There is a particular kind of alive that only happens when a plan meets reality at full speed, in front of people, with no opportunity to iterate.
I came to events sideways -- the same systems thinking I'd spent years applying to civic data and product roadmaps turned out to be exactly what a festival production operation needs. Which makes complete sense, in retrospect. Events are just systems with a heartbeat. Everything has to connect, everything has to flow, and the moment the gates open, whatever state the system is in, that's the state it's in. No staging environment. No hotfix. No second chance to make the night feel right for the person who saved up to be there.
I love this work in a way I didn't anticipate. The chaos, the hours, the particular 2am energy of a problem that needs solving right now -- this is where I come alive. It balances out a lot of desk time in a way that feels vital rather than optional. I'm not doing events because it fits neatly into a career plan. I'm doing it because I can't imagine not doing it.
No two events are the same, which is most of what I like about them. I've worked across festivals, immersive experiences, and large-scale productions in roles that have included production management, accreditation systems, logistics coordination, volunteer management, vendor liaison, and the thing that doesn't have a title -- the person who sees the gap before it becomes a problem and quietly closes it.
Sometimes I'm in from the beginning, helping shape the operational architecture of an event before a single ticket is sold. Sometimes I arrive closer to the day, embedded in a team that needs an extra pair of experienced hands and a clear head under pressure. Sometimes I'm the person on the radio at 2am when the accreditation system has a discrepancy and three hundred people are waiting.
The role changes. The approach doesn't. Understand the system. Find the gaps. Build the infrastructure that lets the thing breathe. And when something goes sideways -- and something always goes sideways -- have a plan for that too.
If you're producing an event and you need someone who thinks in systems, moves in the real world, and genuinely loves the work -- let's talk.