The Night Before the Big Event

By Lee Pound

Tomorrow, Friday, February 11 is the first day of my big event, Go For the Gold, in Newport Beach, California.

My business partner, Arvee Robinson, and I have tied down all the speakers, filled the room, completed the hotel contract, and checked out the room setup.

This is the sixth time we’ve done this, six big events in the last five years, and each time it feels the same. All the work leading up to the event is over. Days spent writing sales letters, emails, and promotional copy, talking to speakers, dealing with attendees, are all over. The hotel room is set up and ready to go. It seems like there should be more to do but there isn’t.

That night before the event, the calm before the storm, is an eerie time. When you look at the empty room, knowing that the next day it will be filled with people eager to learn, there is a strange quiet that includes the satisfaction that you’ve done all you can do to make it a success.

Now the event team takes over, the speakers take to the stage, the attendees, each with his or her agenda and needs, arrive. The event takes on a life and energy of its own, different from that which created it.

Go For the Gold, a mere glimmer in our imaginations a year ago, opens at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. We’ll be on stage for three days, during which lives will change, partnerships will be formed, and friendships will be born.

Arvee and I are just the catalysts. We’ve created the opportunities. It’s up to the attendees to take advantage of them. And many will.

So here we are the night before. The work is done. Let the fun begin!