The Banquet and the Freddie Awards

Along with our name tags, we were given a small card that listed which table we had been assigned to. Mine was table 18. Only problem is that I think I was the only person assigned to table 18. Soon the Lacek folks asked Chris and I to join them at their table next to the marketing gurus. As we got settled in, a call to action concerning dinner was made and everyone made their way to two separate food displays to choose their meal options. I have to say that Randy really knows how to throw a spread. There was a chef carving turkey, ham, and roast beef on one table, another laden with various vegetarian delights, another that had a slightly Italian/Asian theme with a focus on pasta, and another heavily laden with about 12 different deserts. We ate well. On the table was a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine – soon it was two bottles of wine once the Lacek folks determined everyone at their table was drinking white.

So here we are. It is Holy Week for the Orthodox and I am missing two nights at church to be here. Now mind you, a deacon doesn’t do much the first few nights of Holy Week so I was probably not greatly missed in that aspect, but it was a real sacrifice for me spiritually and not an easy decision for me to make to even come. For one, we are still fasting. True, it’s just a spiritual discipline and not a grievous sin not to fast, and it is also true that when one travels there is a dispensation of sorts that can be granted, but we are days away from the holiest night of the year – Pascha. Gratefully, the Lord gave grace, Randy provided options, and I was able to avoid the meat. Only time would tell what spiritual damage would be done later, if any.

As it turns out, Randy is able to eat for the first time at one of the Freddie ceremonies. Wow; the first time in 15 tries. Now that’s fasting. Anyway, once he finishes, he is soon up and pacing the stage. I won’t bore you with the details of all that was said or done as that is preserved for everyone here: http://www.freddieawards.com/ . What I will do is relate what was going on in my mind before he dropped the big one on me. He casually mentioned that before the actual Freddies were handed out, he would like to give a couple of preliminary awards. As he clicked for a slide, I saw the words “Starwood Preferred Guest” and a lot of writing out to the side. I thought to myself, “Wow, that’s great. He’s honoring Starwood Preferred Guest for something special.” Then, as I began to read the writing, I saw my name and the words Starwood Lurker. What a complete shock. Randy continued to tell everyone why he was giving me this Industry Impact Award, but I was just dazed. As he asked me to come up to accept it, I was a little weak in the knees. What was I going to say? Who would I thank? If I tried to thank anyone, I knew there would be at least a dozen people I would forget. So, I just stammered out, “Thank you. Thank you very much. I am pleased to accept this on behalf of everyone who does Customer Service for Starwood.” They then gave Jim a copy to take back to White Plains. If not for the fact that the Freddies had not yet begun, I was almost ready to go home. But, I’m glad I stayed. I’m not sure any of you know what a great honor you bestowed on us by voting us to win 12 Freddie awards in 2002. To win Program of the Year for four straight years is an unbelievable accomplishment in itself, but we could not do it without your inspiration and your input. When Jim accepted the two Program of the Year awards (International & Americas), he told the people there that he had gotten well-wishes before leaving White Plains from Barry Sternlicht. It was written on a job application from Starbucks. Personally, I’m happy to say that it probably won’t be necessary for him to fill out that job application. Justin the Intern rules!

But, Randy was not through with his surprises for the evening. Under the ruse of handing out a Freddie award for creative marketing campaigns in the travel industry, he called up his girl friend and another gentleman who was not in the business as judges. The he displayed several slides that depicted several ad campaigns. He got to one that said, “Was it love…or was it the miles,” and lingered a bit before revealing the next slide which read, “It was love! Julie will you marry me?” I think everybody in the room was crying at the point Randy fell to one knee and offered an engagement ring. Julie, of course, accepted. And, with that, Randy invited us to the bar for the after-Freddies party.

What a delightful evening it was. I met our folks at the lobby bar for a short time and learned that everyone but me knew I was going to get the Industry Impact Award. Chris offered his cell phone for me to call my wife, which I did, but it was way too late for Mrs. Starwood Lurker to be up, so I left a message. I took the award to the party to show it to and thank everyone. Then I had a nice conversation with the person in charge of the newly budding Emirates Airline program, 777globalmilehound, and took a group picture with the rest of the Flyertalkers before getting into a cab and heading back to the Sheraton. I was dead tired when we arrived, but we checked the awards at the front desk and Chris and I made arrangements to meet in the lobby the following morning at 10:30 AM. Then I hiked back to my room to find it well-made and turned back. No other phone messages or offers were awaiting, however. Not that I really expected there would be. I went to bed without ordering the movie. I would be asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow anyway.

next: the trip back home

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]