Prepare for Your Event like a Professional Athlete: Your Team

Now that you've learned how to stay consistent like a professional athlete, it’s time to learn about your team. Having the right people on your team can be make or break. The right people can help you stay organized and achieve your event goals, but the wrong people have the potential to derail you and your event. One of the most beautiful things about professional sports is the team aspect. Although many sports are individual, they usually have a team supporting them. For example, gymnasts compete by themselves but their scores combine to support their team score. What makes this beautiful is having the right people – from the athletes and the coaches to the fans and the friends – everyone comes together on the big day. The team you put together for your event is just as important. Find out who should be on your team.

1. Proper Warm-up
   1. Stretch
   2. Set an Achievable Goal
   3. Start Slow
2. Be Consistent
   1. Set a Pace (and be consistent)
   2. Visualize Your Victory
   3. Maintain Proper Nutrition 
3. Your Team
   1. Coach 
   2. Fans 
   3. Training buddy
4. Variety
   1. Take Time Off/Sleep/Recover
   2. Use a Range of Different Exercises and Training Methods

Your Team Coach

We all like to believe we can keep ourselves on track to achieve our goals, but for many people, this can be challenging. Life gets in the way and without someone else guiding you through the planning process, you may find yourself falling behind or preparing in the wrong ways. For athletes, one of the best ways to avoid this is to hire a personal trainer or a coach. Yes, even professional athletes have coaches who help them stick to their training schedules and constantly improve. For event planners, this role is usually filled by a mentor who can help you discover new ideas and stay organized throughout the planning process.

Fans

Can you imagine the Super Bowl without any fans? Although you might not think of fans as the most important part of a sporting event, they're an integral aspect. In fact, without them, the entire sporting event seems fake, even eerie. In case you’re having a hard time imagining this, last October FC Barcelona had to play a game with shut doors due to protests happening outside. Two world-renowned soccer teams faced off in a stadium full of 98,000 empty seats. It was weird and really emphasized the power the fans have, just by being present at games. In the same sense, where would your event be without any attendees? Just like Camp Nou seemed desolate without any fans, your event will feel empty without attendees. Make sure you market your event early on and use the right tools to increase registrants and ensure high attendance. Fans are crucial to the success of a sporting event. Many athletes even credit their fans as providing them with inspiration and strength. That's because the fans support them and their sport. Can you imagine if the Super Bowl stadium were filled with cricket fans? It wouldn’t make any sense. The same goes for your event. Having attendees is great, but not if they're the wrong attendees. Knowing the goals and themes of your event and using those in your marketing efforts is one of the best ways to attract the right people. Having the goals and themes of your event align with your attendees reasons for attending means that it will be easier to make attendees happy and ensure that they get the most out of your event.

Training Buddy

No one likes to train alone. Even solo athletes such as runners and figure skaters have training buddies. Although many of these athletes are on a team made up of other individual athletes, when they get on the ice or cross the starting line, they’re on their own. Fortunately, they’ve prepared with their training buddies. Training buddies aren’t just fun to have around, they also help to motivate. How can you become a tennis player if you’ve never hit against another world-class athlete? Similarly, how can you expect to plan a better event if you don’t let others show you new techniques? Although the pressure for a successful event may be on your shoulders alone, having other people on your team can help you succeed. You need more than just one training buddy. Each person you surround yourself with brings something new to the table and is able to push you to be your best in different ways. Many times, athletes develop strong friendships with their training buddies. In the same way, the tools you choose for your event not only help you out, but they complement each other out. For example, if you go mobile you should also develop a social strategy so the two platforms can work hand-in-hand. Find out more by checking out our webinar Your Event App + Social Media = Besties for Life.