MikeG posted an honest question the other day on T21C Aftermath (link).
A quote,
I was curious aboutt what you find yoursefl doing during the months before the t21c. Im sure it takes a bunch of tight planning/ re-planning/ organizing/ networking etc. but do you
Keywords there being “I’m sure it takes a bunch, but“. Oh yes, it takes a bunch. In fact each event takes a mountain of work — and there is no understanding this until you take on tasks of similar magnitude and have similar experiences.
To relate it to school, which I am assuming many readers are in or intimately familiar with, each event — of which there are now three this year — is like a ~4 day, 5,000 question exam, that you have about 9-12 months to plan for.
Only, you are simultaneously running the entire class, and at the same time, have NO IDEA what is going to be on the exam — NONE. Now, at the same time, you have to continue educating yourself as rapidly as humanly possible, specifically for running and continuing to improve the class for which the exam is a part of.
Now, it gets better, because this is not a simple school exam — this is a “pass or fail” exam of life and business. If you fail even one of these 3 exams, your entire business collapses.
Get it? Get the joke? Hehehe.
Now, as a final fun factor, you have to figure out how to survive financially in the midst of running a business with expenses in the tens of thousands — and don’t forget learning a myriad of other skills that you have no idea where to even begin with.
From dealing with government and taxes, contract law, hotel negotiations, video editing, photo editing, banks, merchant accounts, payment gateways, sales software, sales itself, building and improving websites, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,.
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I don’t mean to pick on Mike, and I mean the best, but his question (that I get very often, so it’s not just Mike) reveals a profound and bewildering ignorance — a complete lack of awareness of what it takes to put on multiple international events, and manage content that produces about a million views a year.
In short, T21C, like any other great achievement, has an iceberg effect. The events themselves are merely the tippy tip of the iceberg — all shiny and pretty looking.
The real work is not even done 3-4 months in advance — it’s done 12+ months in advance. The idea that these events only take a few weeks to put together is … I don’t even know. Something close to absurd I think.
Like I said, all great achievements take this grueling level of behind the scenes work, that few men will ever understand. From fictitious inventions like Rearden Metal from the pages of Atlas Shrugged, to the real life machines of Nautilus and MedX created by Arthur Jones — this shit takes work.
Lots of it. Years, and decades in some cases. And you’ll only gain the ability to recognize it when you start doing it.
– Anthony Dream Johnson
yea I figured it was a ton, I also kinda figured that as you put on more and more, you also get better at doing it to, so it becomes easier and easier. I was also curious as to how you compensate the speakers, if at all’? and my central question as far as curiousity goes is do you have non t21c means of income?
I do love what your doing with t21c, Im jsut really curuoius as to what goes on behind the curtain so to speak
goodluck with the next one