The Next Stage

So lately I have been teasing social media with some "great news" that I have. My apologies for not sharing it sooner, at first I was waiting for it to be final, then, once it was final, well, life got in the way... but that is a story for another blog post!

Two weeks ago my boss informed me that he had just turned in his two week notice.

And no, that isn't the great news. In fact, to really explain what is going on, I should go back even further...

I started working for AVT Event Technologies in March of 2012. I had just moved to Austin and needed something to pay the bills, and this part-time job was the best I could find.

I was stationed at the Omni Austin Hotel Downtown. Specifically my job title was "Event Technology Professional," which is just a fancy name for "setting and striking conference AV equipment." We had several ballrooms and many meeting spaces, and as groups large and small came in we would set up audio visual equipment for them; mostly this meant projectors and microphones but sometimes it was video cameras, lighting, pipe and drape, you know, stuff like that. (Those of you that follow me on social media have probably seen some of our big sets.)

So, for any given day my job would be to set the next day's AV, strike the previous day's AV, and/or help clients get their AV up and going. I often said "My job is to set what we just struck, and to strike what we just set."

The Downtown location was where I worked on a daily basis but I would often visit other properties when they needed an extra hand; primarily I would visit the Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark location (for you Austinites it is on the corner of 71 and 35). This was a much smaller property but my job was pretty much the same.

In May of 2013 one of the employees at Southpark quit and because I often worked over there they offered me a full-time position at that location. It would mean leaving the beautiful downtown location and all of the great coworkers I knew well there, but it would be a promotion from part-time to full-time and the drive was a bit shorter, so on May 10th I officially transferred to Southpark.

Fast forward six months. One Thursday morning my boss informed me that he had just turned in his two week notice. An hour later I got a call from his boss saying "When I heard the news that he was leaving you were the first person I thought of to replace him" (which I readily took as a compliment). It wasn't an official offer, but it got the ball rolling!

The next week was a flurry of activity. A few days after the ball started rolling I had an interview (of sorts) which apparently went well because a few days after that I received an official offer to take over my boss's empty seat!

Taking his job would mean a huge promotion over my current position. My current position focuses on setting up and tearing down equipment while being the on-site face of AVT. Taking this promotion would put me in charge of managing the AV for the entire property. It would mean managing other employees, selling to clients (lost and lots of selling), killing lots of trees (also known as "paperwork"), and in general being an ambassador for the hotel. It would also include a raise, increased benefits, even a bonus (depending on how well the property does). Of course it would also mean huge amounts of responsibility which means pressure and stress.

After weighing all sides of this issue I accepted the offer. That means that starting Saturday, October 19th, I will be the Director of Event Technologies at the Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark. [Note: Yes, that is TODAY!]

It is an honor to be offered this position (I still feel young, I am not even 29 yet!) and I am overjoyed at what this means for me, but I also know that it will be extremely stressful and downright tiring. Please pray with me that God would bring me peace and understanding, that my training would go well, that I enjoy my new position, that I would have wisdom in all of my tasks, and that He would support me in what might be the toughest stage of my life. Amen.

Matthew

PS: Again, I apologize for not sharing this sooner. I have been silly busy this last week, and it will only get worse the next few weeks as I get used to my new position. I actively did not share the "great news" until a) it was final and b) I had a chance to tell the story I wanted to tell; that having been said, I now consider it "public" and will discuss it openly and freely now. That means that if you have any questions about my promotion or what it means for me, please don't hesitate to ask, I will answer it as best I can. Thank you again for your love and support, it means more to me than you know!