Key Traits of a Kickass Conference Host
What makes an amazing conference host? What are their strong skills? What are the things that need work? We discuss three key characteristics of a kickass host based on past clients that lend themselves to creating an incredible end product for their audience.
Timestamps to relevant points within the episode:
[00:00] - Intro
[00:35] - Defining a "host"
[01:49] - Purpose
[05:23] - Curiosity and vulnerability
[11:00] - Strong work ethic
[17:30] - Bonus! Trust
[24:52] - Developing these characteristics
[30:40] - The entrepreneur's mindset
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Transcript
(upbeat music)
Speaker:- Hi everyone.
Speaker:And welcome to Kickass Conferences Talk Show.
Speaker:I'm Nessa Jiménez, the Operations Manager
Speaker:for Kickass Conferences.
Speaker:- And I'm Isaac Watson, the executive producer.
Speaker:- And this is a show where we sit down
Speaker:to talk about everything events.
Speaker:Now, today, our topic is
Speaker:The Key Characteristics of a Kickass Conference Host.
Speaker:- And now I wanna clarify
Speaker:what is a Kickass Conference host?
Speaker:So we are producers.
Speaker:So we handle the strategy and execution,
Speaker:all of the logistics, things like that.
Speaker:A host is really going to be our client who we work with.
Speaker:So the host is somebody who brings their audience together.
Speaker:They may also be the onstage MC
Speaker:or we may bring in a different person to actually
Speaker:do the emceeing from stage.
Speaker:But when we say a Kickass event host or conference host
Speaker:that's who we're talking about,
Speaker:is the person that we're working with
Speaker:who's organizing the community
Speaker:and the audience around the event, not purely, you know
Speaker:managing things on stage.
Speaker:- Yes, so it's the person that's bringing us all together.
Speaker:And they're the reason behind all of it.
Speaker:Not necessarily the person that we see on stage.
Speaker:- Yup.
Speaker:- Okay, cool.
Speaker:Thanks for that distinction.
Speaker:Because I think that when we say the word host
Speaker:that's what people are thinking.
Speaker:They're thinking of the MC and that's two different things.
Speaker:So yeah, we came up with three,
Speaker:what we consider key characteristics of a good host.
Speaker:And this is based off of our experiences
Speaker:with clients in the past,
Speaker:based off of things that were like super great
Speaker:and things that were not so great.
Speaker:And we came up with these three
Speaker:and we want us to talk about them today.
Speaker:So let's jump right in the first one is purpose.
Speaker:- So as we've worked over the years with our clients,
Speaker:I think it's important to acknowledge
Speaker:that not everybody is perfect at hosting a conference.
Speaker:- Uh huh.
Speaker:- And so it's important to identify like
Speaker:what are the good things?
Speaker:What are the things that definitely needs some work,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:Purpose always, I think for me comes down
Speaker:to one of the most foundational elements.
Speaker:If a business owner or a community organizer,
Speaker:what have you comes to us and wants to organize an event,
Speaker:the first thing we're gonna do is ask why.
Speaker:And if you don't have that sense of why,
Speaker:then you have a lot of work to do to get there.
Speaker:So having that clear vision for who is this for,
Speaker:why are we doing this?
Speaker:What is the need?
Speaker:How committed are you to the community?
Speaker:These are all things that are gonna help set that foundation
Speaker:for building the strategy on top of it.
Speaker:Part of that is also being goal-oriented, you know
Speaker:knowing how gonna measure your success
Speaker:or what success looks like for this particular audience.
Speaker:So having that clear vision is really, really key.
Speaker:- Yeah, and when we work with people, when they come to us
Speaker:they don't necessarily have it all planned out, right?
Speaker:Like we help them get more details on,
Speaker:I guess the true core of their purpose.
Speaker:'Cause sometimes they'll come to us
Speaker:with what they think is the purpose.
Speaker:And then when we work with them, we help them discover
Speaker:what the actual purpose is,
Speaker:like, why do they actually wanna do this?
Speaker:And-
Speaker:- One of our favorite things
Speaker:is like challenging your assumptions as a client
Speaker:and really teasing out, like, what is that true purpose?
Speaker:- Yes, and I think things always work better.
Speaker:The more specific we're able to get with people
Speaker:or the more specific that they come to us, right,
Speaker:with their idea.
Speaker:And in terms of goal oriented, yeah,
Speaker:they might not know how to get there
Speaker:and that's how we help them.
Speaker:But they do have this image of where they wanna get to.
Speaker:Yes the audience with their idea, with their vision
Speaker:for this conference that they're trying to put together.
Speaker:- Yeah, I feel like when it comes to commitment
Speaker:to the community
Speaker:it's about having a really clear sense
Speaker:for what need you're fulfilling for the community
Speaker:and being committed to helping them through that.
Speaker:It's not always about altruism.
Speaker:It's not always about, you know
Speaker:pursuing a cause per se, but it is,
Speaker:there is this dedication to helping
Speaker:this kind of service oriented attitude
Speaker:that really helps to fulfill those goals.
Speaker:- Yeah, that's coming at it with this idea of,
Speaker:I have this thing in mind and I know who it's for,
Speaker:or I know who needs it, or I know where it fits.
Speaker:It's not, it's not, I wanna do this
Speaker:because I wanna make a million dollars, right?
Speaker:It's when they come to us and they say
Speaker:this is a thing that needs to exist.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- Cool.
Speaker:Now our second key characteristic is curious and vulnerable.
Speaker:- So I think this is like a one, two punch.
Speaker:So curiosity in and of itself is a great thing.
Speaker:Curious people are fantastic.
Speaker:But adding to that, a layer of vulnerability changes
Speaker:the way that curiosity works I think.
Speaker:So for me what that means
Speaker:is that you're willing to experiment.
Speaker:- Right.
Speaker:- That you are willing to adapt if something isn't working
Speaker:or to change things up.
Speaker:That you're willing
Speaker:that curiosity brings in this like willingness to listen.
Speaker:- And ask questions.
Speaker:- And ask questions, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:Trying to gain a deeper understanding
Speaker:of the people that you're serving.
Speaker:This goes back to the commitment to community,
Speaker:but it's, it gives you the ability to be flexible and nimble
Speaker:and agile when it comes to creating this experience
Speaker:for people for the first time, especially.
Speaker:- Yeah, if someone were to come to us with purpose,
Speaker:with an idea, but they're not willing to ask questions,
Speaker:they're not willing to mold their idea.
Speaker:They're not willing to be open to allow us
Speaker:to give them ideas or to ask them questions about,
Speaker:do you think it's this or would this work better, right?
Speaker:It goes hand in hand with being open and yeah.
Speaker:Curious, wanting to know like, how can I make this better?
Speaker:How can I bring people in to help me with this?
Speaker:And 'cause when you say vulnerability as well,
Speaker:there is also like that willingness to be wrong
Speaker:and being okay with that
Speaker:versus someone who's just like, nope, this is what this is.
Speaker:And I just want you to do it where at least,
Speaker:where that just becomes sort of a logistical thing, right?
Speaker:- Yeah, I think that there's
Speaker:that vulnerable vulnerability brings transparency
Speaker:and being able to say, you know, we're trying this.
Speaker:It helps to have a sense of confidence, right?
Speaker:But without, if you have too much rigidity around,
Speaker:you know implying that, you know what's best,
Speaker:not listening, not asking questions,
Speaker:not asking the right questions
Speaker:then that limits your ability to actually serve
Speaker:the community that you're bringing together.
Speaker:- And if, I mean, nothing is set in stone.
Speaker:So if you're coming to this with this expectation of like
Speaker:it has to be my original idea, it has to be.
Speaker:And if it doesn't happen that way, then it's bad, right?
Speaker:Well, experimentation is I'm gonna try this thing
Speaker:and we'll see what happens.
Speaker:It's not, I'm gonna do it.
Speaker:And this is what's gonna happen
Speaker:and it's gonna happen this way because I said so.
Speaker:That's just, it just makes everybody miserable.
Speaker:It's not fun.
Speaker:(laughing)
Speaker:It's not fun to work with people that have this idea of
Speaker:because I said so, and that's it.
Speaker:- Yeah, and you know, not to toot our own horn
Speaker:but that's why we love challenging the assumptions
Speaker:from the get-go saying, okay, well, is this truly,
Speaker:what this particular sense of purpose needs, you know?
Speaker:Are your assumptions coming into this
Speaker:in line with what the community actually wants
Speaker:or how they expect to gather
Speaker:or what kind of content you plan on presenting,
Speaker:which format?
Speaker:I mean, like all these questions come to bear
Speaker:and and having that flexibility
Speaker:in how that's all presented and put together
Speaker:can really help you adapt
Speaker:to serving your audience's actual needs.
Speaker:- Yeah, and that just made me think of when we work
Speaker:with a new audience on a new event, when we do the surveys,
Speaker:when audience surveys, where it's literally just
Speaker:us asking questions of like, who are you?
Speaker:What do you want, right?
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- Like we think you want this conference.
Speaker:We think you want this, but you tell us, right?
Speaker:Like what are you needs?
Speaker:What are you looking for?
Speaker:And there are a lot
Speaker:of people who are not willing to do that.
Speaker:They do not want it to surface.
Speaker:They do not wanna ask people questions, right?
Speaker:They just wanna do the thing and they did it, right?
Speaker:- And I think that, that comes down
Speaker:to what I would call an unhealthy amount of ego.
Speaker:I think that there's room
Speaker:for healthy ego in any leadership position,
Speaker:any community organizing position,
Speaker:that's just part of what leadership is.
Speaker:But when that ego gets in the way of letting a leader
Speaker:or an organizer or a host truly serve the audience,
Speaker:that's where we get into trouble.
Speaker:- Yeah, and I mean, ego's good.
Speaker:It's not like it's all bad,
Speaker:but if that's how strongly you feel about it,
Speaker:it's like, write that book.
Speaker:You better write that book.
Speaker:You know, like I have a YouTube channel
Speaker:where you just sit there and talk at people, right?
Speaker:Because the whole thing with conferences
Speaker:is that it's bringing people together.
Speaker:It's not, this is the me show
Speaker:and you have to listen to me and that like, that's it.
Speaker:- Yes, exactly.
Speaker:- Perfect, okay, now our last characteristic
Speaker:that we'll talk about today is a strong work ethic.
Speaker:- Yes, this is key.
Speaker:This is a little more brass tacks and logistical.
Speaker:But when it comes to actually putting the thing together
Speaker:even if you were to bring in a team like ourselves,
Speaker:you have to do the work.
Speaker:And you have to know where to put your time and resources.
Speaker:You have to know that it does take work.
Speaker:And I think that a lot of people
Speaker:either forget or are ignorant to the fact
Speaker:that organizing a first first-time conference
Speaker:in particular is like launching a new product
Speaker:or starting a new business.
Speaker:And so that takes time, energy resources,
Speaker:whether that's you know, developing an identity for it,
Speaker:putting together copy, a marketing strategy,
Speaker:all of these things take time, take skill, take energy.
Speaker:And so having that work ethic, being willing
Speaker:to roll up your sleeves and say, yeah, I'm in it,
Speaker:I'm committed.
Speaker:And to be willing to invest in what truly matters too.
Speaker:Conferences are not entirely DIY.
Speaker:It's, some people can do it.
Speaker:Some people are naturally attuned to those skills.
Speaker:And that's great.
Speaker:I would say that the majority of people aren't
Speaker:and so it's knowing, you know, where do I need help?
Speaker:Where do I need strategic help?
Speaker:What can I invest in, that's gonna make the most impact
Speaker:on fulfilling my purpose and my vision for the community,
Speaker:and help me, help enable this to succeed.
Speaker:- Yeah, and we've talked about it before.
Speaker:There's all kinds of apps.
Speaker:There's all kinds of tools.
Speaker:There's all kinds of vendors.
Speaker:There's all kinds of things.
Speaker:Like that's not the issue.
Speaker:The issue is, okay, what of all of this is actually
Speaker:what I need, is actually serving my purpose,
Speaker:is actually helping me reach the people that I wanna reach?
Speaker:It's not a, it's not a tools issue, right?
Speaker:Like it's not just the logistical
Speaker:'cause there's so many things out there to do the thing.
Speaker:And now with virtual as well
Speaker:there's like a million more things.
Speaker:- All the apps.
Speaker:- Yes, all the apps, all the things.
Speaker:But it's, how is this serving me?
Speaker:The strategy of is this working
Speaker:is this what I'm actually trying to do?
Speaker:Does this fit with the story I wanna tell?
Speaker:And I wanna go back to that comment you made
Speaker:about it being like a product launch
Speaker:or it being like starting a new business.
Speaker:Because it really, that really is what it is.
Speaker:If you've decided to launch a conference,
Speaker:what you're saying is I'm gonna dedicate
Speaker:the next 12 13 months to launch this product.
Speaker:And it's a conference, right?
Speaker:Like we have the dates
Speaker:and we have this amount of time and all of these things need
Speaker:to get done within that amount of time.
Speaker:And you have to be there.
Speaker:It's not something that you just say
Speaker:you're gonna do it, and then you do it.
Speaker:It happens now.
Speaker:It really takes dedication to be like, I'm going to do this.
Speaker:I'm going to give us the attention that it needs.
Speaker:And just like a business, there are phases, there are steps.
Speaker:There are things that need to happen
Speaker:as you build up to that launch.
Speaker:And then guess what?
Speaker:You launch it, and that's like the beginning.
Speaker:The conference itself is actually the beginning.
Speaker:Because after that, there's a whole other thing
Speaker:that has to happen of an analyzing, right?
Speaker:Did this work?
Speaker:Did people actually like it?
Speaker:Do I wanna do this again?
Speaker:- Right.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:So this aspect of, it is a business.
Speaker:You have to have that entrepreneurial mindset
Speaker:of I'm gonna treat this like a business.
Speaker:This is not a joke.
Speaker:This is not a game.
Speaker:This is not a thing.
Speaker:And I'm kind of playing with.
Speaker:It's, you can do it or you're not gonna do it.
Speaker:- Yeah, and I think when it comes to, you know
Speaker:if you're a larger company who's putting together, you know
Speaker:a conference around a particular industry,
Speaker:that also goes to dedicating internal resources,
Speaker:or if you can't dedicate internal resources,
Speaker:being willing to invest in external resources.
Speaker:You know, whether that's developing a brand identity,
Speaker:a sub-brand for a conference product.
Speaker:If you're busy working on a product launch
Speaker:and your team's dedicated to, you know
Speaker:all the design work involved with that,
Speaker:and you don't have the time and energy
Speaker:to dedicate toward creating an identity
Speaker:for the conference you wanna host,
Speaker:then you have to be able to hire help to do that because-
Speaker:- Yeah, something, yeah.
Speaker:- That's still necessary.
Speaker:- Something has to happen, exactly.
Speaker:It has to get done at some point by somebody.
Speaker:(laughing)
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- And I think trust is also
Speaker:I guess this is kind of going back
Speaker:to the curious and vulnerable you're talking about before,
Speaker:but trusting that if I can't do it myself
Speaker:or if my team can't do it, I need to trust
Speaker:that the people that I'm bringing in can do their jobs.
Speaker:And I'm not gonna feel the need to micromanage
Speaker:or question every single little thing because I'm terrified.
Speaker:And I just don't trust the other people.
Speaker:- Yeah, it's interesting that you bring up trust
Speaker:because as we were kind of chatting through
Speaker:what these characteristics were
Speaker:I almost brought that up as a fourth one.
Speaker:- Ah.
Speaker:- Because and it's not just trusting
Speaker:in the team you're working with.
Speaker:It's also trusting the audience.
Speaker:It's trusting the process.
Speaker:It's trusting your own time and energy.
Speaker:Like, and maybe I didn't bring it up
Speaker:'cause I wasn't quite sure how to articulate it.
Speaker:But I think that maybe there's this underlying trust factor
Speaker:that kind of cements all of these together.
Speaker:- Yeah, let's go into that then.
Speaker:Let's talk about a little bit more about that
Speaker:because it's funny that you thought of it
Speaker:but you didn't mention it because I also thought of it,
Speaker:but didn't mention it.
Speaker:(laughing)
Speaker:- The hidden fourth characteristic.
Speaker:(laughing)
Speaker:- It's a bonus.
Speaker:The bonus one, trust.
Speaker:Yeah, 'cause for me it's frustrating if we work
Speaker:with someone and I feel like they don't trust me
Speaker:to do the thing that they paid me to do.
Speaker:It's so hard because it's like, you paid me to help you.
Speaker:Please let me help you.
Speaker:Please let me do the thing.
Speaker:And they want to, but at the end of the day, like they have
Speaker:there's like this internal struggle within themselves.
Speaker:And they're second guessing the question
Speaker:and that makes the process more difficult
Speaker:for everyone in the end.
Speaker:Because if, I mean, we go to the clients
Speaker:for approval for things, right?
Speaker:So that's kind of like, it slows the process down
Speaker:because if that person is maybe say indecisive
Speaker:they're not sure where to go and we make a suggestion
Speaker:but they're still, they still don't go one way or the other.
Speaker:Then we have vendors that are waiting
Speaker:for us to say like, hey, you know, just checking in.
Speaker:What did they say?
Speaker:And yeah, that makes the process just awkward all around
Speaker:if there's a lack of trust, right?
Speaker:- Yeah, and I think so the trust carries
Speaker:into the purpose characteristics.
Speaker:So if you don't trust your own vision,
Speaker:if you're constantly second guessing yourself,
Speaker:if you don't trust the goals you're trying to hit.
Speaker:If you don't trust your own commitment to community,
Speaker:that's going to affect everything else along the way.
Speaker:So you have to trust in yourself and your own purpose.
Speaker:And I think that the trust plays into the curiosity
Speaker:and vulnerability, it's trusting the audience.
Speaker:You know, we've seen, I was talking about an event
Speaker:I attended where there was an enormous amount of trust
Speaker:literally put in the community to self manage
Speaker:a slack group during the event, right?
Speaker:That takes a lot of, you know, just saying, I mean
Speaker:code of conduct are absolutely necessary
Speaker:and should be enforced.
Speaker:And that's like a whole other thing.
Speaker:I'm not saying those shouldn't exist
Speaker:but trusting the audience to seek out their own solutions
Speaker:to provide candid feedback, to trusting them
Speaker:to trust you even like, I mean,
Speaker:it's kind of the cyclical thing,
Speaker:but that trust in vulnerability and experimentation.
Speaker:This is where it starts to get a little nebulous
Speaker:because we don't really talk about this much.
Speaker:- But it starts, 'cause it starts to mix
Speaker:with the curiosity thing because trusting that audience
Speaker:is because they were curious enough
Speaker:to get to know their audience.
Speaker:Because let me tell you, you cannot trust just
Speaker:any odd audience with the chat or with a slack like that.
Speaker:Like when you told me they're doing that as just
Speaker:like no I can't deal because I've moderated,
Speaker:I've moderated things before.
Speaker:And it's just like, (laughing)
Speaker:It's just like, you know it's the internet.
Speaker:You've been on the internet, you know how it works, right?
Speaker:And if there's an opportunity to be a jackass,
Speaker:people will take it.
Speaker:If there's an opportunity to like,
Speaker:another thing is the shared
Speaker:like when people do the whiteboards, the shared whiteboards.
Speaker:- Oh yes.
Speaker:- So I have to sit there and like, okay
Speaker:I have to be prepared to erase the penis drawings
Speaker:because you knows it's coming,
Speaker:you know it's gonna happen.
Speaker:So that's why I'm like
Speaker:you really need to know the audience.
Speaker:If you're really intent on doing these kind of things,
Speaker:trusting people with that.
Speaker:- Well, and I think it's about the people
Speaker:who do it really well.
Speaker:The hosts who do it really well have the ability
Speaker:to communicate their level of trust.
Speaker:So I worked on an event for five years ,
Speaker:that leaned very heavily on a team of volunteers
Speaker:to help manage the event.
Speaker:And that team it was anywhere
Speaker:from 50 to a hundred volunteers over the course of a week,
Speaker:we asked an enormous amount of commitment from them
Speaker:and they always delivered.
Speaker:And something that came through
Speaker:every time we did an orientation,
Speaker:every time we onboarded a new volunteer
Speaker:was letting them know that we were empowering them
Speaker:to fulfill the values of the event
Speaker:in whatever way that meant.
Speaker:Putting the trust in them to say,
Speaker:you don't need to run something up the flag pole.
Speaker:If you see an attendee
Speaker:who's having a hard time hailing a ride to this event
Speaker:or if somebody is sulking in a corner,
Speaker:or if whatever, if you see an issue
Speaker:like you as an ambassador for this event
Speaker:should feel empowered to help that person.
Speaker:That level of trust begets a different level of commitment
Speaker:of service, as opposed to micromanaging, removing authority,
Speaker:making everything a escalation chain.
Speaker:- Right.
Speaker:- And leaning on those values, implying that sense of,
Speaker:communicating hat sense of trust, I think is huge.
Speaker:I think in the case of this other event
Speaker:that I just intended, you know,
Speaker:it was saying, hey, yes, we are giving you
Speaker:the ability to create whatever slack channel you want.
Speaker:Keep in mind, there's a code of conduct
Speaker:and, you know use your best judgment.
Speaker:And the community that this particular event
Speaker:has cultivated is receptive to that.
Speaker:And so they take on the responsibility
Speaker:of doing it intelligently
Speaker:and doing it meaningfully in a way that, you know
Speaker:a free event of a couple thousand people
Speaker:on a shared whiteboard.
Speaker:Like, of course there's gonna be some graffiti, right?
Speaker:- Yes.
Speaker:- Because there's no filter around who's attending that.
Speaker:So that's, that level of trust does play
Speaker:into the curiosity and the vulnerability.
Speaker:It's also a way to ensure that your audience
Speaker:is kind of ponying up and leveling up their level
Speaker:of engagement with the event itself.
Speaker:- They're empowered, I would say, that's empowered.
Speaker:And 'cause there's also the element of discernment.
Speaker:I trust you to have discernment, right?
Speaker:To know what's right and what's wrong.
Speaker:Okay, so let's bring this all together.
Speaker:So we talked about key characteristics, purpose, curiosity
Speaker:and vulnerability, and the strong work ethic.
Speaker:Now to close out this conversation,
Speaker:can we give people a takeaway of maybe
Speaker:how to get to that point with those characteristics?
Speaker:Because if you don't get it, you can't develop it.
Speaker:I don't think it's like you have
Speaker:to be born with it or that's it, right?
Speaker:- Right, these are not in it characteristic.
Speaker:Some people have them, some people develop them.
Speaker:I think if any of these three things are missing
Speaker:that's a clear indication of what you can focus on.
Speaker:So, you know, if you have an unhealthy amount of ego
Speaker:and you aren't curious and vulnerable
Speaker:maybe it's hard to identify that that's the issue
Speaker:because the ego gets in the way of that, but.
Speaker:- But I would say for that one is ask more questions
Speaker:learn to ask questions and listen to the answers.
Speaker:- Yeah, I think so.
Speaker:So let's start from here.
Speaker:So when you're looking at your purpose,
Speaker:if you don't have a clear vision
Speaker:that is the opportunity for some deep work.
Speaker:- On meditation.
Speaker:- See what that is, like.
Speaker:- Thinking, think about it.
Speaker:- Bring on an existential crisis.
Speaker:(Nessa laughs)
Speaker:But that is like reason number one,
Speaker:why you should take a step back and think about
Speaker:you know, what is influencing me in this direction?
Speaker:Why am I committed to this community?
Speaker:Start asking the internal wise and you know
Speaker:journaling and white boarding and team conversations
Speaker:and things like that are all really, really helpful.
Speaker:- Yeah, and my favorite question is why.
Speaker:Just keep asking why.
Speaker:- Absolutely.
Speaker:- If I think this is the answer, why do I think that?
Speaker:Oh, I think this, so why?
Speaker:Just keep going until you can't go anymore
Speaker:and that'll take you through a lot of routes.
Speaker:- Yes, and I would add to that,
Speaker:that working toward a disputable purpose
Speaker:in the words of Priya Parker who we love from her book,
Speaker:"The Art of Gathering."
Speaker:Asking the why until you get to a point
Speaker:where you can argue confidently for something.
Speaker:So it's not just, well, I love it.
Speaker:It's not just, these are my people, getting really down to,
Speaker:can I clearly identify with this purpose?
Speaker:Either yes or no.
Speaker:And can I make an argument for why, yes?
Speaker:Can I make an argument for why, no?
Speaker:That's important.
Speaker:I think from a curiosity and vulnerability standpoint
Speaker:setting the ego aside,
Speaker:starting to ask more questions of others.
Speaker:So purpose is asking questions of yourself.
Speaker:Curiosity and vulnerability is asking questions
Speaker:of others, adapting, the curiosity skill,
Speaker:starting to have conversations.
Speaker:That's a great opportunity for,
Speaker:I don't like the term focus groups, but.
Speaker:- Conversations, just conversations.
Speaker:- Having dialogue with people about these things.
Speaker:And then the work ethic.
Speaker:If you feel like you don't have the capacity
Speaker:or the bandwidth to take on something like this,
Speaker:I would then say it's worth asking why you think
Speaker:this is necessary and why it's not a priority.
Speaker:Because that might reveal some underlying reasons why.
Speaker:Perhaps you feel compelled to do this
Speaker:because that's a natural next step.
Speaker:But if you don't have the, you know
Speaker:the resources available to do it, then you can't do it.
Speaker:I think it's also a matter of identifying
Speaker:what you are willing to invest in it.
Speaker:And this is a conversation I've had with clients
Speaker:over the years is we start looking at budgeting
Speaker:in certain areas where, you know, maybe ticket sales
Speaker:aren't materializing, as they thought they would.
Speaker:The if you do that, they will come scenario doesn't happen.
Speaker:And I start to ask, okay
Speaker:how much are you willing to invest to make this happen
Speaker:to set this foundation work for the event,
Speaker:especially as a first time conference?
Speaker:If you can put a number behind that, you know
Speaker:that will help you identify how many
Speaker:how much resources you are willing
Speaker:to put into the actual production of the event.
Speaker:- Yeah and I mean, it's either time or it's money.
Speaker:You don't have the time you've got to bring a team.
Speaker:And that requires an investment.
Speaker:So how much does that cost you?
Speaker:How much are you willing to put into that?
Speaker:So the sweat equity, but also the financial investment
Speaker:of I want to do it and I need help.
Speaker:So how much am I able to invest in that?
Speaker:- Yeah, and if not now, when?
Speaker:- When? Exactly.
Speaker:Yeah, because it just might not be the right time now.
Speaker:- Exactly, especially if you know
Speaker:it's gonna take a 12 to 15 month commitment
Speaker:to make it happen in the first place.
Speaker:You're looking out two, three years
Speaker:maybe five years in advance.
Speaker:And if you know, oh, well, my business is gonna be
Speaker:at a point where I can support this
Speaker:from an investment standpoint in three years, then great.
Speaker:You can start to lay the groundwork
Speaker:for the other two traits, the purpose and the curiosity
Speaker:and vulnerability to get you there in the future.
Speaker:For me, this comes down, this draws a lot of parallels
Speaker:to the entrepreneurial mindset.
Speaker:These are very similar themes to what you see in successful
Speaker:small business owners and founders who are,
Speaker:who have this clear vision and sense of purpose.
Speaker:Who are curious and vulnerable,
Speaker:who are willing to put in the time and energy
Speaker:as a small team or as a solo team to make it happen.
Speaker:And so those are, that kind
Speaker:of skillset and mindset lends itself really well
Speaker:to organizing and hosting a conference.
Speaker:- I agree, but I would also say we need to be careful
Speaker:because just the phrase entrepreneurial mindset
Speaker:like it is said so much everywhere
Speaker:that it just means nothing.
Speaker:And there's this sort of stereotype
Speaker:of like the lone wolf entrepreneur, which is a complete lie.
Speaker:So I would say, be careful with that, right?
Speaker:Like it's not this lone wolf, I'm the entrepreneur.
Speaker:I did it all by myself kind of thing.
Speaker:It's definitely a group effort.
Speaker:And it's, if it's about bringing community together
Speaker:it's kind of weird to then try to lone wolf the whole thing,
Speaker:'cause you're an entrepreneur, right?
Speaker:- Yes and newsflash
Speaker:there's no exit strategy for hosting a conference.
Speaker:- Yeah.
Speaker:- You're either you're doing it or you're not,
Speaker:it's not like you can go sell it to someone else.
Speaker:So this is, so that is another way in which it differs.
Speaker:- Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:I just, you know how we are like
Speaker:there's certain phrases and things of like the mainstream
Speaker:that I'm like, like yes, but no, because I don't know.
Speaker:There's like this whole not stigma
Speaker:but you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:- Yeah, it's like thought leadership, right?
Speaker:- Yes, that's another way, it's loaded.
Speaker:- You have a bad taste in everybody's mouth.
Speaker:It's a load, isn't it?
Speaker:- Yes, yes.
Speaker:- There's reason why it exists
Speaker:and those reasons are valid,
Speaker:but it's been abused and misguided in a lot of ways.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:- Perfect, okay.
Speaker:So thank you so much, Isaac.
Speaker:This was another great conversation.
Speaker:So I wanna say thanks to everyone for watching
Speaker:and or listening.
Speaker:You can find us at www.kickassconf.com.
Speaker:And if you enjoyed this please feel free to share it
Speaker:and we'll see you next time.
Speaker:Bye-bye.
