big upcoming weekend

I’m in the final days before being a part of running a big event we call the Leaders Forum, an invite-only event for Asian North American leaders (a friendlier term to be inclusive of our friends north of the border). Not being at liberty to share too much about it, I can say a few things. I do appreciate those who would say a prayer for me and the Forum. Main point of what we do: creating a safe place for synergy and collaboration to happen.

It does feel funny to have to have a criteria for inviting only certain people (those who are innovative, progressive, entrepreneural, accomplished), and that doesn’t make me feel any better than those who don’t get an invitation. But we only have so much space. Sure, it does feel great for those who do get invited. And we do want people who are invited to feel special and affirmed.

The emotional part of seeing many people I know of through my networking is definitely exciting. A majority of the attendees at that. Amidst more last minute preparations than I care for, the emotions of it all hasn’t hit me yet. I’m probably not going to get enough hangin’ out time with all the people I want to dialogue with.

On good advise from those who are wiser and more experienced, I’ve had to work harder to intentionally program the flow and structure of the Forum. Being one who preferred open-ended, I find that I gravitate more towards chaos, and was going to just bring key leaders together and let good things happen. But more can happen if it’s planned. And I’m here to serve the people, not myself, and most people seem to prefer a more structured program.

The other observation I’ll comment on: we had a small group who registered very early on, and then we hit a lull of no registrations. We extend the registration deadline a few weeks. Then as it was expiring, we get this huge surge of late registrations. Inverted bell curve distribution, if you will. Nerve racking when there’s a hotel contract in place, and we can’t predict what’s going to happen with an invite-only kind of thing.

Plus, having moved my lover to Philadelphia yesterday, that’s also a withdrawal from my emotional bank. She’s going to grad school for her MFA, and the plan is that she’ll commute back on the weekends to spend some family time. And that leaves me to be single-parenting during the weekdays. Looks good on paper, we’re just beginning to cross that bridge. Will let you know how it goes. Thanks for staying tuned.