Event Management Lessons from the Book Divergent
Friday, August 24, 2012
It’s crazy but sometimes you
get inspirations from unexpected areas. As a professional events manager and
organizer, I do sometimes stumble lessons from areas I never imagine will
contribute in making me a better member of my industry.
I just finished reading the
Divergent written by Veronica Roth, gobbled the book for two days and putting
it down satisfied and wanting for more. But before I discuss further the ecstasy
I got from flipping the pages of the book, here are event management lessons I
learned from Divergent.
AMITY
Always remember that events
have a peaceful side, and you need to also be at peace with the environment you
are gravitating around, even though sometimes it is chaotic. Be reminded there
is beauty in chaos, and after chaos comes order – so true in events.
CANDOR
How many times have we seen
projects failed because of the lack of honesty among members of the event committees. Candor or honesty makes communication meaningful. It also makes pre-event and actual event
implementation easy to manage when you have honest personnel that supply you
with accurate data.
The saying “GOD is in the Details” can only happen if we
are honest enough to admit we overlooked a detail and report it or rectify it,
and not hide it under the rug.
ERUDITE
A lot of people think event
is easy but lack of erudite leaders and staff can mean catastrophe. If we want
to make sure we avoid faux pas we need to ensure everybody is knowledgeable in
what they do and what roles they play in the scheme of things in creating a successful event.
ABNEGATION
Creating an event is not
about one single person making it happen. It is always a team effort and
abnegation allows individual members to pool their talents to make the event
successful. In addition, we need abnegation to be present among event leaders
to set a good example to members.
Again, there is no I in TEAMWORK.
DAUNTLESS
Creating Mega Events need
dauntless people. Say for example Olympics, bidding and staging it in a particular
country is a gargantuan task only dauntless will be willing to grab. Every time
an event organizer or producer creates an event, big investment is involve. You
need the courage to bite the bullet and realize the vision you set for the event.
DIVERGENT
Finally, the secret to being
a successful event manager or organizer is to be divergent. We cannot be
conformist, we must always offer something different. Divergents do not need to
do what is accepted, divergents create fresh events or something that disrupts
the current traditional events. In marketing language, you need to be a Purple
Cow or be a Blue Ocean Strategist.
Lastly, let me admit to you
one thing I am Divergent and I am just beginning to disrupt your normal way of experiencing events J
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