Events Should Have Impact or You're Taking Away from the Community You Serve
Read this first paragraph like Daria said it. #IYKYK
It’s the day before an event you’ve been planning. You haven’t really thought about the number of people you want at the event (even though you should), but you’re assuming 50 will show. The one person you work with who may or may not be pulling their weight which means you might be left picking up last minute stuff and texting a few folks to make sure y’all at least have bodies up in there.
Now you can read it in your voice again. I am referring to the normal one. Not your cynical one because how did I get here.
What am I doing all this for again?
Meanwhile, you just found out about another piece of legislation that will harm gay kids. You feel exhausted, but this work is the work you’ve always done, and yet another community event is happening tomorrow.
At least the event is paid for. Barely, but the team did it. It was mostly 2 of y’all that pulled it together, but no one wants to say that out loud.
This can’t be all there is.
I know! I’m very inspiring around here. Feeling trapped in work that is supposed to change lives while everything seems to be working against making the world a better place. It is mind numbing.
My voice now. Imagine Tony Morrison, Fran Drescher and Regine from Living Single had a love child.
For about 20 years, I’ve been doing events for social impact companies and nonprofit organizations. I am the “I didn’t want to be an event planner, but here I am planning events 40% of the time” planner. I train and develop social impact leaders and new to the game team members on how to execute events that result in more funding, satisfied donors and clients, while getting the company closer to its mission.
It was 2007, I was behind the bar helping Ashley’s model zip up a dress, as the well liquor was rubbing up against my thigh. There were at least 50 people in this bar, and it was akin to a small row house. My parents came up to NY, drove up to East Harlem and Joh and I managed to get people to come to this event, a fashion show. Our company was called Bells and Bulls. It was created to help newly graduated fashion designers showcase their fashion. It might as well be another world you see in your dreams, because that time was many moons ago.
I loved it until I didn’t. I’ll talk more about Bells and Bulls as we get to know each other. I jumped in my ‘96 Toyota Corolla that night, a nervous wreck, relieved and never wanting to plan another event.
It wasn’t the first event I planned, as prior I worked for a B2B publishing house, and before that I did pop-up events for Coca-Cola. It was most definitely not the last, but we packed that little bar all those years ago.
After almost 20 years of planning, I want you to know one of the best ways to make an event you don’t like easier is by doing a gut check about why you’re planning the event to begin with.
What is the problem this specific event (not the organization or company) is looking to solve?
What is someone going to get out of your event?
What box is being checked in their professional life by showing up?
What about this event is answering a real (they would articulate it this way) question your community partners are asking?
If these questions are not answered in a way that wouldn’t pull you to the event, you, the board, your staff and/or your boss should ask why are we spending resources here.
According to Sunlight Foundation and their impact framework on community engagement, many cities are now developing open data programs that encourage communities to use data to problem solve, advocate, or hold local government accountable. I will walk you through the steps on building a procurement partnership with government entities in a later series.
For now, I want you to begin to think about the data behind engaging with community. As someone who has studied and lived within how organizations connect with other organizations, and how people tribe, you throwin’ spaghetti at a wall when asking people to converge around your idea in hopes they’ll show up is an odd way to change the world. You’re here because you know something is off with how you plan and program.
Most people do not think about why they should have any events, especially social justice events. We Capitan Save a Hoe/Captain Planet/Mr. Know It All/save the community types are pretty pissed that the easiest way to make the world a bit better is if people would be more kind, burn down antiquated, violent systems and let people live their lives as they see fit. So working to show the apathetic types to believe when you have not given them a reason to, and it is your job to bring those reasons out of them.
Yes, some people show up to events because they love you, love the cause, had nothing better to do, but what you want them (and those that didn’t come) to do is show up because you have done the work to know 2 things.
What will your program, service and/or presentation quantitatively and qualitatively do for their cause? (Answer this simply.)
How could they be engaged after the event is over that moves them, you and the community/cause you serve closer to the mission?
Not everyone will care to do both, but knowing how to engage people before, during and after an event leaves you feeling motivated and looking successful to the people it matters most: community, board and/or other stakeholders.
A meeting design (created by www.thecos.org method) is a way to plan events that people care about, fund and/or show up to.
I show you how and why you should create one here. If you do this for your next event, it’ll change the game. Try it and while you’re planning, ask me questions in the comments section on YouTube. I’ll answer most, if not all.
OK. Go plan something.
Let’s bring people together.