Now that we’ve had time to recover from organizing the Small Business Shamen Conference 2 weeks ago I thought I’d post some pictures from the event. Feed back from the event was all-around positive. We had a great, time going outside of our comfort zone in order to give something back to the community. We also learned quite a bit about hosting a business event.

Here are a few of my personal takeaways from organizing this event:

Make sure your team is awesome
The VIA Studio team was professional and ready to take on a challenge. A conference is not a one-person show. You have setup, door staff, sound, photography & video, concierge, etc. “That’s not in my job description” is a recipe for failure.

Things will go wrong
It’s how you handle them that counts. We had failures of communication, technical glitches, and a few other hiccups, but again, the team was awesome, and I personally heard no complaints.

Public Speaking is extremely hard, but rewarding
I practiced my presentation about 15 times alone in my office before the day. I don’t get stagefright, but I do get nervous, especially with a paying crowd. They deserve the best if they are dedicating their time to your event, so don’t phone it in. I also didn’t expect it, but I got choked up at the beginning talking about my Dad. Even practice doesn’t make perfect, but it sure does help.

People want you to succeed
Make no mistake. Do the best job you can, and you will get help and support from those around you. Only a petty person ever wants to see you fail.

Magic happens when you bring people together
By the end of the dinner at 610 Magnolia, there was so much goodwill, inspiration, and excitement you could feel it in the air. We called that “the vibe” back when we were raving in the 90′s. But it’s real, and good things happen to those who make good things happen.

Thanks to all the attendees, the volunteers, and the staff that made it happen. If the VIA staff doesn’t kill me for launching more hairbrained schemes, let’s do it again next year.

Cheers!

~jason