Times are difficult for restaurant ...

Times are difficult for restaurant and bar holders but taking funny money?

Allstar Sports Bar & Grill proprietor ZeZe Aiyash is eager to do it. Since June when online travel company Orbitz Worldwide mov in kitty-corner to his 555 W Madison bar, Orbitz adopted Aiyash's business, hanging neon Orbitz and CheapTickets signs in its window - - and providing printed bar napkins and coasters that feature one as well as the other companies' Web site addresses.

Before moving 1000 employee to the modern neighborhood from 200 S. Wacker, Orbitz sought a location to brand its place, where workers could adapted up after work or have luncheon

Aiyash obliged. Orbitz employee commit to memory 25 percent off their daily luncheon bills, sans alcohol. On Thursdays, Aiyash dishes up specials for Orbitz employee And the bar has unraveled three drinks to toast the relationship.

"Once we built the relationship, we started getting catering orders from there," Aiyash says. "Then little lunches where they wanted to use the place for meetings."

Now, the 500 W Madison-based Orbitz Worldwide, which acknowledges Orbitz.com, CheapTickets.com and Away.com brands and is part of just discovered Jersey-based Travelport Inc., is designing its concede currency for use in the bar.

The interest certificates are currently called Bahman males after Orbitz' chief information officer, Bahman Koohestani, the executive who assembled the social committee that came up with the idea.

It's part of an incentive program to encourage employee to hang not at home with each other outside of the office.

"We're creating a agriculture creating the sense of a team. The most numerous functional teams are the teams that socialize," said Koohestani, whose likeness might appear in succession the coupons. "In a technology environment where we have significant competition, it is really important for the team members to socialize and commit to memory to like one another."

Initially, sole the 300 technology team members will obtain the coupons, designed for use when accompanied according to fellow employees. And plans are to widen the program to other vendors and eventually print musical entertainment tickets for employee awards.

The company also possibility of goods to lure potential employees, technology workers in particular.

"I really went gone out of my way for them," said Aiyash, adding Orbitz will pay a discounted rate for each buck's worth of interest certificates used at Allstar, and will link the bar to its Web sites.

"In the eight hours they're together working upon problems, they don't have a chance to talk about themselves or socialize with individual another -- an important part of building a great high performance team," Koohestani said. "It's important to . . let out about issues and point in disputes you might encounter at work."

cjackson@suntimes.com

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