Skill Sets and Covid

Skill sets and Covid

Greetings to all. Happy to announce that I am back home – in Florida, USA.?

Back with family. All good.?

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I spent the past 2+ years in South America, working with CONMEBOL, helping them to deliver the Copa America. It was a tremendous experience in many ways. I am forever grateful to CONMEBOL for the opportunity and I look forward to “what’s next”.

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The past 2+ years with Conmebol helping them to deliver the Copa America was – let us just say – extra special in so many ways.

Copa America by the way is the oldest international tournament in the world. By far the most prestigious in South America.

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In the summer/fall of 2019 we were just under a year to kick off.?Full of energy and excitement. Full of possibilities. We were creating and implementing a new business model. It was going to be the first time that Conmebol was going to be delivering the tournament without a “traditional” local organizing committee (LOC).?In this case we had 2 hosts – Argentina and Colombia.?

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We had a top team – architects, engineers, IT, security, transportation, hospitality, medical, marketing, legal, finance, broadcasting, etc.?Experts from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, Japan, Germany and the USA.?

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Then, in February/March of 2020, everything changed. From a room full of dynamism and excitement, I suddenly found myself by myself. Everyone had to leave. I remember it well. It was a Friday night, standing alone in this big office, and I myself had to get out of town – it was the last flight out of Asuncion before the airport closed. No one knew what was going to happen next – 3 months before the scheduled kick off. Welcome to the new world of Covid.

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Why am I telling you all this? I am sure all of us have our Covid stories to tell.?

We take so many things for granted. Our systems (collectively) are so strong – yet so fragile at the same time. The lock downs exposed the intricacies of what is strong and what is fragile – intricacies of the world order.

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Being agile – in the literal sense – is a required skill in order to be a successful project or event manager.?In the Covid world, there was no playbook. We had to create everything from scratch. In our case (as with UEFA for example) we created one of the first ever documents on Covid protocols. We were creating while doing. But the situations were changing while we were creating and doing.?It really stretched all our abilities. To put things in perspective, we went through 4 official event/match schedules. Each version had many draft iterations beforehand. In the first version we had two hosts (Argentina and Colombia) and 12 participating teams. In the 2nd?version we had the two hosts and 10 participating teams (the two invited teams withdrew). In the 3rd?version we had one host (Argentina) and the 10 teams. In the 4th?version, we still had the 10 teams, but we had an entirely new host (Brazil). We learned about Brazil 10 days before the 2021 kick off. And we arrived in country 7 days before kick off – no stadiums, no training sites, no hotels, no service agreements, no contracts whatsoever.?And of course, no public. All matches would be played behind closed doors with controlled bubbles and continuous testing for all groups.

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There was of course, much more. Merchandise, team equipment and all kinds of purchases that had to be rerouted, if it was possible. Sponsors that did not know if we were coming or going. Ticketing??Overlays??Stadiums that had been shut down (literally) for over a year that had to be opened, cleaned and retrofitted. ?I myself lost 18 lbs.?I did not take care of myself. I did not follow much of the advise I normally give in my lectures. Did not sleep enough, eat or stay well hydrated. I was not alone, I know. Thank goodness for good people. Thank goodness for a good team – a good organization. I have said it many times and I will say it again – people (and the culture they create) are the most valuable assets of any organization.?If you are in a bad place, they will lift you up. If you are in a good place, they will bring you even higher. I would not be exaggerating if I said that I owe my life to my team – especially some key members?(plus some divine intervention). Copa America owes its eventual successful delivery to the team.

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Alongside agility are creativity, innovation, flexibility,?adaptability, determination, resiliency, empathy, team work, and a few other skills. All the while not losing clear thinking in terms of operations, technology, finance, and compliance. Maybe one day we will write a book about this? I am not sure. I know there are a few persons who would rather just forget.

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The main underlining lessons for us have to do with the skill sets. Education and training provide knowledge. Experience brings confidence to that knowledge. But the skill sets are the driving forces. Yes we have to treat each event/project like it is our first – but always be prepared to dig even deeper inside. Keep all those skills always lit – always on - “there is no kill switch on awesome”.?

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I would love to start a conversation about this. Please let me know your thoughts on skill sets and/or any portion of the above. We can take the conversation more private if you like – my email is [email protected].

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Thank you for listening.