wit2012

aside 16 Apr

I changed my mind…

I’ve been meaning to write this post for the longest time and have managed to wimp out at every opportunity.

It was mostly the shame of what people would think when I told them the truth.

That I changed my mind.

That what I thought I wanted as my “dream” turned out not to be the case?

People will think I’m flaky, that I led them on or worse that I lied.

And I can assure you that I didn’t lie… things just changed.

I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in events, it was that thrill of the pressure and the act of creating that interested me the most. It was in those five minutes before your show went live that I really felt alive – the point of no return. Every thing I had spent months working on was about to come to fruition within minutes, I was about to find out whether I had missed dotting an i or crossing a t somewhere. Sometimes things went wrong that were out of my control and other times I kicked myself that I should have known better.

It was all part of the journey, part of the job.

A year ago I decided that if events really were for me, I should aim high and apply for one of the largest events known to the world – The Olympics.

And why not?

Why settle for small town events when you can go for an international mammoth of an event. If I’m destined for this as a career why settle for small.
And that was the plan, it was to make it happen.

And then something changed.

 



2012 Recommendations

I’ve always been interested in social media, marketing and I love convincing people to attend my events through different means. I really started to get more involved in marketing and bridging that potential between marketing and events – in new media and traditional media. I even jumped into copywriting and always passed it through my manager (aka editor) and we created some killer content.

And I loved it.
I loved it more than I loved organising the event.

Don’t get me wrong, I love events and always will but I felt I needed to explore that passion for social media and marketing that I had developed.

So I changed my mind about the Olympics.

I don’t want to be a part of an event where I can’t get my teeth stuck into a full project. I want to be part of creating not just following. I want to get my hands dirty and involved in strategies, brainstorming and then executing.

And I want to explore that bridge between digital marketing and events – particularly because I think that event organisers are still doing it badly.
I want to use digital marketing to drive attendees to events and I want to drive events to build digital channels.

I think they’re a perfect marriage – like garlic and potatoes.

But I changed my mind and to any that this may disappoint, I’m sorry.
I always aim to follow things that I love and I would be betraying myself if I didn’t follow this.

For all who left me some amazing comments on my 2012 Project, I can’t thank you enough. Some of your messages gave me shivers, others make me laugh and there were some that made me cry.

I really value them and value your time, efforts and your belief that I could do it.

I hope to still make you proud but maybe not working in the Olympics… at least not this year.

 

 

 

aside 29 Jan

From 268 days to the 20′s…

There’s something really stressful and sometimes sad about countdowns.

I remember having a really really horrible day one day and enquiring about how long we had to go.
The answer – over 200 days.
Ouch.

Another time I remember creating a to-do list that’s longer than my femur and then realising that there’s only 7 days left of work.
Ouch.

So what’s the obsession with a countdown?

They’re everywhere – countdown to the Olympics, countdown to the New Year, countdown to when the baby is born, countdown, countdown and more countdown.

What do you think?

Countdowns – positive or negatives?

 

aside 16 Jan

A public announcement of teary meltdowns

I’m thinking about starting a category in the blog about past, present and future teary meltdowns.
What do you think?

Today, I had a teary meltdown.
It lasted like two minutes, while I quickly dabbed at my mascara so I didn’t have panda eyes while my manager looked at me in half surprise and half pity. Sorry about that KB.

You see over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been asked what I’m doing in 2012 (hello haven’t you been reading!), when I mention the sentence that seems to shock all:

I’m moving to London in 3 weeks

I’m given lots of ‘helpful’ comments about how difficult it is over there and how the economy is at its worst than the black ages (dramatic much) and why wouldn’t I stay at my job especially when they’ve acknowledged that I work well outside my parameters and want to increase the salary.

I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m nervous about finding employment.
Hell, wouldn’t you be?
Going to a place where you don’t know the culture all that well (they watch Neighbours, they kinda know ours) and you don’t really know anyone or have a home or have family to mooch off (thanks Mum).

Being met with the a list of negatives about moving to London (or anywhere), is sometimes a little too much and for a long moment there, I forgot  the purpose of why I’m actually moving.

If I had a publicist, I would ask said publicist to release the following to all the naysayers:

I’m not moving to London because it’s warm, safe and comfortable.

I’m moving for just the opposite – I’m moving to shake things up, for change and to find new opportunities.

Ultimately, I’m moving for the challenge.

And if the challenge is finding a job and it takes six months.

You know what I’ll do?

I’ll enjoy the sleep ins.

 

 

 

 

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