Springing Spontaneity on an Event Planner

Sometimes, I do something completely out of character – and I don’t regret it for a minute.

Last night, for instance, was supposed to be one of rest, relaxation and a pile of work in preparation for the week ahead. That is, until my friend texted me with a last-minute invitation to attend a baseball game.

Yankees vs. Red Sox. Box seats. Club access. Free.

Now, I’m not a sports fan (a bit of a problem, seeing how I own a professional trivia company– but that’s another blog post altogether). However, I DO love going to baseball games, and try to attend one a year; I root for the home team – loudly, whomever they may be – while scarfing down my hot dogs and savoring $11 domestic beers served in plastic cups.

That being the case, my shoes were on, and I was out the door. So what if it’s 6pm on Sunday and I live in Brooklyn – there’s fun to be had! And fun it was- all 14 grueling innings of it (even if my friend surprised me with his obnoxious Red Sox T-shirt and endless trash talking – which I barely noticed in between mouthfuls of French fries & chicken tenders).

Sometimes, even we event planners just need to go with it, and be spontaneous. I’m used to booking events many months out, making careful arrangements and preparations, painstakingly ironing out details and, if needed, putting out fires as they pop up. Occasionally, though, it doesn’t work like that.

I remember one time last year, I got a call on a Monday afternoon from an extremely prestigious company, looking to put on a trivia event for their senior staff – on Wednesday. Shakily hitting “End” on my cell phone, I channeled all of my efforts and energies to make it happen, and two nights later there I was, in the private dining room of Morimoto, quizmaster microphone and customized trivia in hand.

Ideally, is this how I like to roll? No, not really – while I do love adrenaline and the above event was a huge success, I’m a generally cautious person, and prefer to take my time and do things right. However, like with my Yankees game, sometimes you just need to grab life’s opportunities as they occur, and have faith in your own abilities to make things happen. I know myself, and the fact is if I didn’t force myself to take this advice from time to time, I’d deeply regret it in the end.

Thanks to spontaneity, I don’t regret much.