The GSH Casino Parties Story Part 9 (2021)
The first COVID-19 vaccine was administered on December 14, 2020; needless to say, we were very hopeful heading into 2021. The first quarter was similar to what we experienced in 2020. We did virtual Casino Parties and an occasional weekend house party. It wasn’t until the middle of March that we actually hosted our first in-person corporate event, a small event with just two tables, but at least things were headed in the right direction. It would be more than half a year for corporate gatherings to return in a meaningful way; by July we were back to providing in-person corporate gatherings.
When the in-person gatherings finally began, they came back in full force. In Q3 of 2021 we did an all-time record of seventy-two (72) casino parties; our previous 3rd quarter high was thirty-four (34) parties in 2019. GSH Casino Parties has survived! It was great to finally host and attend events seeing people laughing, smiling, cheering, and having fun!
We continued our momentum right into Q4, setting another quarterly record by hosting 109 casino- themed parties, with 55 in December alone.
We experienced many positive changes in 2021 at GSH Casino Parties. We secured our State of Illinois Charity License that enables us to conduct charitable gaming events. We brought in Jessica O’Connell as our Events Director; Kevin Muckian was promoted to Warehouse/Logistics Manager; and Mike Obokiotivz, General Manager, began taking on all the day-to-day operational responsibilities. Girard Hendelman, GSH Group President, has relocated to Nevada, and he is now the only current active NACPO member living in Nevada. Viki Kazhdan, our former Events Specialist, has transitioned to a smaller part-time role hosting and dealing at Casino Parties.
We are now nine years into this journey and our mission has not changed: The GSH Casino Parties Team executes fun and memorable casino-themed parties with world-class customer service!