5 Work Ethics you must have as an Event Professional
Work ethics is what makes or breaks one’s professional career. Event and experiential space is a very non conventional work environment where deadlines cannot be extended by any means. Hence the expectations from professionals in the field are even higher. Here are a few work ethics that I have come to observe as a long working member of the fraternity.
A 24x7 Attitude
You will not be stuck in a cubicle staring at a screen for 8 hours. You will be challenged and stimulated for sure, and will most likely have a cool boss, as all the event agency heads I know have a very supportive and dynamic way of leading their teams. They are someone who will hustle with you and later throw a success party to help everyone blow off steam.
All this though comes at a cost, of 100 percent availability. Either you plan to be in the event planning side of the business or the artist side of it. The working hours are as less or as much as the job demands. They begin once the job arrives and end after its successful execution.
In case of artists, you may be lounging somewhere and the phone rings and the next thing you know is, that you are off to packing your luggage to catch a flight at the last moment for an event that just got confirmed. You do have the choice of passing on but most professional artists do not.
Living Out of A Suitcase
Travel is a way of life, and yes at times you do get the added advantage of spending some extra time at the destination to explore it for yourself. But most times than not it is a very step in – step out kind of situation where your time is completely consumed by your responsibilities around the event and as soon as it is over, you are off to the next destination to implement the next project. With little to no experience of the city you just visited. There will also be those occasional times where you are at an international destination scuba diving post event and being treated with extended day stay for all the hard work.
Most times it is a run run run fire in the mountains run run run kind of life where you have to always be ready to pack and leave at a moment’s (few hours to a few days) notice.
The Show Must Go On
Rules of nature do not apply, there is no calling in sick on event day. You boss up and show up as long as you can get yourself to function. Cold, cough and viral doesn’t even count as sickness. There are few exceptions off course. At the same time stories of Agency heads being on call even though they had to walk with a walking stick due to a healing fracture, or an artist entertaining on stage to honor commitment just days after being out of personal turmoil, are witnessed often.
It is a passion driven industry where, stakes can get really high and every individual is a link connecting the other links hence it requires commitment and dedication of the high levels. Strictly a No snowflakes zone!!
Multi Tasking
It applies especially when you are at the event planning side, there are no excuses. Yes you have your set work description but when it comes to flawless execution of the event and there is something that you are available for, you do not wait for any commands. Whether it is pulling a chair or arranging a first aid kit for a guest. There is only one rule, a perfect show. Even as an artist you may find yourself continuously coordinating with the technical team at times just to check and recheck the sync of your flow, so it is not just the decking up and performing bit.
Past Glory Is Good. What Next?
A job well done will surely get you accolades. When people are overjoyed they are very generous with their praise. A guest from the same event may call you years later for another one of their events. Though the business may be based on your previous achievements those same ideas may not impress the current customer needs. There are certain ideas that have a longer shelf life than others. But a healthy dose of adaptation, customization and innovation will set you apart from the crowd. Hence research, development and application is a recommended behavior as part of trade practice.
Hope these points help you in your journey towards being the best event professional; and resonate with you if you are someone already contributing to the field. These can be applicable to anyone who is a contributor to the experiential industry. You may be an event agency representative, an event talent or a vendor supplying a range of services.
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(Writer – Swati Sharma, Events Anchor|Mumbai)
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