How to be Selected for the House of Balance Program

Seeing from the Eyes of the Producer

Everyone wants a moment in the spotlight, but it takes a special kind of person to stay in the back office to produce a big business conference. It takes the kind of person that enjoys waking up at midnight, with the thought of purchasing 12 extra AA batteries, in case the microphone runs out of power, thus putting into danger many months of planning and expectation. The kind of person that remembers faces and names by the hundreds so that they can be introduced correctly to those they want to meet. It demands their full attention and it can be hard to bend their ears to your ideas.

I’ve planned family office conferences and global community events for years, but I’ve never produced one like the House of Balance 2023. It was an event with over 1100+ registrants, but without paid staff, without a budget, without a hotel team to take care of physical setup and catering, and whose success relied on the availability of a few beautiful souls who believed enough in the mission to carry the House of Balance torch. In contrast to other events, most of our physical assets, including?our four Davos locations, were donations and exchanges in kind, much like a Swiss Burning Man. Our greatest partner was the city of Davos itself with the amazing work of the Mayoral team, which is firmly dedicated to the inclusivity of all people no matter their age, pedigree, physical ability, or financial status.

During the 6 months it took to organize and deliver the House of Balance in Davos for WEF week, I was approached by 2-3 people each day asking to get involved in the event. Most of the people who contacted me wanted to speak or be on a panel. It took quite a bit of convincing to explain to them that we were not ‘selling spots’ and furthermore, we were not interested in one-way information sharing through speeches with talking points. We were only interested in facilitators that could create an interactive and collaborative experience whereby everyone could participate, collaborate, and leave with tangible value. It was a different kind of event, to say the least...starting with the no-shoes rule at the door.

Frankly, it was a blind experiment, and my best imagination was exceeded by the beautiful reality of what had been birthed. Never before have I planned an event having multiple guests canceling their flights to stay in the workshops another day. Never before have a seen people hugging newfound friends for 15 minutes without wanting to let go at end of their workshop. Never have I had so many people write to me to tell me about how there was “life before the House of Balance” and then “life after”. It is a whole new kind of business event – not one that asked you to leave your truth, hopes, and fears at the door, but one that held the attendee as a whole person, in total love.

In order to facilitate my communication for future events and to inform those that want to get involved, please allow me to give you a view into the mind of an event producer, specifically this producer, in six?key points.

How to get involved!

1.????I don’t care what stuff you know.

It sounds ridiculous as a conference planner, but I can assure you that people contact me daily, listing their CVs and accolades. If I receive your credentials without a context, they will be promptly deleted. And please allow me to confirm a common high-achiever fear; accomplished people are a dime a dozen, and even if you feel that you are a cut above the rest, there is someone with an even longer CV right behind you. But don’t let these seemingly dismissive statements put you off! Here’s what really matters to me; I want to know that you understand and align with our House values and mission first! I want to know that you can open hearts, inspire, engage, and activate our community. I want you to demonstrate to me that you are more interested in collaborative outcomes, than you are in getting your video shot in Davos, as amazing as those are! In short, I want to know that you are here to serve the community, and not to be served by our beautiful community.

2.????It takes a team.

Do you want to be on the team? Event productions are a tremendous amount of mental, physical, and emotional work – especially the latter! If you would like to grab the microphone to highlight your expertise, you must also be willing to grab a broom and shoulder a brother or sister when they’re having a challenging moment. We are a community-organized event and our community functions as a family. Devotion to the House of Balance and our house guests is foundational. This means that no one is too important to serve others. But this also means that the community is not giving their volunteering hours in service to your marketing campaign. We are united in service to the greater community and its next evolutions. I promise you that our leaders are found cleaning until the last minute – Hans Martin is always the first and last!

3.????It takes some cash as well.

We are so blessed to have a large portion of our event be subsidized with donated and borrowed equipment, as well as donated skills and expertise! But we still need to purchase food, software, housing, travel, and yes, lots of AA batteries. So, when you are asking us to highlight your amazing SDG solutions, please understand that we are huge fans of your work, but please also understand that we cannot pay for your workshop event out of our own pockets. That is not sustainable. Since 90% of speakers come to the table asking with an empty hand, why not come with a value exchange in your hand? What can you do to bring financial patrons to our mission? Can you truly mobilize financial supporters, media, and networks? What can you do to lower our team costs like donating housing or Airmiles? What skills can you volunteer to cut our workload? It’s better to come to the table with an understanding of what the producer needs to build an event and to stand out from those who are coming with an empty hand. This is true event in the for-profit event sector. You need to stand above the fray.

4.????Please don’t give me your advice and ideas... without a plan

Just as impressive speaker CVs are a dime a dozen, the “you should do ________” ideas are a dime a hundred. The events space is one with lots of energy and creative excitement, but not many people are willing to do the operational work. If you have a well-thought-out idea that must see the light of day, this is the format in which to present it appropriately: “Hi Tiffany, I would like to present a plan to create _____. I would be willing to bring _____ skills and resources in order to make that happen and I would need ?_____ from the House of Balance community. My desired impact is ______. Is this something we can do together?”

5.????Expect accountability and transparency.

If you choose the join the house member team, there are many ways to serve and be served in collaboration with our global changers and inspirational Core House Members. And at the end of each cycle, it’s clear to see who showed up and delivered, who took personal responsibility for the accomplishment of our common goals, who brought all their energy and love into their facilitations, who took the time to know and support their housemates, and inversely who simply enjoys the titles without the sweat or crossing their finish line. Each team member receives our trust from the beginning, and we are often surprised at the rising stars that come up out of nowhere! But once all is said and done, the members evaluate and track each personal contribution; whether financial, mental, emotional, or physical. And it’s usually the quietest ones in the back row of the meetings that have accomplished the largest tasks and who deserve the most community credit.

6.????Take the baton and run!

Every once in a while, there is a luminary who immediately understands the mission and the inflection point created for many who cross the House of Balance threshold. They understand that lives are changed, that businesses pivot, and that these personal collisions have a ripple effect beyond measure. They want to carry that ripple effect even further by enlarging our events platform and the services with coherence, so that we can provide solutions to meet the challenges of our House of Balance community. And to those people, we say YES! We will come alongside you to collaborate and grow the impact. This is not your average conference organization. We are community-led, and a hybrid version of a decentralized team with common global operations. We invite your offer of help with gratitude and excitement as we grow our global family.

In January 2023, at the House of Balance, we witnessed accomplished CFOs greeting people with a hug at the front desk, a well-respected CEO driving a disability-equipped van for guests in the snow, strangers dropping off love gifts to the team in gratitude, and so many stories of transformation and devotion to shared values that I could write a book. And this was in addition to the nutrient-rich workshops on securing funding for impact, inclusive and accessible societal planning, and symbiotic leadership paradigms, which left our participants in tears of joy. This is a new way of hosting events – for business outcomes that are accomplished with hearts, with heads, and with hands in service to ourselves and others. And even though these key ideas are unique to the House of Balance operations, the logic applies to all event producers. I hope they brought you clarity on how you can bring value to your next conference.