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THURSDAY EVENING AT THE ROCK:
Business trips can be pure pleasure folks.
I had to go to Munich on business on Wednesday, March 20th.
It was my first time in Munich since the new HRC opened
its doors. So of course in the evening I went to the Rock.
My first impression was: Great - it's not
one of those totally "new style HRCs". In my opinion
it's more a mix of the old and the new style. It's not as
dark as the classic HRCs (Dallas, New York, Los Angeles)
- but it's also not one of those new "nightclub style
HRCs".
I met Marion and Ralf Richter, two local collectors
for some trading and enjoyed my first beer when the door
opened and my good friend "Lovely Rita Gilligan"
came into the HRC. We hugged each other and talked about
the PIN March in Amsterdam where Rita attended, some meetings
we had at HRC London and also the GO Party of HRC Amsterdam.
She asked me if I was on the guest list for the GO party
next day and I had so say "No - I am not". 
Lovely
Rita with the guitar at the HRC Munich entrance
In the Merchendise Store I was welcomed by
Katja who showed me all available pins (the Elvis Clone
Guitar was just released) and we talked about Merchandise
and the company and pins. Katja was very nice and I bought
a couple of pins (no city T-Shirt yet).
After that I had dinner and enjoyed the atmosphere
at this 51st HRC that I have visited so far. My server (Annelka)
was very nice and food was good. I had my pin bag on the
table and some staff members came over to browse through
the pins. They were all pretty excited about the upcoming
GO party. Also some Managers from other HRCs were present
and some came over to my table to welcome me and everybody
asked the same: "Will you be here tomorrow for the
GO Party Jens" and I had to answer "Sorry - I
am not on the list".
After dinner I was about to leave when I ran
into Rita again so I set down at her table where some staff
members who were off-duty sat and talked with each other.
From "Britney" (her real name is Anja) I heard
that both bands at the GO party would be great and that
I should wait to see the staff dancing YMCA. I can tell
you: For me this evening was really great and I enjoyed
the atmosphere and the nice staff a lot. But the best thing
was about to come.
When I was leaving the Rock one of the managers
from a HRC who knew me for quite some time said: "Jens,
make sure to be here before 7 pm tomorrow and I will make
sure that you get inside."
FRIDAY EVENING: THE GRAND OPENING PARTY
Well, you can imagine that on Friday evening
I was there already at 6.30 pm ;-) At the door I heard "Sorry
- we are closed for a private party" but then the manager
who had told me to be there early just waved and right away
the lady of the door said: "Welcome to the HRC Munich
Grand Opening Party".
The
HRC Munich bar staff preparing for the big event - and the
big thirst ;-) The good part about being that
early was: No party guests were there. Just the staff, some
HRC and Rank Managers and the band and their management. So I
was able to see all the preparations for the big party - and
to see HRC Munich some kind of empty for the last time in
hours... 
The
empty HRC an hour before the party guests arrived I
met Michael Bauch who made the big colorful windows at the
bar. I had a few drinks with him and he told me he might
even work for the new Cologne HRC now that Munich is ready
(on the above picture you see Michael in the middle).
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Preparating for the big speeches later
at night: The Munich GM and Lovely Rita Gilligan |
The last meeting of the staff before the doors
opened. Everybody was very excited. |
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On the left is Mike Smith, Chief Executive of
Rank Corporate - the owner of the Hard Rock Cafes |
8 pm: The doors open and the guests enter the HRC.
Cameras were all over the place. |
At 8pm when the doors opened it got REALLY crowded
- whow. Some other pin collectors also were among the guests
including the 4 Traders Munich and Tanja Kettner also from Munich.
Later also Neil and Jason from England arrived so the pin
collectors were a big part of this GO Party. We all were in a good
mood when the first band (Natural) started to play. I did not know
too much about Natural besides what Britney (or Anja) had told me
the night before. But they were pretty good and even played some
old Rock Songs. The bar was busy with Champagne,
beer and wine while the servers offered all kind of food from
Mini-Cheeseburgers and Mini-Pig Sandwiches (which I just LOVED) to
Sushi, Nachos and other stuff. They even had pretzels in form of
guitars on the tables - cool.
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Even sweets with a HRC Logo on them were
served. DELICIOUS... |
The second band was really great |
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The raffle with the guitar signed by
Natural |
Presenting the check of EURO 5,000 |
The second band was even better than Natural if
you ask me (but don't ask the Teenies who just loved Natural).
Raffle tickets were available for sale during the whole evening.
You could win a guitar signed by Natural, a HRC Leather Jacket
signed by the band (btw: this one is in pin collectors hands now
as one of the 4 Traders Munich won it) and you could win even a
flight to the USA. In the end a check of 5,000 EURO (around 4,500
US-$) was presented for charity. I thought to myself: Hey, we
would have done better if that would have been a PIN March
;-) Most guests left after that so the staff
was not too busy anymore... and was able to party. In my opinion
now the best part of the party began. More and more server were
dancing on the floor and when YMCA began the house was on fire.
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Let the REAL PARTY begin... |
Dancing lessons at HRC Munich |
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The HRC Munich girls even entered the
stage |
It's fun to stay at the YMCA - and at HRC
Munich... |
Even classic dance was performed by a VIP guest -
that was... let's say INTERESTING ;-) Everbody had a lot of fun
now and the few VIP guests that were still present after midnight
saw how german people can party - and joined them in dancing and
having fun.
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The VIP guests partying after midnight |
... and the staff danced on all night long |
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Let's do another YMCA... |
... and finally even the guys joined the
HRC girls |
About 3 am in the morning I left the HRC and went
back to my hotel. Everybody got a nice Goodie Bag with a special
GO Party pin and a HRC 30th Anniversary beer glass. What
can I say: I had a business meeting next morning at 9 pm and I had
to drink 5 pots of coffee to get me back to life again. It was a
great party thanks to the great staff of HRC Munich. I hope to
party with all of you again soon folks. Thanks for everything
especially to the HRC Manager who made this possible for me. See
you all again at HRC Munich - a HRC with a great staff to party
with. 
Believe
me: This was like being in heaven: Me in the middle of the HRC
Munich girls (including Rita) 
Rock
on HRC Munich !
Here are some reports from the
german press on the HRC Munich Grand Opening Party (in
german of course):
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