. In the end, it all worked out. By maintaining professionalism and smiling, it turned out OK. As I was checking out of the hotel the following day, the person behind the desk asked how my stay was. I laughed and told them that it was the most memorable workshop we had ever presented.

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The Philadelphia Horror Story

  • 1. The Philadelphia Story Having conducted hundreds of presentations, I thought Id seen it all and been thru it all but the presentation to a group of professional photographers in Philadelphia topped it all. Heres my story . . . First clue that things were going to be difficult? We booked the hotel months in advance and within a couple of weeks I started getting calls from a very determined hotel workers union that the staff was on strike and that things would not go well at the site. How they got my number I can only guess but one call turned into several, including some subtle hints that the group would possibly be heckled as they came and went from the hotel. Oh great. So, we called other hotels in the area and they were all booked, PLUS, all the registration information had been sent and people were booked, etc. Hope for the best? Bring our own security? Onward. Weve been up since 3AM and after a flight delay we arrive in Philadelphia get set up the day before the event. The taxi ride to the hotel was unpleasant and seemed another omen for things to come . . . it was. The hotel had a few union demonstrators outside the grounds of the hotel but it wasnt bad. The front desk was clearly working with new employees and things were taking longer than normal but we were making progress. So, were tired but ready to get set up so we dont have to rush in the morning. We get to the room and its not the size we requested. Did some haggling and got that worked out. Bring in our equipment and request the boxes that had ben sent in advance that contains our printed material and were missing some important boxes. We do the usual check on tracking numbers and according to our regular delivery service, it shows all had arrived at the hotel. Oh great. Is this a union issue or a true mix up in shipping? Eventually the boxes were found. Evidently they had been hidden behind some things. OK. So far, so good. We get set up and go to the hotel restaurant to eat. They closed at 10:00 PM and it was 10:05 PM. They would not help us. We are frustrated but too tired to argue and take a taxi to a restaurant. Thinking the worst was behind us (ha!) the real adventure was just about to begin. Our program is dependent on a Powerpoint presentation and an electronic worksheet that depends on people to bring their laptop to load the software on to. Theres always a few that have problems with loading the software (those darn PC users, ha, ha) but we know how to help them and for those that cant load it, we hand out a hard copy for them to use as a last resort. We handed out our last hard copy thinking phew, that was close. These are thick copies to make but we always have double what we ever need but today, we just had enough.
  • 2. We had about 75 studios attending which doesnt sound too bad but when everyone of those people plug into the electricity, it started causing circuit breakers to pop. Funny thing tho, it didnt happen right away. It wasnt until we were midway through our presentation that the projector and microphone quit working. Me and another staff person scramble to plug into other outlets. We get back up and working again . . . for 5 minutes. Again, we loose the projector and microphone. Suddenly, everyone in the class says their computers are running on battery only. We scramble some more and I run to the front desk and try to calmly ask for help knowing that our tight schedule is getting really tight. I can tell by the look on the guys face that he doesnt have a solution. I realize that this must be the job of one of the guys on strike whos probably standing on the corner with a picket sign and I need him desperately but I dont have the guts to go ask and the guy behind the desk has even less. I head back to the room through a different route that I took the first time with the guy from the front desk on my heels and notice that the carpet is wet. What? This cant be! This is where we are having our lunch later (now becoming soon). He looks over at the decorative pond and says damn. Im like saying, what? What do you mean damn? He explained that they just had that installed and it must have started leaking . . . again. So, I put that on my deal with it after the power gets solved list. We walk into a dark room with a bunch of heads glowing from the light of dying laptop computers. For a moment, it looked like it could be from a horror show and Im the ringmaster. I let everyone know that the hotel is working on the power issue. We plug the main cords into the last remaining outlet that is working and within a minute, we blow the fuse on that one and now Im trying to maintain some sort of order and the schedule we had been on is out the door. The final plan is to just get my projector and the audio working. We run one really long extension cord out the back door and find an outlet in another room that is working and so were up with that. I instruct everyone that for now, we are going to have to run laptops off of battery power and we are going to make hard copies for everyone in the unlikely event that the power doesnt get resolved within an hour. I hear grumbling but mostly understanding. I give everyone a 10 minute break to get my brain back in order and go to the front desk with a borrowed copy of the 144 page worksheets. I tell them I need 75 copies by 1:00. Again, eyes get real big. I realize they dont have a copy machine that can handle that. I have to give them suggestions to outsource it but I must have it or the power back on at 1:00 and based on my experience with the power so far, Im not counting on that so I am counting on the hard copies. So, we regroup in the room that is only lit by the projector and my voice coming out of the dark. I notice one by one that laptop computers are dying as faces in the audience start to fade away. Because of my own glowing laptop, I cant tell whats happening in the dark room. I can only see when people leave because
  • 3. the light from the door slits the darkness. I dont smoke but Im thinking of trying it at lunch. We break for lunch and the food looks and smells good. I remember the carpet! The carpet is wet! They move the tables as close to a dry corner as they can and even though you can see a noticeable change in the carpet color, no one seems to care or notice. Maybe the food acted as a distraction or they were preoccupied with the power situation? Either way, I notice that I am soaked from head to toe from the perspiration of worry. I skip lunch and take a quick shower and change. I head out of my room and look down at the group from the twelfth floor and the wet carpet has moved closer to the group. It reminds me of something evil about to devour our group. I get back downstairs and the smell of wet carpet is starting to overtake the aroma of our lunch. The status of the power is no further along but the hotel is trying to use their tiny printer to chip away at the 75 copies I need to get back to teaching. They bring me ten just before were ready to head into the dark room. So, we dont have enough copies for everyone. Gulp! The room is too dark for the ones that do have copies to even see what they are writing. The wet carpet is slowly approaching the room and I am one hour behind schedule. Just when I thought I would have to wave a white flag, the hard copies arrive from the outsource and we got enough power back to run the room lights and still keep my projector and microphone working. People had to shut off their computers but at least they had hard copies to work from. In the end, it all worked out. By maintaining professionalism and smiling, it turned out OK. As I was checking out of the hotel the following day, the person behind the desk asked how my stay was. I laughed and told them that it was the most memorable workshop we had ever presented.