This month MMI brought together Dubai’s top female tastemakers at the Shangri-La Dubai’s stunning iKandy rooftop bar where they sipped Moët & Chandon and Belvedere cocktails and discussed the influence today’s women exert upon the cocktail industry.
What has been the most difficult event you’ve dealt with during your time in the Middle East, and why?
Christina Bowen: That would have to be the dry docking of the Dhow — our signature sushi and seafood restaurant — this past summer. Due to some factors beyond our control, I needed to get this boat over to Jedef and out of the water within just a few days. I had to empty the boat, arrange a skipper, crew, diesel and make a works list of all the maintenance required.
After a few stressful days, we ferried the Dhow across the Jumeirah coastline and into the creek. I never would have thought that being in the Dhow’s crawl spaces and ferrying her through locks and bridges would be part of my job description!
Cristina Piereck: The most difficult time for me was when I’d just arrived and was sorting the hotel’s pre-opening. Coming from Brazil, and being a woman in what is traditionally a man’s position (sommelier), I couldn’t afford to make mistakes.
During our training, a manager that was hired to train us for this event, who had a great deal of experience in the Middle East, was picking out every tiny detail that was wrong with my presentation. He was pulling me down for it, making fun of me and doubting my capabilities.
It was really stressful. Luckily, I have a great manager that helped me to train, so we chatted about this market and how challenging it is, being a woman, and he helped me recover.
Following that, I’ve become strong enough to not be pulled down by men anymore — and also my guests respect me, because everything depends on your professionalism, posture and confidence.
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Erin O’Neill: I find it difficult to single out one event, as with each comes various challenges that you did not envisage unfolding.
In a destination where everything seems to be last minute, it‘s rare that things run according to your deadlines. I find this helps you develop a skill whereby you consider all possible outcomes and always have a ‘plan B’ up your sleeve.
Those last minute surprises I find are usually due to two main reasons, logistics and licensing.
The most difficult event would probably be due to the latter. I admire the municipality for putting in place restrictions with regards to entertainment, to control noise pollution and more, but when their vision is to develop one of the world’s top class destinations for entertainment, these should prove more user-friendly.
The most difficult event for me was not an operational challenge, but an emotional roller coaster. My organiser learnt that we had to turn her outdoor dinner for 200 people to an indoor venue one hour prior to her guest’s arrival, due to a last-minute licensing challenge.
She was actually unable to breathe, as her lungs were committed solely to screaming down the phone to tell me that I was going to make a fool of her in front of her entire management team and that she would never ever again have an event with us again!
Thankfully operationally we managed to deliver and the following day she called to say how much everyone had enjoyed the event and she looked forward to next year.
Nicola Holmes: My most challenging event experience would have to be a remote event in the desert or on an island, where the menu had to be carefully thought through to allow for all the facilities to be shipped out and all preparation done on-site.
Becky Craig: Generally I find getting confirmed RSVPs to events to be the hardest challenge.
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