KCB Boiler Room After Hours: At Your Service
Last week’s event was quite different than what’s come before.
Sitting on the panel was Design Director Cory Gans of Planeta Design Group; Liz Cahill, partner at ART Architects; and Director of Residences, Operations, and Facilities at Mandarin Oriental Edward Dustin. As usual, Kevin served as moderator.
Hours before the panel started—around 4:40pm—“Simmering Scent,” a eucalyptus-infused bouquet bursting from a canary yellow teapot on an induction cooktop, gave off banya-spa vibes in the Elemental Experience, a mobile showroom of “elements”—natural, wood, and quartz materials, care of one of the evening’s sponsors, Stone Showcase. This was parked in our parking lot. In grabbing distance of this steamy kettle were rows of neon-colored macaroons and creamy iced coffee. This was the first thing panelists and guests saw as they approached the Boiler Room. Talk about luxury and care!
After this and an hour or so of food, drink, and socials, the mics were turned on, and a theme of love emerged, illustrated by none other than Winnie-the-Pooh and brought up by Diana of Emerson Swan. The takeaway was all about “showing” and not “telling.” Another book-inspired aspect of the event—and this was an actual book—was also on the minds of the panel, Will Guirda’s book, Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect, the original impetus of the panel and a book that has been making the rounds in the community and at presentations. Michael Oh, for instance, brought it up at the Modern Living Symposium, during his presentation on home security.
Shortly after, Dean of Duravit shared that not only did they finish production of the world’s first climate-neutral ceramic production facility, they will start producing very soon. Two electric kilns pumping out almost half a million pieces a year. Not to belabor the theme, but this is huge “love the earth” energy. Josh at the Muncey Group, added an example story of what can be done when you have a card table, great takeout, and a mission driven by “thank you” and “love” energy. Christina of Boston Home Magazine bookended the opening of the evening, underlining that these pages are a celebration of this entire community. All this went into setting the stage for the evening’s panel.
Kevin’s first question of the night had to do directly with clients themselves, that before you can care about the clients, you need to begin the relationship with the “right” clients. The “gut feeling” aspect of this process was something that Liz brought up, something that rises above the usual rigors of the sort of “dating” process when trying to find the right one, so to speak.
Ed Dustin was on the panel representing the service industry, so to speak, in that he can’t choose his clients. His contributions for the evening, then, were much more geared toward the management and service aspect under such circumstances. The nugget for the evening happened at the very end of the evening, provoked by a comment by Michelle at MWI Fibershield. “I usually begin those discussions with an apology,” Ed replied, as he free-formed on Michelle bringing up how heated things can get when clients are under duress and the importance of empathy. Ed went on with the roleplay, saying, “not because something went wrong, but clearly you’re upset. I’m so sorry you feel this way. What can I do to help you? And that’s very calming to a client. I had that call on the ride here tonight.” Lots of nodding heads in the room with this moment.
Chestnuts of wisdom continued to present themselves. Cory lent voice to an unspoken truth that reverberates throughout, that “as soon as something feels transactional, it feels icky.” Liz followed up with another truth, that “sometimes the client forgets that they are also part of the team.” These are favorite themes of Kevin’s—close relationships with clients and “the team”—so you can imagine the lively discussion around these nuggets. Also another favorite theme: footwear. This, too, made an appearance. And sometimes a Boiler Room After Hours isn’t complete with mention of the Air Jordans. Thanks, Ed, for shouting these out. What a great night.
