Stags

I did my first ever stag night, recently.  It was an interesting and very different experience.  One I had to think long and hard about, before I was fully confident that I could - or should - deliver it.  After all, it's a very different vibe.  And not necessarily the right one for the kind of philosophy my business should aspire to - if the business actually has a philosophy.

In the end, I decided that just once couldn't hurt.  Just to find out whether it really was likely to be problematic or troublesome.  The main concern was that men might not be respectful to a female model, but then - that was a bit presumptuous.  I figured that for an art class the likes of which I normally do, they were no less likely to be respectful than the female artists I usually get.  They'd be just as cheeky and most likely a bit laddish.  That surely wouldn't be too bad.

So I hired a model.  It was Alison who helped me with that - she suggested a girl called Karla.  She had, apparently, just been talking to this girl about my classes, and she had suggested that she would do the job for a stag night if there was ever an opportunity.  So the timing was perfect.

It didn't go entirely without incident.  I arrived at The Standard and found out that I'd been double booked - that there was a wedding reception planned for most of the afternoon and the room that I use wasn't going to be available.  Unlike The Fiddler's Elbow, though, the management here really care about these events and they weren't just going to let me down or treat it like it wasn't their problem.  There was a quick 'phone call made and I was literally offered the use of someone's flat - just above The Standard.

Second problem was when the party actually arrived.  One of them was in a wheelchair and the flat was up a narrow flight of stairs.  The guy who booked me was very irritated, but thankfully not at me - he put the blame on the agency for not giving me all the relevant information.  Which was a fair point, because if I'd been warned, I'd have found an alternative option.

But the group got their friend up the stair without a huge effort, we moved into the sitting room and settled down and I introduced our model.

It was a variation of the same introductions that have been developed for my own class.  I made it sound like a boring art class, then stepped into a little side room just off the sitting room, took Karla's hand and led her into the sitting room.  After that, I had to learn how to step back a bit and let her run the show, to an extent.

Essentially, I had to make sure I wasn't upstaging the model - something I've criticised a couple of my tutors for, in the past.  There have been people before now, who have simply tried to take over the whole thing.  I'm tolerant of my staff making mistakes, and the business even thrives on improvising around small things that can make a class more interesting.  But when someone listens to everything I say, then turns up for an event and tries to run it her way - ignoring everything I've said - I don't give her a second chance.

So, I ran this event.  I stepped back and let Karla set the pace, but stepped forward and described the various challenges.  I instituted a blanket "no photography" policy, but discussed that with her first.  That's why this particular posting isn't illustrated.  I might relax that rule if I do more stag nights in the future, but even then I'll be the only person taking pictures.  I can reassure my models that I won't be compromising with the pictures.  Karla said that she would be cool if the guys didn't post them onto FaceBook or the internet, but I pointed out that there was absolutely no way of guaranteeing that - once they had pictures, they had complete control over what would happen to them.

The guys were definitely laddish, but - as I anticipated - respectful of Karla as well.  There was banter and good humour, but it was all just the male equivalent of the same kind of comments and questions I get in every one of my events, so it was all cool.  And Karla was able to banter right back with them.  She seemed to have a lot of fun, too.

In the end, once the party wrapped up, I set about tidying up the sitting room, putting the rearranged furniture back into their original places, returned the key to the bar manager and relaxed.  I'd been tense about the potential for spillage and damages, since we were in someone's private residence and I had responsibility for things like that, but it all went great.

And it was a really cool flat, too.  I wish I could afford to live there.