We’ve had TWO real, live events in the past two months! The Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival was an experience we’ve been waiting a whole year for, and then bringing Texans together at the 5x5K FOR GOOD allowed us to unite a community of DO GOODers for a unique running challenge. It was exhilarating to get back to the world of zipties and signage, trusses and route cues, with a lot of new and ever-changing things thrown in – face masks, hand sanitizer, and loads and loads of “pods.”
Out on Fort Lauderdale beach and at our five start/finish lines around the Dallas Metroplex, it was easy to spot the event producers from those just out for an early morning stroll. Here are the top five ways to pick an event professional out of a crowd.
- They’ll climb a tree to find a signage solution. When high winds took our Start banner down, it was our teammate Jake who didn’t hesitate to shimmy up the truss to create a secure solution.
- They don’t go anywhere without a measuring tape and a Leatherman. Those tools certainly came in handy when we had to mark off hundreds of pods on beach sand using traffic cones, poles and zip ties.
- They take celebrity in stride. While most may react to seeing their favorite pop star by trying to sneak a selfie, it’s the event producer who’s just trying to hand them their mic and get them on stage on time.
- They don’t hesitate to lend a hand. When you’re out and about in a shirt that says “Staff” on the back, you’ll find yourself being asked all sorts of questions and flagged down for help. And we can’t help but be helpful. Whether we’re actually on the event helping participants, at the event site but giving directions to the something unrelated near our start line, or just picking up supplies at Home Depot.
- They wear their hearts on their sleeve. Here at Event 360, we work with clients will all sorts of missions, and it doesn’t take long to make these missions our own. We love getting to know participants and hearing their stories, and the more we do it, the more these very personal causes become truly important and meaningful to us as well.
Fellow event producers — we see you out there! To some of the most helpful, big hearted, detail-oriented, perfectionist, multi-talented people we know — cheers!
Joann Buckley Collins
A graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Southern California, Joann Buckley Collins has been writing and implementing communications for nonprofits for more than 20 years. She’s been Event 360’s Senior Copywriter since 2004, bringing her expertise as both a writer and a strategist to our clients. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.
