Spring 08
Vol. 13 No. 2

By Dave Schafer

Richardson is a pro at multitasking, a must in her job. Leading up to the start of an event, Richardson is in the background lining up the details that make her clients’ events at the Wortham Center run smoothly.

When Reda Richardson arrives at 7 a.m. Saturday, everything is set up according to the memos she’d sent out two weeks ago. Or, actually, according to the changes she’d made to those memos Friday, after her client had called with more changes.

“In this business, things change,” she says. “This business” is event coordinating, which Richardson does for the Wortham Center. After clients sign on for events at the Wortham, they get assigned to Richardson or Virginia Oxford, Wortham’s other event coordinator. Richardson or Oxford then turn the client’s ideas into reality, sitting down with them to plan each important detail: How many seats are needed? How should the room be set up? Should they use a stage manager? What kind of food and drink should they serve?

This morning, though, all that is behind her. This is the homestretch. At 9 a.m., a pajama party for children whose parents are members of the Society for the Performing Arts begins. Then the children will go to an 11 a.m. performance by Dan Zane and Friends, a Disney Channel performer giving two shows today. Between the performances is a SPA fashion show.

It’s going to be a busy day.

Take down roadblocks
Richardson walks through the center with Aurora Martinez, lead custodian. Everything is ready and clean. Last night, the Houston Grand Opera performed, and Martinez’s crew worked late tearing that set down and putting this one up.

“We’re graded on appearance, and Miss Aurora and her crew do a great job of making me look good in that area,” says Richardson, Convention & Entertainment. In her left hand she holds a paper cup half-full of Bengal Traders coffee and a small walkie-talkie that chatters softly under her words. Her right hand is free to accent her words or to grip a friend gently by the wrist.

And they’re all friends here. Richardson knows almost everyone, including her clients, by their first names. “Good morning, Mark,” she says, or  “Just a few more minutes, Gail.”

“I have a good rapport with my clients,” she says. “I like taking care of them. If they’re happy, I’m happy. I especially like first-timers, those people whose hands I have to hold.”

Taking care of them isn’t always so easy. She and Oxford split up the galas, weddings, city functions, birthday parties, and other one-off events at the Wortham. But the SPA, like the Houston Grand Opera, is a regular customer, so today is going to be routine. Except when the unexpected pops up.

Like when, at 9:30, she discovers police barricades at the Smith and Bagby intersections of Pierce blocking access to  valet parking. Richardson calls Reginald Randolph, assistant facilities manager. He calls back and tells her the police forgot to pick up the barricades at 8:15.

Before he calls back, though, the barriers are removed.

1 I 2 I next>>