The Captain America Guide To Event Management

There have now been three films featuring the amazing Captain America. So we can’t help wondering if there aren’t some lessons we can learn from this handsome hero:

Start with a goal

Captain America has always had one goal: to rid the world of evil and protect innocent people. In the first film he was desperate to join the war effort; so much so that he agreed to take part in the experiment that eventually made him into Captain America. His strong moral code has stayed with him throughout the two films, and his determination to do his duty to keep the world safe has not waned.

When you’re planning an event the first thing to determine is the final outcome. What goal are you trying to achieve? Once you know this, you’ll be able to direct all your planning and all the activities towards achieving the goal. This is the crucial thing that will make or break your event.

Be adaptable

In terms of his character, Captain America was possibly the most adaptable Avenger of the whole group. He woke from an icey sleep after nearly 70 years, but was successful in his new life of modernity, going on to lead the Avengers in their battles and learning the new ‘norms’ of the time - whilst maintaining his core values.

While we hope not to jump through time, Event Organisers do need to be able to adapt to differing situations and circumstances to ensure their events are successful and memorable. From making changes due to differing client opinions, through to having to work with a new contact half-way through a project, these all need to be dealt with in a smooth way to ensure the final goal is achieved.

Trust your leader

Captain America is a much-loved and respected leader. His boundless enthusiasm and single-mindedness made him into a leader who could be followed into whatever danger he ran towards. He also has a great belief in the ability of his people, ensuring that each one plays to his or her strengths.

This is an essential lesson: if you’re tasked with organising a large event you have to be able to find a tried and tested event planner who has an experienced team behind them. It’s not just about booking a venue and putting up decorations: its about new ideas just for your event, creating a plan so tight nothing gets forgotten and putting the right people in place for the right job at the right time. The stress of creating an event is huge, but this can be reduced or taken away altogether by bringing in a person you trust, with a team they trust, to do it for you.

Keep going in the face of adversity

Captain America faced a lot of adversity. A whole lot. But adversity seemed to drive him on even more passionately. He would willingly run into the heat of battles, enter buildings that were crumbling around him and towards men with powers far greater than his own. Even when he was alone with no team or soldiers around him, he was prepared to keep going and work towards the goal of stopping the bad guy.

While Event Managers aren’t working to stop the forces of evil (hopefully!) passion has to be a major driving force. When organising a large event it is almost inevitable that there will be a bump in the road to interrupt the smooth progress of things. This is where the goal, the passion, the experience and the trust between team members come into their own. A tip top event organiser can always achieve success, even if it’s an unexpected, roundabout way of getting there!

Be prepared to take risks

There are many occasions where Captain America was prepared to risk the plan or even his life to ensure another life was saved. This often meant that he appeared to be completely on his own. However, there were always the faithful few who backed him up to enable him to work through the plan and ensure evil was defeated.

In the events industry, particularly when creating large events, the risks get greater, but in a way become more necessary. Taking a risk to make an event work more spectacularly is something a team might be divided on, but the rewards for the risk-takers are always greater!

Conclusion

While Captain America is of course a fictional character, we can’t help wondering just how he would cope with our jobs! No doubt he would carry out the work with his usual efficiency and true leadership, bringing his team to a successful event in the end. And we can be sure, in spite of everything...there would be no bad language.

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