The list of celebrities who have stayed at John Tomko's Pittsburgh hotel
is long and impressive. And Tomko has met almost everybody on it. He has been
a door attendant (otherwise known as a doorman) at the hotel since it opened
in 1959.
He has met crooner Tony Bennett and made small talk with Terry Bradshaw,
the quarterback who led the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships
in the 1970s.
He has also met all the U.S. presidents since Dwight Eisenhower held the
Oval Office in the 1950s. How many people can say that?
"He just about knows everybody who walks into this place," says Mike Dougherty.
He is the director of front office operations at the hotel.
Dougherty says he first heard about Tomko from cab drivers when he was
working at a different hotel. "I didn't know who it was," he says. "About
a year after, I came [to the hotel] and got to meet John. He is truly the
best doorman in downtown Pittsburgh."
The Pennsylvania Travel Council confirmed this when its members named him
the Outstanding Lodging Employee of the Year 2000.
So what makes him so good? "He has the ability to turn a bad situation
into a good one," says Dougherty. "He always has a joke for someone."
One time Tomko noticed a car circling aimlessly around the hotel driveway.
"He kept going around the block four, five, six times," Tomko recalls.
Tomko approached the driver, an elderly man in his 70s, and asked him what
was going on. "'What are you doing? Are you trying to make us dizzy?'"
The man smiled and told Tomko that he was waiting for the bus that was
coming from the airport. So Tomko found him a parking space. "And five minutes
later the bus came in, and he was all happy."
A guest noticed this and commended Tomko in a letter to his manager. Others
have also noticed his service. Andy Russell, a former star with the Pittsburgh
Steelers, gave him an autographed copy of his book about his NFL career.
"It was really nice," Tomko says. "It makes you feel good if somebody of
that stature remembers you."
"He has built quite a relationship with our guests," says Dougherty. And
part of that relationship is to keep their secrets and protect their privacy.
Tomko says it is not common for journalists and photographers to ask him
whether so-and-so is staying at the hotel and with whom. But it happens, and
when it does, he will politely tell the questioner that he does not know.
Dianne Scott, meanwhile, has to field such questions all the time. That's
because the club where she works in Austin, Texas, is a popular hang-out spot
for A-list actors like Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp and Sandra Bullock.
Members of the media constantly ask her to alert them when one of these
actors comes in. But Scott, whose job is to welcome band members and VIPs
at the club's back door, never does because the reputation of the club depends
on it.
The stars do not come to be harassed by media types. They come to chill
out, she says. And the club would lose its appeal if they had to deal with
pesky reporters and paparazzi all the time.
Scott became a doorperson for two reasons. One, she knew a lot of the bands
and media people from her previous career as a promoter. And
two, she likes to work with people.
"This [job] is my social life," she says.
But it is still a job, and in many ways it is different from what Tomko
does.
Tomko works at a luxury hotel for the refined and regal. Scott works at
a nightclub where it may get rough and rambunctious. And when this happens,
she has to use whatever means necessary, including force, to keep the club
atmosphere safe and pleasant.
This aspect of the job has discouraged many bar and club owners from hiring
female door attendants like Scott, and she understands that.
"However, I found that in most cases women command a little more respect,"
she says. That's because women tend to approach a situation with more patience,
tact and diplomacy. And those are the traits you should have if you want to
become a good door attendant.
But you must also stand your ground at certain moments, and Scott stood
hers when a famous musician demanded she let him into the club even though
that would have broken event rules.
Scott says he asked her if she knew who he was. "Yes, I do," she told him.
"But I'm still not going to let you in."
Tomko also has to deal with upset guests. He says that sometimes he gets
blamed when a cab does not arrive fast enough, but there is only so much he
can do in such circumstances. You can certainly not talk back to the person
who is complaining. "The customer is a customer," he says. "You sort of bite
your tongue sometimes."
And if you can show that you are willing to help regardless of the circumstances,
guests will notice your effort. "If you are sincere, people will appreciate
it," says Tomko.
"We determine how that guest's stay will be and just from there, it has
its rewards," says Rick Dickison. He is a doorman. In 1999, he won an award
for excellence in customer service from the local visitors bureau.
The job can also have more tangible rewards. Hourly wages for doormen are
low, but they can earn a lot through tips.
A few years ago, the manager of Tomko's hotel went down to the local Cadillac
dealer. He ran into Tomko, who was also shopping for a new car. And it was
Tomko who drove away with the bigger and better set of wheels.
But doormen still suffer from an image problem. Some think of them as unskilled
service workers who lack the necessary ambition and skills to do anything
else. Tomko doesn't buy this, and he says he has no regrets about his career
choice.
"I will never be a millionaire, but... it has put the kids through school,"
he says. "I'm still in the first house that I bought, a little six-room ranch
with a nice backyard. I'm tickled pink."