Erwin

I first met Erwin when I was a banquet server and he was the newly appointed food & beverage director at The Ritz-Carlton, Boston. I remember walking into his office on the third floor back in the corner and he was not there. Of course, I could not resist the temptation to walk in and sniff around to see what the new guy was all about.
What I quickly discovered was that he was by far the neatest, cleanest senior leader with whom I have ever encountered and I thought, this old girl (the hotel, not me - I was young and thin back then) is in for some scrubbing! But it was refreshing to have someone concerned about the cleanliness which is very reflective of the service our guests would come to expect.
As the departmental trainer with my dear friend Shane; Erwin was very supportive and drove training and he challenged us to train the other banquet servers on a la carte service. So we did and it was hard considering Tito, Tri Do and some of the others; who we all loved but steak Diane and filleting Dover Sole table-side wasn't everyone's expertise!
Erwin moved on to his next adventure and left the food & beverage operation a better place. Cleaner too!
A few years later Boston was bursting at the seams and needed a second Ritz-Carlton so our sexy, younger sister Boston Common was born under the careful watch and acute detail of Erwin.
At this juncture, I had moved on in my career and opened the hotel as Director of Training & Development and it was a pleasure working with Erwin again and in this new capacity. He has always been a big supporter of human resources and especially training; ensuring i's were dotted (twice, just in case) and t's crossed. Karen Kane was the opening director of HR and I remember this specific day as vividly as if it happened a half hour ago.
The somewhat sceptical Millennium Partners leadership team invited us to share our Ritz-Carlton training and we offered to come to their offices at the Residences. We offered to bring the coffee, muffins, donuts, etc. from Dunkin Donuts as only Karen Kane would have it. Karen and I agree to meet at the 'old girl' and trek over to Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Tremont and Boylston so we can walk over to the MP offices for the presentation. What we did not count on was the torrential downpour, 'summer showers' that left us soaking wet, drowned wash women. We are running in, dripping wet from the core of our beings, setting up and trying to be as composed as possible in light of our weathered state. And in comes Erwin. Pristine, bone dry, not a hair out of place, not a speck of dust on his mirrored glass polished shoes. I looked up wondering where the helicopter landed to drop him off in this condition.
9/11 gave us the bottom low to a very exciting high just days before when Erwin, the proud parent, joined the VIP's cutting the ribbon to warmly welcome The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common to our fair city. After 14 years of my time in Boston, I moved on to New Orleans and I will not soon forget Erwin's heartwarming gratitude and farewell to me remembering most my genuine smile. It is easy for me to smile because I loved the company and the reason had nothing to do with the cobalt blue, the lion's head or the 400 thread count sheets; rather the people who took the philosophy, the CREDO off the page and brought it to life. It was Erwin who taught me not just the words of the CREDO early in my career, but what it meant by his actions every day, every time.
As the good fortune of fate would have, both Erwin and I returned to Boston; he to The Ritz-Carlton and me to The Boston Park Plaza. The Park had an identity crisis in terms of brand and positioning and the GM, EC rallied together to align, focus and come up with a compass to move us in the right direction. Erwin graciously offered a magnificent meeting space for us and, no surprise, world class, impeccable service as we came together for a two day EC planning meeting. Knowing Erwin was quoted in the Gold Standard book, I thought what better nuance to add to my presentation on brand but to have him present to the group. It is always a little risky going from one hotel company to another and not over-selling your past passion but I thought I don't know ANY other hotel company or person who drives brand with more vigor or passion than Ritz-Carlton and Erwin himself.
He agreed to meet with us and present to the team. He only had a segment of time of which he went over nearly double - hard to bottle up that passion and limit it to a specified time! After he left, the EC team of The Boston Park Plaza was ignited and our story began with not just a new chapter, rather, a new book! Stuart Meyerson, our GM, said to us, 'Whatever we decide on how our branding will unroll, we ALL need to deliver it with that level of sincerity and PASSION!'
Erwin will be missed and ever remembered with a smile (and a dust pan!) and something tells me our paths will path again with much joy.
Thank you for including me in this! All the best and much success to you Erwin and thank you for all you have done.

18

This Friday, June 10, 2011 my son Shane turns 18. Before he was born, I started writing him a book. It is in a beautiful leather bound note book with and angel on the cover, his guardian angel. On the inside cover I quoted 2Timothy 1 6 7 ...Stir into flame the gift of God which is within you... for the spirit that God gave us...One to inspire strength, love and self-discipline... is an inspirational, spiritual excerpt that touched my life a long time ago. I wrote it down on a piece of paper many years ago and have kept it with me. Very few have ever seen it from me.
Dear Shane,
Before you were born, I promised myself I would write a book to you. Not necessarily a book with distinct chapters nor any real format, but one to document feelings and experiences so I can share them with you. When I first thought of the idea, I decided to present this book to you on or around your 18th birthday. There is a lot I still don't understand, but your existence has made me incredibly wise.
Next Friday is your first birthday, so this leaves me seventeen years to finish this - I'll do my best. I frist started this in a notebook that has been falling apart. I think this book is better equipped to stand the test of time.
Anyway - you haven't even been born yet so I better get crackin'! I started the book in early November at a small cafe in Beacon Hill called Rebecca's located on Charles Street in the old meeting house. I actually was working for Rebecca (an amazingly talented chef!) when your mom and I found out you were coming. It was a catering job at an old library in Beacon Hill (The Boston Athenæum, a membership library, first opened its doors in 1807, and its rich history as a library and cultural institution has been well documented in the annals of Boston’s cultural life. Today we remain a vibrant and active institution that serves a wide variety of members and scholars) Your mom was working on her masters degree at Northeastern and was scheduled for a class. But her mother's instinct kicked in and she had a feeling she was pregnant. Ideally, she would have wanted both of us there when she took the test and make a big dinner, have some wine and make it a celebration! But she did it on her own and tracked me down at work. She called Rebecca's hysterically because she expected the test to be negative and it was positive. Positively wonderful!