quarENTER v.3: Couchella, Experiential 2.0 + Me.

So, this has been by far the hardest week of quarantine for me. I know when we started this little experiment, I set out to really just stay connected and be personable. Work could definitely wait, and I had faith in knowledge that we would be there when things came back so didn’t really want to focus on anything more than the human element of this all. 

Then April 9th rolled around and the stark reality was that normally we’d be on our way out to the desert, getting ready for a weekend of programs and partnerships and catching up with our extended network of friends and family. You could see more old friends, make more new ones and get more done in one weekend in Palm Springs than most and it’s been the highlight of our year for as long as I can remember.

A few years ago, we had produced a handful of really big activations, it felt almost like a coming out party for me and the ENTER team and we were really just hitting our stride. Some agencies hope to have one big event in Palm Springs, we had three and crushed all of them. At the end of the last event I found myself alone for the first time all weekend in a production room just overcome with tears of joy. I was after all the proverbial “man in the arena” and we had come out victorious. I had overcome the insurmountable, an outsider, an independent rewriting the rules of the agency world and truly winning.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." – Theodore Roosevelt

This year we obviously wouldn’t be making that trip and while this all comes against the backdrop of much more significant global issues and feels far more trivial than what others are facing it is still challenging for me and most of the marketing community on a deeper level. 

What I realized is that I love my job more than I ever truly understood and I cannot wait to get back to work one day soon.

I love the feeling right before I open the doors to an event, the suspended anticipation knowing were about to make some memories.

I love walking past a stack of empty cups and cleaning them, knowing a junior colleague is behind me watching and always making sure to set the perfect example for them.

I love the expressions on people’s faces when they get to see their idols and knowing maybe we played a small part in making that happen.

I love connecting people and not expecting anything in return, confident it will be paid forward somehow.

I love the details, the small touches that separate a good event from a great one and thinking thru every last one of them.

I love the last minute audible to fix something before the client arrives or change something that just didn’t go according to plan. 

I guess what I’m saying is that I really just love the people. I love being with them, amongst them and for them.

In the meantime, for a small glimpse into the magic of this festival I strongly recommend watching the new documentary on YouTube. It’s so amazing to see the festivals growth and evolution over the years and definitely filled a small void. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjwilAja7Lc

…..And then reality hit me, ENTER was the fastest growing experiential agency in the entire country. There is no one that was doing it like us and overnight that was taken from me. I honestly got mad, I got sad, I was frustrated, felt alone and confused and through some introspection eventually realized that ENTER is still the fastest growing experiential agency in the country.

This will end, we will persevere, and we will be back doing what we love one day soon.

I know that our industry will be forever changed and am hard at work understanding the new paradigm and preparing for what Experiential 2.0 holds in store.

Events will be more dynamic, more engaging and more amplified than ever before and we’ll be back in the center of the arena, doing what we love.