I closed my eyes for 3 seconds and in that momentary silence, wrapped in a pink kitenge laying on my boat shaped mattress, I knew that Doris Ndizeye was the best choice for emcee. This was for the July launch of 'Feeling,' the poetry book celebrating iconic Ugandan women, published by the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation.
I enjoy planning events. I do. I enjoy sitting with the organisers and walking through the venue weeks prior to the event. I relish asking the kitchen staff what meals they plan to prepare for the guests and taking photos with th head chef. I like listening to the General Manager of a hotel as he persuades me to bring my husband for a discounted weekend in the well furnished suites.
Planning events is like whispering into the future and imparting blessings on every guest.
When I am an emcee, I am also an assistant events coordinator. I need to breathe the same air, listening to the same conversations and walk where the event planners have walked, so that I am able to nuzzle the event with a well prepared emceeing experience. It's not just talking and directing people to the next point on the agends. It is an experience.
I invited Doris Ndizeye to host the launch of 'Feeling,' the highly anticipated poetry anthology celebrating iconic Ugandan women.
As the founder of the Babishai Niwe Poetry Foundation, my heart has scaled the emotional heigts of despair and experienced the elevated elations of triumph. I have walked miles to deliver invitation cards and meet journalists and sat for hours with individuals in restaurants delivering proposals.
I knew that Doris shared these values of preparation with me. How did I know? Because I trained her. I trust people whom I have trained and have been tested.
Doris embodies thoroughness. She grasped her task with such alacrity that pleasantly surprised me at every turn. She asked questions, reached out to the individual poets, visited the venue and inquired about the guest list.
There are people who host events and 30 minutes to the occasion, start to bother the organisers with bothersome questions like, 'What is the theme of the occasion? or What is the name of the organisation in full?' And then they begin meddling with the sound team making personal requests for songs and rearranging the entertainment order.
They will often ask for a heavy meal at this time as well, claiming their sugar levels need to be levelled so that they too can level up. We know these people. They always take organisers and organisations for granted and yet they keep getting away with it.
Take control and hire someone who has been trained and tested, or enlist for training yourself.
I am grateful to Doris because a couple of years ago when she specificially reached out to me to be trained on effecting hosting of events, I was also able to carve out a niche curriculum for this purpose.
I am grateful to Doris because she over delivered.
Have a wonderful week, everyone.
Beverley N Nsengiyunva
No comments:
Post a Comment