A speaker walks into a hotel . . .

“You know how to ‘take’ the reservation – but you don’t know how to ‘hold’ the reservation – and that’s really the most important part of the reservation.” – Jerry Seinfeld

If you are a Seinfeld fan, you might remember this great scene from the episode where a car rental agent tells Jerry that she doesn’t have a car for him, even though he has a reservation. (here’s a link to the 36-second excerpt that says it all)

This scene came to mind yesterday when I spoke to one of my speakers after his talk in Florida.  I followed up a few minutes after he got offstage to ask how things went.  He filled me in and made a passing comment about having problems checking into the hotel the night before.  I asked what happened.  He said while he was waiting in line to check in, the three people in front of him were told the only rooms left had pull-out beds.

Now this speaker is VERY easy.  Compared to 99% of speakers I know, he asks for nothing from anyone.  He even rents a car and drives himself to the events from the airport.  All he wants is a non-smoking room away from the elevators and ice machine so he can get a good night’s sleep before his talk.  This overnight room is the one thing that’s very important to him.

By the time it’s his turn to check in, he waits to hear whether his room has somehow been set aside. “All we have is a room with a pull-out bed,” he’s told. He explains why that’s just not going to work – politely, I am sure, because this person isn’t inclined to make any kind of scene. After some back and forth the front desk clerk accommodates him with an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) room, which he’s grateful for.

When I hear stories like this, my goal is to try and make sure we avoid this kind of thing happening in the future.  You know how it is — after a long day of travel, all you want to do is check into your room with no drama. So I asked my speaker what we might do differently to avoid this in the future.  He said he had learned that if the reservation had been “protected” by the event sponsor who made it, the room would never have been given away.   That was news to me – perhaps you knew it – but it I’ve been doing this a long time and hadn’t heard that term.

This kind of thing doesn’t happen all the time – but it happens often enough to want to cut down the chance of it inconveniencing our sometimes weary road warriors.  So going forward my team and I will be asking that all hotel reservations be “protected” by the group making the reservation.  It will be in the contract and it will be on the pre-event itinerary.  And, while we have always called the hotel before the event to make sure a reservation is in place (even though we have a confirmation number), we’ll now be asking if it’s protected, as well.

There’s no way to eliminate every problem or inconvenience – but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort to try. I can get a good night’s sleep knowing we’re doing our best to make sure our speakers can do the same.  And most important – a rested speaker will be able to be their best on stage for the audience the next day.