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The Big Event The staff and everyone else backstage heard the loud voice. Many in the audience heard it, too, faintly carried over loudspeakers as sound was picked up by a distant microphone. The voice was a familiar one. It was the president of the organization’s board. Demeaning comments were followed by the president shouting, “I’m taking over!” The reason for the president’s outburst was a missed detail. Backstage staff were being blamed, as many in the audience were now embarrassingly aware. In truth, the president had ignored his stage rehearsal earlier in the day, and the mistake that was the object of his outburst had become larger than life to him due to his poor understanding of what was happening onstage. Paid staff were directing the event stage show from backstage. These staff were professionals in event management and had orchestrated the stage show in minute detail. It was directly at these staff the president aimed his frustration as he took over. Staff were told to leave, and there stood the president alone and now in charge. Stagehands waited to be told by someone, anyone, what to do next. By now the president was in trouble because he didn’t know what to do next. At this point, on the one hand, one hoped the president would fail in some embarrassing way, maybe to teach him a lesson; on the other hand, no one wants to see an otherwise successful event, raising money for a worthy cause, fail because of a ham-fisted officer. As it turned out, the staff had been very good at their jobs. So good that every move onstage had been scripted well in advance, put in writing in minute detail, and rehearsed. All that needed to be done was for everyone who was left to follow the written script. It also didn’t hurt that other volunteer officers of the organization came 19 The big evenT 213 related behaviors may never be expressed. But in the caldron of an event, problems can come up that challenge even veteran event managers. inexperienced people who don’t usually deal with such stress can react in unpredictable and problematic ways. all of the recommendations to this point have focused on planning and managing an event effectively . that includes anticipating problems and minimizing inefficiency to maximize financial success and increase effectiveness. the end point is an event that runs flawlessly. if the advice in this book is followed, there should never be a problem at an event. Unfortunately, no book can provide instruction that anticipates all the things that can go wrong at an event, particularly those involving the effect of stress on human behavior. an event is a place where a wide range of personalities are likely to be confronted with challenging situations. problems arise even at the best-planned and best-managed events. anticipating problems, even problems of an unknown nature, and planning appropriate action in response is just another step in creating the “flawless” event. one means to do so is to hold a rehearsal. The Rehearsal there may be no easy way to control how some people react to stress or to foresee all event problems , but there is a way to anticipate problems and plan an appropriate response in advance. hold at least one rehearsal. several rehearsals can be held to cover different aspects of the event or can be held by different event work teams. Make the rehearsals as realistic as possible. the idea is to work out problems before the event. in particular, the work teams assigned registration and collections should rehearse . those rehearsals are in addition to any training or instruction given to workers, such as briefings for the MC, merchandise models, spotters, and auctioneer . although it may not be possible to conduct a full dress rehearsal in advance of the event, because of the complexity of setting up a full-event room, it may be possible to hold a dress rehearsal the day of the event if the room is set up in advance. this can to the rescue. These were volunteers who had attended rehearsal and knew what was going on. The stage show continued. Maybe not as flawlessly as it might have had staff been present directing backstage activities, but the show went on. iF an evenT is well organized, planned, and managed up to the final day, don’t blow it all when the event-room doors open. Plan What to Do, and...

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