Two Kinds of VIPs

After working several festivals, manning the "hospitality tent" which is also referred to as VIP will call, I've realized that there are two types of VIPs. This is probably true in regular life as well, but there you'll find shades of gray. With the VIPs, it's one extreme or the other.

One group is grateful for every little extra thing we offer them. Sometimes we have swag from the sponsors, things like backpacks, towels, can holders, pins, etc. We always have small containers of hard candy that we refill throughout the day, as well as a bin with sunscreen, insect repellant, and hand sanitizer. Most of our VIPs are surprised and happy when we point out these things. They will ask if they can take a candy but rarely ask for anything else. They will usually take the "anything else" when we offer it. And they thank us not only for those special extras but also for being pleasant and efficient. Then there are the other ones.

This group is full of entitlement rather than gratitude. They take the idea of VIP way too far and think that they deserve anything we have out for them and ask for more. They take handfuls of candies to shove in their pockets for later; they tell us we should have free food and/or drinks in the VIP area; they treat us like shit. To them we are "the help", although in real life, we all have jobs that are probably more substantial and respected than theirs. (And just for the record, my choice of how to treat people is not a sliding scale based on income or job title.)

Fortunately for us, about 85-90% of our guests fall into the first category. We work hard, and having folks smile and wave (as we do to them) when they come in and go out makes our day a lot better. My festival days are over for this year (I think). There is one more event, but I'll be in Tampa for business the weekend that one's going on. Even though I'll be making much more money when I'm in Tampa than I would at the festival, I'd rather do the latter. Oh, well. There's always next year.