Location: Swissotel Chicago
Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013; 5:00-10:00 pm
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| Where I was headed: it was that close |
Never in my career as a volunteer
have I ever been able to actually see the place where I was going to from
my apartment – that was until today. I
was literally a football’s throw away from the hotel where this One Brick event
was being held and I could have even taken a zip line there if it existed – and
if I did not have a fear of things of that nature. In any case, I literally left my apartment 10
minutes prior to reporting time and after a short hop across the river, arrived
at the hotel. The gala season was well
and truly underway and today we were out there to help the 'Cystic Fibrosis
Foundation', as they hosted their '9th annual Casino Chicago' featuring
a “Hold’ em” Poker Tournament. We were going to be rubbing shoulders with
some wealthy and elite of Chicago, and so I was dressed in a jacket and tie as I
went down to the ballroom where the event was going to be held. Irina was there along with some of the other
regulars like Rich; while Wilson was our Event Manager.
There was a back room for
volunteers to keep our stuff or if we needed to take a break, but the main
attraction was the grand ballroom, one end of which was laid out like a casino,
with multiple poker tables. The other
side of the room had tables set with silent auction items and it was clear that
while the serious players would be at the poker tables, there was enough going
on elsewhere to keep their guests entertained.
All the volunteers were waiting to get trained by the casino staff and
Wilson told the story of how I was a tough Roulette dealer. Considering that we were playing for the
house, I don’t know what the man’s complaining about!
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| The tables were set |
We were taken into the casino
room and told our duties, which included standing by a table with a clipboard
that would have the information about the players on that table. Were they to ‘go bust’ and want to ‘re-bid
in’, we were to take their credit card details on the form and once the
paperwork was filed, the dealer would give the player some new chips. Same was true for another term ‘add on’, under which the people could
get some additional chips for a lower buying price. Once all of this information was drilled into
our heads, we were told to come back at 7 pm, leaving us over an hour of free
time. Wilson said that they needed us at
registration and coat-check. I decided
to do the latter and went over to the coat-check area, where I was joined by
Wilson.
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| Wire hangers: The bane of dry cleaning |
While I have availed of the
coat-check facilities several times in the past, I have never actually been ‘on
the other side’. At times I have found
it amazing how efficient coat-check people are, and how they know precisely where to look and
do it so very fast. Well, now that I was
doing it, I realized there is a definite method to all of this and that
involves a tag on each of the hangers and when people check-in their coats, a
part of the tag goes to them while the other half stays back on the hanger with
their coat. Simple enough, but what
makes a good coat-check person ever better is organization at the back end. This is what Wilson was doing, ensuring that
the tags were in right numerical order.
Often when the coat check is complimentary, one see’s a tip jar and the
normal protocol is to tip a dollar an item.
We had a tip jar in front of us, but since this was a volunteer run coat
check station, I wasn’t sure that we required one. But try telling that to Wilson. Not only did he want to raise a lot of money
in tips to support the Foundation, he even went ahead and ‘seeded’ the jar with
his own dollar. He then told me to
compliment the women, so that they make the men accompanying them tip us. The man’s a pro at this as well! And why not since it worked. We actually managed to get one other person
to tip us by putting in a dollar.
Being there with Wilson allowed
us to converse and I asked about joining the One Brick event leadership team
and he told me that I could start as an Event Coordinator and since I was
spending this time next to him, he could nominate me as a ‘shadow’ for the
evening; this being an important pre-requisite.
We talked about some of the Chicago Cares programs such as ‘Youth In
Service’, which is not advertised on the main calendar, but is a program where
one leads a group of young children in a service program, thus teaching them the importance of community service. This is something that I definitely want to
be involved with and he told me to contact some of the key people at Chicago
Cares in order to discuss this. I asked
Wilson if he was thinking of going on vacation this summer and he said that he
had already been to one – serving people through Red Cross in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy! I said that’s hardly a
vacation but that’s his definition of one for sure. People kept coming with coats and one guy
even checked-in his family’s poker trophy, which was up for grabs this evening
– a valuable commodity to say the least.
Some of the volunteers came over to ask Wilson to fix LED pins, which
were to be given to guests who bought raffle tickets. The battery wasn’t functioning well and being
a universal problem solver, Wilson had it going soon. My time to go inside for the Poker Tournament
was approaching fast and I asked Wilson if it was okay for me to leave the
coat-check in his hands. He encouraged
me to proceed and before leaving, I asked him the same question that I had
discussed at ODS earlier in the week – “What is more important, learning or
knowledge?” He thought for a moment and
said, “None. It’s imagination.”
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| Here we go |
I was assigned a table of 10
players and my job was to stand behind the players and watch. I was carrying a clipboard with paperwork on all the participants on my table, including their name, address, phone number and email address. There were 5 rounds of 15 minutes each and if during that time anyone lost all of their money and wanted to buy back in, I was to find their paper and add their credit card information to it. The game started and it was the typical ‘Texas Hold’em’,
just the way one sees on TV. The dealer
was a volunteer as well and a couple of times he made a mistake, and instead of
getting annoyed, the folks on the table helped correct him. At times when he was needed clarification, he
would ask me to find the tournament director, who would come over and explain
the rules. A lot of people went bust
around the 2nd or 3rd round, mostly at the hands of the one lady on the
table. None of those gentlemen stayed
back and I did not have to do anything.
In fact, it was a lot of standing around for almost 90 minutes. I was looking around the room and at the
other side; a lot of people were either participating in the silent auction, or
having dinner. I remembered all those
poker nights that we used to have in graduate school, sometimes going all the
way till dawn. It now seems like a
lifetime ago.
The lady at my table sent quite a
few participants packing, though she lost on a hand soon and became the first
person to buy back in. I went over and
took down her credit card information and once I gave the go-ahead to the
dealer, he handed her additional chips.
Only one other played bought back in and soon the 5 rounds were over and
there was a break in the poker game, while other activities took over. Next, the live auction was about to commence
and I was asked to be a spotter. I was
assigned to a person who was carrying the details for a ‘Vegas Package’, which
included 3 nights in Caesar’s Palace and airfare as well. The auctioneer would auction this off and my
job was to spot the winner bidder and point them out. Sounds simple enough, but can be a bit
difficult in a crowded room. The person
I was assigned to was somewhat demanding and I was getting a bit annoyed at this
stage, some of it being brought about by fatigue that was beginning to set
in. It was then that we saw a video on
why we were there that evening.
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| True |
According to the CFF website,
“Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and
digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States
(70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to
produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that: (a) clogs the lungs and leads to
life-threatening lung infections; and (b) obstructs the pancreas and stops
natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.” On the video we saw the story of a young boy
who spends three hours of his life every day on treatments, while trying to
have as normal a life as possible. His
siblings and parents are supportive, but this is no way to live; not for
anyone, let alone a child. But the kid
in the video has tremendous spirit and while many would just give up, he keeps
fighting every day. Organizations like
CFF are trying their best to make it a better world for people like him, a
better life. According to the
information provided on One Brick’s opportunity description, “The mission of
the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a nonprofit donor-supported organization, is to
assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to
improve the quality of life for those with the disease. The Foundation is the
leading organization in the United States devoted to cystic fibrosis. It funds
and accredits more than 115 CF care centers, 95 adult care programs and 50
affiliate programs, and more than 70 chapters and branch offices nationwide.” That’s why we were here, who we were
serving.
The video energized everyone in
the room to do their best, including me.
Our auction item was the first to be sold and it went for less than
$2,000! For a package like that, it was
small change and even I could have tried getting it! Once that was done, my task as a spotter was
over and I could get some food while they auctioned other items such as
‘Blackhawks’ tickets etc. After the live
auction, the next thing on the agenda was to ask people for donations and my
task was to go to the person who had raised their hand and collect their
information. I was able to get two
people, one who contributed $1,000 and another who gave $100. But irrespective of the amount, both had been
equally valuable contributions, for they would no doubt help the cause.
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| Woo hoo |
Our job for the evening was done
and now it was time for us to mingle and avail of the bar if we wanted to. I made a beeline for the bar all right –the
dessert bar. They had mini-Tiramisu’s
and they were some of the best that I have had.
Having put down a few, I saw Wilson who said that I should have my
picture taken with the Vegas showgirls who had been walking about, dressed in
expansive feathers and headgear. I said
that I had pretty much reached my limit and left, not before carrying another
mini-tiramisu for a late night snack. I
had given up another event to be here tonight and for most parts it had been
exhausting. But it had also been
productive in terms of making me aware of CFF and what they do. And while we may have collected
just one dollar as a tip during coat-check, CFF is sure to make that dollar go
a long way.
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