The Greenlawn Pickle Festival changed our work lives
OK...perhaps that's a slight overstatement. But the process of preparing for and executing this event was not unlike the evolution of a cucumber to its ultimate wonderful pickle-icious state.
Like every event I've been involved in since I began my career in 1977, tensions ran high and deadlines ran tight. Although preparing for a pickle festival was not quite as complex as the grand re-opening of Citibank's world headquarters branch, some of the time-tested truths about event planning and management held true. The team that worked the event was a relatively new group of hires, and we had never done such a large event for the client before. It was the first time we worked together as a team to achieve a common goal. And yes, we raised our voices at times. But we all high-fived and smiled at the end.
- Advance planning is essential. Although we were not without our last-minute crises, we had 90% of our work done the day before, allowing for frantic moments.
- Everyone has a talent to contribute. Christian, our Operations assistant was able to get a tent designed and produced in record time and was in charge of managing set-up. Marcelle is a fantastic "outside person." Bubbly and engaging, she offered kids temporary tats and invited parents to sign-up for the e-mail list. (We got hundreds of new names!) Rachel, our new intern, proved herself to be an awesome "live tweeter" and photojournalist, and even wound up on camera when a local reporter appeared. And MJ was able to place a blurb in Newsday two days prior to the festival.
- Great team members are willing to play "out of position" at a moment's notice. We filled in for each other as necessary. Everyone rolled up his or her sleeves and got dirty (literally...I'm sure we all smelled of garlic by day's end). We brought each other water and relieved each other for "outhouse breaks." (The event was on a farm, after all.)
- Healthy teams take time to celebrate success. At the end of the day, we all hugged it out (despite the garlic and sweat), feeling full of pride, relieved the day was over, but already thinking about how we can make the next one even better.
Join us at our next pickle event! and Contribute to the pickle cookbook!
How to remove the smell of garlic from your hands
How to remove a temporary tattoo
The 10 Best "Out of Position Moments" in Sports (which has nothing to do with pickles, but it's sort of interesting)
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