Taylor Swift, George Clooney and Alex Ovechkin weren’t the only stars at Washington D.C.’s Madame Tussauds Museum (1001 F Street) last week as the DowntownDC BID’s Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance employees (SAMs) were guests of the museum for their SAM of the Month meeting.
Since opening in October 2007, Madame Tussauds has allowed DC visitors to get up close and personal with A-list celebrities, sports legends, political heavyweights, and historical icons, and also relive historical times and iconic moments.
The SAMS were treated to a viewing of Madame Tussauds’ most recent stars—the unlikely pair of Miley Cyrus and General Colin Powell. Cyrus is a part of the permanent exhibit, but General Powell’s wax figure was only in DC through the end of January. The famed United States statesman and retired US Army four-star General visited the museum to meet his wax likeness in December.
SAM Supervisor Michael Creed kicked off the January 19 meeting and filled the SAMs in on the upcoming events in which they’ll be playing an integral role, including DC Restaurant Week, Monster Jam truck series at the Verizon Center and the 2015 Washington Auto Show at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
The SAM staff also took a moment to reflect on Martin Luther King Day, with Safety Supervisor Charlie Stevenson sharing some of his own achievements, and reminding the team of some of King’s most famous and moving quotes. SAM David Hall also reflected on his Civil Rights experiences, noting “it was rough… but we’ve come a long way” and urging everyone to “look to the future.”
At each employee of the month meeting, two SAMs are recognized for their outstanding service. December’s SAM-of the-Month winners were: Safety/Hospitality SAMs Keandra Jackson and Stephanie Hagan.
Keandra joined the SAM Program in March 2014, and really enjoys meeting new and different people on the job. One of the highlights of her time as a SAM was being part of the Cherry Blossom Festival TV advertisement that was filmed at CityCenterDC. When she’s not at work, you’ll find her cleaning her house, working out, meditating and enjoying some down time.
Stephanie has been a SAM since February 2011 and is a DC native. She describes herself as a real people person. She loves the daily human interaction that her job as a SAM offers, as well as the camaraderie with coworkers and networking opportunities. In 2013, she was given the honor of introducing Assistant D.C. Police Chief Diane Groomes at the Annual SAM of the Year Awards at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys watching movies, reading, visiting art galleries and museums and cycling.
Congratulations to Keandra and Stephanie!