Christmas Receptions
Christmas time is upon us and so are Christmas parties. I was invited by a friend of mine to a Christmas reception at the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan – one of the nicest hotels in Sofia. The reception was thrown by the Sheraton for “Friends of the Sheraton”, whatever that means. I didn’t have an official invite to the event, but I think it was understood that each ticket holder could bring a guest – at least that’s what I decided it meant. Plus, I’m pretty sure I must have stayed in a Sheraton hotel at some point in my life so felt fully justified in attending any event whose invitees were the “Friends of the Sheraton.” As the hotel is quite exclusive, I dug out my blue blazer in an attempt to fit in (or at least not stand out) with the other invited guests. Plus, it would ensure less hassles in the unlikely event someone was guarding the door looking for tickets. Business attire with an American accent can go a long way in this town.
The “reception” was significantly more extravagant than what I had anticipated. There were probably a couple hundred people in attendance. The event had an open bar, a full buffet dinner (but only a few tables to eat of off – not very good foresight on the Sheraton’s part there), and a live band for musical entertainment. Aside from having to balance my plate of food and glass of wine while I ate standing up, I was quite happy with the event thus far.
While sipping my wine I noticed a jar full of business cards off in the distance. If there is one thing I excel at, it is seeking out free stuff. This skill goes all the way back to my childhood when I would regularly bring home random pieces of junk from the street. Hey, it was free! After a bit of loitering around the business card jar I was able to ascertain that there would be a drawing for prizes later in the evening. I had no idea what the prizes were, but by the looks of the event they were probably going to be pretty good. Luckily, I always have a collection of business cards on me. To prevent any action from the prize sponsors I will only say that I placed somewhere between 1 and infinity of my cards in the jar.
After three more runs to the dessert table the time for drawing from the jar had come. The Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan is owned by a Greek company who also owns a number of luxury hotels throughout Greece. They were sponsoring this reception and providing the prizes. The first winner they called out received two nights in the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan. Not too bad. The MC who was calling out the prizes had the first winner pull out the next card. The MC took the card and called out the name.
“Ryan Lyford .”
Say what?
“Ryan Lyford “
That’s me! I walked up to the stage with a massive grin on my face.
“You have won two free nights at the Athena Grand Hotel in Athens.”
Who’s the big winner? Ryan’s the big winner! I had just won two free nights plus breakfast at the Athena Grand Hotel in Athens Greece . The voucher is good for one year. I felt like a million bucks. After I collected my gift I left the hotel. Why do you ask? Well, not that I personally put more than one card in the jar, but on the off chance more than one of my card had somehow mysteriously made it into the jar through warps in the space-time continuum – well, it would have been a bit embarrassing to win twice.
On the way out the Sheraton was giving away gift bags including such things as a bottle of wine, a cookbook, fruit bread, a Santa Claus candle holder, a T-shirt, chocolates and a variety of other random gifts. Everyone at the reception got one of these gift bags – for free. Double score. I walked out of the hotel a very happy man.
Thank you Sheraton for your exceptional generosity. It will not be forgotten when I become a billionaire and must decide which luxury hotel I will stay at.
