Lost & Found
March 1st,
Tonight the band is playing for
Administaff's annual sales conference at the
downtown
Hyatt Regency hotel. The organization is a
fortune 500 company that leads the professional
employer industry in outsourcing administrative
services. They basically go into an existing,
fully staffed client company and assume
responsibility for their employees. Kind of like
a corporate
INVASION OF THE
BODY SNATCHERS, but with a lot
more forms and paperwork for the victims to fill
out. Administaff (or 'ASF' as they are
affectionately referred to on the stock exchange
floor) deals with everything from employee
payroll, benefits, worker's comp issues,
training, human resource needs, and specialize
in very detailed things such as federal/state
compliance issues, OSHA, and most importantly: when client
employees should use whom vs. who in a sentence,
etc. They have over 600 members in the
Sales/Marketing organization, and it seems that
all but 5 or 6 are here tonight with spouses and
significant others.
Matthew and George arrive to the venue early. And it's a good thing because George can not get a hold of Sybil, the event's coordinator. The conference is spread out over three floors of the hotel, and Sybil is not to be found on any of them. George asks Matthew to wait by the cars in the valet parking area until he can find out where they're to be setting up tonight. He scrambles up to the enormous ballroom on the third floor, down to the second floor where photographers are taking pictures of salesmen/saleswomen of the year, then he scurries to the first floor reception desk. After several moments of pleading, the counter person allows George to call for Sybil on her top secret hotel room phone - but she's not answering there either. George is becoming concerned that he may not find her in time for the guys to sound check tonight.
In contrast, Matthew patiently waits down stairs in the parking area. He's brushing up on his Vietnamese as he speaks with one of the valet drivers named Dinh. The trio's third arrival Lee, pulls into the garage. 'What are we waiting for?" "George is inside trying to find out where we set up." " But… he's here -right?" "Yeah, there's his car. He followed me here." "So we should just wait? How long has he been in there?” Matthew replies “He has been gone for a while.”
Back inside, George is desperate! He has
succumbed to systematically asking everyone in
the ballroom
(1.) Do you know Sybil? (2.) Have you seen
Sybil? (3.) Do you know where the band is to set
up?
He questions the staff setting up for dinner,
the lighting guy, the plant arranger, the
photographer, he even asks some guy in Bermuda
shorts and a Hawaiian shirt (who is obviously
not affiliated with the event) but to no avail. Then
George has an
epiphany! He remembers that the daughter of his
friend, Deb, works for Sybil. So he calls
Deb - If anyone will know where Sybil is, it
will be Deb's daughter (who should also be
onsite somewhere here by now). Ah Ha! The phone in Deb's
apartment rings...and rings...and rings...and - No
answer. George
sighs and folds the cell phone back into his
pocket.
In the unloading zone, Lee and Matthew begin to empty the equipment from the vehicles. This is being done mainly to appease Dinh and the rest of the valet guys who are getting perturbed that the trio’s cars are still blocking access ways. Dinh is no longer smiling, and says something in Vietnamese to one of the crew that Matthew can’t translate, but Lee can tell that whatever it is - it's not very pleasant.
George has accidentally begun to repeat himself by asking some of the same people about Sybil. He is considering filing a missing person's report when he sees a sign of hope. From the 4th floor, he spots a lady speaking into a Blackberry phone. She strolls along the 2nd level’s balcony looking like she may be some type of assistant coordinator. George knows that in the corporate world, a Blackberry is always inter-connected to someone in authority. That's why everyone wants one -to be important or connected to the important.
George charges down the stairs, down the
escalator, and rushes at her. The woman is taken
aback at first and thinks he's a little off (by
this point maybe he is). Between panting,
George introduces himself. As he gulps for air,
he tells her that he's with the evening's
entertainment, and looking for Sybil. Looking
into his crazed eyes, the lady secretly wishes
that this Blackberry had a 'taser
feature'. Eventually, she introduces herself
as Miranda
and admits that she knows Sybil. After a few
cheerful beeps and clicks from the device,
Miranda is speaking to her about the trio. "She
says that you're on the first floor, in the
lobby
Set up anywhere you like."
George attempts to regain his composure, thanks
Miranda, and heads down the escalator towards
the garage.
Matthew and Lee have already begun to bring the
equipment in by the time George makes it
downstairs. The three set up quickly, change
clothes, and sound check in record-breaking
time. With 15 minutes left until they are to
play, the three wander through the hotel's
massive lobby. The guys come upon a photographer
which is taking complimentary photos for
Administaff personnel. George wrangles Matthew
and Lee into striking a few poses. He pays the
gentleman, and tells the guys that this is a
good sign for the evening. "When else could you
get a new band promo photo for $20.00? Here's the result -
George is right - the rest of the event goes off
perfectly.
Since the guys were hired to only play for 1
hour, they've pulled out all of the stops for
tonight.
The trio is on fire, performing 'high-octane' show-stopping songs that have proven themselves time
and time again.
The two exceptions to this, are a last minute
jazz arrangement that George has pieced
together for the event and a 1st time
performance of the Etta
James' song AT LAST
by Matthew. Halfway through the set a request is made from the audience to play Van
Morrison's MOONDANCE.
The last time it was played by the
band was when it was requested last November. Matthew did it
then, but George takes a turn this time. The
song goes off without a hitch, and the band
carries on.
At 6:50, the Administaff coordinators rustle their
sales people upstairs like a corporate cattle
drive. The lobby becomes instantly quiet and
still. In the distance a busboy chinkles some
wine glasses that were not taken up to the
ballroom. It takes a few moments for the trio's
adrenaline to level off. This is the shortest
duration they have ever performed. Many of their
venues stretch into 4+ hour events...But not
tonight: A brief 55 minutes of intensity was all
that was ordered. And the boys delivered it in
spades.
They pack up the gear and head back into 'Dihn's
domain' in the garage. He has regained his smile
for them. "How did you do?" "It went great." is
the soft reply. "Thanks for asking."
Lee and Matt drive off to share a belated diner.
They end up at a Burger
King a few blocks up the road, and speak of
Lee's possible retirement, and recently read
books. George heads
back to the northeast side of town to pick up
his kids from the babysitter. On the way home,
he double checks his Day-Timer to make sure that
he has ALL of the contact info for the
trio's event next Tuesday.
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