Are You Ready?

I had a big weekend. 2 1/2 day as MC of the Super Conference in Melbourne (from Thursday to Saturday), a 1 year old party, MC another function on the Saturday night and then 6 hours reviewing the upcoming video product I am creating.

Phew!

The recurring theme seemed to be “Are You Ready”. At the Super Conference, one of the speakers arrived late, was foofing and fluffing around with AV, running back to his room, forgetting something else and had no introduction. We delayed the start but it got to the point that I had to fill in for about 10 minutes while he got ready. For some a 10 minute fill

is not easy (lucky I like the sound of my own voice!) Other speakers arrived the day before to check the room, had their AV all tested and loaded on our machines two presentations prior. True professionals that were a delight to deal with.

On the Saturday night, there was a little more stuffing around trying to get the hotels projector working. Luckily the client was patient because it took the hotel awhile to find the person who knew what was going on (apparently the projector always goes to sleep automatically – that would have been nice to know up front!)

What about you? Are you ready?

Are you ready to start your meetings on time? Do your minutes get done promptly after the meeting? Do people have all of your requirements, introductions and contact details when you are on site? Have you practiced the difficult meeting with your staff member? Do you have the correct documentation when you get on the phone to talk to a service provider? When you are running an event, are you ready to stall for five minutes if you need to (because you know it will happen!)

When you know you have something significant happening, make sure you are ready. It makes a massive difference!