The Lava Lounge

Last Friday I was invited to a party. It was our yearly National Sales Summit last week and on Wednesday everyone that works for the company should have been at the opening reception banquet. Then for the next four days they have meetings and vendors bring in all their new equipment to display.

Hitachi of America is by far our biggest vendor partner and it was their shindig that we got invited to attend on Friday. This is the first time in ten years that I the warehouse manager get included in such a function. I had been told that Hitachi knows how to throw a party, for years it has been dubbed "The Lava Lounge" and so last Friday I found out.

I was told that there is an insane amount of alcohol served although we had been warned to exercise good sense and to drink in moderation as this is still a corporate event. The event took place at a semi new resort in Phoenix named Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa, and let me tell you this place is pretty awesome.

The company decided to invite the department heads to this party and to put us in a room for the night, how sweet was that, this way we didn't have to worry about drinking and driving. Another first was that while the entire five day event is for employees only, for the Lava Lounge us department heads were allowed to bring our spouses.

It all started with a wonderful reception with an open bar and an open cigar bar too. Then we were invited to enter the dinning room for a great dinner. After dinner we all went into an adjacent room where the party took place.

As we entered it was eloquent that we were in for a treat. In a corner of the room the had a mechanical bull for those who are not faint of heart, on the other corner you could try your luck at sumo wrestling. (Unfortunately a lady from Hitachi not used to the Arizona heat dehydrated while wearing the hot sumo wrestling suit, and gave us quite a scare, I was told that when she came to she didn't know where she was, we were later told she was OK). In the center of the room another open bar, they had about four or five pool tables, and air hockey table, guitar hero, and a set of three Wii Machines.

Walk to the other end of the room and you could get a massage, or try the oxygen bar while enjoying a massage at the same time. A DJ kept the place alive with a great mixture of music, and we even did a little karaoke too. I just had to sing "I Love The Way You Love Me" by John Michael Montgomery to mi chica, and got a few compliments too. We pretty much danced most of the night which I believe help me to not become drunk from all the rum and pineapple drinks I had.

Outside on the hall you could have your fortune told by card and tarot readers, and the cigar bar remained open until midnight as well. By the end of the night I had a great collection of cigars and cigarillos.

As it got close to the end of the party they brought in more o'rderves and a big freezer full of ice cream bars. By this time I couldn't eat anything else.

The next morning mi chica had to go to work so we couldn't enjoy going to the swimming pool or takin a ride on the boats but the party had been so much fun that it was OK.

It's not everyday you can get to enjoy something like this for free so we took full advantage of it and had lots of fun.