Meetings on The Terrace - “a funny thing happened” stories
Here at Meetings on The Terrace, one of the top Wellington venues for meeting, conference, and function rooms, we’ve seen a few funny things in our time, but of course professional ethics means we couldn’t possibly tell you about any of those. Stories from friends, family members and people we work with on the other hand – now that’s a different story …
So here are a few of the best “a funny thing happened’ meeting room and job interview stories we have heard.
*Names and the odd detail have been changed to avoid public embarrassment.
Job interview confusion
Jane turned up at a job interview and was shown into a Wellington meeting room with the interviewer. The confusion started straight away, with the interviewer asking questions and discussing things that didn’t seem relevant to the job on offer. Jane* did her best to answer what questions she could and keep track of what was rapidly turning into quite a random discussion. Eventually she asked what was going on, and after a bit more confusion, and a fair bit of embarrassment, the interviewer figured out that she had double booked herself. She thought she was meeting with a supplier, not a job applicant. With that out of the way, the job interview carried on. Jane got the job, enjoyed it immensely and stayed with the company for six years.
The wrong building
A frequent user nowadays of Meetings On The Terrace, Sally* recalled when she had a job interview a few years back. She showed up to the building with a good amount of time to spare, and went about finding the Wellington meeting room the interview was taking place in. After going to the correct floor of the building, and not finding the business or the meeting room, Sally* scratched her head confused at where she might have gone wrong. She tried the floors above and below but no luck. Giving up and going back down to the ground floor, she tried to work out what floor the business’ meeting and conference rooms were on, but she couldn’t even find mention of the business. Suddenly Sally* figured out the problem – she was in the wrong building entirely. She had no idea how she had managed this, especially given that the building she was supposed to be at was one of the most famous in Wellington at the time. She had headed in that direction but somehow got mixed up and entered the wrong building. Oops. She quickly found the correct building, turning up late and embarrassed to the interview but surprisingly, she got the job!
Fake it till you make it
This one happened to a friend of a business contact of Meetings on The Terrace. It was a long shot. The job was in the banking sector, and John* had qualifications up to the eyeballs, but in reptile genetics. The interview, as you would imagine, was in a really flash Wellington meeting space and John* sat across the table from some very expensive suits. John wasn’t phased though and set about the task of bluffing his way through the interview questions. Turned out that the suits had done their homework though and were interested in the potential application to banking systems of some of the research and techniques that John had been working on in reptile genetics! He got the job and was very good at it too. He stayed a while but did return to a professor role at university, back doing what he truly loves.
Rolling around on the floor
This was a standard business meeting, held in a Wellington conference venue that is also used for smaller meetings (not Meetings On The Terrace though). Peter* was a potential client who had come to the meeting to hear a pitch. As the meeting progressed, Peter* became increasingly uncomfortable in his chair.Finally he said, “Look, my back is killing me, please just carry on talking while I stretch.” Peter lay down on the meeting room floor and started rolling around doing his back exercises. The guys running the meeting hid their surprise and carried on with the discussion and presentation. Perhaps they were just happy that Peter* wasn’t rolling around on the floor in laughter at their presentation! We’re pleased to say though the meeting ended well, with the pitch accepted and the project progressing to the next stage.
Well, there you go, a few of the classic Wellington meeting rooms tales that we have been told in our years here at Meetings on The Terrace. We’re always keen to hear more though, so next time you book one of our meeting rooms, conference rooms or function venues, we would love to hear your best “a funny thing happened” meeting room mishaps. We promise to keep your identity a secret.