Industry Confidential

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In this issue our guest writer discusses the subject of unity.

2020. What a shit show. But that’s nothing new, and as happy as we’ll all be to close the book on this year, there are a few things from 2020 that I hope find their way into our 2021 lives.

We’ve all survived craziness before. Working in events is a fine art of learning to survive crazy and come out shining and smiling on the other side. We’re programmed to adapt. This year wasn’t craziness; this year was humbling. A global, mass felt, shoved down your gullet, humbling.

If, at some point in 2020, you did not have a moment of realization that nothing in life is guaranteed, you, my friend, missed a rather important life lesson.

Let’s admit it; many of us had gotten a bit high on the horse. It’s easy to do. Our industry foundation is the human desire for excellence and the ideal of winning. Naturally, this finds it’s way into our lives, and we find ourselves striving to dominate over the competition.

2020 however, screeched everyone to a stop, and suddenly we all found ourselves scrambling for something non-existent. Answers. For the first time, no one knew what the hell to do. No one had precedence; no one had the magic playbook; We were all simultaneously screwed.

Humans are funny. When everything is excellent and our cup runneth over, it’s easy to overlook connection and the idea of duty. When brought down to nothing, however, these fundamentals come through in abundance. When faced with a sea of uncertainty, we all called one another. We set up ZOOM calls; we shared ideas, we shared protocols, we shared marketing strategy, we shared all of it. There was unity.

In the past, we keep such assets under lock and key, viewed as the secret sauce that would help us dominate, help us WIN. But this year, it was our responsibility to share. To win, to beat this rival, to survive, everyone needed to succeed.

And that is the actual 2020 lesson for us all. A rising tide lifts all ships. The entire industry needs to be healthy if we want our slice of it to be successful. No one got through 2020 alone, no one got to their position in the industry alone, and no one will have continued success alone.

We are in this together, and if we can keep that in mind as we move forward and find the sunshine once again, there is nothing in this world that can stop us.