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Social Secretaries the event, we’re not allowed for security reasons to release the names,” she said.“But it’s not terribly often that that happens. I think at this point people probably know that’s going to be my response.” For sit-down dinners, if people haven’t responded, “I sort of just continually call or email and say that we need a reply by such and such date, usually 48 hours prior to the event,” Flamini said. But she understands how the invite decision-making game goes in a city as busy as Washington. “A lot of people have so many commitments that they tend to leave it to the last minute before responding, either because they have travel plans or perhaps are even waiting for a better invitation. You never know.” Downes told us that she’s learned to take the hiccups in stride over the years.“I remember being very concerned if I had a lot of people that still hadn’t answered for a reception. But one of my ambassador’s wives said, ‘Please don’t spend your time chasing people on a reception,’” she recalled. But for sit-down events, she “will keep going until I get every single answer. So receptions now I’m a bit easier on people, but I don’t like seeing 300 names on a list that people haven’t answered because who knows who’s going to come out of that, and you simply don’t know how to look after them — that’s the thing.” It’s a matter of making sure guests are happy, Downes adds.“We want guests to have a good time and enjoy themselves and so you need to know how many people are coming and you need to know how to look after them properly.” Downes said she knows her guest list “inside out,” so when someone appears at the front door without their name on the list, she usually knows who’s been genuinely invited and who hasn’t. Sometimes, tragedy and crisis sideline the best-laid plans. Right after the July 2005 London bombings that killed more than 50 people, Downes had to personally call dozens of guests to cancel a dinner in Washington that evening. But most cancelations are far less dramatic. Flamini recently had to reschedule an exhibitrelated reception because of snow, contacting 140 guests to make sure they didn’t head out in the frigid temperatures. She also had to reschedule a series of meetings in New York after the ambassador fell ill.“So you have to be on top of practically everything at every moment,” she said. Yet both women say the rewards far outweigh the headaches. Flamini recalled that a highlight of her nearly 25-year career was an elaborate sit-down dinner shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks attended by then Spanish
President José María Aznar and Vice President Dick Cheney. “[T]hat was one of the most impressive dinners I had to organize and to survive,” she said. “We don’t have VIPs as often as my colleague Amanda does, who seems to have them all the time,” Flamini quipped. “The relationship between Great Britain and the United States is slightly more VIP’d than Spain and the United States, although we’re slowly getting there.” Downes has indeed welcomed her fair share of VIPs from both sides of the pond over the years. The memory that stands out for her the most is the 2007 state visit of Queen Elizabeth II. “And working with Buckingham Palace, it really is an extraordinary experience. They are so detailed and one learns so much from them and you know you are in the hands of true professionals. And nothing is left to go wrong,” she said. “And also when [South African] President [Nelson] Mandela came here in the ’90s, that was a very exciting evening.” It was also an instructive evening. Downes reflected that it was a mistake to hold the cocktail reception before the dinner because when it came time for everyone to be seated, no one wanted to leave. “And if I lived my life again, I would have strongly recommended we did the dinner first and then invite people to join the after-dinner reception rather than trying to ask 300 people to leave, which was not easy,” she said. “There simply physically was not enough room to have everyone, but everyone wanted to be here to see the great man for just a short time.” Demand to get into an illustrious gathering at the British Residence located off Observatory Circle is, not surprisingly, high. So are requests from outside organizations and charities to host events there. Downes said it’s extremely difficult to vet through worthwhile requests because “everything is a good cause.” The key, say both Downes and Flamini, is for the group to have a connection to their home countries and promote them in some way. “It’s limited in the sense that if we do dinner for anything cultural or promoting business, it has to be directly related exclusively to Spain,” Flamini said. For instance, when WETA approached her about hosting an event, “We said fine, we’ll do a dinner for you with a performance, [but] the performance must be a Spanish performer and it has to showcase Spain in one way or another, and so they will be having on the radio new Spanish music for a couple of days. So that it’s continually an exchange that can be justified in Spain as we are spending but it is promoting Spain.” Downes says the biggest misconception people have about her work is that she has no budgetary constraints. “People probably think
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