My name is Amy in Ohio and I am one of the Elevator 13. For forty life-altering minutes, I shared a space the size of my closet with these women (and by closet I mean red fur coated death chamber of hell/tanning bed):
Jennifer PlayGroups Are No Place for Children
Victoria Vdog + Little Man
Heather – The Spohrs Are Multiplying
Heather – The Queen of Shake Shake
Emily – DesignHer Momma
Amy – Amy in Ohio
Hebba – JeepGirl17
Shannan – Mommy Bits
Alli (our prego!)- Blessed Treehouse
Sandy – Organize with Sandy
Jenny – Mommin’ It Up
Dawn – Kaiser Alex
Cortney – Once A Month Mom
I’ve recently been committed to a mental institution (Hotel Preston: expect the bill). I may have been one of the ones guilty nervous flatulence, but in my defense, I was too busy trying not to hurl on Vdog (you’re welcome) to control ALL of my body parts.
I’m not going to do the play-by-play. My therapist thinks that I should save that for group and we have cookies at group. You can however check out these amazing posts (or as I like to call them “Exhibits A B C D E F G and H your honor”).
Okay, I gotta take my meds now and then it’s straight to arts and crafts hour.
Amy in OHio 
19 comments
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February 10, 2009 at 11:42 am
AMomTwoBoys
I’m FURIOUS for you. Wacky things are ONLY supposed to happen to you in an elevator when I’m there.
As I mentioned to Heather, see Exhibit B, I would DEFINITELY make sure the hotel’s GM knows the situation and also knows the social media buzz you’re getting. Their lack of attention to the matter is UNBELIEVABLE.
Also, be sure Allie is on your side. You were members of a group she brought to the hotel (read $$$$$) and they need to make sure she’s happy so she keeps hosting her conference there. Which means she needs to make sure her attendees are happy and treated properly, which you CLEARLY were not.
Glad you’re safe. Enjoy your cookies. MWAH.
February 10, 2009 at 11:48 am
Sandy
You can expect Hotel Preston to pay….oh lets say $.50 of your therapy bill…maybe! But you will have to fight for that .50 and let them know that it doesn’t matter how many d#%? people are on board…the only thing that matters is the weight limit. I felt like I was in trouble with the manager as he was telling me that we need to be responsible adults and he can’t be the Elevator police!
Thank you for keeping your cookies in your tummy as I am sure we would have had 12 other people adding to your droppings on V-dog if you had.
February 10, 2009 at 11:54 am
Emily at Mommin It Up
OMG Amy, this is definitely my favorite #elevator post of all time. I am crying I’m laughing so hard. red fur coated death chamber of hell/tanning bed? Where do you come up with this stuff??
SO FUN hanging out with you this weekend..can’t wait to do it again!
February 10, 2009 at 2:15 pm
VDog
If you’re gonna spew, spew in this.
#snort
luv u babe!
February 10, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Amazing Greis...
LOL! Wow, if I get stuck in an elevator at Blogher I definitely hope you and the other 12 ladies are with me, it would definitely keep me sane and laughing.my.ass.off.
Did someone say cookies? I like cookies!!!!
February 10, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Maura
If you decide you want to bust out of there early, let me know and I’ll send in a cake with a nail file or something. Those group sessions can be torture. Or so I hear.
February 10, 2009 at 3:41 pm
To Think Is To Create
If I had been there I *so* would’ve taken the blame for the nervous toots.
So glad everyone is no longer Lost.
xoxo
February 10, 2009 at 4:46 pm
heather...
I admitted to the flatulence post-rescue. Although now that I think about it, if I’d said something while we were still in the elevator, I might have been allotted more space!
February 10, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Steven Hoida
Dear Amy,
I believe we may have already spoken by phone but felt it equally important to respond to your blog regarding your experience at the Hotel Preston this weekend (I plan to post this same note to the other hotel guests’ blogs that were involved in the incident as well). We are passionate about our guests and know you have many choices when traveling to Nashville thus please accept my personal apology specific to the elevator incident.
I understand from your blog post that you were unable to get an immediate response from the hotel team. We had our Manager on duty at the time working hand in hand with the elevator engineer to insure he moved swiftly in getting all passengers out of the lift. Unfortunately this caused our Manager not to be present when the guests exited to personally insure their well being. I can share with you with confidence we have never had an elevator delay occur when the maximum number of people did not exceed 7 people per elevator and it is unfortunate the capacity posting in the elevator was not read by our patrons.
As a result of this incident and to insure we do not have guests faced with this situation in the future we are scheduling follow up training with our internal management and staff in coordination with the elevator company to improve upon our timeliness in the rare case this ever occurs again.
I also agree with the suggestion to install additional signage outside of the elevators on the lobby and lower lobby level to complement the maximum capacity of 7 patrons that is already posted inside the cabs. We have begun working with our sign company to implement signs in these locations.
My belief is that this situation would not have occurred had it been clearer to our hotel guests.
As a gesture of goodwill on the hotel’s behalf I have taken the liberty of adjusting $50 + tax off of each of the 13 guests’ hotel bill who was impacted by the elevator delay.
In addition, I will personally provide to each of the 13 guests a special rate on a future stay with us and include complimentary breakfast to demonstrate our usual exemplary service from our team and insure a flawless future visit.
I appreciate your patronage at the Preston during the Blissdom ’09 conference and look forward to seeing you in the future.
Please feel free to contact me directly to further discuss your experience – my direct line is 615-367-0339 or via e-mail – steve@hotelpreston.com and I remain at your service.
Sincerely,
Steven Hoida
General Manager
Hotel Preston
February 10, 2009 at 6:06 pm
amomtwoboys
Wow. Steven Hoida is really good at cutting & pasting his letter.
The PR sensibilities of Hotel Preston’s staff are seriously lacking.
And aren’t they kind to offer you a $50 comp since getting stuck in the elevator was YOUR fault for not reading the sign.
Seriously, my blood is boiling right now.
February 10, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Natalia Burleson
OK this Steve dude really needs to take a customer service class. The complaint isn’t about the elevator getting stuck, it’s about the way you all were treated and the lack of communication WHILE you were stuck AND the fact that nobody from the hotel could be bothered to be there when the doors opened to make sure everyone was OK. They suck!
Sorry that happened to you guys!
February 11, 2009 at 10:53 am
Michelle Smiles
I’m actually almost more put off by the “apology” than I was by hearing that no one from the staff was there when you exited. I believe the sign was posted not to exceed an maximum # of lbs (which would be hard to do without each person carrying a largish farm animal) not a certain number of individuals. Seriously Steve, next time just say “we are very very sorry, our bad, and here is $50 to hopefully make it up to you”. That will go over much better.
Anywhoo, we didn’t meet but I saw you around – howdy. I’m from Ohio too so I always feel drawn to the other Ohioans floating around conferences…but now dwell in Nashvegas.
February 11, 2009 at 11:56 am
Anon
I can’t even remember how I found out about this little debacle, through StumbleUpon or some such. As an outside party, I can’t help but comment. If there were panic attacks and a pregnant woman and all this going on, why didn’t one of YOU call 911? Oh, right, you would have had to stop twittering.
Personal responsibility takes another step toward the grave.
February 11, 2009 at 12:01 pm
AmyInOhio
As a fan of personal responsibility, how about leaving your name there Anon? Oh that’s right it’s so much easier to be judge and jury when your name isn’t on the line. Bitchiness is such a treat at the hands of the nameless, faceless stranger.
Just an FYI since you’ve shown such concern, we were told by the front desk at the hotel that emergency services had been called, as such, no one attempted a second call to 911, what with being assured it had already happened. To our surprise the emergency services they were referring to emergency elevator services. My bad for not having a crystal ball to understand their true meaning.
February 11, 2009 at 12:27 pm
mommysnacks
This is some funny stuff, right here? Even funnier is when an anon commenter comes in to try to judge too! Anon, thanks for getting me to laugh at that because I LURVE me some cryptic anon comments fo shizzle!!!
And, let’s be honest – the traffic u all are getting from this elevator debacle has to be worth more than the $50 credit, right? So, it’s a nice gesture and all but the material you are coming up w/ is so much better 🙂 Although, I’m still very glad I wasn’t in the ” red fur coated death chamber of hell/tanning bed” because it did remind me of a place where @Room704 might be filming soon..just sayin’!
February 11, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Heather @ Domestic Extraordinaire
What I don’t understand is if the night manager was so busy why they couldn’t send some representative of the hotel to the lobby. Glad you all were okay-I will have to check my bank statement to see if they credited us, if they do I will let you know!
February 11, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Photoqueen
Wow! I just came in to agree with you about the hideous elevator decor and extend my sympathies for your ordeal. (I was at Blissdom, but didn’t get the chance to meet you!) But, um, that’s some “apology” letter. I wish we were in person, so I could actually use finger quotes on that apology. What a crazy mess!
Most of all, I’m glad you all are okay!!
February 11, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Stella B
yikes…I just saw P at school yesterday….to think she was so close to being a motherless waif!
February 11, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Eating the Bliss « Amy in OHio
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