I do a lot of events. Like a lot of them. Two to three years ago if you had told me I'd be planning and organizing events and galleries, I wouldn't have believed you. I was shy and had a hard time emailing or calling businesses and people, much less being in charge. But here I am.
When things slow down for me, my brain starts to overwork and fixate. It's a good and bad side of my brain that tends to cause me anxiety. Someone suggests or jokes about one little thing and my brain will fixate on the idea until I end up either doing something drastic to my hair, the house, or coming up with a new project to focus on.
That's what happening now. I did two of those three, but we'll talk about one of them later.
A year or two ago, Rony did a design event in Albuquerque called Createathon where he and a bunch of different graphic designers were assigned a project for some non-profits and were given 24 hours to work up logos and marketing material and sometimes website. They did a lock-in and worked from like 11am to 11am the next day. I drove him and some of his coworkers to it so I could drive them back safely and let them sleep in the car.
He tweeted about it the whole night and I followed along while I stayed in the rental house. A lot of good work came out of it and it seemed like a fun idea.
I have no clue what made me think about it again, but it kept bouncing around in my head. I wanted something new to do that would be interesting and push artists to create. I wanted to do a 24 hour lock-in for art and maybe we could display the work and donate part of the proceeds to charity.
When I started Ladies Night, all I had to do was email Robert at Star Comics with the idea and it somehow came together. We set a date, I did art for the flyer, Rony put the flyer together, and the rest was trial and error. Geek Girl Brunch is a collaboration with the other officers. The Pokemon Art Drops were trial and error but easy overall. And the galleries came from experience and brainstorming.
Everything I've done so far has been simple in concept. Previous events give me inspiration for new ones and the experience to push myself forward.
I've somehow become an event coordinator and have learned how to market and push events to get the attendance.
This is different. This is harder. Even with the Star Wars charity event we're doing in December, that's pretty easy since I have help.
Where do I start? Who do I contact? What are the details?
I'm been thinking about it all week, talking it over with Rony and friends on Facebook. I'm emailing galleries and looking up places that have done stuff like this before and seeing if we can rent churches or gyms and what about live streaming the event? We need a place to hold the actual lock-in, need a place to display the art, need a date, need to figure out requirements for participation, figure out snacks and food and necessities to supply artists for 24 hours, advertisement, what charity are we giving too, do we need to write up proposals, etc etc.
It's a lot, but the thing is: I don't mind it. My mind is being kept busy. I'm working on art which sometimes is a mindless task for me. Art just happens and flows and I don't have to think too much when I'm in the zone. But I like events because they're a challenge.
I like making a difference. A few years ago I didn't have any information or places to display my art or things to participate in. I want to provide those opportunities for new artists and help them get involved.
My problem with fixation isn't always great. It can lead to big, impulsive decisions but sometimes it works in my favor to keep me motivated and growing.
I'll figure out how to make this event work. I always do. And one day, maybe I can do events as a career and be able to make more of a difference. But for now, I'm busy, I'm happy, I'm covered in paint and I'm working to make the art community a more fun place. I think that's pretty good.
-Sam <3