Jillian’s is FUN! Community Blog

Exciting Changes in Seattle!

For those of you who have never been to our location, the Seattle Jillian’s is located just steps away from Lake Union, in what is know as the “South Lake Union Neighborhood.” SLU is home to many historic landmarks, such as Denny Park – Seattle’s oldest public park/green space. From both of our floors we have sweeping views of lake union; you can watch the sea plans take off & land, the Aurora Bridge, and the adorable houseboats the Seattle is famous for.

Unfortunately, for the past decade our neighbor directly to the east has consisted of an unsightly parking lot, old boat docks, and the worn done Navel Reserve Building. Well, we are happy to inform you that this is no longer the case! Seattle citizens have envisioned the a waterfront park at the southern end of Lake Union ever since the Olmsted Park Plan was approved 100 years ago, and now we are finally getting it.

Exactly one-year ago the city broke ground on the new South Lake Union Park, and today they had the unveiling of the new pedestrian bridge. Seattle residents, especially Jillian’s staff, are beyond excited about the new 12-acre park that is going in, and today we got to see the first real evidence of it! Along with the our new park, SLU recently got its very own transit system – The South Lake Union Train!

Our daytime bartender, Crystal Clayton has MADE IT HER OWN, by declaring herself the South Lake Union Ambassador!

Monsanto

I wanted to share with everyone a GREAT party we had here in Memphis last night…..

Monsanto had a partial building buyout with use of our Hi Life Lanes and 9 Ball Lounge. With the support of a fantastic team here in Memphis and Patricia, we delivered a WOW that left Monsanto speachless! We decorated with two ice sculptures, flowers, balloons, live plants, green linen, etc…. Not a detail was over looked!

We have a pending event in June with Monsato and last night they asked about anoter date in July!  - The power of the WOW!!!

Thank you team Memphis and Patricia!

Memphis VS Tennessee

In case you didn’t know the hottest game of the season took place in Memphis, #1 Memphis Vs #2 Tennessee

Special Olympics - Kentucky

The Special Olympics Oath - “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Special Olympics Kentucky is a non profit organization that offers year round atheletic training and Olympic type sport competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. 

On Saturday February 23, 2008, Myself and 5 other team mates participated in the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge.  We jumped into the wintery waters of the Ohio River.  With the help of many of you that donated to the cause, I rasied $635 and our team total was $2,811.  I want to say “THANK YOU” from the bottom of my heart.  This was my third year in this event and probably the most enjoyable.  With only 6 members, we ranked 12th in the overall donation standings.

Now for the real news.  Our team also won first place for the best Costumes - Down & Dirty Biker Trash.  We wore TRASH CANS…lol…yes, I said Trash Cans, decorated in all different styles biker trash related.  Enjoy the photos.  

Again, thank you for everyone that supported myself and my team.

Continue reading Special Olympics - Kentucky…

Employee of the Month

Lori Presley is the Seattle Jillian’s Employee of the Month for February 2008!  Lori has only been with us since October of 2007, but in that time she has become an important part of our establishment. Lori is always more than willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Whenever we add-on a last minute party we can always count on the fact that Lori will take it, even if that means working a double. Lori fulfills the model of an employee who has the mutual respect of the management team, is well liked by her fellow employees and takes great care of all of her guests. Congratulations Lori!

How a guest broken leg can become a WOW story

On Feb 20^th in Youngstown we had a guest break a leg and the management team was able to turn this into a WOW story. For the guest the management team made this as painless as possible. They were able to call for help and get the correct care needed.

            On this afternoon a gentleman was walking through the VC when his girlfriend’s kid cut in front of him, causing him to trip and fall. During the fall his leg broke, which put the management team in action. The managers and staff immediately went over to assist the gentleman. They were able to get him up and sitting on a barstool. It was at this time that it was determined his leg was broken and needed to be put back together. To perform this surgery, Manager John Scott called Dave Downey in to see what could be done. Naturally, I followed to give assistance and moral support. With the right tools Dave thought he could reattach the foot. It turns out the coupler on the gentleman prosthetic leg broke and could not be repaired with any means from with in Jillian’s.

            This is when the true WOW comes into place. The gentleman was now immobile. Without his leg he could not walk. John Scott then turned to the mall for assistance and got a wheel chair for the man, while Dave Downey made a phone call to a local prosthetic designer to see if the part was available locally. Craig from Advance Anatomical Design, now concerned, brought bag of equipment to Jillian’s and fixed the man’s prosthetic leg.

            The outcome was one satisfied guest and the management team went over and above to help the guest. Craig worked with the gentleman and determined the man was in need of a new leg. Craig has now picked up new client. Jillian’s also has benefited from this as Craig is now looking at having an employee party for his company at Jillian’s.

WOW what a win for all parties involved.

Thanks Team Youngstown

Almost Perfect Season…

So,  as the entire world already knows, The New England Patriots painfully lost the Superbowl.  **SIGH**

BUT, that didn’t stop Team Manchester from throwing a “wicked good superbowl pah-ty!”  The pre-superbowl festivities started at about 3PM and our entire vc and most of billiards was packed!  Our friend Pete Tarrier from WGAM Sports Radio was on hand as the master of ceremonies yacking it up with all of our guests and giving away a ton of stuff!  Every guest walked away with something.  Jager Girls and The Manchester Wolves Cheerleaders were also on hand - with Scottie J as the ring leader (see attached photo)!  No party is complete without cake!  Debby from Creative Cakes hooked us up!  I have never seen a cake like this and the attached picture does not do any justice.  The cake was extremely detailed and beautiful!  It even had goal posts!  Thanks to all of the vendors who helped us throw a great party and we can not forget to mention our good friends at Coors!

Despite the outcome of the game, the energy in the room was great and no stone was left unturned to maximize sales.  We showcased Jillian’s Manchester and guests will remember where to come to watch Celtics games and of course, RED SOX!!  Looking forward to spring training.

Horoscope West

Week 4 is a good time to rent a truck - gold from the gate?

Jillian’s Seattle Host’s Flair Bartending Competition!!!

Just like Tom Cruise in Cocktail, Jillian’s hosted it’s very own flair bartending competition! We saw the best of the best from around the country toss, spin, and throw a bottle; including the World Champion: Vladamyr Buryanov!  Thanks to our sponsers; D-List Magazine, Bud Light, Red Bull, and Sky Vodka the winning pot was set at $6000.00!!!!!!  This was an exciting event with serious competitors; who put on one heck of a show!!!  A special THANKS to the awesome bartenders, servers, and Adam (maneger/light/sound guy); who made this event a HUGE success!!! THANKS TEAM!!! 

SGT TELLIER FUNDRAISER IN CHARLOTTE

On Saturday February 9th, 2008 Charlotte will be hosting the next fundraiser for Sgt. Zach Tellier’s family, he gave his life for our country in Iraq.  With the successful event in Manchester we look forward to the same as we are expecting a crowd of 200 plus from 6-10pm in our Billiards Room.   This is a great cause and we are hoping to raise a lot of money.  Pictures to follow next week.Š

Deal or No Deal comes to Norfolk!!!!!!

Exciting news everybody, Norfolk Jillians has recieved the “Deal or No Deal” arcade machine to boost our game room.

As you can see from the pictures below, this machine is bright and attractive, much like the hit television show it is based after.

This morning, as a team, we gathered around the machine and became the spirit of competition. All morning shift compeated against one another to gain the highest amount of tickets. It was a fierce competition, but Christy won the competition with a whooping 58 tickets. Unfortunately this is rather low for what people have been winning most of the day.

The great thing about this machine is, you don’t have to win the jackpot to get a large number of tickets. A gentleman earlier in the day won over 100 tickets on a single credit, without hitting the jackpot.

We look forward to seeing the excitement of our guests around and on this machine. Sitting in the hot seat has a whole new meaning when it comes to “Deal or No Deal”.

Continue reading Deal or No Deal comes to Norfolk!!!!!!…

Jillian’s Manchester Gets “Buzzed”!

Hello!  It’s been a while since Jillian’s Manchester has blogged anything and we have a lot of catching up to do!  I will start with a GREAT radio event this past Friday.  Jillian’s and our local rock station, Rock 101, joined forces to throw a Patriot’s Rally!  “Greg and the Morning Buzz” broadcast live for over four hours and we threw one heck of a party! 

Doors opened at the wee hours of 5:30AM and there were already guests waiting to come in!  Not only were there a TON of prizes and a full breakfast buffet, but “The Buzz” did a phenomenal job hosting goofy contests and getting the guests excited for the Pat’s game!  “The Buzz” also brought a great local musician, Gary Hoey, to play, a former Patriots player (ok, I missed his name, but he was huge and made a presence.  Photo attached.  If you know who he is, let me know!), and interacted with any guest that was willing to be on the radio.  There weren’t to many shy people after a few early morning bloody mary’s.  Even the local tv station showed up to capture some footage for the afternoon news!  We were packed! This particular radio station can just about be heard in all of the New England states - we had guests drive from Salem, MA - which is well over an hour away from Manchester!  By the time the broadcast was done (around 10AM) guests didn’t want to leave!  They kept whooping it up right through lunch time!

Team Manchester really pulled together to pull this event off with such short notice - I think we only had a week or so to really plan and figure out how to maximize all areas and generate the most revenue.  Team work was at its best: Eric & Shawn set up the club for us late Thursday night (who really wants to be setting up a breakfast buffet at 4AM?)  Scott, Tracey, Kevin and myself (along with a dedicated group of servers and kitchen crew) were all here by 4:30AM to make sure the rest of the club was set for success - changing the banquet room to regular seating for VC overflow (which we needed!), making sure breakfast was ready to go (I’m not sure how many dozens of eggs we went through!),  getting the bar ready to rock, working the door to make sure EVERYONE knew about the breakfast buffet and paid for it when entering, blowing up balloons, really, the list is endless!  But not one thing was missed and we were ready to capture every sale!  Needless to say, we were tired, but all of efforts were met with great success as we surpassed our sales goals for the entire event!  Scott was doing cart wheels around the billiards hall (ok, not really, but he was thrilled!).  All weekend people were commenting on “how they heard the Rock 101 Morning Buzz at Jillian’s”.  HUGE!  Just a ton of fun had by all!

I know I have more to blog.. I’ll be in touch again soon!  I hope everyone is having a great 2008! Wendy

 

99 Restaurants Corporate Buyout

Hey guys! Take a look at this awesome ice sculpture done for us for our 99 Restaurants buyout. We brought it in as a surprise and they absolutely loved it! I got the WOW! that I was hoping for. Thanks Wendy for hooking me up with the sculpture guy. If you’re wondering the lettering is made with colored play sand frozen in the ice. Brilliant!

This 155 person party consisted of restaurant managers from the O’Charleys chain based in Nashville. Being in the biz I’m sure they were checking us out and we heard nothing but positive comments all around.

One regional manager arrived early ahead of the buses so I went to introduce myself. He told me that he felt so welcomed by all of the smiles that greeted him at the door. We both agreed that the key to making people happy and keeping them coming back are the personal touches. The hello’s and the thank you’s. Such a simple yet important thing in our business.  

The party was a huge success thanks to Heather our kitchen supervisor and her fabulous carved turkey. Our servers were all smiles and on top of everything. And of course Paul, Tim and Eric deserve a big thanks. Tim even came in on his day off with an injured ankle!

FYI this business was brought to us by an organization called Destination Worcester. Very similar to the CVB. An excellent reason to get to know the travel and tourism folks in your towns.

 I love buyouts!

Super Bowl in San Francisco

Thank you to all the Jillians Crew for doing  a great job! We had a outstanding day and couldnt of done it with out you.

Jillian’s Seattle Host’s Pong Bowl I!!!

Jillian’s Seattle, West Coast Pong, and 4 of our Seattle Breweries sponsered our Pong Bowl I on Saturday!  Again this event was A HUGE success, with a winning prize of $750!!!!!  The event drew in a big crowd of fierce and competative beer pongers. A special thanks to the awesome servers, bartenders, Mirror Pond, Fat Tire, Mac & Jack’s, and Manny’s Breweries.

Continue reading Jillian’s Seattle Host’s Pong Bowl I!!!…