Eventbrite Hero: Wendy Wittmann
reprinted courtesy of Eventbrite
Our team of heroes is growing bigger and stronger by the week. The latest addition to Eventbrite Heroes is Wendy Wittmann of Full Circle Fund, a passionate, experienced, and successful organizer here to give you a few heroic tips.
The Hero
Planning an event of any size is a challenge. Planning an event with more than 500 guests, 50 volunteers, and world-renowned speakers is a task only a hero can tackle. This week, our hero, Wendy Wittmann, will help you turn any event into a success story.
Wendy Wittman is the Events and Programs Planner for the Full Circle Fund, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization. Our hero states that “Full Circle Fund is all about helping private sector leaders connect with social entrepreneurs and non-profits for the common good in the areas of education, environment and energy, and global economic opportunity.”
What makes our hero a hero? Wendy attributes her success to the following:
Passion – Wendy loves to help people connect around her cause and spread her organization’s message.
Teamwork – Working with a talented team, learning from them and feeding off of their energy.
Coordination – Seeing all your logistics and plans unfold is a rewarding feeling.
The Villain
This week, our villain lurks under the radar. It is a feeling that even the toughest event organizer will stand toe-to-toe against: Fear. Our hero used to feel the fear of event planning but does not let it affect her anymore. Wendy says it can sometimes be intimidating to ask for what you want. Take your fear and realize the worst someone can say is “no” and keep moving forward. It’s just business.
The Event
The Full Circle Fund Forum is a prime example of our hero’s success. The purpose of the event was to highlight models for change and inspire people to take action. Wendy has had the honor of hosting amazing speakers, including Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Nancy Pelosi, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman. With high-profile speakers and so many attendees, the fear our hero talks about can indeed be daunting.
Are you also feeling the fear of planning your event? Our hero’s tips may help you relax just a little:
Social media – A great tool in promoting your event, but think of ways to integrate it during the event and post-event. Post videos to YouTube, share photos, and engage your audience after the fact.
See what others are doing – Look at other event pages and see what inspires you. Take bits and pieces of what you love and build an Eventbrite event page that is perfect.
Are you frustrated? – You can always stop and focus on the goals of the event and the needs of your team. Take a step back and make decisions with these things in mind.
From our Hero
I have two heroes in my life: my dad for teaching me how to be a creative, out-of-the-box thinker who understands the way in which elements come together to create a smooth-running project, and my mom for showing me the most effective way to complete a set of tasks inexpensively and with the highest level of kindness for all parties involved.
