TEDxSydney is a huge event. It’s happened every year since 2010, and it’s grown year on year to the point where in 2015, it will cater to an audience of more than 3500 people in four venues at The Sydney Opera House as well as more than 55 satellite events around the country on Thursday, 21 May. The planning for next year’s event will start pretty much the next day (if not before) and the juggernaut will continue.
What amazes me most about this feat is that it’s almost entirely run by volunteers (around 80 in the ‘core team’, with another 100-200 or so who might help for an hour, a day, donating some space for meetings or just on the day). People with day jobs, families, and myriad other commitments essentially ‘fit in’ TEDxSydney around their day to day lives. And yet it all appears to be seamless and, miraculously, stuff gets done. And at the of the 364-day process, the day of the event dawns and an amazing alchemy takes place. This alchemy has seen TEDxSydney grow to be one of the premiere TEDx events worldwide, the one that other TEDx organisers look to (and there are literally thousands of TEDx events happening around the world every year). So how does it happen? What are the core ingredients that make TEDxSydney so special? After 4 years working as a volunteer on the event (most recently as Editor of TEDxSydney.com) I think it comes down to 5 key things. I wanted to share them with you today because I think they’re things we can all apply in our own businesses, big and small.
1. Everyone’s working towards the same goal
Once the date is set, there’s a fixed deadline by which everything related to the event must be done, according to a staggered timeline, of course. This single-minded focus on an immovable deadline means that we’re all moving in sync even though not everyone is working full time on the event, or even working on it all year. There are certain roles that only get recruited in the final weeks before the event, but these people manage to dovetail in with the existing team. Again, because the date is fixed, they get that we’re working towards the same thing. We’re truly part of a team.
2. No-one has any time to waste
In the same way that mothers of small children who also work soon discover just how productive you can be when you have a finite amount of time to get everything done, so too does fitting in a major event around your day job focus you on the task at hand.
3. We all bring our A-game
Being part of TEDxSydney is a privilege – and there is no room for slackers. One of the delights of working as part of the core team is that you get to work alongside people who are extremely good at what they do and in many cases are at the very top of their game. Yet they’re willing to work for nothing, or very little, in the interests of putting on the very best event possible, every time.
4. We’re not content to rest on our laurels
Every year, new people come on board who challenge the status quo and come up with new ideas to make TEDxSydney bigger and better. We argue the toss, talk about past experiences and things that have worked (or have really, really not worked), but rarely does anyone say a blanket ‘no’ to an idea – the consensus is, if it’s worth pursuing, we’ll all do our darnedest to make it happen. As TEDxSydney licensee Remo Guiffre said recently: Crowd-farming the food for 2300 people? Why not? The world’s first real time video tagging and sharing app? Why not? Register 4,000 attendees in 2 hours? Why not?
5. There’s no hierarchy, only merit-based advancement
There’s definitely a team culture, but there’s also room for new people and for movement within the team. Some people emerge as natural leaders, and we all play to our strengths. Quite often, the skill you were ‘recruited’ to perform becomes secondary to something which other people in the team have discovered you’re really good at. Because we’re not competing with each other for advancement or pay rises, we encourage each other’s strengths because if someone’s good at something, it makes everyone’s lives so much easier. These are all principles and approaches I’m trying to implement in my business. You might like to give them a try as well.
