EVENT INDUSTRY
New year, new career? Welcome to event management, young Padawan. Whether you re working for a larger firm or starting your own, may this be the first of many happy, fulfilling years spent hunting for something healthy in the 7-11 snack aisle at 4:30am. Protip: give up and grab the peanuts. And while that may be the only industry advice you ever need, we ve collected a few inspiring TED talks to round out your education.
Ruth Chang: How to Make Hard Choices
As an event producer and new entrepreneur, hard choices are an unavoidable fact of life. What do you do when faced with a hard choice? How do you make a selection when neither option seems better than the other? Maybe the problem is with the way we think about the structure of choice itself?
Daniel Levitin: How to Stay Calm when you Know You ll be Stressed
Hate to break it to you, kid, but the event planner s brain runs on cortisol and coffee. You may not be able to avoid stress altogether, but if you know it s coming, neuroscientist Daniel Levitin shares a few tricks for keeping your synapses from going haywire when it hits.
Chip Kidd: The Art of First Impressions in Design & Life
In event production, communication is everything, and you never get a second chance for a first impression. Take these insights from graphic designer Chip Kidd to heart when designing and planning your next event.
Navi Radjou: Creative Problem Solving in the Face of Extreme Limits
Navi Radjou introduces the Hindi concept of jugaad , a clever, improvised solution to a problem in the face of extreme circumstances, or frugal innovation . It s not, as Mr. Radjou reminds us, about making due , it s about making things better . With event production budgets getting lower year after year, this talk is an inspiring look into creative problem solving on a shoestring.
David Grady: How to Save the World (or at least yourself) from Bad Meetings
Are bad meetings ruining business? David Grady thinks so. In fact, he thinks they amount to theft. He also tells us how to avoid bad meetings and help create a culture of real productivity in the workplace.
