Community events can be intimidating. Daunting, even. Who is going to show up? Did they even get the memo? Did we promote it enough?
Right as what seems like imposter syndrome begins to settle in, it takes another shape. Another form. You have to take a minute to process what exactly the form is and then you realize: it is gratification. But wait, there is another emotion creeping its way in, that of comfort. Peace of mind. That idea that whenever the event happens, whoever arrives at the event, you will make the absolute best of it. Do not confuse this with complacency, dear reader.
There is no apathy held here towards what you are doing, but rather the polar opposite: determination and perseverance. Confidence. Confidence that every last person who arrived is worth it. Indeed, five people showing up ready to sort clothes down to the very last jacket, the very last pair of jeans, the very last whatever it may be...believes wholeheartedly in your mission and cause. These 5 are worth 50 people who don't want to put in the work, and ultimately that's what any business takes: putting in the work.
You have to recognize that once in a blue moon does success come overnight. It takes that aforementioned determination and perseverance. It also takes workflow. I previously used "5 people" as an example. An odd number may not be the best choice. If two people are sorting jackets, and this must streamline into the 2 people sorting jeans, where does that leave the fifth person? This isn't a rhetorical question.
As an operation this is a two-way street. You must understand the space for the person, and they must simultaneously seek to occupy a space. Notice it was said a space, rather than that space. Sometimes there is only one job left to be done, and that is that. Other times, there may be a different space to create just as successful results. This is when you have an innovator on your side, and trust me when I say, you want to keep that innovator around.
The "outside-the-box" mindset can prove conducive to not just one event, but your entire operation. This person is perpetually seeing another angle. With our name, Fort Worth Community Collaborative, that is the secret to it all: collaborating. Any operation, should never, repeat never, believe in superiority when they see potential for a collaborative environment. We understand every person that walks through the doors of an event has a distinct, unique vision, and that vision has a place somewhere.
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