By the way SSC and McMaster has been advertising this, it seemed to be a huge event. I was not disappointed. Over 400 people were in attendance – although it was mandatory attendance for many students part residence, SSC, etc. Nevertheless, the event had a great turnout, atmosphere and was well executed.
The keynote speaker was very captivating. Lots of energy and had a lot tricks to keep the crowd going. Some key takeaways were, face your fear head on – its not as bad as you think it is. Demonstrated with a live mousetrap. He called up volunteers to stage and disarm it. That meant slamming you palm down on it (it was actually quite nerve wracking when you do it), but he revealed it’s actually the safest way to disarm a live trap.
I attended a budgeting workshop following the invigorating keynote session. This session was not very useful. It focused on budgeting for event planning: we went through a scenario with fixed amount of money, and decisions on where to spend it for an event. Think $500 budget, 100 attendances. Should I buy hot dogs $2/person and pens $3/person or burgers $5/person? It was interesting to know food is typically the biggest expense of any event/conference planning. Thus, events slotted from 1 – 4pm are considered “budget” because its assumed no food will served. Good to know for me next time I am scouting!
