Event Planning

I admire people who plan major events, like weddings and conferences, because every time I have to do this kind of planning, I'm reminded what a hassle it is. Perhaps hasssle isn't the right word, but certainly the logistics can be a huge challenge. And this is from someone who handles logistics for a living!

Event planning is on my mind for two reasons. First, next weekend is the biggest health IT conference of the year, HIMSS. All the big companies and many of the small ones in our industry will have a booth at the convention center. The conference is so large that there are only a handful of cities that can house it. In 2010, HIMSS was in Atlanta. The year before that, it was in Orlando. This year, it's back in Orlando. It's outgrown smaller convention cities like New Orleans, where it was held in 2007. This time last year, I was already in Atlanta. Since I was then working for a small company, I was responsible for all the logistics for our booth, from getting it designed in the first place to being there for its setup. I also had to set up a booth schedule to ensure there was someone to talk about our capabilities at all times. And of course, marketing materials to hand out as needed. There was a great deal of stress involved as well, with so much of the planning and therefore success of spending all that money resting on my shoulders. All in all, I spent two weeks in Atlanta. I got to know the town better than I ever have, but I was compeltely exhausted by the end of it. In 2009, I helped plan and execute the booth for a large company. Also exhausting, but I didn't have to do all the pre- and post-conference support. And I was in more of a support role for all the other elements. Not all the responsibility rested with me. This year, now back at a large company, I'm not even involved in the planning nor will I be attending. It's weird, but I miss the opportunity to participate. Maybe next year?

The second event being planned is resting more on my shoulders. We are trying to get a family reunion together for this summer. My mother is turning 80 this year, and she requested a family reunion for her celebration. Her birthday is in May though, which makes getting the family together for her actual birthday challenging, as some of the extended family has kids in school. So we're planning for a 4th of July reunion. Picking a location was a bit of a challenge as well. Mom had suggested Colorado as possibility, but also Italy. In the end, we ended up in Texas as my remaining uncle is not in the best of health and lives there. We decided on Austin as it's one of the destination cities in Texas, with a great music scene and Lake Travis for water and golfing excursions. Check. Next, I sent a note to all the relatives on my mom's side of the family to see who could come. I heard from almost everyone, so now I had a list of who would be coming, who would potentially be coming, and who couldn't make it. Check. Then we needed to identify a house or two to rent in Austin. This proved quite challenging, given that we needed about 7-8 bedrooms all totalled. The committee for this was me, my sister, and one of my cousins. After several weeks of debating between this house and that house, locations around Austin, and configurations of the family, we have finally pinned down a particular location and are making reservations. Check. Next, we need to make reservations for dinner for a birthday celebration. We've identified that restaurant, so that should be easy. Check. Now I'm working on locations to hear some good music, my cousin is scoping out possible excursions, and my sister will look into the architecture of Austin for our father to explore. Eventually, we'll have to deal with the financials for renting the houses. And then renting cars, making plane reservations, and other details associated with getting everyone to town. Not to mention groceries and other logistics. As many things as we have already planned, there's more to come.

Maybe if you do this for a living, you develop a checklist or two. And you know the timelines for what needs to happen when. Maybe that makes it easier. Maybe.