Planner Olympics 2012

Photo courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/communitiesuk/

Two thoughts have been cooking together in my head lately. With the London 2012 Summer Olympics all over my various dashboards, it's hard not to think of all of the related events and the planners involved. This year, CareerCast.com also listed event planning as the #6 most stressful job - right behind soldiers, firefighters, and police. (Really?)

I hereby propose the hashtag #plannerolympics to my event planning community. If you've ever gone 8 hours without a restroom break, worn high heels on concrete convention hall floors for 12, or (my true story) sat politely eating nothing during a 2-hour menu tasting whilst 12 weeks pregnant and starving (because the client barely touched her food and I didn't want to look rude), then #plannerolympics is for you.

July and August in Oregon are especially trying for independent event planners as we juggle current clients with incoming inquiries for next year, while also fielding last-minute inquiries for every event type imaginable. Strength, stamina, patience, and focus...needed by medalist athletes and professional event planners alike!

So whichever social tool you're using, be it Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, or Google+ ... tell me about your #plannerolympics. Long distance marathon walking? Heavy decor deadlift? The "don't put that steak entrée in front of our vegetarian VIP" sprint? Do tell!