A good rule is to arrive half an hour before you are needed at an event. If you have a delay in traffic, and arrive early, you can use the spare time to go to the toilet and comb your hair, remove your coat or jacket, blow your nose, have a glass of water, and look up the name of the person you are meeting.
You might even go for a coffee or snack in the building and check your emails and email others to say where you are.
Lost
How could you get lost? Or arrive later than expected?
The taxi arrives on the other side of the road and takes five minutes to go up to the lights and beyond them and do a u-turn.
When I ordered Grab in Singapore, I knew in advance the fare, so I could get out the exact money without having to wait for change. The receipt was sent automatically through the online (by phone) booking (which somebody else = a member of my family - had made on my behalf.
When I arrived the building reception office was busy. So I could have had to wait five minutes behind somebody doing a long transaction or telling their life story and saying thanks before I had a chance to simply ask the way. By chance I found the solution. Because I had three heavy bags, I did not go right into the office but dropped one of the heaviest bags containing the borrowed laptop at my feet,and propped open the door (which changed the temperature of the room).
The person on the desk looked up and caught my eye. I asked, Where is the conference room?
I was told on the second floor. I thought that would be a big room, well marked, easy to find. But no. When you come out of the lift there are two directions. A large room with a meeting was by the lift. This was called theatrette. Not my group.
I then walked along and found a large room with 'meeting in progress' and 'use other door'.
To cut a long story short, you could arrive early and find the room has not yet been opened. The group could be large and ask to move to another room. You could arrive late and by the time you run around the building and up and down in the lift to reception to clarify - they have gone.
When I returned to the lift I saw the plan of the floor, designed to show fire escapes, including 'you are here'. A locked an empty room I passed was the conference room.
The moral is - allow time to find the building. If possible, call the organizer to ask where they are in the building.
If you use a building regularly and arrive early, you can use that time to get familiar with the building. Where are the toilets - for both sexes. In some buildings the toilets for males are on one floor, the ladies is on another floor. On one occasion I hung around alone in the corridor outside a room waiting for my apparently late organizers. They were already downstairs in the coffee shop having a jolly pre-meeting and some sensible food before the calorie-laden cakes served at the meeting.
At another meeting I went to the venue and could not find the meeting. I went back down to the hallway and phoned. The organiser said he would come down and find me. Five and then ten minutes passed. I phoned again. He said he want down and could not see me. He was now on stage delivering a speech. I went back to reception. They said no meeting today. I got out my programme sheet, which I had printed, to show him. He said, This is Nee Soon East. We are Nee Soon South.
A walk back to the MRT station, a one stop train journey, a short walk - I arrive late. I am not the only person this has happened to. It's good to check with the host that you are on your way and estimated time of arrival. As host, it's good to check with guests that they have directions.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
You might even go for a coffee or snack in the building and check your emails and email others to say where you are.
Lost
How could you get lost? Or arrive later than expected?
The taxi arrives on the other side of the road and takes five minutes to go up to the lights and beyond them and do a u-turn.
When I ordered Grab in Singapore, I knew in advance the fare, so I could get out the exact money without having to wait for change. The receipt was sent automatically through the online (by phone) booking (which somebody else = a member of my family - had made on my behalf.
When I arrived the building reception office was busy. So I could have had to wait five minutes behind somebody doing a long transaction or telling their life story and saying thanks before I had a chance to simply ask the way. By chance I found the solution. Because I had three heavy bags, I did not go right into the office but dropped one of the heaviest bags containing the borrowed laptop at my feet,and propped open the door (which changed the temperature of the room).
The person on the desk looked up and caught my eye. I asked, Where is the conference room?
I was told on the second floor. I thought that would be a big room, well marked, easy to find. But no. When you come out of the lift there are two directions. A large room with a meeting was by the lift. This was called theatrette. Not my group.
I then walked along and found a large room with 'meeting in progress' and 'use other door'.
To cut a long story short, you could arrive early and find the room has not yet been opened. The group could be large and ask to move to another room. You could arrive late and by the time you run around the building and up and down in the lift to reception to clarify - they have gone.
When I returned to the lift I saw the plan of the floor, designed to show fire escapes, including 'you are here'. A locked an empty room I passed was the conference room.
The moral is - allow time to find the building. If possible, call the organizer to ask where they are in the building.
If you use a building regularly and arrive early, you can use that time to get familiar with the building. Where are the toilets - for both sexes. In some buildings the toilets for males are on one floor, the ladies is on another floor. On one occasion I hung around alone in the corridor outside a room waiting for my apparently late organizers. They were already downstairs in the coffee shop having a jolly pre-meeting and some sensible food before the calorie-laden cakes served at the meeting.
At another meeting I went to the venue and could not find the meeting. I went back down to the hallway and phoned. The organiser said he would come down and find me. Five and then ten minutes passed. I phoned again. He said he want down and could not see me. He was now on stage delivering a speech. I went back to reception. They said no meeting today. I got out my programme sheet, which I had printed, to show him. He said, This is Nee Soon East. We are Nee Soon South.
A walk back to the MRT station, a one stop train journey, a short walk - I arrive late. I am not the only person this has happened to. It's good to check with the host that you are on your way and estimated time of arrival. As host, it's good to check with guests that they have directions.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
