Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
As part of the work I’ve done at the Pacific National Exhibition for the last 5 years I’ve thrown a welcome-to-Vancouver BBQ for the performers that have been a part of the Street Stars Program. This year I wasn’t actually hired on to be the manager of the program as I had been in previous year, but I was brought in as a consultant to discuss who to bring in to fill the performance slots and my revenue as the consultant was directly tied to the fact that the performers who arrived and were present at the orientation meeting last Friday were all people that I had suggested to be brought in.
It’s been my experience that spending some money on a welcome dinner like the one we threw Friday evening after we had done the orientation meeting at the Fair is always money well spent because by making the effort to make other performers feel welcome and well taken care of, they turn around and share information about great jobs that they’ve done that they think you could do, and this sharing is done in a much more open way than might otherwise be the case.
For myself I can easily state that when people make the effort to feed me I feel a huge appreciation and gratitude towards the host, and although I don’t expect this sort of reaction when I provide good hospitality to others, it just seems to work out to be the case. If you’re a good host, people just seem to want to return the favour by providing you with information or feedback that will help you… It’s one of those deposits into the karma bank that seems to pay pretty immediate dividends for some reason…
The other nice think about throwing a party at the beginning of an event is that it sets the mood/tone for the entire event. This makes the experience a positive one right from the beginning and has already made my job as both a performer and semi-coordiator of this year’s PNE Street Stars Program a lot more relaxed and successful because people started the gig already in a good mood. Performers in a good mood do better shows, better shows means happier audiences, happier audiences means a happier employers and this means a certain job security for the guy who suggested the performers in the first place…
Beyond the positive business spin-offs, it’s just a really great way to spend and evening. Being able to enjoy great conversations with great people and look forward to the days and shows ahead is a big part of the fun of being a performer and it’s a pleasure to be the instigator of making such an evening happen. Next time you get the chance I highly recommend breaking bread with friends and seeing where it leads.
