FRED Friday…Meet Captain Melanie
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| Model...Leader...FRED...Captain Melanie |
We recently ran a promotion at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas for which we hired promotional models. Since my team at the Cosmopolitan leads and manages the execution of our casino and hotel promotions, the models joined our team for the week.
So…I welcomed and worked with these 12 beautiful young ladies for seven straight days…there are worse things in life…I enjoyed working with all of them.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when all of them first arrived. Would they be nice? Would they be cool? Would they be willing to go OneMoreStep if/when the opportunity presented itself? Would guests like them? Yes…on all counts.
On day one of the promotion, our partner at the modeling agency sent me an email with a list of the ladies that would be joining us, and in her email she mentioned that Melanie would be the “captain” among the group. I liked that idea…so when I met the girls for the first time, of course I immediately coined a nickname for Melanie. For the remainder of the week, I referred to her affectionately as Captain Melanie. She lived up to her name…
Melanie established herself as a leader among the group right away. She immediately took it up on herself to work out the breaks for the girls, making sure everyone got an equal amount of time off the floor. She went OneMoreStep, created a break sheet with the times that each model would go on break, took a quick picture of the list, and then proceeded to text message the picture of the list to all of the girls…and me…so everyone would be on the same page. I didn’t ask her to do this…she did it anyway.
As one may expect in the ever-changing, dynamic hospitality business, often decisions are made and things change on a dime…and the need for timely and clear communication among teams becomes paramount. For this particular promotion, we had the models spread out, posted up in different locations across the property. Sure enough, throughout the week we made adjustments and changes. Every single time we made a change Melanie stepped up and took it upon herself to make sure each of her fellow promotional models knew and understood the new direction or change. She made sure she had each of the ladies’ cell phone numbers so she could reach all of them quickly and efficiently. I didn’t ask her to do this…she did it anyway.
We issued a Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas shirt and a pair of black shorts to each of the models that worked with us. As the week progressed some girls were scheduled with us consistently each day while others were not. So managing the uniforms became a bit unwieldy. Melanie took it upon herself to make sure that all uniforms were clean for new models arriving the following day. One night this week, despite working a 12-hour shift for us as a promotional model followed by working another event across town, she stayed up until 4am washing and drying multiple uniforms so that when new girls reported to work with us the following day, their uniform would be clean and fresh. I didn’t ask her to do this…she did it anyway.
The next to last day of the promotion, Captain Melanie was unable to work with us because she was already booked for another engagement. We experienced a few communication breakdowns that day…nobody’s fault…just some operational issues. Things happen. When Melanie spoke with her booking agency that evening she asked how “things at the Cosmopolitan went today.” Upon finding out the challenges we encountered, she felt bad that she wasn’t there to help. She sent me a text message, concerned about a couple of the breakdowns. She had taken so much ownership in the program, her role as a leader among the group, and pride in making sure everything was taken care of that she felt compelled to apologize to me. She cared. I thought that was very, very cool.
We hired Melanie to be one of the promotional models that would bring this week’s casino promotion to life with our Guests. In reality, we were blessed with a conscientious, focused leader that went OneMoreStep on a regular basis.
She created value for our Guests, her fellow promo models, our Identity Membership team, our hotel, and certainly for me. She took an ordinary modeling gig and turned it into an opportunity to truly be extraordinary. She was interested in how she could do MORE, how she could help, and how she could be of service. She was just one of those people that makes things better. A LINCHPIN…A LEADER…A FRED.
One of her texts to me in response to a favor I had asked read, “no problem, sir…your wish is my command…consider it done.” What a FRED.
Thanks to Melanie and all of our new friends that joined us for this week’s promotion. I certainly enjoyed working with you, and I appreciated your willingness to support and represent our beloved Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas brand.
Have a great day.
Taylor
(Wondering what I mean by a FRED? My favorite book, The Fred Factor, written by Mark Sanborn, tells the story of how an ordinary man, in an ordinary job as a postman goes OneMoreStep after OneMoreStep to make magic for his customers. See the explanation of what I mean when I say "a FRED" on the original FRED Friday post http://goonemorestep.blogspot.com/2011/03/fred-friday.html)
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Love it! Melanie is the bomb! Thanks Mel!
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