Today is my 30th birthday. And, like all birthdays, this one in particular has caused me to reflect on the past few years of life. I realized that I have been running this blog for the last 2 1/2 years, and I don’t think I’ve ever taken the time to share why it is that I do all this – all the blogs and Facebook posts and tweets – and all the event planning. So, while this won’t be my usual sarcastic “5 Ways To Make Things Better” post, I hope you will indulge me as I talk about this topic today.
About five years ago, I kept trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I gave my career in psychology a brief shot and quickly realized that it’s not what I wanted to do. I am the kind of person who takes my work home with me – and I wouldn’t be able to find a balance in the world of mental health. I kept tossing out ideas – pediatrician, any kind of doctor, singer, artist… nothing seemed to stick. One night, I was out with a good friend of mine and it suddenly came to me. What if I did events? He looked at me with this huge smile and said “Oh yes! Why didn’t we think of that earlier? You would be PERFECT for event planning!!” Over the course of the next few months, I looked back over my life and realized that indeed I was an event planner. I just never knew it could be a career.
I’ll save you all the gory details of how I got my career off the ground for another post, but here is why I LOVE hosting and planning and stressing over events:
- Events bring people together. They help you meet new people, celebrate with people you love, find people who share common interests. In their own way, they help us realize we are not alone. And, in fact, we are surrounded by people who are just like us. They might be in the town next door or around the world, but they are out there.
- Nothing beats face-to-face. Corporations still need to bring their teams together for morale building and getting everyone on the same page. Though social media and technology are amazing, there will still always be times where people need to meet in-person!
- They give people a chance! We work with several entrepreneurs who have found that events are an amazing way to get their brand “out there”. Though many businesses conduct their work online, in-person events really expand that reach and give each connection with a consumer more depth.
- With the right strategy, events can raise a significant amount of money for amazing causes all throughout the world. Events really can change the world!
- Events are fun to host and fun to attend!
One of my goals for my 30th year is to keep all of this in mind and use it to help me bring my clients better events that exceed their goals and achieve all of the above. How lucky we are to be in this industry!!
Photo by Chidorian
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