Bartending is like PR, but there’s tequila
I enjoy working hard and keeping busy, and it’s in that vein that I decided to get a second job as a bartender at a wedding venue (and having a second kid on the way is expensive).
My drink-making skills were honed during my college years at my apartment, where I frequently poured Busch Light into a comically large, boot-shaped glass before turning on my PlayStation and wasting my life away playing video games. Nowadays, I like tequila and bourbon straight. So, to say that I had any drink-making experience before a couple months ago would be generous. Unless you like Busch Light in a boot!
Standing behind the bar for the first time was overwhelming to say the least. Everything was moving fast. I was spilling things everywhere. I had no idea where anything was and for some reason I couldn’t tell the difference between the Bacardi Rum bottle and the Ketel One Vodka bottle. I am sure a few of my lucky guests enjoyed their first ever rum and cranberry juice cocktail! About two hours into my first shift, I realized that I was using my PR brain to cope with my lack of mixology skills.
I have always liked the people management side of the PR business. Of course we have press releases, one-pagers, media pitches and all our other tactics that are common in our line of work, but at its core PR is about managing people when their expectations are high, time is short, and things are moving fast. And if that isn’t a crowded bar at a wedding, I don’t know what is.
PR can be all about managing expectations, keeping people calm, keeping people happy, and making sure small problems don’t turn into huge issues. A wedding is basically that exact same thing, just with an open bar and family drama.
When a stressed-out mother of the bride comes to the bar complaining about the timeline, you don’t just pour her a chardonnay. You give her a calm smile, reassure her that everything is fine, and talk her down off the ledge. When a groomsman who’s had three too many decides he wants to double-fist tequila before speeches start, you smoothly pivot him to a soda water with a lime and keep him smiling. So far, I have put a high value on keeping things light with the people I have the opportunity to serve. That’s what I really see as a common thread between these two jobs. We serve our clients at Resch Strategies with the best we can offer. We try to be as thoughtful, precise and professional as possible. All while putting out great work for the people we have the opportunity to serve. At the bar, we do the same thing. The only difference is the noise level.
Cheers!