Hyatt Regency Schaumburg, IL – Best Customer Service Ever!

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I have experienced some pretty good customer service in my life. Some came with the cost of whatever I was doing, so you would kind of expect it, and some was pure luck. Once, what I believe was a case of mistaken identity* got me the penthouse overlooking Tumon Bay in Guam, and that had some ‘perks’. That said, I think every previous customer service experience was bested by the staff at the Hyatt Regency Schaumburg this past weekend.

For Irish Dance readers, you don’t need much explanation, but since I expect others to see this, a little back story.

My daughter (TGC – the girl child) is a competitive Irish dancer.

We booked this hotel so we could go to Oireachtas (pronounced o-rock-tas), a regional championship for Irish Dance. The Mid America Oireachtas is always Thanksgiving weekend. There are several others in November and December. An Oireachtas will have several thousand dancers with all the parents, siblings, etc.. that come along with it.

You may have gathered already that I blog as What The Feis (pronounced fesh). A feis is a smaller more local competition. I am also whatthefeis on Facebook, and several other social media outlets. The What The Feis Facebook page as over 5000 followers. The hotel staff DID NOT know this beforehand.

I originally documented this on my Facebook page, but the hotel posts are mixed in with a lot of Oireachtas posts, foodie posts, things about my dancer, and my typical snarky ramblings, so I gathered all of them here, for easier, albeit a bit lengthy, reading. All the indented, italicized items are the posts from the page.

For my Facebook friends, you know TGC is dealing with a medical issue that may end her competitive career, we are still checking into all that since that news is recent. I only mention that because we went into this weekend thinking this could very well be her last competition. It really made the staffs efforts even more special, to me anyway.

I kept the hotel a secret until the writing of this post. I didn’t want any dance drama when other parents found what they were missing out on, and could very well be in the same hotel as me.

So, here is what happened… sorry again for the length, but in this day and age, this kind of caring is hard to find, especially when it comes from people who do something nice because they want to, not because they have to.

NOTE: You can click on any smaller pic to scroll through all of them in a bigger view.

How it all began…

My introductory post about an email I received from the hotel.

Getting ready to travel for this Oireachtas, I just have to share an email I received from the hotel where we will be staying. I will finish this story (and share the hotel) at the end of the weekend, but I wanted to set the stage now.

A snippet from an email from the hotel: “I am looking forward to your arrival on Wednesday, and wanted to reach out beforehand to see if you had any requests prior to your arrival. We would like to make your stay with us as enjoyable as possible! Please feel free to respond back to me directly….”

My response:

“Thanks for the note!

Actually we always request non-feather pillows. A roll away would be appreciated (please confirm this one). Lastly, we are there for the Irish Dance Regional Championships, so an upper floor at the end of the hall where my dancer can get some rest would be great if at all possible.

My wife asked for champagne on arrival, and my daughter would like a pet goldfish, mints on the pillow every night and for the towels to be folded into animal shapes, but if you could handle the items in the sentence above, that should suffice. 🙂

Thanks so much for the note. Looking forward to the stay!”

PLEASE NOTE: Mrs WTF and TGC do not expect those things, but they asked, so I included them in the email. Also noteworthy, this is one of the hotels in the block, not the Ritz.
Yes, that is my actual email. I received a response today saying he is working on it.

I will let you know how it went when the weekend is done. 🙂

The Arrival

Just got to the hotel, into our room and found this. If you have been following my posts, you get it. An exceptional welcome after a very long drive and OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE!

I failed to mention in my posts that the rep sent me an email in the interim. He had noticed we had a room with two doubles where a rollaway would not fit. He asked if we would like king with a rollaway instead. I jumped at the chance. That is what we usually get, but it was not available we we made the reservation.

Also, not only did he get us a quiet room, it was top floor, end of the hall. Irish Dance Hotel Nirvana.

And then this happened…

OMG!

I was going to comment on the no champagne, joking of course, but anyway…

I took the luggage cart down to the lobby as TGC and Mrs WTF freshened up. As I was getting on the elevator, hotel staff walked by with a tray with a bottle of champagne. I thought, nah, couldn’t be..

I no sooner got to the lobby then Mrs WTF texted me a pic. TGC also texted me ‘come back upstairs, trust me.’

I went back to the room to find this.

Not sure what I did in life, but I am glad I did…

Clues

Trying to show our gratitude.

OK, I got the scoop…

I went to the front desk to find who delivered the tray since the Mrs had no cash, and I wanted to make sure the person got a tip.

The nice lady at the desk said it was all from the front desk staff, they had all seen my email, it made them laugh, and they wanted to make it happen, and that tipping wasn’t necessary.

For once, I am without words, but I have a heart full of gratitude. 🙂

And then a little later that evening:

I know it sounds braggy, and I am sorry, but this story just keeps getting better.

Got back from dinner, and realized we were going to save the bottle for tomorrow, so I went to find more ice.

I got to the elevators, and saw an older gentleman mopping the floor. I stopped to ask about ice, he saw the ice bucket and bottle, and said, ‘oh, you are here’ with a smile on his face.

I must have looked confused, because he followed up with the fact that he was the one who brought the rollaway to the room.

I got his name, thanked him repeatedly, and found the ice.

Don’t worry, I already have a plan in place to thank these wonderful people, in addition to reviews I mean, but I also realize I need to do a little more research to make sure I am thanking all of them appropriately.

So far I have 4 names, but I think it goes deeper 🙂

I thought it was over, and went back to my normal snarky posting…

And this morning, I found the towels shaped into animals. The bath mat is a snake.

OK, so maybe that was a stretch, but they literally did everything else in my email.

#customerserviceheroes

But it wasn’t over, so I brought the snark down a few notches…

THE HOTEL… I really thought it could not get any better…

Since we were up early to get TGC tanned, and then got brunch, the room had not been cleaned by the time we got back. Contrary to what you might think, we are really not high maintenance, so we put up the do not disturb sign so TGC could rest. She is still trying to beat that respiratory infection.

I put my head down too, and was startled awake by the phone. It was housekeeping. She asked if we needed service, and I told her we were fine, but thanks for checking on us, and then she said, ‘can I bring by the animals?’

I kind of laughed, and asked if she was serious, she said yes. Of course I said yes, and two minutes later she was at the door with what is in the pic.

I thanked her repeatedly. She smiled as she left and said, maybe there will be more animals tomorrow.

I really don’t know if I will ever be able to stay with a different chain in the future.

#customerservicerockstars

Another Clue

Another question answered…

For those of you that were wondering, and I was wondering, I am fairly sure that this WTF gig had nothing to do with my welcome at the hotel.

As I sat polishing tonight, another family I know IRL checked in and we chatted. They got the same email, and the only connection we can see is that we are both members of the hotel rewards program.

Oh, and the other family did not reply to the email 🙁

I thought it was over (again)…

HOTEL UPDATE… Well, returning to the hotel after 15 hours at the venue, I am both sad to report, and yet a little relieved, that the surprises appear to have come to an end. They literally got everything on my list, plus a few extra things, so I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting everything that happened either.

Tomorrow I will hopefully meet the Mastermind. I will let you know how that goes. I have a little something for him and his co-conspirators.

Stay tuned…

The ‘extra things’ I mentioned are in the pic but were not in our email (the snarky part of the email). They included chocolate covered strawberries, 3 cookies the size of softballs, and two ice cold glasses of milk.

The Final Chapter, and oh, what a finish…

The Hotel, Final Chapter? Hell, I don’t know…

So earlier today, I met the people who lead the challenge sent in the email, although I still stand by the fact it was sarcasm.

Anyway, I had bought a card and some gift cards for some drinks and appetizers for hopefully all the people involved, and gave it to the guys, with my sincerest thanks, and a little lump in my throat considering what a rollercoaster the last few days have been. Their thoughtfulness has made this Oireachtas memorable for so many reasons more than Irish Dance.

I also told them about you guys, how I have documented every new chapter in this story, how so many people have commented on the story, how you want to know what hotel it is, and why I am stalling sharing the hotel, etc… and I gave them my business card, and told them where they could see the posts. I said thanks again, and I thought that was that.

Well, went to the venue for ceilis and trad sets, saw our dancers do great, including a first in one of the trad comps, sat through just enough awards to see how our ceilis did, and then went to dinner. On the way back into the hotel, TGC wanted dessert and I wanted a beer, so we went to the bar to take some stuff to the room.

As we left the bar, I saw John, the initial emailer whom I had met earlier, and he asked me why I was carrying a beer, and if I had been to the room yet. I said no, and he said ‘you might want to go on up. I read the posts and realized we took care of everyone elses request, and I saw a post that that gave me an idea.’ or something like that. I was kind of in the ‘oh no he didn’t’ mindset. I smiled, shook his hand, told him again what a great job his team had done, and headed for the elevator.

As I was going to the elevators, I got a text from Mrs. WTF that said, ‘seriously, come up here.’ I hadn’t even made it to the room when she called my cell. I didn’t answer, I was 12 feet from the room.

I walked in and found what is in the pics, including the note, also in the pics.

Second time this weekend I was without words. I really cannot think of ANY time in my life when people who do not even know me put this much effort in on my behalf. I rewrote this paragraph a few times, because the words have not been quite right. They still aren’t, but I think you get the picture.

So, hotel to be named Monday, Thank You again. You have done more for the reputation of your company then any effort I have seen by any other person/group/company. I look forward to the next opportunity to stay with your chain, especially if it is anywhere near Schaumburg, because I know where I will be staying.

Oh, and I made the card out to John and the Co-conspirators, and they had no idea I had a FB page with 5K followers. John was doing his job, I was being me, and it just grew from there.

And there you have it

Not really sure how to end this, except for saying I hope every one of you get a chance to experience this kind of service one day. It meant so much to my family, and Hyatt will be our first choice for all our future hotel choices.

* Mistaken Identity Footnote: I think the hotel thought I was the Commander of 7th Fleet (a Vice Admiral), instead of a Commander who worked with 7th Fleet, but that is speculation.

Chicago Autumn Feis 2014 Review/0 Comments/in , , /by

chicago_autumn_feis_2014The 12th Annual Chicago Autumn Feis was held on Sunday, November 9, 2014 at North Central College in Naperville IL .

I can’t speak to PC/OC level, nor did our school have any at that level here due to Oirachtas practice.

Venue

Aside from streets being blocked due to a marathon, it was easy enough to get to the field house at North Central College. The parking was limited, but there was a shuttle that was much appreciated to take us from the lot to the field house. Unfortunately, the shuttle stopped transporting before my Prizewinner dancer finished dancing. The facility was clean initially, and restrooms seemed to be kept up. I didn’t see any cleaning of the floors throughout the day, possibly because there was no floor space open because of the crowding. Camping was supposed to be done on the balcony level, but few people did this and it was not enforced. The competition area was very crowded and it was difficult to move from one stage to another to watch other dancers on their respective stages. There was ample seating set up, however, dancers had strewn their belongings in seats and across bleachers, taking away from the available seating. Maybe not the best venue for 1,200 dancers and their families.

I give it a 7.

Judges

There were 12 judges and 8 stages. Judges seemed to rotate about every hour. I noticed on the score board that beginner levels were placing up to 7th or 8th place, and many of the novice and Prizewinner often only placed 1st through 3rd. This seemed unusual.

Score: 8

Musicians

My dancers didn’t say they couldn’t hear the music well enough and all sets seemed to be played at the right speeds.

Score:10

Food

There were few choices for food by one vendor. The $5 hotdogs and snack sized chip bags I found to be pricey. They had a fruit bowl available and maybe two other choices of meal deals and plenty of junk food. There was no mention of not being allowed to bring in outside food and drink.

Score: 8

Vendors

There was a large selection and variety of vendors. Some that were not the usuals.

Score: 10

Results

Here’s where it goes downhill. I was told morning results were posted within 45 minutes. One of my dancers waited an hour and a half for her results. Results were typed but in a font that was difficult to read from the other side of the results tables and included dancer name and number. There were no online results available, in fact, they will not be available until “sometime the week after the Feis”. They ran out of 3rd place medals and offered smaller medals that they were giving to 4-8th place. You could also opt to have them mail a silver medal when they get more made.

Score: 4

Feis Flow

On the stage schedule it stated that Novice dances would start approximately 9:30. It was around 10:45. The Prizewinner dances were scheduled to start at 1:00. Beginner levels typically had 1 dance in between dances. Novice and PW dancers had 2-3 dances in between dances. Soft shoe competitions were first. Lunch break was 1/2 hour and the judges and musicians were great about getting started on time after lunch, and was staggered a little so there wasn’t a mad rush at the food vendor.While one stage did, the others still had up to as many as two complete dances left to get through, with sections of A and B and boys or mixed. This was truly the Feis that never ended! At 5:00 they finally did the last treble reel, and they still had non-traditional sets going after this was completed. All said, it didn’t flow quickly and made for a miserable afternoon/evening for many dancers and their families. I heard many complaints from tired dancers and irritated parents, while I waited at the results table with my dancer.

Score: 4

Local Amenities

I can’t speak for the Feis hotel or hotels in the area, but Naperville seemed like a quaint little town with several options for restaurants.

EDITORS NOTE: She is right, it is and does. Here are a few places I found when I was there last year: https://whatthefeis.com/naperville-il-eats/

Judge, music, results and flow average: 6.5

Overall: 7.29

What did you think?

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Pat Roche Feis 2014, Grades Review/1 Comment/in , , /by

logocolorThe 2014 Pat Roche Feis was held on October 11-12, 2014 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont II. This was our first time attending this feis, and we attended only the first day, which was for grades.  PC/OC is not covered in this review, as those competitions were held the second day.

Venue

The feis was held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center.  The location was convenient — right near Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and easily accessible from the highway.

Parking (in a garage across the street from the venue) was $13 for the day, which is not bad by Chicago standards, but pricier than many other feiseanna, and at that amount, is something that needs to be built into the budget for the day.

There was a bit of a walk (through skywalks) from the parking lot to the feis location, but once we arrived, registration was right inside, and my dancer was checked in quickly and easily.

The convention center space allocated to the feis was generous.  There was plenty of room for camping, practicing, etc.  Since this was a VERY large feis (I believe around 1,200 dancers), and my dancer is fairly young, we were happy to find a spot away from all the noise & chaos so we could have some down time between dances.

The feis had 8 stages this year, and all were used for grades dances.  The stages were set up with 4 on each side of one end of the space.  The stages were close together, with curtained partitions separating them.  My dancer’s stage saw several slips & falls, which leads me to believe that the plywood on that one might need to be replaced.  I did not notice any attempts to mop or otherwise fix the issues, which was unfortunate.

Vendors were plentiful & did not disappoint.  There were several wig/tiara/bling vendors, as well as a few selling Irish clothing & household items.  We had Grandma with us, and she did quite a bit of holiday shopping in between my dancer’s competitions. J

Restrooms were plentiful & relatively clean.  I never had to wait in line in the ladies room, which was nice.  Toilet paper & paper towels were in stock all day.

Overall Venue Score: 8/10

Judges

My dancer danced 5 times & was seen by 4 judges.  That is excellent rotation, in my opinion.  I do wish more comments had been left, though, as my dancer received only 1, and was left  wondering why her placements in a couple of dances were significantly lower than usual.

Judge Score: 7/10

Music

As I said before, I could not hear the music well from the audience, but my dancer could hear fine.  I heard no complaints about any of the musicians, and the one on  my dancer’s stage seemed enthusiastic and happy to be there.

Music Score:  10/10

Food

The feis had a concession stand with pizza, chips & other similar items.  There was not much variety or much of anything healthy, and prices were, in my young dancer’s words “a rip off”.   A small bottle of water was $3.50, and prices only went up from there.  However, there was no ban on outside food (although no coolers were allowed) at this feis, so those who prefer to bring their own food can do that.

Food Score:  5/10

Results/Awards

This is where this feis went south, in my opinion.  We waited almost 45 minutes for the results from my dancer’s last competition.  We wait until my dancer has completed all her dances to check results, so I don’t know if that was a fluke or the norm, but I did notice that many competitions were posted out of order, so it did seem like there was some trouble overall in this area.

Additionally, placements were very limited.  It appeared that only about 25% of the dancers in a competition were placed.  While I don’t believe every child needs to come away from every feis with an award, I do think that placing only 25% of the kids at such a large feis (and one that is close to the Oireachtas & therefore has a lot of VERY strong competition) is pretty stingy.

Medals were awarded for all grades placements, and large trophies were given out for 1st place in Open Prizewinner.  Both medals & trophies were very nice quality.

Results/Awards Score: 5/10

Feis Flow

For grades, this feis was run by dance.  Most stages were single age groups, but a few had 2 ages.  Because there are more grades dancers in the U9-U11 age groups than in others, this meant that dancers were not evenly distributed across the stages & some stages finished much earlier than others.

Additionally, due to its proximity to the Oireachtas, this feis attracts many ceili entries.  Several stages had to be held in the morning because dancers were dancing ceilis on other stages, so many dances were delayed immediately, which was unfortunate.

The feis organizers did move dances off the slower stages & on to open stages as the day progressed, but dancers in the large age groups definitely had a VERY long day.  My dancer started dancing around 9:30 and was not finished until nearly 4:00.

The lunch break was well communicated & dancing started up again promptly after 30 minutes, but not all stages took a lunch break at the same time, which was confusing & made it difficult for anyone with multiple dancers to eat lunch.

There was also an issue with one of the treble reels, which was to be held as the last dance on one of the stages, but was instead delayed for 3 hours while dancers on other stages finished.  Had all lunch breaks been taken at the same time, the Treble Reel could have been held at lunch, and dancers who were done soon after would not have had to sit around and wait for so long.

Feis Flow Score: 4/10

Overall Score:  6.5/10

Not bad overall.  We are not likely to return next year, as the long day was too much for my young dancer, but I would be willing to try this one again when she is older.

What Do You Think?

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Rock River Valley Feis 2014, Grades Review/0 Comments/in , , /by

downloadThe 2014 Rock River Valley Feis was held on September 6, 2014 at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles, IL. This is the 2nd time we have attended this feis, although the venue was different when we attended 2 years ago.

Venue

The feis was held at the Megacenter right next to the resort.  It is a small building with an open ballroom type area.  There was a small food court area near the front of the room.

Parking was free, plentiful & close – which was a nice change from many other feiseanna we have attended recently!

Registration and awards were right inside the entryway, and my dancer was checked in quickly and easily.

The feis had 6 stages this year – 4 for grades & 2 for PC/OC.  Stages were definitely on the small side, and even dancing 2/time, I saw several collisions due to the tight quarters.

Stage quality was a HUGE issue this year. My dancer’s stage saw many slips and falls, including one dancer who had to be helped off the stage & couldn’t put weight on the foot/ankle she injured.  I never saw an attempt at mopping or otherwise treating the stage to make things less slippery.  I know there were slips/falls on at least one of the PC/OC stages as well.

The stages were also FAR too close to each other.  With 6 stages playing music all at once within such a small area, it was impossible for dancers to hear their music clearly.

Vendors were the usual suspects – George the shoe guy, a t-shirt vendor, 4Irish dancers (who thankfully sold me a card of bobby pins when I realized we had forgotten ours!), and another hair/bling vendor.

Restrooms were plentiful, but were not restocked well, and several dispensers were out of soap for a couple of hours mid- morning.  One of the paper towel dispensers had stopped working by lunchtime as well.

There was no camping at all whatsoever.  Zucas and dress bags were piled all over the place & there was a lot of feis shaming going on in the minimal seating provided.

The bottom line is that this venue was simply too small for the entry cap.  Either the cap needs to be reduced, or a new venue with more room needs to be secured.

Overall Venue Score:  3/10

Judges

My dancer danced 5 times and was seen by 4 judges.  That’s very good rotation, in my opinion, especially for a feis that runs by level.  My dancers judges also provided detailed & helpful comments, which we appreciate, as that doesn’t always happen.

Judge Score: 9/10

Music

I honestly could not hear the music from my dancer’s stage (and I was not THAT far back).  My dancer said she had trouble hearing the music meant for her stage over music coming from other stages & she said most of the judges seemed to be having trouble as well.

Music Score:  5/10

Food

The feis had a small food court with hot dogs, chips & other similar items.  Not much variety or much of anything healthy, but prices seemed relatively reasonable.

Food Score:  6/10

Results/Awards

The speed at which results were posted varied throughout the day and by stage.  One dancer from our school waited over an hour for results for 2 dances both danced in the morning.  My dancer’s results were up much faster, but she danced later in the day, so perhaps whatever issues plagued the tabulation room in the morning were resolved by the afternoon.

The feis only placed approximately 30% of the dancers, which is low even for Mid America feiseanna (which typically place around 40%).  I personally like to see a little more generous placement, particularly given that entry fees for this feis were higher than fees for other area feiseanna.  Especially for younger novice/open dances who can become easily discouraged, to only place 6 dancers in a group of 23 (which works out to only about 25%) just seems a little stingy to me.  I’m not one who believes every kid needs to go home with an award of some kind every time, but I think this feis could stand to loosen the purse strings on the awards a little bit.

Results/Awards Score: 4/10

Feis Flow

For grades, this feis was run by level, which usually means most people are in & out fairly quickly, but the Rock N Reel (a soft shoe reel special danced to popular music) wreaked havoc on the flow.

For some reason, the Rock N Reel was scheduled to start at 9:30 (our prior experience with specials like this is that they typically run at lunch or at the end of the day), which appeared to be when the feis expected Beginner 2 dances to end & novice dances to start.  However, stages were not moving at an even pace, and some stages were ready for the RNR before that, and some weren’t ready until well after.

Because the RNR was simply grouped by level (& not by age), the fact that it ran at different times on different stages created stage conflicts for many dancers, which then slowed down all the grades stages considerably.  Additionally, the music was blasted & overpowered neighboring stages which were still running regular dances, making it virtually impossible for dancers to hear their music.

Some stages did stop altogether until the RNR dances were finished, but others continued to move dances through.  A consistent decision on how to handle this would have been helpful.

My dancer was one with a stage conflict due to the RNR & when I asked the volunteers how they would prefer we handle it, all I got was a shrug & a “do whatever you think is best”.  I assume they were just as frustrated with the lack of consistency as I was, but a pleasant response would have been nice.

There were inconsistencies in how many dancers at a time danced, which made some stages move faster than others, too.  On stage 6 I saw dancers dancing 3/time, but on stages 3 & 4, I only ever saw 2/time.

The feis did take only a 10 minute lunch break – they delivered lunch to the judges at the stages & allowed them a few minutes to eat & use the restroom & then things started right back up.  This was appreciated by everyone & is something other feiseanna could stand to try.

In the past, when my dancer has straddled 2 levels and we’ve attended a feis run by grade, we have  typically been in & out in 4 hours.  We were there for 8 hours this time, so double what is normal for a feis run in this manner.

Feis Flow Score: 3/10 (and it would have been lower had it not been for the quick lunch break)

Overall Score:  4/10

Sorry Rock River Valley, but the venue & the poor flow made it difficult to do any better than this.

What Did You Think?

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Chicago Feis 2014 Review/0 Comments/in , , /by

The 2014 Chicago Feis was held on May 25-26, 2014 at Chicago Gaelic Park in Oak Forest, IL. It is part of Chicago Gaelic Park’s annual Irish Fest, which is a 4 day festival. This is the 3rd year we have attended this feis, and it definitely has a different feel than many other feiseanna in our region.

Venue

Chicago Gaelic Park appears to be mainly a banquet facility. It is a smaller building that does not have a lot of room for people & seating, never mind zucas, dress bags, etc. It is an older building with limited bathroom facilities and questionable air conditioning.

On the bright side, there is a bar in one of the rooms …

Parking was free, but was in a grass lot near the facility. Unless you arrived early, you had a fairly long walk through dirt/mud in the parking lot & then through dust/rocks/mud once on the festival grounds, so changing into those bright white poodle socks AFTER you are in the building is advisable.

This feis does not charge a family fee, but does charge a $10 admission fee for all non-dancers in the party, payable at the entrance gate. This year there was a VERY long wait to pay your fee, have your bag checked, and get into the feis. I typically arrive over an hour before I conservatively estimate that my dancer will start dancing (so in reality 1.5-2 hours before she dances), and with the wait we had to get in this year, I got nervous enough about time that I actually started doing my dancer’s hair & wig while we were waiting in line.

Registration and awards were right outside the building, and my dancer was checked in quickly and easily. Volunteers were friendly & helpful.

The feis had 4 stages this year, and grades & PC/OC were run on separate days. 2 stages were in one room with a partition separating them. Another stage was in another room, and the final stage was outside (under an overhang, but still outside in my opinion), which made for some hot sweaty dancers, as Irish dance dresses & typical Chicago Memorial Day weather are not a great mix.

Stage quality was an issue this year (I had not seen any issues the previous 2 times we attended this feis) – my dancer’s stage saw many slips and falls, including one dancer who was carried off the stage & taken to the hospital. I never saw an attempt at mopping or otherwise treating the stage to make things less slippery.

Vendors were non-existent, except for a t-shirt seller, due to the availability of all kinds of items at the festival the feis was part of.

There was no camping at all whatsoever. Zucas and dress bags were piled all over the place & there was a lot of feis shaming going on in the minimal seating provided.

Rooms were extremely overcrowded, and dancers truly had trouble making their way up to the stage to check in for dances. I am honestly not sure the feis was in compliance with local fire codes, it was so crowded. Overcrowding has been an issue at this feis every year we’ve attended, but with a larger cap and the decision to run stages by dance rather than by level, things were significantly worse this year, to the point where I heard many complaints that the situation was simply unsafe.

Overall Venue Score: 4/10.

Judges

My dancer danced 6 times and was seen by 3 judges. That’s reasonably good rotation, all things considered.

Judge Score: 8/10

Music

It is hard for me to comment on music, because I really couldn’t hear it over all the noise from the crowds. My dancer said she was able to hear the music well enough, but did get some bleed over from the other stage in the room.

Music Score: 8/10

Food

The feis did have donuts & other breakfast foods for very reasonable prices. Drinks, including bottled water, were $1, which was a nice change from the usual overpriced concession stands at most feiseanna! (And did I mention the facility had a bar? 🙂 )

Lunch required you to venture out into the festival, where lines were long, choices were somewhat limited (especially for young children, who aren’t interested in Irish stew & the like), and prices were not great.

Food Score: 7/10

Results/Awards

Results were slower than molasses. By the time my dancer finished her last dance (and she did 6 that day), only her first 3 dances had results posted, and we waited over an hour for results from the other 3 dances. There was much complaining among parents & dancers alike about the speed (or lack thereof!) at which results were posted.

Additionally, results were not printed, but written by hand into a grid. As is human nature in a situation like that, there were some unfortunate errors. While there is certainly the potential for errors when results are printed & posted in that fashion, I am not a fan of the handwritten option at all.

The feis appeared to place between 30-40% of the dancers, which is fairly standard at Mid America feiseanna. I personally like to see a little more generous placement, but I do appreciate that this feis does keep entry fees fairly low & I understand that they would have to raise fees if they placed more dancers. I would also point out that the awards they give out are VERY nice quality – heavy well made medals & nice ribbons.

Results/Awards Score: 5/10

Feis Flow

For grades, this feis was run by dance, with First Feis & Beg 1 going first, then Beg 2/Novice/Open following. This is not my favorite way to run things, because I do feel it makes for a very long day, but I thought things flowed well until the lunch break. The break was supposed to be an hour (which is about 30 minutes too long in my opinion, but when food was only available at the festival, it was only fair to give people some time to get food & eat, so I understand), but turned into a 2 hour ordeal, which really put a damper on the day.

Feis Flow Score: 6/10

Overall Score: 6/10

Sorry Chicago Feis, but the overcrowding, slow down in the afternoon and issues with results made it tough to do any better than this.

What Did You Think?

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Naperville, IL Eats

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We had the opportunity to spend a little time in Naperville after the Chicago Autumn Feis and I wanted to mention a few places that may be worth a visit if you are a food fan.

Quigley’s Irish Pub

Guiness SnakebiteQuigley’s is on Jefferson, pretty much in downtown Naperville. It is a nice place and has that dark, wood paneled walls and big booths atmosphere you would find in a pub in Ireland, they even got the smell right. Nice cold pints and some pretty decent Irish food make it a nice place for a beer after a hard morning of feisin’, or for a lunch, dinner or just a snack.

I had a lamb stew with some Irish bread that was pretty good and their chips went really well with the beer. There were some kid options so everyone was able to find something they wanted. I heard the Reuben rolls are worth a trip there all by themselves.

It was a bit pricey for a meal and feeding the family, but a pint and some chips wouldn’t set you back to much. Definitely worth a visit.

Le Chocolat du Bouchard

chocolateLe Chocolat du Brochard on Washington is also downtown, just a short walk from Quigleys. It is easily the most outrageous chocolate store I have ever been in, and has a huge selection of custom confections.

After browsing and asking questions of the extremely helpful staff, we made some selections and then stepped next door to the attached cafe for an espresso to have with our chocolates. In addition to coffees, the cafe has specialty drinks and desserts, and is a perfect ending to a walk around Naperville.

There is a little sticker shock at the price per pound for the chocolates, but it is a nice treat and highly recommended.

Chicago Autumn Feis 2013

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caf2013_logoThe 11th Annual Chicago Autumn Feis was held on Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the North Central College in Naperville, IL. This is the second time I have attended this feis, the last when it was held back to back with the Prairie State Feis at Ho-Chunk back in 2011. I liked that venue better 😉

Venue

The feis was held in the indoor track of North Central College and it could be great venue if there weren’t 9 gazillion people at the feis. Very crowded with inadequate camping is the best way to describe it.

caf2013

See, 9 gazillion people, and it was this crowded from one end of the hall to the other.

8 stages surrounded the outer walls of the huge room. Stages 1 – 4 and 7 were for Teams and First Feis through Prizewinner, and 5, 6 and 8 were for Champ dances.  All the stages seemed to be 24 x 20 or larger, but it was hard to tell on some because they were covered with the black material that is becoming more popular at feiseanna. The black covered ones ‘I think’ were all PC/OC stages and were a bit bigger.

Stages were separated nicely and seemed to have good space between them. (Someone remind me to start getting stage pics will ya, that might be helpful).

I saw no slips or falls and I saw mopping going on on at least Stage 7 at lunch time.

Seating was in chairs with additional seating on metal bleachers set up behind the chairs, and seemed to be adequate, at least for the stage we were at. There was a LOT of standing all around the venue so I may be wrong on the amount of seating, or people were just tired of sitting.

RANT – Whoever decided it was a good idea to fill the front row of seats at stage 8 with their gear, and only occupy no more than half the chairs, and typically only one or two, throughout the day, you were wrong, not a good idea and actually kind of rude. There are plenty of people who did not need to be navigating those thin bleacher steps who were much better suited for using those front row seats more than your stuff. Sorry, but if you aren’t going to use the chairs, move your crap. – END RANT

Camping was very limited and although I like good vendors (and this feis had good vendors), they took up entirely too much room in the center of the hall. I think if this feis returns to this venue, that needs to be thought out a bit better, less space between vendors and more camping.

Parking, eeeessh, don’t get me started. We dropped off and parked about 1/2 mile from the venue. Could be, in fact 97% sure it is, the worst feis parking I have seen.

Judges

Since we are in PC (see how I said we… OK, OK, TGC is PC now) and are judged differently, I did not notice the Judge rotation, in fact, that is not the only thing that I was not as attentive to, and this may be the beginning a ‘feis review transition learning curve’ now that TGC is in the ‘big time’  😉

There were 16 judges scheduled at the feis, and if there were 9 taken up by the 3 PC/OC stages, that would have left 7 for the remaining 5 stages. There were enough to rotate, and I did see at least 1 judge change on the stage we were on, but I did not notice if all three changed or just one.

Anyone notice the judge rotation and if so, would you mind sharing in the comments?

Musicians

Every stage had their own, always a plus, and I heard no complaints about musical confusion (aka bleed over), but it was really loud in some areas so I am not sure how it was for the dancers.

Food

A local company catered the event and they had a nice variety of items at reasonable prices. Salads, sandwiches, pop corn, nachos, fruit cups, hotdogs etc… all less than $5. They did seem to run out of sandwiches pretty quick though.

Vendors

They had a real nice assortment of vendors at this feis, but my buddy George was not there. Shoes and wigs of course, and lots of knits and ceramics, sweatshirts and other items, and I was able to buy and share with my family Smarties, aka Irish M&Ms that I first had from my GrandMums shop on Achill Island in Ireland (insert lovely flashback to the lighthearted days of youth music). Short of the Michigan Irish Music Fest or the Dublin Irish Festival that have coinciding feiseanna, this was one of the better Irish swag collections. They had feis tshirts stuck off in a corner, so hidden I almost missed it, and I thought their prices were a bit high, $50 for a hoodie with a sticker on it? Come on…

Results & Awards

Results and awards were at the far end of the venue, right next to each other so they were convenient. Although I was not frantically checking the results wall like in every previous feis I have been to, I tried to make a point of gauging how soon results were being posted, and if I had to guesstimate, I would say it was in the 30 minute range, so not spectacular.

This was also my first experience with the PC award process. I thought that was a bit ‘tedious’ for our first time out, and it was about 2.5 hours from the end of the dancing till the announcing of the standings. There was a lunch in there and there were A LOT of dancers in the comp (if you follow me on Facebook, I posted on Saturday that there was about 150 dancers in the comp… I was j/k, it just seemed that way). I really have no prior experience to compare this too so I guess time will tell.

Once again, feedback from other attendees on either of these points appreciated.

Feis Flow

We got there early because I am really anal about not being late, and TGC wanted to be ready for anything. She did not dance till after 11 so there was a lot of ‘killing-time’ in the interim. The stage she was on kept a good pace though, and even with all the dancers in her comp, she was done dancing in about an hour.

Looking at the schedule for other stages, I would guess that there are probably a variety of opinions on the flow. Some stages had comps with only had 2 or 3 dances between individual dances, and some had 7 to 10 dances between. It seems like some of the other dance Moms I spoke with throughout the day were there for a long time, and there was one or two that were done right around lunch time. I did not however hear any grumbling from anyone.

Scoring

Here is where I usually do all that math, but for this feis, I felt so distracted with everything around our recent status change, I did not catch as many details as I would have liked. If I had to summarize, the parking, limited camping and the crowdedness, were the negatives, but it was not a bad feiseanna. If I had to give it a score, for you number crunchers out there, I would say a solid 7.

What Say You?

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Rock River Valley Feis 2013

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The Rock River Valley Feis was held on September 7th, 2013 at the Pheasant Run Resort Mega Center, in St. Charles, IL. This is the point in the feis weekend where I tell you what I thought about the feis, the venue, judging, musicians, etc… you know the drill. This one however, is going to be different.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that our trip to Illinois didn’t turn out as planned, and we ended up in the ER Friday night when The Girl Child hurt her foot practicing. By Saturday morning we realized that competing was out for the day, but we were near the venue, and her foot was ok to walk in the funky shoe they gave her at the hospital, so we decided to stop by and support some of TGC’s dance classmates.

We were only there for a about an hour and a half, and since TGC didn’t dance, I really did not have time to do a full review. I do have some general observations however, so I thought I would share them here with the hopes some of you who were there longer, and competed, can add your comments.

Remember this is an observation based on a  very short visit, so here goes.

Some Negatives

The venue was EXTREMELY crowded and noisy. We had a hard time moving around and there did not seem to be adequate camping space. I think this was the most crowded venue I have been in, and it was slightly claustrophobic, and this is coming from someone who was on submarines in the Navy.

The stages were right next to each other with very little separation, and while each of them had there own musician, I thought there was a lot of musical confusion in the room. I overheard one musician saying that she was being drowned out by the musicians on either side of her, so I cannot imagine what it might have been like for the dancers.

I only watched a few comps on the PC stage at the back of the room, and saw some slips and 2 falls. There seemed to be a lot of ‘stuff’ on the stage, and I saw some audience members point out hazards on the stage. So, stage maintenance seemed a bit lax, at least on the stage I watched.

Some Positives

Although we didn’t check any of our own scores, TGC checked results for her friends comp on FeisWorx, and was able to pull up the results within about 30 minutes after the comp ended. That’s pretty good.

I could not find a competitors list on the feis site, and while some would consider that a negative, I do not. After some of my previous posts on feis safety, I am starting to watch how feiseanna do things, and I appreciate the fact that they are protecting the privacy of the dancers. Um, someone let me know if I just missed it online 😉

The other thing that I do not recall seeing in the past, that I noticed this feis did, is that they provided changing areas for the dancers on the side of the venue. While I still saw some girls changing in the ‘open’, I like the fact that a more private area was provided.

What did you think?

I know, that is brief, so how would you rate it? Please add additional comments below. I would love to hear what I missed because of my limited visit.

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Rock River Valley Feis Review

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The Rock River Valley Feis was held on September 8th, 2012 at the Wellness and Sports Center, Harper College in Palatine, IL.

Venue – I thought the Wellness and Sports Center was a nice venue. Everything was in close proximity to the stages and there was room to move around, more so than some recent feiseses.

There were 6 stages all within what most of us would call a basketball arena. The OC and PC stages were in the center, taking up most of the basketball court, and were a really good size. There were three stages on one end of the court, smaller and a little close together, and then one on the other end of the court, similarly small, and off by itself. If there  was a negative comment, I would say that the three that were together were too close and that music bleed from one stage to the next apparently made it hard for some judges to focus on the dancers on their stage (valid concern not smartbutt remark like you may have come to expect from me).

The ‘arena’ was two floors tall and the top of the bleachers on one side exited into the vendor area, and the bottom on the same side exited into the results area. The concession was at one end of the arena, and awards and registration were just a short walk down the hall.

Parking was great and there was lots of it. There was a bit of walk if you didn’t get there early enough, or refused to park in staff parking (I probably could have but it was marked staff only, and there are a college cop giving out tickets).

If there were any negatives to the venue, its that the bleachers were hard to navigate for smaller children and older people, and there was no good place to display used dresses for sale. Dresses were hung on the end of the bleachers and there were literally(probably) a 100 dresses hung over the top of one another in a small space. Bad selling and buying experience.

The first issue is hard to fix but the second one should be easy 🙂

Venue Score: 9

Judges – My daughter danced five dances and was judged by four different judges. Good rotation.

Judge Score: 10

Music – Each stage had their own musician and I did not see any of them take a break. I also liked that there was variety, accordion, violin/fiddle, flute etc… Nice mix.

Musician Score: 10

Food – A local pub catered the event, the food was good and the prices were very fair. Not a lot of variety and no hotdog/hamburger things that may have appealed to more people, but I didnt hear any complaints.

Food Score: 8.5

Vendors – A feis tshirt guy, and George the shoe guy… do you see a pattern here? They also had some nice jewelry, the wig lady, and some gifty things. I really like shirts and I am a big guy and not much catered to my taste, but it was a good selection otherwise. You can see the vendor list here.

Vendor Score: 7.5

Results – very well done. Out in 15 minutes or less for most dances and results were right outside the stage area. Awards were just around the corner……. They did not tweet results (I think) which would have been nice, but I did notice they had posted results on their Facebook Page which I found later and am not sure if they were doing that during the feis.

If there were any ‘issues’ with the results/awards, it was the awards table. Those people were doing their best but you know how it is, all the girls wait till the end, flock the table, and there was no lines there. The awarders were passing notebooks with results back and forth, so there was no telling where you should line up and I heard one or two moms getting a little testy. Thankfully, I found our stage notebook right away and fended off the testy moms while the nice lady gave the DD her awards. I can see where it could have been handled better though. Sorry -2 extra points for the awards distribution.

Results Score: 7

Feis Flow – I thought this feis was well run but I heard a lot of griping from parents. I realize though that the gripers were the ones who didnt get started till after lunch and if they are like me, they get to the feis early so as not to miss anything.

They kept the age group dances close together and although we did not get started till 245, my DD had 5 dances done and scored by 415. Thats pretty darn good.

They had a lunch break, and that is when they did their Rock and Reel which, although a lot of fun, took a long time to get started and finish which added to the length of the day. That was one of the main griping points for some of those afternoon parents I mentioned earlier. I didn’t think it was horrible.

Feis Flow Score: 7

And the WTF Rating – Pretty darn good with a WTF Rating is 8.42.