TEDxChennai - Lessons learnt

i have been part and parcel of more than 18 events over the past three years, organizing an event to me has now become a simple predictable thing. There is a sequence of steps you should take, if all these steps are done well, you WILL have a successful event. the sequence has worked thus far, but strangely after blogcamp and the first few proto.in's the happiness and euphoria involved in organizing events has completely disappeared. After a long while i feel the happiness once again after TEDxChennai, a little introspection later, here i present to you the things that in my opinion would make any event click. 1. HAPPY TEAM LEADS TO HAPPY EVENTS Team. This is the beautiful word that we often forget while organizing. THe team is that one vital thing that could make or break an event. If the team is happy and are having fun then the event is happy and WILL be fun. 2. PROFESSIONALISM This is something i observed indirectly. All along after the first few events that we organized we kept talking about being professional. we used the right word, we had to be professional, only we missed the point completely. The team has to be professional in the work they do and not necessarily in the way they conduct themselves with other team members. in fact it would be better for the event that with the team behaves casually, like chums. To put it short the number of "macha" in any team conversation is directly proportional to the successs of the event. An informal team will motivate internally aiming for higher standards of work execution, the event thus will become professional. A formal team on the other hand will think up of a code of conduct, wait for disasters to happen. 3. Bloopers There cannot be an event without any bloopers. the trick is to catch them early, laugh over it, and then amend the mistakes as soon as possible. Never wait for a team member to completely sink in his mistake and then come in as a rescure measure. catch early watch out and fix things then and there. If a mistake is caught early people laugh over it and fix it quickly, if you wait for the mistake to happen then people will laugh over the person and not over the mistake. that honestly hurts, the induvidual, as well as the team spirit. 4. Autonomy is the best policy TedxChennai. i rest the case. Each team member was given autonomy to figure out the best way to do his task. he was given options and all resources available to get things done. and boy did they get it done well. with autonomy comes responsibilty. and responsibility is a very good thing. if you do not give autonomy the team looks for a leader, follows his exact words and if the leader missed something then the event goes down the drain. if there is autonomy you are your own leader. you WILL figure out the best way to get things done. you will not have anyone breathing down your neck to get things done. 5. Talk, Talk, Talk A fellow Proto.in team member said that organizing meets are a waste of time. i was of the same opinion after all there is nothing constructive done in any one of them. Before TEDx i would have happily quashed all these organizing meets, but now i look at it differently. Organizing meets have a value add. It assures you that there are like minded people who want to do the same thing as you, it assures you to that you are not alone and will not go down alone. its also a motivating factor to give more, commit more and above all that have a laugh and enjoy the cafe latte. 6. Keep'em Mailing list active An active mailing list means an active event. a mailing list that is active will be your idea pool. THe mailing list will also be your time tracker, instant notifier and resource manager. THe mailing list will ensure that you keep up your committment, that you know whats happening with the others and that others know what you are doing. a silent mailing list means that people are direct mailing , there is no transparency of information and that the event is doomed. 7. Acknowledge Acknowledge contribution of volunteers. How ever big or small, acknowledge work done, this is the least incentive a volunteer gets. Remember that however big the event is and however hard it takes to become a volunteer, the act of volunteering alone cannot be an incentive. work HAS to be acknowledged. that one minute on stage is what makes or breaks a happy team. That one minute on stage will make me proudly go and say that i am a TEDxChennai organizer. now how many times have my contribution for other events gone an recognized :P. 6 editions of Proto.in later, the people who regularly attend proto.in still do not know me. but i am sure every TEDxChennai attendee knows kausikram krishnasayee. 8. Meet Pre Event And Huddle Post Event Make sure the entire team meets pre event. that will help in averting last minute disasters, and possibly give murphy a break. And also make sure you huddle post event. For thats when the actual fun begins. the huddle post event is what will give a push to the events sequel if you just walk out and say Tata then the next event will never be as much fun as the previous one. 9. Become Friends With Your Team i am quoting Benny on this: ".....To me it was the fact that we were complete strangers to one another and the bonding happened at the right time Our focus was on knowing one another, work was incidental but important ..." cannot be put in a more apt way. work WILL happen if there is a good rapport.