Overview
Rooftop High Vol. 1 was an interactive skateboard deck art exhibition that was organized and hosted completely by women. The purpose of the event was to take guests through a series of interactions that would ultimately open up their comfort zones and allow them to share personal visions with strangers, interact with installations and support a range of women-owned businesses in the process.
The challenges I faced included getting a team of 15 people on the same page to carry out a uniform performance and spread the message of our vision to attendees.
My Role
I conceptualized the entirety of the event. With the vision in mind, I organized a team of people I believed would resonate and work well together. I hosted meetings, presented the mission and guided collaborative conversation during the ideation process.
I led communication and managed expectations during the preparation of the event. I spearheaded the creation of all promotional content and developed a marketing strategy for social media outlets. I took charge of scheduling and managing all of the artists and musicians involved. I developed survey and evaluation methods that would be used by team members through the course of the event.
On the day of the event, I took on the role of project manager for all operations including, but not limited to, the bar, musical performances, artwork presentation, and interactive installments. I engaged with guests and shared the message of the event as openly as I could.
The Initiation
I sketched a rough draft of the experience that guests would walkthrough. I hosted a meet-up with potential team members and created a mini-experience that we would attempt to create on a larger scale. I prepared 8 skateboard decks as blank canvases. As the women arrived at the meeting I gave them a brief overview of what we would talk about and gave them a skateboard and paints to keep them busy.
Once everyone arrived, I took the time to discuss my vision with the group. I made it a point to keep the conversation open, purposefully painted an unfinished picture and encouraged the team to contribute ideas based on their own goals for participating. I led the conversation to engage each individual’s strengths and made sure to fit each of their focus points into the overall event concept. This was important for the success of the event because it assured that the team was invested for their own growth and achievement as much as they were invested in the bigger vision for the group.
The Conflict
One of my hires was a young man I met in college. He was knee-deep in the music industry and eager to start a collective of his own. I gave him the same opportunity I provided to the rest of the team, which was to pursue your personal goals through the platform of the larger project. He was excited by the vision and agreed to contract a line-up of up and coming female artists to showcase at the event. I shared with him my timeline and expectations and left him to his area of expertise.
When the first check-in came around, I called a meet-up with the team of otherwise all women. He was the only one who did not come. I noticed he started becoming harder to reach and communicate with. I began following up with the artists we agreed on, only to find out he hadn’t reached out to anyone at all.
This was both terrifying and disheartening to learn. On one hand, getting low-budget performances is difficult enough, imagine doing it last-minute. My biggest concern was making artists feel as though they were an afterthought. On the other hand, this guy had relationships with artists and their managers that I couldn’t pass up. I decided to give him one more chance. I set up a meeting with him where we spoke again about what was expected. We agreed on deliverables and parted ways. This time, I began reaching out to the artists in the line-up that I already had a relationship with and gave strict timelines to my colleague on speaking to our hard-to-reach musicians.
As the second deadline came up, it was clear that my colleague had resolved none of the problems we had spoken about previously. No new work was accomplished and he seemed to be avoiding the meet-ups altogether. I was disappointed because my instructions were dreadfully clear and guided. I couldn’t grasp why he would care so little when the outcome was meant to help further his goal as well.
After a long discussion with my colleague, I let him know that we would no longer need his services for this event. I had already picked up his slack and if I hadn’t made that decision, the earnings for the rest of the team, who shared significantly more workload, would suffer. I wasn’t willing to let the hard work of 15+ women be valued at less than that of a man who sat back with his feet up.
The experience of having to fire someone was valuable. However, not as valuable as the constructive conversation I had with my colleague before we parted ways. I let my curiosity take me further than my discontent would have and asked for his feedback on what I could have done to make him feel more engaged in the project. He shared with me the miscommunications and when he didn’t understand where he fit in anymore. This discussion gave me a chance to take responsibility for the miscommunication and recognize where, as a leader, I could improve for my team the next time around. At the end of the day, we left the discrepancy as friends and still have a strong relationship when it comes to performance events.
The Show
You enter the space greeted with a warm welcome and introduction to the message. A young woman, Taylor King (@taylorelan), would be live painting at the entrance by a table of blank deck canvases for sale with paints and brushes free to use. The idea was to create a relationship between the skateboarding community and the artist community. Simultaneously, we wanted to create a space for women and LGBQT+ members to be introduced to skateboarding as something accessible for them in one way or another.
The center space showcased exactly what was expected, filled with skateboard decks painted by various artists in the community. Deeper into the center section we provided the bar and food by a woman-owned catering start-up called Black, Broke, and Vegan (@blackbrokeandvegan). The purpose of this space was to provide guests with a familiar form of interaction. At the very least, people are comfortable interacting with strangers when it results in food or alcohol. On the way out of the bar area, we placed Najj (@mel000mel), a chess player eager to teach others. She was offering chess lessons and conversations for anyone interested in learning or having a conversation. Every person that took the time to sit with her received a raffle ticket. This would come in hand later in the day.
On the way out of the center section, we fronted people with a stick-and-poke tattoo artist, Erin Olivia (@aivilonire). She was offering free tattoos for anyone willing to trust her. To our surprise, she had a waitlist that kept her busy well into the sunset, when she could no longer see what she was doing. She accepted tips and shared a raffle ticket with anyone who interacted.
The first two sections of this event were easy. They were meant to feel familiar and give people what they expected when they arrived. In the deep corner of the 3rd section, we placed the music. A line-up of fierce female MCs and dancers that drew everyone from start to finish. However, in order to get through this section, guests were faced with more personal interactions. Our team in this section were more forward and initiated the interaction guests would have. Members of Pussy Muscle Hustle (@pmh_nyc) took turns interviewing guests about what motivates them and what stops them from achieving their goals. We appealed to more shy guests with an anonymous affinity map. We collected answers to some abstract questions that would provide valuable insight into the community we are serving.
What I learned
Usually, after a large event I find myself drained. I hide away in my space for the next 2 weeks to recoup from the amount of energy I spent on my event. However, this was the first event where I felt energized afterwards.
This realization solidified what Rooftop High Volume 1 had taught me. Having a good team makes the difference, but a good team doesn’t just fall into your lap. It takes time, communication and empathy to build a solid relationship with the people you will be relying on. When you put the time and effort to support the growth of a team, they will return the favor when it matters most. Through the prep work, setting up, hosting the event, and cleaning up, my team was there for me. They all took on more than their expected role to make sure this event ran smoothly.
Instead of hiding away by myself after this event, I felt empowered to share my energy with the team. I spent hours the next day crafting personalized messages to each member of my team, thanking them for all their work. I continued to follow up with them as I carried out my evaluation and analysis. I practiced complete transparency, shared attendance numbers and even extended messages of gratitude sent by guests to the collective’s Instagram. I learned how important it is to show gratitude to my team and make sure they know how much they are valued as an individual in my network. This is a lesson I will carry with me through all of my future projects and endeavors.
