Even the Grand Dame of Madison Avenue must dance with the winds of change. New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel, opened in 1924 and recently restored to its original grandeur, doesn’t take a passive approach in a market that is stirring up more competition than ever. Historical bragging points—such as the fact that Guy Lombardo first broadcast the soon-to-become-a- New-Year’s-Eve-tradition “Auld Lang Syne” from the Roosevelt Grill—aren’t always enough to draw in and secure banquet and catering business.

That isn’t to say the Roosevelt is forgetting its roots; rather, it wisely continues to trade on its reputation. It’s just that its leaders aren’t afraid to adjust some F&B details and strategies to survive the economic storm. Corporate business has slowed, so the Roosevelt’s team has changed tack in order to go after more social events, which has resulted in doubling wedding business in just one year.

ILLUMINATING WEDDINGS
If we look at social events business as a wedding cake, the Roosevelt team has sharpened its knife to cut a bigger piece.

“We are a particularly popular wedding destination,” says Director of Catering Richard Godfrey. “To build on that reputation, we are active on many social media sites and blogs. We have made a focused sales effort to attract non-profit groups and fundraising galas. We consult with the planners of those organizations to offer creative and unique food and beverage offerings that enhance guests’ experience at a savings to the organization. Unique presentations can include a variety of interesting serviceware, combination courses, and grand reception-style events in lieu of seated dinners.”

A big part of enhancing guests’ experience is the approach the Roosevelt has taken to make best use of its event space, through audio-visual elements and furnishings, making it look and feel like something more exciting than a ballroom— or, for some events, more exciting than two ballrooms. The hotel has two different, yet similarly styled ballrooms that may be used to host a ceremony, cocktail reception, and dinner/dance in three separate spaces.

“We enhance the experience through up-lighting and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment in our ballrooms,” Godfrey says. “In many cases, we work with our partners to create a specific feel, integrating non-traditional furniture and seating groupings that encourage networking or more intimate conversation.”

Godfrey says technology has become an integral part of the wedding ambience at the Roosevelt Hotel, something the staff sells to potential wedding clients. In addition to uplighting, Roosevelt staff recommends table pin spotting and intelligent lighting that continually changes during the course of the party, he explains. “This enhances and highlights the special moments of the event. For example, when the mood changes from dining to dancing, the light scheme changes accordingly. Spots can showcase the couple’s monogram on the dance floor, and follow spots for first dances, speeches, and cake-cutting emphasize the importance of different moments during the wedding.”

Technology is just one of the angles for bringing in social business, of course. “We have taken an aggressive approach to marketing our facilities and services,” Godfrey says. “We attend trade shows and host in-house wedding showcases, and we are active in managing our online presence through the hotel’s newly revamped web site and other frequently visited bridal sites. We offer testimonials by couples who recently experienced our services, while our gallery of photography showcases our ballrooms. We focus on the rich history of the hotel and how we often have couples coming back for their 25- and 50-year anniversaries.”

SHARPER SERVICE
Like many properties today, the Roosevelt finds ways to deliver traditional banquet service favorites affordably, alongside more contemporary, on-trend items. However, the current game plan focusing on social business presents logistical demands different from those involved in corporate events, and Director of F&B Sean Davidson has been keen to meet those demands with more staffing and greater attention to timing and details of execution.

“The difference between social and corporate catering is mainly in the type of F&B sales,” says Davidson. “Social catering almost always involves multi-course, seated events. This takes a ratio of one server per every 10 guests. It also puts a lot more pressure on kitchen timing. Corporate catering has smaller breaks built around meetings. These breaks are almost always pre-set. This gives you the opportunity to double and triple check before the guest sees it.”

OUTLOOK
Davidson, Godfrey, and their team are sailing the seas of social business well but are optimistic about the return of corporate event dollars. “It’s probably going to be fourth quarter 2010 that corporate business really starts to come back,” Davidson predicts. But whether the majority of its business is corporate or social, the Roosevelt is ready.

Tad Wilkes, managing editor of HOTEL F&B, has covered on-premise hospitality for the past decade.

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