Who, what, how
Before I ended up falling headfirst into the newspaper side of writing, I thought I pretty much knew what went on around our community. For the most part, I was fairly well informed. Yes, I’m sure there was an event or two or three that I probably missed. But I was busy raising kids and getting them ready for life in the best way their dad and I knew how.
In the seven years I’ve been down inside the news “rabbit hole” in a “Wonderland” I never knew existed, I’ve seen there are so many more things going on in our local community. “Going on” – in terms of things to do that are run by different clubs and organizations, and run by our city itself
I’ve recently reminded myself of what life was like before I knew how things operated – as in, who does what, when and where. I’ve always been fascinated with the behind-the-scenes things, how events are planned and how things unfold. In college, I enjoyed being part of the Concert Committee because we were the ones who helped bands and such come onto campus and we volunteered, whether that be for setup, ticket taking, advertising and more. If you’re not involved in the behind-the-scenes stuff, you simply show up with your ticket and enjoy. For me, part of the fun was seeing how it all happened and how people made it work.
But I digress. I’ve recently reminded myself that, to the local community at large, it doesn’t matter, really, WHO does an event. That event could be Rabbit Fest, a road race, a bazaar, a concert, a kids’ day in the park, a benefit dinner—you name it. Because back then, when I was busy getting the kids raised, I honestly didn’t care WHO ran an event. It didn’t matter a bit to me. We were just happy for something to do. And honestly, now, I don’t care, either, WHO runs an event. If we’re doing something for the benefit of the community, that really shouldn’t matter. Those in whatever perceived “inner circle” exists should lay their personal biases aside for the benefit of all.
Because there’s the WHAT. It should matter WHAT we have available in the community. We have a color run, summer fun run, and pretty soon, we’re going to have special nights at the city park pool. I’m “down” for Shark Week, as the kids say. In June, they’re also going to show the movie “Sing.” That’s awesome! I’ve been waiting for things like this to happen.
Maybe you don’t see a WHAT happening in our community that you’d like to see. For example, I was REALLY hoping SOMEONE would be able to pull off a community crawfish boil this spring. That would have been a great WHAT to have, especially if it would help raise funds for a worthy cause. Unfortunately, that idea fizzled before it even got out of the gate. I’m still of the opinion that, where there’s a will, there’s a way. And, as I said before it shouldn’t matter WHO suggests it or WHO organizes it.
Because in the end, what matters is HOW it’s done. Whatever we do, whatever organization runs an event, should do the absolute best they can to make it an enjoyable experience for all. HOW we do an event goes a long way to drawing people to come back, no matter WHO runs it. The first year or two (or three), there’s a learning curve. We learn what works, what didn’t work, what can be improved on. If we don’t think we can improve on HOW we do something, an event can become stagnant. I for one am looking forward to ALL the new things we have coming up in our community this summer.