Pure Management Group VIP manager Brandon Ring
Sunday, June 6, 2010 | 12:05 a.m.
Leave it to mixologist Andrew Pollard to take an everyday pear cocktail and elevate it into something memorable. He employs the 80-proof Belvedere Citrus vodka (most flavored vodkas are 70-75 proof), fresh lemon juice and four to six mint leaves to contrast the sweetness of Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, elderflower syrup and apple juice, then tops it all off with Sir Perry English-style pear cider.
"It's my Monday," says Brandon Ring on a Friday afternoon, and that just about sums up the late-is-early, work-is-play world of a VIP services manager, where sleep is at a premium and BlackBerry messages don't quit just because the sun comes up. Ring has four phones (yes, four) in his possession, including two from past co-workers who have moved on but left their contacts behind.
"If I let my phones go for more than an hour, I'm so far behind and it takes a long time to catch up."
A native of Kalispell, Mont., Ring moved to Las Vegas to study finance and actually worked as a stockbroker before being lured into the nightlife industry. During his five-and-a half years with Pure Management Group, he's seen international tourists drop $50,000 on a 3-liter, white gold-plated bottle of champagne and watched as 50 Cent performed "In Da Club" under New Year's Eve fireworks and will.i.am as he spun a special DJ set.
Although his BlackBerry is never out of reach, Ring manages to get away, however briefly, to indulge in two of his favorite pastimes: golf and wakeboarding. And if he sometimes lingers too long on the tee box returning calls, it's been worth it.
"All the time, people tell me, 'Wow, you know what? You guys treated us way better than anywhere else,'" he said. "A customer will come in and say, 'How did you know we were such important guests?' We didn't know that, that's just how we treat everyone."
— Originally published in Las Vegas Magazine
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