Sunday, October 08, 2006

World's Most Unique Party!!!

This story was passed on to me by a work colleague on Thursday night while enjoying dinner in a Moroccan restaurant down at Heddon St.

Now you might be wondering what makes this party unique??? I thought I've seen/heard it all and this was just another ordinary party that is slightly twisted in one way or another. Boy was I wrong!!! I've see many themed and organized parties, but nothing comes close to this. Anyways, below is the story, emails and some of the replies. Enjoy :D.


Investment banks like to hire organized, driven Type-A personalities. But some of these folks take things a little bit far. At Citigroup in London, one young equity analyst has clearly gone over the edge, if the birthday party invitation below is any indication. Not only does she give the precise arrival times for each guest—broken down in 15 minute increments—but she tells them precisely what to wear, exactly what to say to the concierge at the hotel, and the hours during which she will accept “cards and small gifts.”

Below is an excerpt explaining precisely what her guests are to wear to her party at the Ritz.



STRICT DRESS CODE:
Gentlemen: Jacket, shirt, and please also bring a tie (no jeans,
trainers, flip-flops, polo-shirts)
Ladies: skirt/top, cocktail dress (no denim, min-skirts, flip-flips, bad
tastes)
Advice 1: It goes without saying that the more upper-class you dress,
the less likely you shall be denied entry.
Advice 2: Photos will be taken between 10pm to 10:30pm, and these will
be distributed once processed, therefore you may want to be
well-groomed!

Finally...
I will be accepting cards and small gifts between 9pm to 11pm... wink> hehehe



And, because we know you are wondering, we will be accepting cards and small forwarded emails for the rest of the day.

The full invitation, and the reactions of various readers at Citi, after the jump.

Let's start with Lucy's original invitation.

-----Original Message----- - From: Lucy [CIR] Sent: 16 August 2006 12:53 Subject: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party
Dear Friends,

Thank you for all your replies and I am glad all of you can come this
Friday to celebrate my 21st with me.
Please read ALL the following to ensure your entry into the Ritz.

Lucy's 21st Birthday Party
at The Ritz Hotel London

Friday, 18th of August
9pm Champagne Reception
10pm Photo Shoots
10:30pm Blowing Candles

Mid-night Pangaea, Mayfair


I have arranged the Ritz to host a Champagne Reception with a selection
of Ritz Champagne for all my guests, this will be on me so please come
and indulge.

A specially made birthday cake has also been ordered and the Ritz
waiters will kindly serve you each a generous slice with Ritz cutleries,
etc...also on me .

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ENTRY:
* When you arrive, take the Hotel entry on the opposite side of
the Green Park tube station [Please refer to your arrival time at the
end of this email]
* When asked "how can I help you Sir/Madame?", you reply "I am
here for Lucy's Birthday Party at the Rivoli Bar"
* You will be escorted to the lounge area next to the Rivoli bar,
where you will hopefully see a gorgeous group of ladies.

If you experience any issues getting in or getting to the Ritz, please
call my mobile on xxx xxx xxx and my PA Ms XXXX will kindly deal with
your queries between 8:30pm to 10pm.

STRICT DRESS CODE:
Gentlemen: Jacket, shirt, and please also bring a tie (no jeans,
trainers, flip-flops, polo-shirts)
Ladies: skirt/top, cocktail dress (no denim, min-skirts, flip-flips, bad
tastes)
Advice 1: It goes without saying that the more upper-class you dress,
the less likely you shall be denied entry.
Advice 2: Photos will be taken between 10pm to 10:30pm, and these will
be distributed once processed, therefore you may want to be
well-groomed!

Finally...
I will be accepting cards and small gifts between 9pm to 11pm... wink> hehehe

I very much look forward to seeing you all at the Ritz this Friday.

Lucy

ARRIVAL TIMES: [Please stick to these as best as you can, thank you]
9:00pm: [names nine friends].
9:15pm: [next nine friends].
9:30pm: [eleven friends; clearly the most vulgar arrival slot].
9:45pm: [four more friends; most exclusive arrival time].
10:00pm: [five friends]


Lucy XXX
Citigroup | Real Estate Equity Research
4th Floor, Citigroup Centre (CGC1)
25 Canada Square, London E14 5LB
Direct Line: xx xxx xxx xxxx
Fax: +xx xxx xxx xxxx
Mobile: +xx xxx xxx xxxx
Email: xxx@citigroup.com



Of course, this got forwarded far and wide. Below are the comments of readers, with the names redacted to protect the mirthful.

-----Original Message----- From: XXX [CIB-HR] Sent: 24 August 2006 09:15 To: XXX Subject: FW:
Oh my god! Read from the bottom! Its gone not only to EVERYONE in citi
but i've just been told by my boss its gone all over the banks and
they're all laughing about it.


-----Original Message-----
From: XXX
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 8:56 AM
To: *HR UK Capital Markets
Subject: FW:


Hi all, for your reading pleasure...please start at the bottom, it's
hilarious!!

-----Original Message-----
From: XXX [CIB-HR]
Sent: 23 August 2006 18:13
To: xxx [CIB-HR]; xxx [CIB-HR]; xxx
[CIB-HR]; xxx [CIB-HR]
Subject: FW:


As previously discussed.... maybe we need to revisit the intern
selection criteria, I think the emphasis on control may be too high!


-----Original Message-----
From: XXX [CIR]
To: XXX [CIR]; XXX [CIB-EQTY]; XXX
[CIR]
Sent: Mon Aug 21 18:17:42 2006
Subject: FW:

Please read below when you get 5 mins


______________________________________________
From: XXX [CIR]
Sent: 21 August 2006 18:07
To: XXX [CIR] XXX [CIR]; XXX [CIR];
XXX [CIR]; XXX [CIR]; XXX [CIR]
Subject: RE:

"It goes without saying that the more upper-class you dress, the less
likely you shall be denied entry."...!!

it also goes without saying that the more i read of that, the less
likely i am to contain my mirth


______________________________________________
From: xxx [CIR]
Sent: 21 August 2006 17:51
To: xxx [CIR]; xxx [CIR]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party


______________________________________________
From: xxx [CIR]
Sent: 18 August 2006 11:52
To: xxx [CIR]; xxx [CIR]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party

You have to read this.....from the intern working on the property team -
I can hardly contain myself!

______________________________________________
From: xxx [CIR]
Sent: 18 August 2006 11:48
To: xxx [CIR]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party

.. I don't like to spread things... I feel quite bad really - but you
just HAVE to read this....

______________________________________________
From: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Sent: 18 August 2006 11:28
To: xxx [CIR]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party

XXX, do you know this girl below...Lucy? Think she is in research.
This is outrageous, read the invite!!!!!!!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Sent: 18 August 2006 11:25
To: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party


-----Original Message-----
From: XXX [CIB-EQTY]
Sent: 18 August 2006 11:23
To: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party


-----Original Message-----
From: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Sent: 18 August 2006 08:42
To: xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx, xxx
[CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx
[CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx
[CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx
[CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]; xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party

her best yet...........enjoy

-----Original Message-----
From: xxx [CIB-FI]
Sent: 18 August 2006 08:16
To: xxx [CIB-EQTY]
Subject: FW: Details and instructions for Lucy's Ritz Party

Enjoy

Regardless of the fact that we haven't been invited, pangea still seems
to be the plan for tonight though.

xxx




That's it folks :D.

36 Comments:

Blogger Munther said...

Good GOD !! :o How embarrassing ! :D The girl should hand in her resignation and move out from the country ! :D :P Still this was disgraceful by those who forward this !:( Not you though cuz ! :D:P;)I am sure that the whole thing was just a gag done by the birthday girl to her mates !

9:02 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

waaaaaaaahahahahahahhahay!! how embarrassing! wallah! wahahahahahahy imagine that .. imagine you are lucy ! wahahahah and after that you get the pic ! wahahahahahahahahahah you are bad! :P

10:27 PM

 
Blogger Gaz said...

Lucky she doesent know me,surley this is a joke?

3:31 AM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

Hehe. I'll be more than happy to supply you with evidence after am done with work today :).

11:03 AM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

Here you go: http://i12.tinypic.com/2cxvv2p.jpg

and http://i12.tinypic.com/34zddeo.jpg
Ya, Lucy excuse me, couldn't resist posting this :D.

12:27 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hahaahah nice khalid. But that's nothing. I was once invited to a birthday party and was told to dress like romans. I thought it was a costume party but then they made us ride these special cars and before I knew it I was travelling back in time to attend Caesar's birthday party! I loved those cars so much that I went and got me one from the black market in Malaysia as the only other one was there. But it's a good thing that it was a second hand one and got it for cheap. The previous owner was tired of time travel and he said he messed up a few things that he didnt want to mess more things up anymore!

8:42 AM

 
Blogger Um Naief said...

when i worked at arthur andersen & co. we used to get ppl like this all the time... this doesn't seem unusual to me, altho you would see invitations like this for formal xmas parties and such, not for bday parties - or maybe i wasn't on the guest list! ;)

she obviously thinks a lot of herself and expects all invited to be in attendance... and from looking at the pic, she wasn't wanting for guests, but heck, wasn't she paying for everything?

when i worked at a large consulting co. in the states, we had a few women that were snotty like this... but i'm not sure their parties were ever at the ritz.

9:56 AM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

The Wayfarer, sounds really interesting, back to Caesar's time. Am interested to see what type of car you're talking about, I can visualize it but I could be way off ;).

Tooners, sounds like it's a big co. thing then. I think she booted up the whole bill, god knows what it turned out to be hehe.

The thing that I really round bizzare with this one was the fact that she allocated timeslots for people to attend and if you attended at any other time, you were denied entry. Can you believe that!!! Why on earth would anyone do such a thing...

2:51 PM

 
Blogger Um Naief said...

yeah, i thought allocating ppl to arrive at certain times was a bit strange. or maybe they had given her the details of their arrival ahead of time or something and she was letting everyone know. but i guess that doesn't make sense or maybe it does... did this invitation only go to the ppl that were on the arrival list? or did it go to a bunch of other ppl as well? maybe she was doing an ego boost in letting others know "who" was attending or something and when they'd be arriving. maybe it's an english thing.

8:37 PM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

Actually tooners, she really screwed up and she sent it apprently to all of the company and you know, citigroup is huge. Her story is all over the press, totally going the wrong way. Here are two emails that were written by her apparently:

Lucy Gao's thank you note.

Good morning,
THANK YOU ALL so much for Friday night, it was absolutely phenomenon and it was - like I said - the best birthday I’ve ever had!

I really hope you enjoyed the Ritz and then Pangaea, and I will get those fabulous photos to you ASAP - I’m so excited! :D

Thanks for all your generous gifts - I had the most wonderful prolonged birthday experience when I returned to the Ritz on Sat to collect the bags full of presents and cards.

Also, vielen dank Sophie for organising the magnificent cake - incredibly delicious. Thank you to my talented prime photographer Mandeep.

Thank you Citi interns for your thoughtful gifts, champagne, and those beautiful flowers (et merci beaucoup Sophie!), and all your sweet comments on my card. I was truly touched.

Thanks to my home and Oxford friends who have travelled very far to attend the joyful occasion. Much appreciated.

And last but certainly not least, many thanks to my PA for the evening, Ms Gill, couldn’t have done it without you Sanami - should consider this as a profession! ;)

I am so grateful to have friends like you and I truly hope we can all keep in touch in the future no matter where we end up.

The very special 35 of you have made my 21st Birthday one of the most memorable evenings of my life and I hope you will also cherish the great times on Friday as much as I shall.

Cheers to great memories!

FRIENDS FOREVER

Lucy
x


And here is Lucy's post-party fallout spin.

From: Gao, Lucy [CIR]
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 5:00 PM

To: *GCIB EU Summer Analyst Class

Subject: FROM the girl herself...

Hi Fellow Citigroup Interns,

Just to clear a few things up, now that it is seriously getting out of

control, it was suppose to be an internal joke between me and a couple

of my guests to my 21st Party. The actual party was great, and nothing

like it so please do not worry. I should not have used my Citigroup

email account in the first place so I apologise for that.

I am sorry if you found the content of the invitation details offensive

and I am glad to entertain. But please stop now because it is getting

really unprofessional and unnecessary, and a lot of you know me anyway

and have heard about this so I apologise for repeating this again, but

hopefully for the final time.

Cheers everyone and have a great time this evening.

See you soon.

Lucy

12:38 AM

 
Blogger Gaz said...

I've got a new pair of reebok classics,but im saving them till xmass,i dont think they would have been approtriate.lol

2:08 AM

 
Blogger Um Naief said...

does she think that the email only went to the interns?

i think she should be concentrating on her work at the ofc. and less on who's coming to her bday bash and what they should wear and not wear.

she sounds over the edge w/ her snobbiness... or a socialite or something. gosh, i'm glad that i'm thru w/ that corporate world.

11:01 AM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

I think that she intended it to go to the interns, but later on, when all hell broke loose and the email was sent to the whole corporation, there were attempts to make it seem like it was a joke. Too late for that though...

I just found it hilarious to say the least.

11:29 PM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

This character should make a programmer if she had the knowledge :D

5:33 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes Khalid, the car I am talking about has the three letters DMC in the front, kinda looks like an old 280Z with a twist. The doors open upwards though, I lent it to Universal Studios when they wanted to make a time travel movie. Dunno what happened afterwards they returned the car in pieces that I had to reconstruct myself but didn't tell me if they released the movie or not!

11:54 AM

 
Blogger Khalid said...

IRC president, I do agree, she's very structured, Pascal will be a suitable language for her ;).

The wayfarer,universal studios borrowed it off you, very interesting. One thing for sure, they didn't handle it properly. You could call them up sometime and check whether they did release the movie or it never made it, nothin to lose ;).

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