I joined the Kennedy Political Union (KPU) in January 2018 after constantly hearing from my roommate how awesome the organization was. I applied without telling or requesting him as a reference. If I was going to be accepted in this selective organization, I wanted to do it on my own terms. I later found that the most influential members had a similar attitude.
KPU is American University’s Speakers Bureau. It is completely controlled and operated by students. It is annual budget includes $190,000 and typically another $100,000 through cosponsors. I went into the organization having very limited event planning skills and left with a reputation on campus as being the “event guy.” Perhaps it was earpiece that I totally didn’t just wear because I thought it looked cool (I swear it was actually connected to a radio). Or maybe it was because our events brought out the most students and added the college experience.
As the Deputy Director and Lead Event Producer, it was my responsibility to coordinate and delegate all logistics for our events, which ranged from 100 attendees to 2500+ attendees. I probably spent around 20-250 hours planning each event depending on its size and VIPs. It’s funny that so much preparation went into a 90-minute experience. However, it was passion and long hours of planning felt more like entertainment.
In my capacity, I routinely worked with AU’s Presidents Office and other Campus Partners. I unofficially joined AU’s event planning network, which comprised of full-time employees from Audio Visual, Facilities, Scheduling, Catering, Athletics, etc. The people in this network were always very supportive, especially to me even though I was a student. In the position, I learned the importance of having solid relationships with coworkers and supporters, especially in a time-sensitive industry.
No event ever went to plan. Never. That’s a tough truth to accept. But in the event industry, those who do not understand this will always make issues bigger than what they have to be. I’ve lead events where the spotlights suddenly stopped function, and the audio went out in the middle of someone speaking. Despite my failures, I always was content with events knowing that I tried my hardest.
In one particular event where we had 2000 attendees, 30-seconds before the start of the event we realized there was no water on the stage. Our rider stated there must be water on the stage, but more importantly, it is difficult for most humans to speak to a 2000-person audience for 60 minutes without needing a sip of water every so often. Realizing this, I sprinted about 400 feet, including 3 flights of stairs, and grabbed two chilled bottles of water. I then jumped down the stairs one flight at a time to deliver the water in about 25 seconds, just in time. The only people who saw me do this was one staff member on our team and the security for the event. For me, it was just another day in the job, but the staff member who observed me thought it was incredible. Later, during our all-staff debrief, the staff member spoke about how she could feel my dedication to the organization in that moment and that it changed their perspective on how and why we do what we do.
To be honest, I rarely listened to the speakers we brought. This happened for two reasons. First, there always something to improve at events. I would rather make the experience better for attendees or speakers by opting to work on what’s next in the run of show, rather than listen to the events. Secondly, I could not in good conscious expect others on my team to work and miss the show when I get to enjoy it. While this type of “always on” mindset can quickly become toxic for a team if not controlled correctly, I believe leaders prove themselves by acting. I cared for my team, and my team knew that. Our mission was to produce the best student-run events, not to watch the show. As a staff member, its not my role to watch- that’s for the audience. It was my role to make sure the stage is set up optimally, that the lines run smoothly, that the VIPs are protected and cared for appropriately, that attendees can hear and see the speaker, and to make sure water is on the stage.