The best event you attended
No commentsThis is a collective effort of the Linkedin community to figure out what makes an event outstanding. We have a 1000+ Event Planning & Management Group there which I invite you to join.
If you’d like to answer to the next question and be featured on a post like this check out this link.
Here is the question:
What was the most outstanding event you attended? What did you enjoyed? What worked particularly well? What did the management do that you perceived as remarkable?
What’s in it for you, reader? The chance to get insights for your next event. I suggest you go through all the answers as they entail great feedback and inspiration.
The best answer (the first you’ll see below) was selected, as always, according to my own preference. You can use comments to vote yours.
A few considerations:
- Incredible to notice how plenty of people indicated events of more than 10 years ago. What is going on with current events? I guess it is becoming harder and harder to impress and exceed expectations. Looks like we all need to deal with this.
- A lot of people talked about their marriage of children birth. I didn’t leave that out as I think there is a lesson there. Those are the events where you are the protagonist. It would be difficult to get more involved than this. The lesson is: the more you involve and release control, the better the satisfaction.
And now the answers:
Zen Event Managers
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When I think about productivity, GTD, being organized and blogging, I think about Zen Habits. It is the best written blog about all of the above (and more) topics. No surprises it won the award as Best Overall Blog in 2007.
I am one of the thousands fan of Leo Babauta, its editor, who has accomplished a lot in life and shares daily tips on how to tackle stress and life.
I decided to interview Leo and ask him how we could become ‘Zen Event Managers’. He demonstrated to be a great individual and with amazing kindness replied to my questions.
- Multitasking is said to be one of the most critical quality of an event manager. Do you agree?
While it is useful to be able to multitask when necessary, I don’t think it should be your main mode of working. For me, at least, learning to single-task — to focus on one task at a time and block out all distractions — has been the key to being more productive, to getting important things done (as opposed to a lot of unimportant things), to reducing stress, to simplifying my work life. It’s a more important skill in the long run.
Spam @ Barcamps
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I am hearing things that should have not happened are indeed happening.
I heard of people going to BarCamps and complaining about 15 minute spamming sessions. I’ve heard of unattentive organizers preferring the pitch of a product, a software or a blog over discussion and creation.
This is what unconferences should not be. By pitching you are controlling, control belongs to traditional conferences.
A pitch could be a way to start a conversation about some interesting topics, not the focus of a session.
We recently runned ecoCamp, a user generated conference/BarCamp where lack of control was the success.
If you attend a BarCamp speak out loud when you feel someone is trying to control, because that is not the place to do so.
I will be at BarCamp London 4 on the 30th of May, come there and I’ll be happy to meet you.
Work Breakdown Structure and Details
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Events are about details. If you don’t pay attention to details I strongly suggest you pursue another career path, or alternatively read below.
If you are convinced that details are indeed a priority I strongly suggest you think about using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to manage your next event.
Project managers use WBS to break down projects in smaller parts. By doing so they can define what needs to be done to get from the idea of a project to the actual project. A WBS also helps you in assigning tasks to team members as well as resources.
Is Multitasking good for you?
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Lately I have been having a great conversation with few of you on what were the top 5 qualities of the successful event manager. Although not in the Top 5, a lot of you named multitasking.
I agree. Even if you are involved with planning a dinner with friends, tasks will include collecting RSVPs, arranging food and drinks, selecting the music for the night, etc,. Most of the times you will find yourself doing few of the above at the same time.
If you work with events you have to multiply that by a hundred.
Nonetheless, I have to admit that in the back of my mind I am not 100% sure that I am being productive when holding 2 phones, replying to an email and making online payments at the same time.
Therefore, I went out and did some research about this interesting subject.
WebMd explains that
…we consistently perform better and faster when tasks are done successively, rather than all at once
