Ok post your votes up. Who do you think is the best CDV

1) looks wise
2) professional wise

my votes are

1) Karim Dos Santos
2) Very professional and not to mention funny!

Who is your favorite?

Chikita

I am a GM and so had different contact with CDV. I totally enjoyed MoMo when I was at Turks and Hammer when I was at Cancun. Just for the fun they brought the GOs with there outgoing personalities. I also had a good friend named Kikko. He was head of Sports at Punta Cana. His real name is Umbertro and from Italy.

And I hated MOMo when I had him as CDV in Turks. I agree about Hammer, he was great. Joey who was CDV before Paul in Turks was also great.

For me, recently, Michel Delamarre (in Faru and Chamonix) He's definitely old school CM (like me) but really appreciated him. There was another one I liked a lot and who was really good in Paradis Island as well as a CDV as an entertainer, but I forgot his name.

On the other siide, even though very professional, I didn't like Del Zingaro that much, made us feel like we were practically invisible (me at least, to my wife he was 'interested'... DUH) even though we met him in Bali and Djerba.

I would give a thumbs up for hammer too but he wasn't CDV yet so I guess that doesn't count ;-)

quote:

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Originally posted by GODJ

I would give a thumbs up for hammer too but he wasn't CDV yet so I guess that doesn't count ;-)

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You know, I heard many good things about Hammer. Lots of X.G.O's have spoken highly about him too.

I think the best was Jean-Pierre who was in Cherating in 1994. I've been to Cherating and other Club Meds many times since then, but the best atmosphere was the one Jean-Pierre created!

Maukitten

The best ?
MUSA AYKANAT (where are you now... away from CM ? ) !
Last experience as CDV ?
"La Fidele" summer 2002.
Incredible on the stage and funny with GM/GO!

At the moment, Alessandro Cordogli (ready to go to Turquoise?) ... number 1 !

Bye
N

I was in Djerba La Fidèle.
normally Gilles (Lacrampe) was CDV there, but this week he wasn't there and Luca took his place,
for me he rulezzzz definitely!!!

***Luca for president***

My votes:
1 - Alessandro Cordogli
2 - Karim Dos Santos
3 - Said Bennaji

Laurent Alquier, who was in Otranto 2 years ago:
incredible! Especially animation-wise! Thumbs up!

This year I was a GO at Kamarina and Rico Pauletti... well, respect!

For all Karim Dos Santos fans - he's going to Les Boucaniers next season.

And heard that Hammer will be in Bintan next season!

quote:

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Originally posted by jayycee

And I hated MOMo when I had him as CDV in Turks. I agree about Hammer, he was great. Joey who was CDV before Paul in Turks was also great.

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Momo was in bali when i was there..and he basically let the GOs do whatever they wanted as long as they did their job...u could see the shows were badly rehearsed and the GOs couldn't give a rats...he was the slackest cdv i've met..but really nice to the GMs...so i dunno...

Gilles Lacrampe was the worst.He was in Val Thorens last year and just walked around with his dog.He was only there for the shows.

Hendel Duplessy is in Paradise Island at the moment and he is the best. He interacts with all the GM's and the GO'S are very professional and he can dance!

Zenis
I can only respond as a GM and say YES Momo was nice to all of us and knew most of us also. Well at least he knew me by name. How any CDV treats the GO team is unknown to me, other than by what my GO friends tell me.
Jim

I think the number one is Alessandro Cordogli, I met him during my first season as g.o. in Caprera: summer 2000. I was his secretary.
I can assure that he is very funny, serious, and kind with everybody.
Alessandro Cordogli forever!!!

for me it's Hendel Duplessis...he was my CDV in Turks....he's just great !!!

for me it's Hendel Duplessy, he was my CDV in Turks and he's just great !!!

sorry, but what is a CDV???

the head of the village "chef de village"

I agree Hendel Duplessis is the No.1 CDV

For me as a GO(back in my time) it was definitly Jean Philipe Yvert. He was very charismatic. Made you WANT to work hard, but gave you a lot of credit for it as well. Was allways around, in all the shows and knew everybody (GO's and GM's) His driving however was TERRIBLE!! (Still amazed that I'm stil alive). He was/ is a good friend of another CDV: Michel de La Mar. He comes as a second best!
The worst was Jeff Planteblah?? or something....Jeeeesus! If you didn't want to sleep with him he gave you a realy hard time...the only thing he was good at was walking around in his leather pants and feeling like" Mr. too good to be true" himself

As a GM (recently) I think Yousef Dhari is just too good! Allways around and very energetic, funny, proffesional and très sympa.

Karolyn
Were you in Portugal where Youseef was the CDV? Were his wife and baby there also? He was CDV at Punta Cana when my wife and I were there as GMs. I assume his baby is a little bigger now. I enjoyed him as CDV as a GM, but heard lots of complaints from our GO friends as to him as a boss. I guess it all depends which side of the fence you are on, GO or GM.

I've also heard mixed reviews about Youssef. I've been to Punta Cana 7 times as a GM, once while Youssef was the CDV. I have to say that as a GM Youssef seemed amazing. He was always around and available and friendly. The GOs that I spoke to had mixed feelings about him- some liked him because he loved to party but he also did have the tendency to overwork them. My personal favorite CDV (and once again I am only speaking from the point of view of a GM- although I hope to be a GO this upcoming summer) is Phillippe- the current CDV at Punta Cana. He is well organized, friendly, and always seems to be talking to his GOs to figure out what needs to be done. The worst CDV I think is Alain Freson (spelling?). He was at Eleuthera in 1999 (I think) and he was absolutely AWFUL. He appeared maybe once every day at most and was always dressed in a suit and tie (even though it was June and was WARM!). He was extremely unaproachable and very distant the entire time we were there. But then again, this is all from the point of view of a GM, I don't know how the GOs felt about him.

I worked for Michel Delamarre in Guadeloupe and for me, he was the best. He listened to GO's and also cared about the GM's and their experience. He treated us fairly and was easy to work for.

Out of the 3 CDVs i worked with in Sandpiper, Hammer was the best.

Jackie

I think Hammer is one of the CDVs I have ever worked for or known. The worst by far was Lefis while I was in Sonora Bay.

I think Jean Marc is great.
When I stayed in Bintan from 12 Sep 2003 to 20 Sep 2003, he is the Chef De Village.
But, it is said that Jean Marc leave Club Med now.

For me, as a GM, there were two chef de village that i really liked Ryan Leach at Kani, and Tom Keidel at La Pointe aux Canonniers.

FOR ME THE BEST CDV IS GUY THOMAS.......A.K.A. AZNAVOUR.
MAY BE BECAUSE IM OLD STILE EX GO, THAT'S WHY.......
DJ FERNANDO A.K.A. RAFINATO

Hendel is great; I met him in Turkoise '01 and hope to see him next month at Paradise Island, though I heard he's going to Cancun soon. Michel Faujour at Hammamet '02 was great too, especially to us two Americans.

If you have a great team to go with a great CDV....then you're in business!!! Personnally it was in Sta-Lucia with Gino Andreetta. I've had Hendel as Chief of Sports in Turks and would love to be a GO again now that he's chief!! Too bad that time is over for me!!!

Hendel officially started as chief at Cancun around 9pm January 3 (the day I started my week there as a GM). One immediate change that was apparent by Monday was that the GOs started doing more crazy signs, and showing more energy. GMs who were there for two week told me that there was a noticeable chance in the village atmosphere since Hendel arrived. Based on his comments after Friday's entertainment, he's putting a lot of focus on "one GO team." He also seems to make a real effort to interact with the GOs. I was impressed!

My choices are:

1) Jonathan Bismuth
2) Bernard Vigier
3) Alain Pitolesi

I know that Jonathan and Bernard are not CDV anymore but they were really good...

i thought that paul langas was great......

For me it was Joey, who was at Kani a couple of years ago. True Champ.

Darn, PJ, guess I'll have to go see Hendel in Cancun later this year :)

MUSA is the best CDV I´ve ever seen! he was in Djerba in 2002. I think he´s got a club in paris?!
he was so funny. I was GM there but i think that the go´s liked him too.

I was there too, wasn't he funny as Michael Jackson? Yeah he was quite a character, I remember he always had at least 5 blondes around him. But after that he stopped CM and noone knew why and what he was doing next.

My favourite CDV's are Gibus from Kemer and Jean-Marc le Pessey from Otranto, both last summer. Total opposites but equally likeable. If by any chance I end up working for one of them this summer I would be really happy.

I don't have anyone to compare him to, but Phillipe, in Punta Cana, seemed great. He was always around and approachable. He seemed to be well liked by the GOs and GMs. The village seemed very organized and the shows were great. The place has a great energy! To me that says a lot about the CDV.

I think that the best CdV was Michel de la Marre. He was really good to the GO's and let us make decisions. Jonathan Bismuth was also a really good guy, and he now has a restaurant in Paris. The best CdV are always the ones that were consistent with everyone and showed GO's how to get things done by doing a lot themselves.

As a GM, I would have to say that the first CdV who impressed me was named Patrick. I believe he later went on to run the reservations center in Scottsdale. Every day, without fail, he would make the rounds at the pool and kiss every woman and shake every man's hand and ask if there was anything he could do to make the vacation better. I would add to the list a CdV when I was at Saint Lucia--Jose Aliel--I still have his business card. Probably my favorite was Jeff Plantebant. Incredible entertainment. I knew him at La Caravelle and Bali.

Hammer, Hendel, Ryan...I'm sure that they are all great CDV. I worked with Hammer in Turks 97 when he was my CDS and Hendel was Landsport. Ryan was my CDS when I was in Columbus 96...I had a great relationship with all of them for work. Yes, at that time they were not my CDV, but I'm sure they are doing great job...too bad I'm not GO anymore.

for me,as an ancienne go...chef de village from hell,jose aliel,yves lebrun,THE BEST were pierrot chiqurille,pierot ruffaldi,and denis anselem....old style C ed V...BUT JUST AND FAIR...SHAME THEY ARE GONE...PRESENT DAY,guy thomas AND christelle van hadj...as for del zingaro,i had him as chef de sport...we got along great...no problems with him...as for karim dos santos,and allessandro...less than zero...i`m going to go and see vincenzo soon...give him the shock of his life...fun

pinky

I've only been to Cancun so far, so I only know of Hendel. He was very cool.
I met this group of people tht liked to go skinny dipping in the pool after the disco. One was an ex-GO. So one night we were out there attracting passing males and rubbing on eachother in the big pool and Hendel came by and asked what we thought we were doing...the ex-GO spoke up and said, "Just having fun, I've got it under control." So Hendel just laughed & said, OK, don't cause any trouble and have a great vacation.

Hi everyone,

This year me and my friend went to Cefalu' and the CDV there is really great (Calogero Nuara)!! Can't wait to go back!!!

DENISE

I have pals in Cancun and they say that Hendel is really good. They came from Punta Cana.

Someone from Punta Cana on the other hand...As a GO, he treated you great if you had big tits or if you did him sexual favors. I had neither under my belt. (actually, at first I was naive enough to think that he wasn't doing any of that because he was married!! haha!) A friend of mine gave him a some action and wound up with the job she wanted. I guess that's just how the world works, right? Anyway, I was virtually ignored in the beginning when I arrived. I tried to approach this chief on several occasions, was waved away and only met him after about 4 days. When I confronted him about a problem I was having, he told me it wasn't his job and he was busy at the moment (he was chatting up some of the other female GOs.) So I guess we really just didn't have much to do with each other after that. I just did my job and that was that!

Jean-Pierre Franquin (the same one Maukitten mentioned) is amazing!
Hendel Duplessy (currently Cancun) rocks
Chris "Hammer" Keeley (currently Bintan) is kind, fun and fair
Luke "Gus" Nealy (currently Lindeman) is a personal favourite
Kenton Smith was controversial but he loved his GOs and his job - I appreciate his uniqueness
Eric Peyronnet is great too

G.A. xox

for the most part I loved all my CDV w/ 2 exceptions Alain Frenson (not really his fault though. he was put in the American zone w/ out really knowing about americans) & "Teach" (He just talked to hear himself talk, was too nit-picky would search for things that were wrong when there wasn't anything wrong)

But, I loved working for Gregg Snyder, Hammer, Xavier Corne, Lionel Benzoni (even if he didn't get my humor quote from him, " I think you are funny, but I just don't know") Evem Moise was bareable (till the night before he left Punta. Weird things were happening in that disco that night!)

Hey GAR,

You would have loved it in Cherating in 1994 then. Jean-Pierre was CDV and Gus was the animator. That season was definitely a lot of fun (and I was there 5 times!).

:-)
Maukitten

wow the name Kent Smith brings back memorys I remember back when he was just a landsports GO then as a Cheif of Sports He was good buuuut So how was he as a chef

So far my Favorites have been Hendel at Cancun and Joey Templin at Ixtapa

I worked with Kenton Smith in Eleuthera back in 97. It was my first season as a G.O. and I was a snorkeling picnic G.O. Kenton scared the crap out of me because I was pretty introverted when I first arrived at Club Med. Some other G.O.'s took me under their wing and helped me out. The group at K-4 was the best...parties almost every night....anyway, I digress. Kenton was a really cool guy as long as you did everything right. I remember how stressed I was about him coming on the picnics. It took about 4 picnics for me to get the hang of the whole picnic idea. What helped was a crazy Chief of Sports (Guto from Brazil) and drinking a lot with the GM's while playing the whistle game. I finally cut loose with a singles group from a window shade company that basically rented the village. I had a picnic where 150 people signed up and more wanted to sign up for the 2nd picnic of the week. Anyway, that made Kenton happy and he did not fire me. He told me at a G.O. party that he threw that we was planning on firing me, but my chief at the Beach (Ralphel Gomez) went to bat for me as well as Guto and several other G.O.'s. Kenton was still going to can me but I pulled off a great picnic with the singles at Eleuthera. Kenton could be intimidating at times, but he could and did party, but he kept himself under control and demanded respect.

I also worked with Momo, Xavier Corne, Jean-Marc at Turks. Kenton was the best. I have heard that Hendel is the man, but never had the chance to work with him.

yeah hendel is great and yeah Kent expected the picnic to rock and if they didn't you heard about it from him thou I do have pictures of us turning on him durning one picnic where we picked him up and chucked him into the ocean in mass quite funny actually he was always showing up on picnics to make sure they were going well you had to be outgoing and crazy to work those picnics for him
I though t hhe was great but have heard stories to from both GOs and GMs about his later years did you ever get photos of him its been years but would love to see how he has changed

hey boomer,
I don't know if we've met...i was scuba secretary from may 2000 till december 2000 in turks. I worked with jean-marc and i just hated him..( almost all the other go's hated him too)..and i had the chance to work with Hendel at the end of the season, and yes Hendel is THE man !!! he really respects all of his go's...

Boomer....Who are you??? I was in Eleuthéra during the Windows thing (...but let's not go there!) I was the hairdresser of the village....and even gave Kenton a makeover when the village closed!! Remember how bad he looked with his sun bleach hanging hair??!! Are you talking about Philippe's party room? Man, great memories I have from that summer....One of them was to meet my husband!!!

Anyway, yeah, Kenton was kind of cool (better than Toutoune for instance!!)

Cheers
IZ

My favorites:
Ye - you had to respect him...he got results and never asked you to do stuff that didn't make sense. He took care of his teams.
Pierrot Ruffaldi - an all around great CDV...wasn't in your face unless you were screwing up at your job.
Mike Coltman - His Love for the club was infectious...we worked our butts off, but took pride in being excellent. I learned a lot from him in regards to the club and just plain life.
Best Chef de Sports: Andrew Fleming...Punta Cana. Hands Down winner!
exgodude

I think my best CDV were Max in Ixtapa (actually every time I talked to GO´s who know I met Max ask me if that season at Ixtapa was as good as they´ve heard) and Lefis in Huatulco was an excelent CDV.
The worst one (the reason I left CM) was a nasty bold french guy who was CDV in Ixtapa I can´t even remember his name right now, his wife was a mexican woman who worked at the boutique. Does anybody know who I am talking about?
Does anybody know what happened to Lefis and Max?

1.- Luke (gus) Neale
2.- Hendel

together always

Hendel ( is the man!!!!)
and Houria ( that woman did a lot for me and other GO's!!)


Have a good one!!!

Dimple

definitely Hammer !!!!! He was wonderful in Sandpiper!
Ex-CDV such as Lionel Benzoni also.
But for Jean-Marc Pessey, I do not agree at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next best CDV will surely be Gecko!!

I read a lot of good things about Hammer and will tell you all about my experience after I came back from Bintan (D-15 now).
I liked Armand Levry (who's now in charge of the Champs Elysées agency in Paris) and Patrick Serva (great guy, what a dancer!!!)
Saber Fajr is not too bad (thinks he's all hot tough, but professionnally, he's great)
Gibus is also a ball (will be in la Caravelle this summer)
Worst I've had was Gilles Lacrampe (for those who understand French, the name says it all :-))

Sandrinette

Hey isabelg !

I think you're talking about Christian Aubert, could it be ?

Isabelg.....Or maybe it could be the nightmare of a CDV I had in Eleuthera....Toutoune (Jose Tournaire)....Skinny, bald, thick glasses, in his 60's....the wife is mexican and a lot younger, in her 20's.........they have a son together too but can't remember the name right now! That summer season in Eleuthera, at least half the GO's quit or got fired (I'm one of the ones that quit, and it was my third season...)

Chabella

My vote:
1. Gregg Snyder--he was very welcoming, friendly, and funny!
2. Tintin(I think he was CDV in Phuket, but not sure)

Luke (Gus) Neal is awesome!!What a talented man and fantastic with his G.Os.Jean-Marc Dessey is the Chef De Village that got me into wanting to be a G.O when I was a G.M and as a G.M I followed him with my family to 3 different villages and I know that his G.Os loved working for him(I believe that Eddie and Belinda followed him for a few seasons).Ryan Leach was my first Chef De Village and he made my first season so enjoyable.
Joey Templin would have to be my least favourite.If he doesn't like you, he REALLY doesn't like you and is so fake,putting a show on in front of the guests and when they are not around ignores you or treats you like rubbish.
Does anyone know a Chef De Village by the name of Saverio Friselli? He will be in Cherating this season.He may have a nickname?

Undoubtedly at first place Staiano and Paoletti and just a little bit less Cordogli and Keidel.

mj & chabella
No, his name wasn´t Christian nor Jose...gosh I can´t believe I don´t remember his name, he wasn´t skinny and his wife was about his age (not a very nice woman by the way)...tell me more names to see if I can remember- it was around 1993 I guess-; chief of sports was a french guy called Didier and Fabienne was the choreographer

I know another one who is not my favorite, GM liked him very much but he was nasty to GO´s I don´t know how I survived that season his name was Medhi, he used to put a lot of unnecessary pressure on GO´s...anyone remember him?

What about:
Mety Agriciouglo and Eric Lejeune?

Bye far hendel duplessi. Always smiling. He is everywhere, he does animation, crazy sign, danses, show, It realy is the best cdv I have seen

For me, the best ones were:
Mirdieu (various villages) Aureo Stern (Sonora Bay, I believe 1993) Patrick Calvet (Sandpiper 94), Eric Lejeune (La Pointe aux Canonniers 2002), Patrice Hurlin (Agadir 2003/04) and Saber Fajr (Les Almadies 2005

The worst ones by far were: Dany Stabielli , Gérard Barouh and Manuel de la Rosa.

Kent Smith was a sports GO in Cancun Summer 82 - I read that he had become a CDV but didnt know he was still with the Club

quote:

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Originally posted by Nightshade

wow the name Kent Smith brings back memorys I remember back when he was just a landsports GO then as a Cheif of Sports He was good buuuut So how was he as a chef

So far my Favorites have been Hendel at Cancun and Joey Templin at Ixtapa

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C'est Bonne Pour Le Morale!

ok here goes

hammer: worked with him when he was an ANIMATOR ( going way back ) did two seasons with the guy....he is cool.

Ryan Leech; he was my CDS in Turks and in Cancun, cool guy...MAGNUM!!!!

Kenton Smith: "aka" SKIPPY....not sure if anyone remembers that or not, but it is out of the bag. He was cool with me, ran a tight ship. The picnics HAD to rock, he even had two SCUBA GO's go becuase we could drink most other services under the table...and still dive @ 8 the next morning!!

Mike Coltman: CLASSY guy, is what Club Med is about. RESPECT him and he does the same.

Abdel: ok, never saw him...really he was never around..he ahd a kid and wife though...it was great, the CDS ran the show...and the PARTIES

Jean Pierre LeGrand: the night club broke out into a fight one night in Turkoise, watched him try to take on the entire bar.....he was ok, but he could be abrasive around the edges. He fired my room mate becuse the guy drop the CM flag during the sports demo in the pool and he flipped out......

Andrea Livingston: did not like. And I was not the only one. But thats all I'll say about that.

Lefis: cool with me and a great season. Had nothing to do with him. He did his thing and as long as you were there on time, followd dress code and respected the GM you had no problem with him.

Greg Synder: had many crazy night s with Greg...he was a good CDV...

there are like three more, but I cannot remeber their names...just their faces...it will come to me though

Kent aka "Skippy" (not sure where the nick name came from though I do remember my mother calling that on a few of her visits) is not still with the Club. I guess after 9/11 he left Last I had heard was that he had opened a bar in Calafornia.
I worked with him for 3 seasons back in "86"-"87" He was a Great Chef of Sports have no Idea how he was as a CDV. but good god those Picnics ROCKED!!!! Penalty Shot!!!!! Though I have heard stories of what he was like as a CDV.

Now my tops hmmmm
Still Hendel gotto love the man
Kevin Batt
Greg Snyder
Danny Stablini (is no longer with the Club But he wa my Favorite when I was a GO)
Joey Templin
Karim Fajr

All great at handling there teams and there for the GMs with a smile and a Hello all the time.


"Where Are We Going And Why Am I In This Handbasket?"

I could not recall her name I think it was her first season as a CDV at Sonora Winter 87 or 88 it was the season the Hutalco opened/closed -- I ended up in Sonora -- beautiful viillage cold cold at night

She was thee star of every show -- not a great CDV

wasnt she some sort of an Olympic Medal winner in Windsurfing

quote:

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Originally posted by Stimpy

ok here goes



Andrea Livingston: did not like. And I was not the only one. But thats all I'll say about that.

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C'est Bonne Pour Le Morale!

Yes I remember her not her name.

Though you are right she was a olympic medal winner. She came in to Sonora Bay the week before I was suppose to leave for my break home in the fall of 87 not sure if she stayied that season but yes I remember her didn't think to much of her either.

Oh well thats life.

"Where Are We Going And Why Am I In This Handbasket?"

Yeah that is right, Andrea was an Olympic medal winner in WINDSURFING....

she was married to another GO and had a kid and a nanny with her...she was the STAR of EVERY show and she made sure you knew it. She once moved a much better dancer to the back of the stage so that she could be in front....she did this ALL the time. Her husband was to be the CDS in the village she was going to, well CM had already chosen whom they wanted at the village for that season. She was FURIOUS......she stated that until things were worked out, the CDS could run the village and her husband would be the F&B Resp. Wow...what a ****ty season. She was never anywhere but the shows and she never knew what was going on becuse she was harly ever there for practice....

Kevin Batt: NIce guy...I was there in Cancun that fatefull morning....

Kevin is the best...he runs the show and you run with him. Very nice to work with and a very nice person with the GM's...likes to party...... he is like a younger version of Mike.

I'll be going to Turkoise on Nov 14....I'll post a review

Hendel Duplessy

He is the best!

chrisbo, we have some similar preferences...

Best for me:
Patrick Calvet (Opio, Marbella, Sandpiper), now chef of all the CDVs at CM HQ
Jean-Louis Dromas (Marrakech)
Bissoonath Jhurry (Turks), aka Ye, now working for CM in Mauritius
Saber Fajr (Varadero)
Jonathan Bismuth (Agadir)
Jimmy Chicheportiche (Marbella), now reponsible CM agency in F-Nancy
Eric Lejeune (Djerba La Douce)
Carlos Castro (Otranto)
Bruno Ghilardi (La Pointe aux Canonniers)
Karim Fajr (Albion)

Worst for me:
Dany Stabielli (Djerba La Douce)
Pierre-Jean Laplasse (Yasmina)
Vincenzo del Zingaro (Djerba La Douce)

For me: the best are: Stephan Noublanche (Yasmina), Bruno Ghilardi (Porto Petro even if some aspects are very negative but it's easy to avoid them and a great professionnal) - Eric Lejeune (Yasmina).
The worst: Laurent Alquier (Alpe d'HUEZ LES bergers): I can't imagine he's still working for the CM: bad guy, bad manager, we had received money from CM as apologies..... I run away when I know in which villahe he is.
I never do this but this time I'd sent a letter to CM to take my revenge.....

Flo,

Now that you mention Bruno G. it's not that I forgot about him. How could I, when I had him 3 times at La Pointe. He's an excellent manager, but leaves the crazy signs, etc. usually to his second like the brilliant CDS Youssef, now in Hammamet.

PS: Will it rain tomorrow evening in Paris (Rolling Stones gig)

Say NO, please.

PPS: Isn't Laurent Alquier in Otranto now and replaced Barbara Bertanza?
Just wondering what our Italian friends will say about him...

Hi Kiki, it's strange, my first trip in CM was in Porto Petro with Bruno and he was mad with crazy signs and us too: at noon, in the afternoon on the beach, the night after the shows, later on the bar (yes I said ON the bar).
Yes I think Laurent ALquier (beurk) is now in Otranto.
Don't worry, this night, it was a real storm with a lot of rain but now, the sky is grey but it doesn't rain anymore......
Have a blast there and don't forget, if you could, call me for a drink, it would be a great pleasure to meet you, but I know you'll have a very short time, so have fun.
Kisses FLO

Thanks, Flo, for the no rain.

Well, Bruno was probably a bit younger, when you had him in Porto Petro. Now, he's usually AT the bar just chatting with GMs.

That's true, Porto Petro was seven years ago!!!! But I see he's always cery close of the GMs

Hendel Duplessy

the best...... HENDEL , another world

FLAVIO GO

for me its Xavier Gomila I met him at Da Balaia... great CDV, funny, very professional and always concerned.
Also, Karim dos Santos I havent met him as a CDV yet only when he was chef de animation. but he is absolutely great. I met him at Yasmina.

Hakkee, that's strange... I remember you telling that Calo was the best CDV you've worked with...
I don't share your opinion about Hendel, he is not the best.

Best of all, now working in the office in Miami, was Kevin Batt. He is natural, interesting, and he is the only CDV I've seen with GO team T-shirts, everyday. His team was working hand in hand, always smilling. (I've seen Hendel's team in Buccaneer's, most of GO were not happy and always complaining)
Second best, I would say, Eyal Amzallag, currently in Cancun. But he is not very popular, except for those who want to Kemer last year.

I would agree with Linda B.

I'm just back from Cancun, and was impressed by the way Eyal is handling the club. I have seen many good CDV before, but Eyal seems to have a way to recruit a great crew around him as well as the ability to be everywhere all the time. (This latest spooks the GO's..!!!)
He was on a business trip for a few days when we arrived, and despite an excellent job by Raphy during his absence, we all could tell right away when he was back..!!!


Life's 2 short..!

Hey is really Raphy did a good job as a CDV??? wowwowo happy for him
yes i think Eyal is a very good shef i know him when he was a shef of sport in Palmiye 2004 his sport team were the best!!! and then as a CDV in Kemer 2006 he is really cool and he has a very good team!!
But the best one for me it's Jean Marc Desy CDV of Palmiye 2005 and i know that he will be back to club as a CDv in 2008!!!

What is a CDV ??? Sorry, I am not familiair with Club Med (this year first time...)

CDV = chef de village

Since you're not yet familiar with CM, these may be helpful as well:

CDS = chef des sports
GO = gentil organisateur
GE = gentil employé
GM = gentil membre

We do tend to assume that everyone knows the abbreviations, don't we. As a further explanation--

GO = Those mainly young, very fit people with boundless energy who teach us tennis, archery, help us at reception, take care of the kids, put on the great shows and teach us crazy signs.

GM = Those of us who pay for a week or two to be with the GO's who teach us all those great activities, and hopefully become our friends.

GE = Those people who do the maintenance and landscaping, work in the dining room, clean the rooms, and basically make the whole club run efficiently and look beautiful and never get enough credit for doing it.

John

1/ Nuara Calogero!!!!!

2/ Francis de Landro

1) Eric Lejeune
2) Ye

I have to go with Battman (Kevin Batt)

Gotta agree on Kevin Batt. I think he did a ton to make Turks a better village, Sharkies & the colorful paint job come to mind and, of course, the pig...

Time for a bump in case newer members want to add something.

Really looking forward to meeting Karim Dos Santos.


D-2

Looks wise, Antonio di Razza is one of the best too I'd say :)

Hi Mini Eva.... You remember me in Otranto ?

Antonio is not only one of the best "looks wise", but his kindness and professionalism makes me say it ... He is one of the very best.

bisous... Chrisbo

I have to adjust my list:

1. Kevin Batt, always... but I know that now he does a great job in the HQ. I would like to see him when he goes for a few days for business in one village.

2. Abdel Osmani. He is very impressive. Really: the way he is able to remember the names of so many GM!!! I also like the fact that he makes GM participate a lot, like taking some GM on stage with him for the crazy signs.
And as the team is the reflection of the leader... Great great GO team by his side.

3. Eyal Amzallag. I think that he is really really good, but maybe he is not enough "natural".

We 've Known Sofiane in Bintan sept 2006, really nice ! but he was instead of Sayid who was in vacation or training... never saw or heard about Sofiane anymore...
Barbara B in Kani, she's good, very dynamic !
JB in Punta Cana nice and dynamic too !

can't wait to go to a club with Abdel Osmani, read so many good things about him, I guess we have to go to Morocco !

Staiano is the n°1, actually he is in Villar sur Ollon

I've known a recent CDV: Patrick Boeuf "Pat", he's in Yasmina Morocco this summer and will be in a free style village on winter: Val Thorens.

I've known him a few years ago in La Fidèle.

He's great as CDV: he's everywhere, smiling, funny, dynamic, liked by GOs and GMs.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere in the village is not very exciting....

For the ones who have known him:

Rico Paoletti, former CDV, has been appointed manager of the Hotel Le Canonnier (right next to the CM village La Pointe aux Canonniers) as per last September.

Here's the article from L'Express (in French):
http://www.lexpress.mu/display_search_result.php?news_id=116358

After my fab stay last May at La Pointe, I definitely have to add

Sofia Anca.

Unfortunately, she will give up being a CDV and change to a different job and challenge, but still withing Club Med as from next fall. She will be CDV at Gregolimano until then.

D-22! Yes!!

We first met Sofia at Punta Cana with the Grand Reopening December, 1999. With all the major problems it had, she was the ear that heard all the problems. She did an awesome job there. She kept her calm and handled it all very well. It is good that she will remain within Club Med in some capacity.

How many gold bar beads?

Good CDV's are good managers and good leaders (two different skill sets). Their leadership style is high in Initiating Structure (letting subordinates know what the rules are) and Consideration (treating people as individuals). They are independent variables. You can be high on one, low on the other, high on both, etc. This was first hypothesized by Fleischman-Ohio State University, and subsequently proven by John-Chicago-Iowa State University in a study on multi-variate raters.

Oh, that's enough. I'm off to Peru tomorrow.

John

John, It isn't fair to tease us with such knowledge and then to dash off to Peru, where as far as I know there are no CMs

We'll wait for you to come back to hear the rest of the story of the multi-variate raters.

M.

That was probably the most "high-brow" post we've ever had on this forum!!

I really want to show you guys a photo of my favourite CDV, but when I click on the link to insert, it just does this:


What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!
Trish

Dive now; work later!