Event Planner: Virtual-World Experience, Real-World Payoff

 

An event is an experience, carefully crafted to deliver an impact on the person in attendance. The activities, environment, and layers of multisensory effects are integrated into an event design that is staged and choreographed with precision and polish. The best event experience is one in which the mechanics are imperceptible to the attendee and the intended impact is delivered effectively and invisibly. -- Julia Rutherford Silvers in Professional Event Coordination, 2nd Edition.

A Scalable Profession

Event planning is a highly scalable profession. A successful event planner might run a modest single-person shop doing local weddings and social events, or be a corporate event planner who leads teams of specialists, designers, and service providers doing mega-events such as the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic Games. The workplace can be a simple as spare bedroom or as grand as suite of offices in Manhattan. No matter the scale, the event-planner profession offers endless challenges and opportunities for creative expression.

What are the entry-level requirements for an event planner? Well, that certainly depends upon the level you want enter. If you are starting out on your own, you need the necessary levels determination, skill, and common sense. You can pick up the academic part of the business from books, online courses, and rudimentary business courses at a local two-year college. And, as described here shortly, you can get some valuable practical experience by putting out your shingle in a virtual world.

Or maybe you are attracted to a position as event planner for a medium-to-large hospitality business such as a hotel, resort, or casino. Some event-planning experience is desirable and an Associates degree in event planning or related discipline is a real plus. But the reality is that event planners at this level simply need some energy, intelligence, creativity, and a talent for organization and dealing with people. These latter traits can be tested and developed through virtual-world experience. More about that in a moment.

Finally, there are the national/international event-planning firms that organize major conventions, formal state and corporate functions, and mega-events. Entry-level requirements here are much the same as for large corporations: experience at a lower or equal level, references and an impressive portfolio, and at least an Associates degree in hospitality management. (But of course a zest for the work and a degree in something like archaeology might work about as well). What about virtual-world experience at this level? Hint: It's the intangibles it brings. Read on ...


The Intangibles of the Profession

One of the keys to success in event planning, no matter the scale of the business, is to clearly understand it is a service, or hospitality, business.  You are hired to serve the needs and dreams of others. Build upon that principle, and you are bound to succeed at any level.

The education--the book learning--you need is fairly self-evident and readily available. You can see this for yourself at the free online School of Event Planning at Free-Ed.Net University.  But it's the intangible qualities that make up the foundation for a successful career in event planning at any level. Examples?

The two most critical intangibles are:

1. getting along well with people
2. solving problems effectively

You can be brimming over with creativity and passion for the work, but if you fail at people skills and problem solving, you fail all around.

One of the most interesting things about those two traits is that they cannot be fully grasped or significantly sharpened in a typical academic setting. So let's go into an atypical learning environment -- the virtual world of Second Life.


Event Planning in the Virtual World

The culture of Second Life is a rich proving ground for the kinds of intangible qualities successful event planners must possess.  The most obvious and plentiful opportunities are at the hundreds (maybe even thousands) of dance clubs and lounges. A close second would be arranging special events such as carnivals, art shows, sporting events, and other form of social entertainment. Then there are the weddings. Yes, formal weddings are quite common in second life, and the participants most often need someone to organize just about everything but the bride's gown. Sound fantastic? Sound incredibly weird?  If so, you need to analyze the idea a little more.

Virtual-world dance clubs offer the most plentiful and direct opportunities for honing the intangible skills for real-world event planners. These clubs are most often built and managed (or more often mismanaged) by people who love the club life and dream of seeing it grow into a popular destination for Second Life citizenry.

The success of these clubs depends mainly upon the quality of the venue (theme, music, physical layout), commitment of the management, and a workable marketing plan. This is where event planning enters the picture by creating special events that draw and sustain a lively clientele. At the present time, event planning for most club venues in Second Life is limited to costume events and activities more appropriate for a college fraternity party. This is certainly fertile soil for a creative and energetic event planner.

So after spending a few months familiarizing yourself with the Second Life culture, seek out a few club venues where you feel comfortable and can see some potential for improvement through intelligent event planning (and execution, of course). Exercise some of your best people skills, and approach the owners/managers with an offer to help them ...for free, of course. Remember, this is not classroom role-play. You are approaching real people who have invested real money, time, and loads of effort into their dream. They have attitudes and feelings that you must consider -- well, not unlike approaching a potential client in the real world.

You can clearly see in this instance that our motto, "Two Worlds, One Purpose," is quite appropriate.

And that's only the very beginning or your work experience.

Themed islands in Second Life are another source of apprenticeship opportunities. Islands (or "sims" as they are called in the SL vernacular)  are privately owned properties that cover 64,000 square meters of virtual land. Owners pay out a $1000USD for a one-time setup fee and $295USD per month lease. Needless to say, people who own those kinds of places at those prices are looking to have some serious fun. Often, the owners want to recreate one of their favorite places on the real world and, quite naturally, some choose to create a land that can only exist in the imagination (and in Second Life).  So what does this have to do with a serious student of event planning?

Most of these places set aside space and funds for special events such as art shows, fashion shows, live concerts, sporting events, boat shows ... the list is virtually endless. And so is the need for competent help with planning and implementing the events.

As with the dance clubs, these themed island owners have a dream they want to express and share with others. The difference is that the island owners are often successful or up-and-coming professionals who are able to invest the necessary dollars and time. And of course, they should be treated accordingly when you propose doing some shows for them.

Yes, there are private weddings and other formal celebrations in Second Life. In these instances the people are only interested in providing their friends with a memorable event. Most do not have the time or talent necessary for putting together a great party. So the event planner becomes an important asset. It doesn't stress the imagination very much to think in terms of setting up a event planning service in Second Life. The scope of the problems and the opportunities for creative world are no less then in real life.


A Lot More Experience in a Shorter Time and at Less Cost

I hope you have gotten at least a glimpse of how it is possible to pile up a great deal of useful experience by providing event-planning services in Second Life. And the real point is that the experience -- inside your mind and spirit -- are just as real as those garnered in real life over a longer period of time and at a higher personal cost. (Failures in Second Life cost less money and do not cast a shadow on your career for years to come).

Bartender: Virtual-World Experience, Real-World Payoff

Bartending. This is one of the most audacious examples of getting very real-world experience from virtual-world activities. It is so audacious, in fact, that it clearly reflects the spirit of "Two Worlds, One Purpose."

It is important to understand from the outset that we are not talking about simply taking orders, mixing, and serving drinks. We aren't talking about the kind of impersonal "bartending" we see at any other franchise restaurant that happens to offer bar service. We are talking about professional bartenders who spend most of their time and invest a major portion of their lives engaging in the world's second-oldest profession.

The real purpose of a professional bartender is to "tend" to the patrons on the other side of the bar. It isn't about the drinks--a vodka martini at one establishment is not significantly different at another. Bud Lite is Bud Lite, whether at Louie's Underground or the Cafe de Upper Crust. It's all about serving the patrons, making them feel important, and bringing them back again, again, again ...

Sure, a bartender must know the mechanics of mixing drinks, working a register, and handling the inventory; but those are skills that can be learned in one of those six-week bartending schools. Knowing how to interact with patrons at a bar, however, is partly inborn and partly a skill that is mastered only by experience.  And this is where Second Life bartending experiences enters the picture.


Bars and Bartenders in Second Life

There are hundreds of clubs and lounges in Second Life. All have a bar, and a lot of them include a bartender animation ball. (For readers who aren't fully acquainted with the workings of Second Life, and animation ball is an object that "animates" an avatar to perform certain motions that more or less mimic a real-world activity).  With the owners permission, an avatar can touch the animation ball, and immediately appear to be doing ... well, bartender stuff. This is usually something simple such as wiping the top of the bar, washing glasses, and fussing with the well.

Second Life patrons sometimes order a certain drink, and the bartender offers it to them from his own inventory of drink objects. The objects are sometimes animated, too; so the patrons appear to be drinking from the glasss. More often, however, the order-and-drink sequences are simply role-played and a simple game of "let's pretend." So drinks in second life are very rarely sold for Second Life cash.  There is no income from liquor sales in Second Life.

The only cash income from these places is through the tip jars. Establishments sometimes provide a tip jar for the avatar that is doing the bartender animation. Most often there are also general tip jars for the establishment. The cash income for the bartender and establishment rarely come close to justifying the time invested in the enterprise. People do this for the fun.

The conclusion here is that the bar in a Second Life club, restaurant, or lounge is not a money maker. This is exactly opposite the situation in real life where bar receipts often support the rest of the establishment.

So how is it remotely possible that working as a bartender in Second Life can provide any useful experience for real-life bartending?  It's all about the patrons.


It's All About the Patrons

The hundreds of clubs and lounges in Second Life are fertile ground for honing the skills that matter most in the bartending business--tending to the patrons.  The drink role-play isn't necessary, and is actually a distraction to the real job at hand, which is to make every patron feel welcome, comfortable, and important to the establishment.  It isn't about the drinks or anything else sold or given away, but about the dialog the bartender establishes with the patrons.  A bartender learns engage them in conversation and get them talking to one another.  When successful, the conversation and avatar activity tends to get noisy and confusing, just as in any real-world establishment that is worth visiting again ... and again, and again. And that is the real value of a professional bartender, whether in Second Life or real life.

The opportunity for gaining valuable and sustainable bartending experience is freely available in Second Life.


Getting Behind a Bar in Second Life

It is obvioulsy important to understand the culture and language of Second Life before making any serious moves toward becoming a bartender. For anyone new to Second Life, this means wandering about making friends, learning how the monetary system works, refining an appropriate personal appearance, and visiting the clubs and lounges. Six months of regular visits would be a minimum.

When ready to try a job, it is important to approach the owner of the establishment first. This person has invested a lot of time, energy, and real-world cash into building the place and trying to make it a popular, fun place.  Negotiate a schedule and go to work (at no cost to the owner, of course).


Evaluating Success

It is rather easy to evaluate the success of this learning task. It's a matter of keeping a log of the approximate number of patrons served each shift, and then the number of repeat patrons. The amounts appearing in the tip jars can be a secondary estimate of success. But, again, it's the "stickniess" of the bartender's personality that makes the whole thing work ... really no different, in essence, from real-world bartending.

Hint: Maintain a list of patron's names and a brief note about them and their interests. Then impress them when they show up at the bar again.

A Concluding Note

A vast majority of the real-world workforce is "ordinary."  And the "ordinary" workers are those most vunerable to economic and social instability.  They are the people standing in unemployment lines. If  our bartenders in Second Life can see a ten-fold increase in the number of visitors hanging out in the establishments were they work, it's certain they are stepping out of the realm of the ordinary.

And of course "ordinary" people would tend to be skeptical of this entire notion of building vauable real-world career assets from virtual-world experiences. On the other hand, the "extraordinary" would simply go about making it a reality.

About this Blog

In today's dynamic and technology-driven workplace, unpaid experience has emerged as a legitimate asset in a career portfolio. The right kinds of unpaid experiences can set the job seeker apart from others, demonstrating a willingness and ability to try new experiences, take initiative, and make things happen


"Two Worlds, One Purpose"

The online virtual world of Second Life^® is most often used as a platform for informal networking, romance, artistic expression, moral and cultural experimentation, role playing, and generally having fun in a simulated three-dimensional world. At any given moment, tens of thousands of very real people from all over the world are plugged into Second Life^®.

How does Second Life® fit into this program?

All of those people in Second Life^® are playing, thinking, experimenting, exploring, socializing and generally on a quest for activities that make their virtual lives more meaningful, interesting and rewarding. It is a environment that is rich in opportunity for serious, real-life career builders who can offer tangible knowledge and skills in exchange for a chance to discover and exercise the more intangible personal traits that are best learned by "doing."
 

How is it possible to legitimize and verify career experience in a virtual world?

It is important to understand that this program is NOT about the virtual world. It's about the career experiences you can encounter only by engaging social and economic systems--in the real world or in a virtual world--with skill, intelligence, passion, and energy. Legitimate career experiences (paid or unpaid) are build upon your own ability to confront difficult problems, analyze them, experiment with creatives solutions, and collaborate with others in carrying out a solution. That legitimizes the experience.

Career experiences (paid or unpaid) must be verifiable. Participants in this Free-Ed.Net program are strongly advised to maintain a professional quality Facebook account, create a LinkedIn account, and maintain a blog that chronicles the experiences. Of course there are letters from workgroup colleagues and world-class professionals you might encounter in the virtual world.

A truly significant advantage of using a virtual world as a proving ground for career experience is that your failures are far less costly than in the real world.