In each of our lives there comes a time where we are new to something, planning a party for the first time, tasting a new food or being the new recruit at work. New experiences can be exciting, they can be fun, exhilarating, and they can be scary. A close friend of mine often jokes that I’m a “new experience junky” – always willing to try something new. My mantra “I’ll try anything once!” at times has been worn a little thin.
However, it’s very easy to build up hopes in your mind that can't possibly meet your expectations and we are left a little disappointed. Other times though you build up in anticipation that an experience will be wonderful, amazing and unique and it happens just the way you imagined it. That is the beauty of dreaming, and that’s why I would never stop myself from having high expectations. To me it’s worth the risk of an occasional let down. It never ceases to amaze me how you can dream something into reality. Events capture that magic every time you work with a client on a new event and that‘s why I love being an Event Director. When I first heard about Great Performances, I was fascinated about the level of commitment they had to the environment and sustainability. An asset I sometimes found lacking in the event industry. You see in my eyes, events are special – they are passionate and so are the people involved. Combine that passion with responsibility and you have a wonderfully powerful vehicle.
This week marked a new experience for me – Great Performances as my home. In one week, I visited a handful of new venues, met with new contacts, went and picked vegetables straight from the ground at Katchkie Farm, I even tried my hand at selling Katchkie Farm produce at the farmer's market at Rockefeller Center. All experiences that were new to me and each one was met with animation and wonderment. The great thing about the end of my first week was that my hopes of Great Performances as the right work place for myself were met, and to tell you the truth they were superseded.
What superseded my expectations of joining the team was surprisingly not the joy of learning new things (although sitting in my first Great Performance Fall/Winter menu tasting got me salivating and energized) but the fact that I suddenly get to be a part of a company that really cares about the food, cares about the earth and cares about the community. I get to take liability for what I do. I get to see how the business of events truly works from the ground up. After a lifetime of being a self proclaimed “foodie”, I feel pretty proud and excited about this new endeavor. Not only is it good for the environment, good for my clients, good for the community…it’s good for me. I get to play a part in that family of green thumbs, of slow food, of education, of gardens where quiet and calm is found in the dirt and the green, beautiful vegetables that grow from it. I’m pretty happy and I love being new.
