You Know You Are an Event Professional When…
All of us in the trade show/meeting/event industry have suffered through…and survived…a different and difficult 2009. And most of us have commented recently that all of a sudden things are getting busy again! I just had the pleasure (I really mean that) of being on the road for 10 straight nights, and a few realizations struck me.
You know you are an EventProf when:
- Your briefcase includes a box of Kleenex, a bag of cough drops, a bottle of saline nasal spray, allergy medicine, and lots of hand sanitizer.
- You know which hotel chains carry what type of products in the bathroom (i.e. Doubletree = Neutrogena; Hyatt = Portico Spa).
- You had hot tea for breakfast and hot coffee for lunch because your voice is rough from talking so much.
- You find baggage claim checks stuffed in every pocket of every coat, purse, briefcase, and piece of luggage you own.
- You gargle with hydrogen peroxide instead of mouthwash because you grabbed the wrong bottle from the bathroom sink – good thing that is how they used to do it in the olden days.
- The wait staff in the hotel restaurant all know you by name.
- The doormen greet you by saying “Welcome Home!”
- You actually believe a Snickers candy bar is a satisfying lunch.
- Your 3 ounce bottles never really make it out of the 1 quart plastic bag.
- You really don’t see the problem in wearing the same outfit multiple nights in a row.
- You have mastered the art of doing laundry in your hotel bathroom sink.
- You have a wallet stuffed with one dollar bills for tipping, therefore you have to pay for your cab rides with your credit card.
- McDonald’s becomes your most frequented restaurant.
- You get miffed when someone walks into the “Expert Traveler” line at the security check-point and they do not have their license and boarding pass in their hand.
- You do not blink an eye when there is a $68 charge to jump on an earlier flight home.
- When you return home you try to put a “do not disturb” sign on your front door and wonder why your bed is not being made.
- When you do finally wake up in your own bed, you wonder why everything looks unfamiliar and you wonder what city you are in.
I could go on and on, but I would love to hear what you think instead. So comment below on how you know you are an EventProf and what makes us unique!!
Copyright 2009. This article may be shared or referenced as long as the source is cited and linked. No portion of this article may be copied or reproduced without express written permission by the author.
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[...] You Know You Are an Event Professional When. By expopedia All of us in the trade show/meeting/event industry have suffered through…and survived…a different and difficult 2009. And most of us have commented recently that all of a sudden things are getting busy again! I just had the pleasure (I r … Continue reading … [...]
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[...] I started writing this post in my head before remembering two similar (and better) blog posts that certainly inspired me: the talented Christina Stallings’ “13 Telltale Signs You’re an Event or Trade Show Professional” and the energetic Emilie Barta’s post, “You Know You Are An Event Professional When …” [...]
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[...] via professionaltradeshowpresenter.com [...]
Too funny Emilie! Especially about the bed not being made at home. I suffered that this week. Here’s another for you…
You know you’re an #eventprof when: Your friends say “Have fun on your trip!” and you get mad.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Thanks for the compliment, Dana! When you say “trip,” I think of vacation, which is something I have not taken in years. Luckily, I have trained people in my life to say “Have a great time!” or “Have a great show!” And I always do!!
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Well done!! I can sadly attest to many of these! I also can’t tell you the number of times I’ve driven my rental car with no headlights at night! (automatic at home)
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Rats…I forgot about rental cars as well! Thanks for filling in that gap, Eric. I can’t tell you the number of times I have been going way over or way under the speed limit while driving a rental car because it felt so different from mine. Or how many times I have left items in the rental car upon turn-in, never to be seen again. Or how often I have fumbled to turn on the lights or the windshield wipers when the weather changed. This list could go on and on and on as well!!
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Ahh, never a true word spoken and all true, but the real test / realization of an event or trade show professional is summed up in the simple facts,
1. That as long as when you are long haul traveling you go backwards in the time zones technically you never age!!!! but avoid the date line as that just messes your head.
2. I personally get better sleep long haul flying than at any other time. simple fact of not being at the end of a phone or email for 6-20 hrs at a time.
3. Customs and immigrations personnel realize you spend more time in their country than you do at your own and know you on first name terms.
4. You can order food / wine and beer in 20 different languages fluently and even tell them how to serve it.
5. You know every short cut in a city somewhere in the world that even taxi drivers do not know, and even worse taxi drivers know you on a personal basis and ask how the family is.
6. No matter where you are in the world you will know someone in a venue that can sort stuff out at a last minute or you even tell locals to speak to this person and they will help and solve the problems, i even get people calling me up asking if i know who to talk to in country that can help
…..why……..because we are one big happy community that helps one another and never really want to see someone fail and you will do your best to help no matter where you are or what time it is.
We do it because we love it, and there is nothing more satisfying than arriving somewhere solving the problems, delivering the event and meeting up with friends made in the industry…..it is black and white no grey areas, you are either in it or not.
As long as we stay as one big happy family and help other colleagues in the industry then two fingers to the desk jockey who has never experienced what we do or even understand what we do, and do not want to be part of it……its a good but hard life with some fantastic rewards.
All my best friends are in the event and exhibition industry and trust them with my life, as they are the only people who understand what and why we do it
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Thank you so much for adding the international perspective, Ian! Unfortunately I have only presented at events in the US and Canada at this point in my career…but thanks to you, I now feel prepared to go to points beyond. And you are completely accurate that no one who is not in our business understands why we do what we do or how we can love it so much. I can not imagine any other career being this rewarding or satisfying.
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Great stuff… But you can’t forget:
1. When you go on vacation, the first thing you ask the front desk clerk is how to get to the meeting rooms.
2. Your spouse refuses to attend events with you because they’d rather not spend the whole night hearing how you would have done things differently.
3. Instead of asking people who call you on your phone where they are you ask what their 20 is and end the call by saying “over”.
4. You feel like strangling someone when they call you a party planner.
5. You prefer a room on a low floor near the elevators for easy access to your meeting room than the Presidential Suite.
6. You have learned to master the art of drying off your entire body with no more than two hotel towels typically the size of a kleenex
7. You can easily calculate the cost of the amount of hors d’oeuvres the grab-happy shmuck at your reception piled onto his teacup-saucer sized plate
8. You go to a concert and are more focused on the rigging, lighting and setup than you are the actual performance
9. You spend half your day speaking in acronyms
10. You know that what happens in Vegas really doesn’t stay there!
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I am so glad you added the perspective of an Event Planner, Eli…many thanks! And unfortunately, I have experienced the hotel towel situation more times than I can count!!
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You know you are an event prof when you realize:
The word weekend is merely a concept…and time zones were invented merely to mess up conference calls!
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
I think the last time I had a “weekend” was when I was in college, Chris! I can’t tell you how many times I have been on an airplane, at a rehearsal, or presenting at a trade show on a Saturday or Sunday. But I would not change a thing…and actually enjoy being able to get my errands done on a Monday morning when the rest of the world is at “work.” And how many times have we each been an hour early or an hour late to a conference call because of time zones? You are absolutely correct!
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I’d add – when you have spent so much time getting acquainted with airline terminals that you know – which are the best gates to fly in and out of, where to find the quiet nooks, and which “restaurant” has the best food for each mood you might be in!
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Oh you are absolutely spot on about airports, Deborah! Obviously I thought about this post when I was in my hotel room as I just realized that I did not include anything about airports. Thanks for filling in my gap!!
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Oh this is all so true. It is nice to say I have friends all over the world. I still stay in touch with most of them.
You also know you’re an EventProf when you enter an out of town resturant and the waiter asks if you want your usual…
We do seem to be one big happy family.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
You are absolutely correct, Roger…EventProfs IS one big happy family across the globe. And the great thing about us is that we are always there to answer a call from another EventProf in need, no matter what time of day or night. Plus we are always eager to lend a helping hand or pass on a recommendation when we see EventProfs in our own home base.
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This thread made my day. I have been a trade show professional producer for 25 years and article is perfect.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 28th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Thank you so much for your compliment, Jai! It is so much fun reading all of the other comments and seeing other EventProfs’ perspectives as well!!
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Emilie, great post, put a big smile on my face!!!
After nearly 30 years of traveling (yeah I am old) I can say I have experienced most of the things you mentioned in this post and the comments…. I got a couple more to add:
You know you are an eventprof when:
1. You travel to the same city so much that when you go to your favorite watering hole there they let you in at the front of the line and greet you by name.
2. You return home from a trip and can’t remember where you parked your car at the airport.
3. You are asleep in your airline seat before the plane even hits the runway.
4. You utilize a hotel so often that you know all the shortcuts in the “back of the house”
5. You choose a fast food meal (i.e. Hamburger and fries) over a gourmet meal, cuz you are so sick of hotel food.
6. You hold a dinner party at home and put out table tent stands with cards describing the food you are serving
7. You take a cab to the airport and get out of the cab at United Airlines, only to realize your flight is on American Airlines for this trip.
Thanks for this humorous article!!
Mike
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Emilie Barta Reply:
November 30th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I am so happy to have put a smile on your face this Monday morning, Mike! I can’t tell you how many times I have eaten McDonald’s 3 nights in a row while at a trade show out of choice…or how often I have to stop and think of what airline I am flying when pulling up to the airport. What that means? Not to worry, because we are all in this together!!
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I love the post, Emilie, and I’ve been chuckling over all the comments as well! I have just a few more to add to the list…
#1 Sometime between noon and 2:00 p.m., you make a quick trip around the show floor to speak with a couple of exhibitors while they are bringing out the hors d’oeuvre trays because that is the closest you will get to lunch today.
#2 You can spell hors d’oeuvre without checking.
#3 You fly home, show friends/family your site visit photos from Mexico, they laugh and say, “Looks like you were working REAL hard,” and you want to tell them off because your feet still hurt and you know that they sure didn’t hike 15 miles around a convention center this morning.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:44 am
So glad that you like the post and all the comments, Serenity! The great thing about what we do as EventProfs is that our job is so much fun…but our friends really don’t understand how much work we put into it to make it fun! In fact, the more beautiful or successful an event is, the more work that we put into it, yet the more fun it looks. Appearances definitely are decieving!!
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Emilie and friends,
All great comments. Thanks to all of you I once again feel happy to be an Event Producer!
At least we are unique, heh?!
I have one contribution to make: You know that you are an over-experienced event professional when you WANT to skip the crew banquet meal and return to your room to make dinner out of the contents of your courtesy basket and your mini-bar!
Thanks for the laughs…wishes to you for many, many more.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:48 am
I am so glad to hear that this post has reminded you how happy you are to be an EventProf, Susan! I can’t tell you how many times I have passed up banquet food to have a meal comprised of “snacks.” Or how many times I have gone straight back to my room after a day on the trade show floor not to be seen again until the next morning. Keep laughing!!
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Get article, I can only add a few from my 25 years at law enforcement trade shows.
1. you know every shortcut thru the back hallways in the convention centers at Orlando, Nashville and LV because it seems like you live there. Made one mistake in San Antonio once, got lost for 20 minutes!
2 being one of the dreaded “smokers” you know what doors stay unlocked to get to where the staff smokes, you get on a first name basis with the cleaning crew and security ( it helps alot if you need anything) and you do more business standing outside complaining about the weather then playing ” what do you sell’
3 Due to my trade shows, you know more cops in the US than an international Jewel thief.
4. Due to the samples I have to carry, you get to know a lot of TSA agents very well.
5 Reading a trade journal on the flight home ( like the latest issue of the ” Counter Terrorist”) makes sure your seatmate does not engage you in inane conversation!
I know mine are kind of industry specific, but thought I could share anyway.
Thanks again for the laughs.
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Emilie Barta Reply:
March 3rd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Thank you so much for your contribution, Tim! I myself have never participated in a law enforcement trade show, but your industry specific examples made me chuckle as I imagined how the “cops, TSA agents, and seatmates” feel about you and your materials!!
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