Today, I will be mailing off an external drive full of video recordings. It’s my last official obligation after the year-long planning of the “Largest OEM Fixed Operations Conference in the World!” Choosing speakers, negotiating fees, nailing down contracts, (preparing EFT forms and jumping through hoops to get ACH payments sent out), coordinating logistics, timings and more — to finally providing the recorded content and photos taken at the event.
WHEW! And Happy Halloween! 🎃
I felt relieved when tying the last bow on the event package.
Right now, I have no motivation to start the process to do it all over again. I just wanted to take a quiet walk in celebration.
It’s different when you’re not providing a service (a single speaker in my case), but instead are responsible for all the facets on the planning side of things. I can negotiate a gig, prepare a contract, invoices, and W-9 in a few hours. Then, that event gets put to the side until 2 weeks out when travel & hotel are coordinated. A quick follow-up post event and we’re off to the next one.
Planning an event with multiple entertainers is like herding cats.
Booking my favorite brother, I know he’s going to show up on time and crush it onstage. I know this because of my past experience of seeing it happen time and time again. It’s not like that when you secure multiple entertainers who all have different demands, A/V delivery preferences, etc. And just like any other type of business — some are easy to work with and others…erm… not so much.
The event was an amazing success — feedback was that it was the best one ever — but I don’t even feel like ‘spiking the ball’ in celebration. That’s a sure sign I’m in desperate need of a break from all things pertaining to events.
Fall is here and the leaves will soon be gone. I’m going to enjoy it for a couple weeks before deciding how I want to move forward.
How do you feel once you complete a long term project?
Now you know: During the 1970s energy crisis, Richard Nixon skipped Air Force One and took a regular United Airlines flight from Washington to Los Angeles. It’s the only time a sitting US president has ever flown commercially.