07.27.2011
Tell Everyone You Know
Why big ideas need people to know about them.
Project FreshKicks will be the second big event that Q Digital Studio has hosted and for which I have had a modest hand in planning and organizing. It's hard work, there's no doubt, but I've quickly come to love the process and I feel that creating meaningful events like the ones we have created will be something I pursue for a long time in my life to come.
Part of what has me enthralled over event organizing is how attainable even the largest function can be when people come together and get to work. I can attest, as I have now watched a few simple ideas become reality and with real people pouring their hearts into the progression of that idea, that the single most important thing a person can do to get their event up and running is to tell people about it. Tell everyone possible and like-minded folks will be knocking at the door to help. And, of course, that's what an event needs most: people.
ExpressionEngine Camp
Q Digital Studio's founder and leader Susan Snipes had the idea to build a community-powered conference that focused on what we at QDS believe is the best content management software around: ExpressionEngine. In comparison to other popular content management software, such as Wordpress or Drupal, ExpressionEngine has a much less significant following (though it's user base is growing rapidly). Still, Susan shared her ideas with a few local ExpressionEngine enthusiasts, gathered a plan of action, and in a few short months we created - with the help of local volunteers and a few kind sponsors - a successful event in which people from all over the country came to participate and speak. Quite frankly, the event was a bigger success than we had imagined. It even paid for itself, and that's rare for an event's first run.
Project FreshKicks
Unlike ExpressionEngine Camp's conference motif, Project FreshKicks is a day of doing. The idea was not entirely unique - I wanted to build a 24-hour designathon that would match web design teams with non-profits who need websites - but I brought it to the table as I had seen Susan do because I knew nothing was possible until it was out of my head and into the hands of those who just might care. As it turns out, people do care. And again, in just a few short months, an idea has become reality. Though it remains to be seen whether or not the event will be a total success, I can rest assured that the event won't be a failure. In my mind the only failure would have been to keep the idea to myself.
Ideas Need People
What these two experiences have most in common is that those ideas were only possible because like-minded people were able to gather around them and make them real. Even more moving is that this phenomenon isn't just limited to events or conferences; a good idea will see the light of day when people are given that chance to help.
I'm young and I have much to learn. Still, if I have a single iota of valuable advice to give I think it might be this: If you have a good idea, tell everyone you know.
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