Invoke the entrepreneurial spirit in you
It was at a discussion after one of the webinars I used to give to the incoming students, with Ms Jeanne Weckler, the marketing head of ESCP Europe, that I mentioned how organizing an event like TEDx could get the school a better visibility internationally. Jeanne suggested me to meet Johannes, the organizer of TEDxESCP and the founder of WikiStage. I set up a meeting with Johannes, where he told me how intricate and complex procedure is followed for getting a TEDx license and proposed me to rather organize WikiStage at ESCP Europe. He gave me the license and provided me with all the support to organise the event. I was given full freedom for selecting every detail of the event and execute it how I wanted to. This was a very entrepreneurial project that was knocking my door!
With only 3 months in hand, I had a herculean job in front of me. I not only had to form a team, but also contact speakers and sponsors for the event. I started contacting people I thought could add value to the project, and formed a diverse team with students coming from different nationalities. We brainstormed on how to approach and came up with 'What's next?' as the theme for the event. We also decided the date of the event to be 18th April, 2015.
Next three months gave me an opportunity to experiment with everything. The team that I formed had both extremes, the proactive ones and the procrastinators. I could test my leadership style, trying to bring the team together and motivating them for the common goal. I tried my best and was supported by five of my team mates who took up the responsibilities of marketing, public relations, external relations, internal communication and logistics coordination each. We had the core team ready, with other members of the team supporting us.
As we progressed, we were able to associate with fifteen guest speakers, experts from their field of specialization. We were not able to get any sponsorship but we were able to convince ESCP Europe authorities to provide us with some subsidy. The school supported us and gave us the amphitheater and forum to conduct the event. They also provided us with audio visual assistance for the same. We started promoting the event through various social medium and were able to sell 200+ tickets.
The day of the event brought new set of ups and downs. We divided the responsibilities from welcoming the speakers and the guests to making on-the-spot sales and catering to the guests during the coffee break and cocktails. I remained responsible for coordinating all the responsibilities while all others were made a single point of contact for one of the responsibilities. We were able to put up a phenomenal show and were appreciated by many guests who attended the event.
This experience invoked the entrepreneurial spirit in me, taught me how important it is to be proactive and always on the toes. It also brought me a broadened perspective as I could now foresee and analyze the problems, not all, that could be faced while executing a project. This was a great experience and I'm sharing it to preach the importance of energy and enthusiasm, of taking up new ventures in life, and of collaborating and inspiring others to achieve the common goal. It is very important to be entrepreneurial in life and always remain on a look out for new opportunities. This experience invoked my spirit, some other might invoke yours. Keep seeking.
PS: If you want to organize a WikiStage event at your university/organization, feel free to connect with me or Johannes.