I recently had the pleasure of a discussion about becoming a guest blogger and several topics were tossed around. One, Sustainability and producing "greener" meetings was an easy one, as this is something we have been talking about and doing for a long time.
The second is trickier, "What does a Producer do?" Trickier because the topic is so vast, and so close to me that it is hard to step back and analyse what we really do. I have decided to do this in several sections, the first today will look at it from the perspective of a learner / instructor. Along with Chris Lowe and Rita Rogers, for a decade we have been teaching a twelve week Event Planning class at BCIT. This course is designed to give an overarching synopsis of the basics of planning events, giving about an hour to each major topic, and pointing the learners in directions where they can seek more information. In many cases, it is people who are already planning meetings, events or trade shows in their jobs and this for these learners provides more structure to what they are doing. So, what do I hope they walk out with at the end of the 12 weeks? Hopefully they understand that to produce successful events you need to be able to answer the following questions to start, then it is about the process of planning with these answers.
Questions you need to be able to answer, appropriate to your event
- What is the mission statement / driving idea of the event?
- What will define success? What is the key factor that will be measured?
- What is your client's ROI measurement?
- What do you want your guest experience to be? What do you want them to say when they leave?
- How do you (with some accuracy) define your target audience? How are you reaching them / what makes your event attractive?
- What is the budget? What does it have to include?
- Where is this money coming from? (sponsors, registration, donors, fundraising, exhibitors, auction items, other?)
- Is an event the right way to spend your money? Does it fit the marketing mix? Will it achieve the objectives? If it is a fundraiser - is it the best way to raise funds?
- Why does an organization sponsor your event and how can you make your event an attractive vehicle that supports their marketing initiatives?
- Who are your stakeholders? What will satisfy the stakeholders?
- Who is on your team - who will actually make this all happen?
- Where will it be? Destination, venue(s)
- When will it be - what impacts the date selection?
- What are you planning - multiple day program, single day event, something inbetween? Conference, incentive, fundraiser, celebration, festival, public event?
- WHY? Why is this event necessary? Why is there a commitment? YOU MUST BE ABLE TO ANSWER WHY.
As just a start, if you can answer these big questions, you can begin to consider the process of planning and build a plan.
When I started talking about colour, I knew it would be hard to stop. The basic color wheel was just the beginning, and there are still many to explore. For those of us old enough to have lived with an avocado stove, a lilac bathtub (yes, that is the next room to be renovated) or a harvest gold fridge, we know that while colours are selected for us to cross the spectrum from design to automobiles to fashion, there are always interesting choices made.
As The Special Event speeds along in Phoenix, the designers presenting are embracing the Pantone 2011 Colour of the Year - Honeysuckle and as this comes out in more design and wedding magazines, the resurgence of pink and pewter will be well underway for us in events. I am very excited to see how our clients react to and begin to embrace these colours in the coming year.
ser·en·dip·i·ty - noun
1. an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.
2. good fortune; luck: the serendipity of getting the first job she applied for.
"I like serendipity" tweeted back Liz Strauss yesterday when she asked the question about "how much of life should we plan?" and I responded, and believe, not all of it, because we need to leave room for the surprises, the ones that usually create the memories.
We are fortunate to live the lives we have, where we live them. This week there has been much discussion, as we move forward planning international meetings and incentives for others at least as hard working and fortunate as we are, about those who are not as fortunate.
@debmorello had posted a haunting picture this week of a child prostitute, so wrong and still happening every day in the world. While this is very uncomfortable for us, I applaud her courage to make us uncomfortable. My 12 year old has been reading the book he received at Me to We Global Voices, haunting stories of children hunted and living unimaginably, again every day. As his wise voice said "It's not easy to read mom, but it is important that we don't close our eyes just because we can." wow.
Last year I had the opportunity to see Patrick Henry Hughes speak at a conference we were supporting. What an incredible young man and an incredible family, for seeing past his challenges and instead focusing on what he could do. He has some words he lives by, that spell out the first letters of his name
- passion
- patience
- perserverance
- abilities
- attitude
- trust
Read his story and you will understand why I was inspired by his story, his virtuoso piano playing and singing, and what his father shares as well. We would all be blessed to have a family unit this strong.
Then there is the ongoing saga that began with Greg Mortenson and his three cups of tea. What one man can do with determination, and the earned support of many is truly incredible.
Speaking of positive momentum, who has been touched by Love Drop in a postive (and only) way. What a great idea - stand up, applaud, support. It is simple.
At the end of our discussion, my friend Lisa and I determined that rather than feeling inadequate that we were not leading as many of the above are, we can and do choose to live each day with good intent and positive, if smaller, actions, as every bit of positive momentum helps. We will also try to not have every moment so planned that we can't take a path that might lead us to surprising, magical, haunting, friendly, fun places where we can create connections and memories that might not have happened if we would have stayed in cleaning the house rather than enjoying a sunset at the beach... for example. This year is about continuing to embrace the experiences as they come at us.
I would leave just asking, what has been serendipitous for you?
In my last post I wrote about ways I have seen that will increase employee engagement- how to keep people interested in their organization, working with their leaders and ultimately producing better results with excellent customer service innately practiced on a consistent basis.
Today I found this awesome article that articulates it even more clearly so I am sharing it here. 5 new paradigms for a socially engaged company by @SorenG Apparently we are on the right track, and we definitely appreciate when the client organizations we work with are organizations that share these beliefs, that taking care of our talent will always lead to better customer service and an engaged workforce just makes work a better place to be!
Do you have an experience to share about what your organization is doing to engage you?
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Over the course of working since I was 13, I have been the lowliest assistant, an awesome coordinator, an instructor, and a project and team leader from hair salons through a variety of organizations (PCO, DMC and Incentive House) in hospitality, and I have had many fantastic leaders to learn from and grow with. Some things I have learned, and try to practice. (Don't worry, my team calls me on things I miss, and I do appreciate that!)
- Say good morning to the people you work with.
- Share passion and enthusiasm for the work we get to do - what we do is FUN, don't forget that.
- Be authentic, it shows.
- Assume you don't know everything - be curious.
- Be humble. Share the credit / give credit when due.
- Ask questions - of your team, your suppliers, your leaders.
- Say thank you.
- Saying please goes a long way too.
- Show genuine appreciation.
- Allow flexibility - everyone has a different work style - it needs to fit within your orgnizational culture but you will get the best of people if you allow them to work at what they are best at. Embrace the weird. Keep it interesting.
- Be realistic.
- Respect each individual for what they bring to the team.
- Provide challenges - and watch people rise to meet them.
- Be fair. Be transparent. Be aligned. Know your organizations' values and make it easy for people to be aligned.
- Embrace every experience - for whatever it provides.
- Share knowledge. Encourage ideas. Contribute.
- Share the positive - when we receive great feedback, share it up, down, sideways.
- Think holistically - you could call this "people, planet, profit" but it is about looking internally and externally and not in silos or with tunnel vision.
- Understand and be part of your industry, locally and globally.
- Provide opportunities.
- Trust your team.
There are so many colours still to explore, even black and white! So just before I move on to other burning topics, a few fun things and other people whose colour work I find inspiring.
Well this one is just for fun... tells you by what colour you like a little about you. Check it out. http://ht.ly/3APiw
I have previously mentioned the Colour Institute (fascinating) but this year, the Pantone Honeysuckle I also find fascinating - this is the noted "Colour of 2011" and its applications will make the world seen "through rose coloured glasses" for sure.
What is your favourite colour? My friend, highly talented artist Doug Swinton, and lead customer service agent at Swintons Art has a message if you call him that says "leave your name, number and favorite colour" - of course I always do... the colour changes though!
Choosing colours is something that some people are very comfortable with, and some people simply are not. Shows like HGTV's Colour Confidential offer a really safe environment as Jane Lockhart has a unique way of sharing colour with people, and finding what their comfort zones are and then pushing them a bit.
I have already mentioned hair (Marsha, Marsha and Nicole!) and a little about red, my personal favorite. During my years as a stylist I also worked as a colour technician and instructor for a world leader in hair colour. I have always loved colour - red, black, blonde, brown, for various reasons and for various people that carry these off really well. Jaclyn Smith was my first brunette heroine; my friend and superstar owner of Greenscape Silk Corinne of Greenscape has amazing black hair, often with blue highlights; and blonde, well Portia Rossi in Ally McBeal - hello... and my daughter has just had her first (at 10) "when I was five I had blond hair" highlights - gorgeously natural from my long time stylist Trina, a true master of hair.
I love all things about colour, in light, linen, fashion, nature, events, and more. I appreciate also the comments from friends who have been inspired and who have remembered what they love about colour too - from times living in the Caribbean, visiting India, cooking and planning events and how they love it as I do. Now it is on to a new subject!
Employee engagement will always be a hot topic - if your talent is not engaged it is tough to run a successful business, of any size. I have always worked for organizations between 4 and 50 people, which means they are mobile, dynamic and have highly involved ownership. After nearly 30 years in service (hair salons followed by meeting management and event production) I have learned a few things about customer service, recruitment, retention and engagement. For fun today though, I am going to review some of the career changing comments made both by my bosses and bosses of the people I know. You can judge the impact for yourself.
- "I can't really see you taking on more of the creative". Obviously a change was needed for me to get to this current position of Director, Creative and Production!
- "Flying home and watching movies on the plane will be considered a day off. After all, you are relaxing." Now I don't know about anyone else in this industry, but the reason I am watching a movie on a plane is because my job, that I just spent 18 hours a day for the last week doing, was far away! This is not really the aforementioned relaxing time off.
- "That's only one extra day a week." As I faced a third year of working 2,400+ hours...
- "I can't deal with this right now". Heard in more than one instance by more than one person, but really, when will be a good time to tell you that we have a problem to solve?
- "You will never cut hair again." from the surgeon after two major TOS surgeries. I cried - then I went to school - hello Event Management!
Do you have any career changing comments to share?
