Down Mexican Way
September 12, 2007
Merchandise from local artisans transforms the Westin's ballroom into a Mayan temple
By Vincent Alonzo
It was 4 p.m. and Harith Wickrema, president of the Willow Grove, Pa.–based Harith Productions, and his event team had just arrived at the marketplace in Tonalá, a town not far from Guadalajara in Mexico. The market closes at six, which gave the team just two hours to find the props that will help them turn the ballroom at the Westin Resort & Spa Los Cabos into a Mayan temple.
Fortunately, in Tonalá that's plenty of time. Any Mexican event planner worthy of the name knows that if you're looking for ancient Mayan artifacts—freshly made this week—you've got to go to the marketplace in Tonalá.
"The market is incredible. You can literally find anything pertaining to Mexican culture there," says Wickrema. "For an event planner it's a gold mine."
In fact, within moments of arriving, Francis Drillion, the head chef at the Westin, found the perfect place setting for the gala awards dinner for the President's Club of Endo Pharmaceuticals, the Chadds Ford, Pa.–based comp-any that was hosting the leadership meeting the team was producing. It was a 9-inch-diameter recreation of the Mayan calendar. There were only a few calendars at the stand where two little girls were in charge, so Drillion asked them: "Papa—phone number?"
Drillion got the phone number and called the father, who gave directions to the family home that doubled as his manufacturing facility. It was a little place. The team had to walk through the family bedroom to get to the back room where the plates were produced. "That was a great order for them, and it really helped to make a connection between the group and the destination," says Wickrema. "That's a goal whenever I bring a meeting or event to a destination. I want to give the attendee an authentic experience, and I want to make a contribution to the local economy."
For Endo's leadership meeting of 60 attendees, Wickrema spent $15,000 locally on agave honey, mango marmalade, coffee, pewter trays and a local dance troupe. In addition to Tonalá, Wickrema and his team went to the towns of Tlaquepaque and Chapala to hunt down "ancient" Mayan artifacts and other items for the event. "This type of detail creates an emotional connection. It's the authenticity of the décor that resonates with the attendee, even if they have no idea what went into the creation of it," says Wickrema. "If you find that emotional connection, you find out a little bit about the destination, and you bring it into your event—even if it is inside the ballroom of an elegant hotel."
That emotional connection not only affects the attendees, but the waitstaff as well. When the waiters set down the appetizers on the place settings, you could hear the guests gasp softly. When the waitstaff returned to the back of the house and saw Chef Drillion, they enthusiastically told him that it went over well. "It's very rare when you get that kind of feedback from the waitstaff," says Drillion. "They were real excited when they came back to the kitchen, not only for me but for the entire staff. It was really a bonding experience for the whole kitchen staff."
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