I’m writing today’s blog while flying from Orlando to Newark on board Continental airline. Flight Attendant Jennifer Jackson just got us all greeted, seated, informed and ready to “sit back, relax and enjoy the flight.”  I’m already enjoying the flight more because of her. I’m sitting in seat 1F (got a complimentary upgrade) so I got to see each person pass by as they board.

And, I got to hear Ms. Jackson interact with every single guest.  ”Good morning, Madame. Hello young lady.   What a sharp outfit you have on. Heading to Newark?”

When she caught a glimpse of a passenger’s boarding pass, she added their last name to her greeting…. “So nice to have you with us today Mr. Bradford.”  ”Ah, I have the Collins family traveling.”  Every person was treated as an individual.  And every greeting was sincere and specific.

The result — every person that proceeded down the aisle had a smile on their face.  (Ok, 2 terminally cranky guys on the cell phones didn’t seem to realize they were in the presence of greatness — but every one else got it.)   That’s a full flight of people who are already won over by this professional, genuine, charming individual.  Mind you, our flight had been held on the ground for an hour prior to boarding.  And, with all that’s going on with flying right now, winning over passengers is a huge challenge.

Ms. Jackson, just by being herself, shifted the experience with one quick interaction.   And, she also seemed to have a similar affect on her co-workers — who were all following her lead.

A big disclaimer — traveling on Continental isn’t always a joy ride for me.   But today’s experience is a great reminder that we all just want to be treated with a degree of care and we all love good service provided by someone who excels at their job.

Life is a series of events, and for many of us a series of travel experiences. I wish you all safe travel experiences and hope that you get to fly with Ms Jackson soon.

I recently had the honor of guest lecturing at NYU on entertainment production for special events.  Richard Aaron (President of Biz Bash) teaches the class and he includes guests to bring the theories he teaches to life through their practical work experience.  I had a blast.

Where was this class when I started in the industry 20 something years ago?!   They even had a textbook “Special Event Production” by Doug Matthews!  I was thrilled to see this photo of our BKA production of the musical CHICAGO, which was performed in China, in Doug’s book.

It amazes me how much our industry has changed.  Back in the day, working in events was a mysterious profession.  No one really knew how to break in and we all kind of found our way into one of the most fantastic industries I know.  Except we didn’t even know we were working in an industry.

One of the students asked me where I studied Event Management.

I didn’t.

How did you learn to do events?

The hard way.

Well what did you study!?

Hmmm…..long list….cultural anthropology (more on that in a future blog), psychology, public relations, theatre, music, dance, advertising, journalism. All helpful. I also worked as a tennis instructor, waiter, actor, director, writer, public relations VP and stand up comedian.

By the way, the waiter jobs helped the most — you really learn how to multi-task and serve the customer.  The stand up comedy job convinced me that I could do anything. During all of it, what I studied most was people. How to listen to them, what makes them tick, how we are different and most importantly how we are the same. I’m most interested in how we learn, how we communicate and how what we experience influences our behavior.

While I studied and worked I had no idea where I would end up.  But when I look at what I’m interested in — people — I guess I ended up in the right place.  My friend Lori Martin from Performance Improvement Incentives told me that I did end up being a cultural anthropologist.  I just didn’t know it.

I envy today’s event management and hospitality students — they know what they want to do and they are busy studying it and readying themselves to be the next generation of event professionals.

Let’s support them — by teaching, mentoring, providing internship opportunities and hiring them as soon as we can.   This way we fuel our industry with new ideas and fresh energy.  And help them be who they want to be as they grow up.

Fun fact: Three of our current staff started out at BKA as interns and have now been with us in leadership positions for 10 years, 6 years and 5 years respectively!

She has no time for work, let alone for juggling the rest of her life. She had to let half of her team go yet retained 100% of the work. Now she is responsible for a series of meetings and events.

What does she really want from the production company she works with? I asked her and this was her response:

• Do what you say you are going to do.
• Tell me if there is a problem. Then solve it.
• If you can’t solve it on your own — let me be part of the solution.
• Realize I am under a lot of pressure.
• Get to know me by listening.

The listening part is huge. As event people we are always asking a lot of questions… What time do we get into the ballroom? What’s the age range of the guests? Do you want to have fish or chicken? etc. etc.

But how often do we stop asking all the things we need to know and just listen to what our clients are saying? Not what they are saying about their event — but what they are saying in general. What they are going through, what is the bigger picture as far as what they need from us?

Life is a series of events. Each affects the next. If we understand the events in our clients’ lives, we can better understand how to handle the events we create for them. It’s up to us to adjust our style to what our clients need.

Are you listening?