WHAT IS A BANQUET CHAIR YOU ASK? IF YOU KNOW NOT, PLEASE ASK.

HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?  A MAJOR HOTEL GROUP STEPS OUT OF THE MOULD AND CHOOSES A CHAIR THAT DOES NOT WORK, IS NOT DESIGNED FOR BANQUETS OR MEETINGS AND IS NOT YET TESTED.

All in the name of re-inventing a brand, I find my client with over 3,000 chairs that will not work for all the functions that these all-purpose chairs must serve. How can I explain that this came from one of the largest hotel management companies in the world, a company that knows more about banquet chairs than God.

As I think about the functions of a banquet chair, I ask myself how a designer can use pure aesthetics to make this critical decision that has seen the design evolve over 30 or more years.

Here are the features of this office waiting room or cafeteria chair selected by this brand currently under 're-invention'.

• Tubular frame with plastic stoppers.
• Arms to require movement of the whole chair when entering or exiting either a banquet table or a schoolroom set-up.
• Faux leather material that ressembles plastic......but looks like leather.
• Limited seating due to wider sweep of arms. (reduction of capacity by 20%)
• Inappropriate for Theatre Style due to size. Watch for fingers trapped between the arms!
• Requires push back to exit chair.
• My arms do not have access to my Blackberry while seated.
• Not dressable.
• Can not hold a jacket unless you decide to sit on it.
• Dubious strength for those who wish to tilt backwards.
• No handle....requires 2 hands for lifting.

We call it a banquet chair but is a lot more than that! Think about it, think hard and long. It has been tweeked, re-invented, re-designed and re-upholstered. It is thrown, stacked,  and can be carried in groups of six, by most men and in groups of three by most women. Here is my list.

1. A stool for all sizes but actually a chair.
2. A coat hanger.
3. A three directional chair.
4. Fits ten around a round table.
5. Allows mounting and de-mounting without push-back
6. A frame with one handle to haul it, a frame to push from to relieve your weight, in long speeches.
7. Stacks ten high.
8. Re-upholsterable again and again.
9. Schoolroom seating in tight spaces.
10. Theatre seating with no lost space.
11. Allows access to hip-held Blackberry and wallet while seated.
12. Material that breathes during long sessions.
13. Fits children and the obese without embarrassment.

How then can one of the world's largest hotel groups select a chair that does not meet one of my criteria!! How is that possible. How can they hire a a designer that pays no attention to function at all. Allow me to elaborate. The design of our wonderful 'banquet chair' has evolved over the years.

1. I call it a stool but it is like a mini-stage. Only because it serves well to sit on facing left and right (sideways), straight ahead and even backwards with legs straddled, all without moving it from a its' original position.
2. It holds on to a jacket as a coathanger when needed or can be dressed with multiple colours for weddings and gala dinners.
3. Works for banquets, theatre style, schoolroom style and weddings.
4. Looks good for 8 around a table and is also good for 10.
5. Allows a sittee to leave or arrive during a tightly packed event without shuffling the chair back, sideways or around.
6. The handle at the high point allows lifting by staff with one hand, holding by a visitor chatting with a sittee and a frame that allows sit-ups to relieve lower extremeties during long speeches.
7. Designed with its' own cart to easily store and transport ten chairs (or more) at one time.
8. When the upholstery wears out, replace it. The frame lasts forever.
9. In tight spaces, the chair requires no push back to enter or exit.
10. Fit tightly together and can be inter-locked to form a rock solid line of seating.
11. Lean forward and retrieve a ringing phone off your hip without having to stand up.
12. Material that breathes allowing long sessions of comfort.

Incompetence comes at many levels and for this one I blame not the designer that obviously has no hospitality experience but has been given the authority and responsibility , I do not blame the brand, their interests lie in growth and growth alone. This is a leadership issue.

There are some things that are not broke and they do not need to be fixed.

But this poor decision will haunt this hotel's management team forever. They will never be able to replace all these poorly chosen chairs. they will buy more to replace the many that break. they will replace the torn plastic material with more plastic.They will adjust the capacity downwards of their banquet and meeting rooms and the owner will suffer profit potentials forever.

For a critique of your favorite piece of hotel furniture or for assistance in the selection of FF&E, contact [email protected]

And check out this Blog

http://www.ehow.com/how_5931360_choose-commercial-banquet-chairs.html