Giving back

Today I am asking for everyone to recognize your organizers. Take a moment and send a thank you to the organizer of an event that you have attended, and if you want to make them really feel good then let them know what that event meant to you.

We all know that putting on an event, no matter the size, takes a lot of effort.  But when you stop and think about it event organizing   happens way before the event and continues for some time afterward.

Before the event every organizer puts in hours of time talking with other people, making sure that presenters, volunteers, vendors and venue have what they need and want. This can take from days, to weeks, to months. The organizers put in their own money, most times a lot of it. Sometimes they get their money back but a lot of times they know that they wont.  

During the event organizers are still leading the boat.  They are still ruining from one end of the event to the other , setting up for the next thing, addressing concerns, giving everyone acknowledgement, staying one step ahead of everyone else. Sometimes they are also the face of the event, making sure that whatever is happening is going smoothly.  That can mean addressing the crowd or the presenter as well as constantly being the example, not showing that they are stressed, upset or concerned.  Giving that public face of making it seem like it is all going the way that they want it to.

Afterwards there is the clean up, getting people their equipment back and addressing the endless, and I do mean endless, complaints.  Then there is following up with the venue, the presenters, the vendors,  and the volunteers which can literally take months.   

A one day event, even a play party, or munch can easily take two weeks to organize from start to finish.   And if that person is organizing one or two events consistently on a monthly basis, it is very easy for those events to need daily attention. 

It is easy to get tired and to forget from time to time why we organize things.  And when that happens, it is the thank you’s that remind us that what we are doing matters, that it has a place, and that all of that frustration, fear, effort,  and energy that it takes to organize is worth it.

So take a minute today- send a thank you, even if it was something that you attended months back.  It may just be a moment of time for you, but it will mean a lot to those of us out there putting events together.