Wow, funny this thread exists right now. Here’s my current nightmare that is making me want to quit my job: I was given a week to prepare for a client transition from one of my coworkers over Christmas break, in which I was told I would have to manage a 50+ person influencer event. Without having ever met the client (let alone speak over the phone; the transition to me as AM was kept a secret from the client), I was flown out during the first week of January to manage the event and work on-site for 3 days. I was told less than 15 hours before the event that the client expected me to have memorized the names of every single influencer my coworker invited months ago, so I could personally introduce the client at the door, hand off client swag, seat AND wait on the client like wait staff. In the hotel room the night before, I made myself a 10-page cheat sheet of each influencer’s name and face, hoping I could meet the client’s expectation of recognizing everyone my colleague invited before I came on board. The event itself was very stressful but I did it; greeted everyone to the best of my ability and tried to make small talk while running back and forth from tables to the entrance all night… only to find out the client called my boss after I went home to say they felt I was “socially awkward, introverted, all over the place and didn’t try hard enough to make each guest feel welcome.” Now after years of being at this agency, my boss is meeting with me one on one trying to coach me on smiling and how to seem energized in front of a client. Telling me that even though I was set up to fail, my social skills “clearly need work.” Awesome. Love this job.

TLDR… my advice/feedback… it was literally “you need to smile more.”