Toilet Paper. The answer to the question, “How do you tell you are at a poorly organized event?”
I have been to some bad events in my time. Recently, I have been to some really terrible events. It seems like we have an event-epidemic these days. I am not going to name names, so don’t bother to ask. Even if organizers are good intentioned and “doing their best”, if the event is poorly executed, it reflects badly on not just the organizers, but on other similar events. It brings everyone down. The more bad events that are produced, the more likely people will not attend future events, even if by a different organizer.
You guys know this is a pet-peeve of mine, that anyone who can pick up a phone and rent tents thinks they are an event producer. Event production takes careful planning and execution, and to create truly great events takes lots of experience and understanding of what the attendees want.
So, toilet paper. Toilet paper is one of those small things that makes a big difference. Running out of toilet paper is a huge no-no. Ladies, especially, hate it when there is no toilet paper, and when the ladies are in a bad mood, you know the gentlemen are, too. The thing about toilet paper is that this is so easy and cheap to fix, yet many inexperienced producers forget about it.
Sure, if you have a TON of money, you can rent massive stages and glorious tents, and make it look all pretty, but if you forget the toilet paper, this is a clear indication that you do not know what you are doing. It is like the canary in the coal mine. I can guarantee you that any event that runs short on toilet paper also has issues backstage. I would bet you that if you asked the performers or participants, they would tell you a horror story. Poor communication, bad marketing, disorganized execution, delayed payments, schedule running behind, all of those things are likely happening behind the scenes. There is no chance that an event producer who forgets toilet paper runs everything else smoothly, it is a clear indication of bad organization.
Now, so what? So, please stop supporting bad events. Buy continuing to buy tickets from the same bad organizers, you continue to encourage this bad behavior. There are so many bad events in Miami and the reason is that attendees have low standards. Raise your standards. So what if your favorite band is playing, they will be back soon. Spend your money with those who do a better job and soon either the bad producers will go away or learn their lesson, which improves the event scene for everyone. But, you have to raise your standards!
As more poor events are produced, more sponsors get burned by these producers, which means that they will be less likely to sponsor other events, even if my different organizers. This means less money for the good events and fewer good events. These bad events really do ruin it for everyone.
If you are one of those whose events ran out of toilet paper PLEASE GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS and let the ones doing a better job grow. You know who you are and you are making us all look bad. There are better ways to make a living and it does not matter how good your intentions are, if you are doing a bad job, you are hurting everyone.
19/30 #SMCSFblog
