Job: General manager, Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub

Salary: "Industry average"

Background: I'm rather self-taught. Lack of an education doesn't necessarily keep you from going into management. I'm pretty proud of the fact that 7 1/2 years ago I was hired as a server here, and I've now had my job as general manager for just over two years. It's been quite the learning experience.

Being two blocks away from the Xcel Energy Center, how long and what have you been preparing for the Republican National Convention? The heaviest part of the preparation has started within the last nine months. It's the most work for four days of business I think I've ever done. There's a whole lot of cleaning involved, small projects ... everything from making sure I have enough paper products to things that I'm not used to doing, like buffets, to maintenance that we would have been working on anyway, but we have fast-forwarded it. We have brand-new streetlights, brand-new signage and we just finished building the patio a couple of months ago.

Will you stay open to the public during the convention? We will be, with the exception of 4 to 7 p.m., where I'm booked all four days by the Republican State Leadership Committee.

How do you expect business to change? I believe there are roughly 18,000 people that show up [downtown] for the Minnesota Wild games, and they're talking about at least 65,000 all crammed into this area each day for the RNC. So I think this will be unparalleled. It's going to be the craziest four days of our lives.

What are some of your biggest last-minute concerns? I just basically don't want to screw up what is one of the greatest opportunities we've ever had and one of the greatest opportunities St. Paul has had. I want to make sure that every single person that comes through here leaves with an absolute sense of "wow" of St. Paul.

Everyone has been to New York City, almost everyone's been to Denver, but I don't think there's enough tourism to St. Paul and a lot of people are going to be first-timers when they come here. I want them to be absolutely shocked and tell all their friends about the great time that they had.

Do you expect to see your regular customers during these four days? We have a very loyal clientele here, and I expect to see every single one of them, at some point, at least stop by to see what's going on. This isn't just for the Republicans -- this is for the city of St. Paul, for the residents.

Advice for us? Park far away, take the bus and have as much fun as you can possibly have. It's very important that the RNC actually see the people of Minnesota and actually converse with them.

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