IGNITE is a culture fest held at Greenwood High. It is completely organized and run by students. There were a number of events held like: The battle of the bands, Rap, Photography, Poetry, Dance off, Football, Relay, Basketball, Badminton, Hockey, Chess, Swimming, etc.
There was a call for organizers for each event. In traditional art competitions, participants submit their artwork and I wanted to do something new. I proposed an art relay which got selected. I called it Metamorphosis. Later, I was assigned a co-event head.
I was responsible for every detail of the event. This started with planning, marketing, and execution. In order to keep track I wrote down everything: forms, MC scripts, invites for judges, and judging criteria. I also made posters, and videos for social media arranged for supplies like paints and paper and organized the rooms. Finally, I conducted the event and made the certificates for the winners and participants.
This event was in a tag team format. Only the starting team member was given the topic and 3 minutes to plan their idea. They then got 25 minutes to work on their piece.
There was a 3-minute handover time between each team member where they discussed the topic, the overall theme, progress, and suggestions for the next steps. Then 25 minutes to work independently on the same artwork. Each team member got to know the topic and the current state-of-the-artwork only when it was their turn. The winners were decided on the basis of their interpretation of the event’s theme, creativity, and originality, quality of their artwork, artistic skill, and how they collectively created the final artwork.
Despite all the planning, there were numerous unexpected challenges. I had to communicate with a lot of people with different perspectives. We were not allocated enough funds for supplies. A poster was supposed to be provided and was not at the last minute. Participants didn’t register until the very last minute and therefore the event was in danger of being canceled. I didn’t get as many volunteers as requested and the assigned room was small.
This experience helped me gain tremendous insight into working effectively with others. I developed my listening skills. I learned not to completely depend on others. There will always be things that cannot be planned for. The ultimate responsibility for the event is mine. I cannot make excuses because of other people’s lack of delivery. I learned how to get people to work together as a team. I had to think quickly on my feet and come up with solutions on the spur of the moment. Sometimes this required ignoring “the official” directives and just taking decisions based on the ground reality. Finally, success is due to the team, but failure is due to me.
Here are some of my favorite moments:
