Asking the impossible

While I was an intern at the Gossman Group I was focused on their project in Downtown Abilene and spent a majority of my time as their only employee in the state of Texas. On this project I was a jack of all trades and many of the tasks I was given were broad ideas that left the implementation and reality up to my discretion. One of those tasks was planning and hosting Abilene's first ever Public Meeting in October of 2016. This was a large task that I personally did not have the skills to pull off. However, my network had the skills. It was through facing, and conquering, this task that I saw the value of relationships.

This meeting was an opportunity for citizens to come and not only hear about the project but get the opportunity to join in the design process through a variety of exercises. When my boss asked me how many people I thought I could get to attend this event I answered '200-250' and that became his expectation. Unbeknownst to myself all of his previous public meetings across the United States had averaged 40 people on a good evening.

I was put in charge of every aspect of the event. The problems I faced were arranging food for 250 people, finding a location for this meeting, nailing down a the desired speaker for the event, and launching a city wide marketing campaign. The difficulty of my task was compounded by having a budget of $0 - to say this was a daunting task would be a large understatement.

As I sat down to plan the event I made a list of the things I needed to accomplish and then next to each wrote down the resources I already had and the names of people I knew who could help me accomplish each task. I knew I could not accomplish this on my own. This was especially helpful in creating the marketing event. In the weeks leading up to event I designed the campaign, knocked on the door of every Downtown business owner, called every radio station, and personally called countless of my friends. The problem of food was solved by simply brokering a deal of food in exchange for free publicity in the marketing of the event - they even included a catering staff for the event. I was able to use the Abilene Convention Center to host the event because one of the hiring entities of the Gossman Group was the City of Abilene - who owned and operated the Convention Center. My last problem was the very specific public speaker my boss wanted for the event - Historian Jay Moore. Luckily Jay Moore happens to be my father - so that was an easy issue to solve. I was able to solve the problems I faced by using my resources and network - and all of it was completely donated.

The night of the event over 300 people attended the first open public meeting in Abilene, Texas. Everything went exceedingly well. We finished on time, had the perfect amount of food, the speakers were great, peoples ideas were heard, and the next day it ran front page of the newspaper.

During the event I sat in the back and watched as the event I planned took place. I looked at the small business owners who I sat and had coffee with to explain why this meeting was important. I looked at the event staff donated in exchange for free publicity. I looked at the faces of people I called and emailed. I had personally invited over half of the people in attendance that evening. I invited them - not to impress my boss - but so that they could tell my boss what they loved about Abilene, Texas - their home.

What I came to learn was that my biggest asset in facing problems was my relationships - I was born and raised in Abilene, Texas. When I faced a problem that I did not know how to answer I turned to the people in my life who could help me. When I was faced with garnishing business owners support it was personal relationships that did it. My network was my answer. I could not have pulled off that event alone but then again no one should face problems alone.

This lesson will help me in my career by showing me the value of networking - it is a give and take that collectively can conquer many more problems than individually.