It’s the people, stupid

No matter what you’re doing, where you are or when you’re participating, the single largest error most event organizers make is simple. They think appearance matters over all else.

The biggest names. The best venue. The hottest content.

That’s crap. Yes, big names, great venues and awesome content are important. Yes, we all want to meet famous people in lavish halls and have them tell us great stuff.

But we don’t really trust them. We want to, but we do not. They haven’t earned our trust. They do not walk among us, they walk above us. We want to BE them, not work with them.

Solving this problem isn’t easy. Finding out, individually, who to trust is a daunting task. So ask those you trust what they do. Ask your colleague, the guy who gives you sports advice or the lady running the great salon. What do they do? How are they making it?

If small businesses are the key to saving America and people just like you and me run small businesses, perhaps we’re better off working together instead of always looking upward for answers.

Go with who you trust, not who you admire.