Welcome to another installment of our INTERVIEW WITH THE EXPERTS series. Today I spoke with Paul Nyborg, Senior Project Manager and Angie Hopkins, Project Manager. Both Angie and Paul work on a variety of accounts at TPN and each take their own road to PM Mastery!
I sat down with the two after they completed their first ever joint-event for a notable and challenging event. Fresh(u-hem) off the event floor, this dynamic duo may have been exhausted, but the mood was celebratory. You could almost hear the beer mugs clinking…another job well done. At first blush these two seem like an unlikely pair. Paul with his reserved demeanor, tall, slim and delivering his expertise in quiet confidences. Angie, always smiling, outwardly friendly, petite and bursting with energy. So of course my first question had to be how they did working together, although the energy between them and the constant laughter made the answer intuitive to those in the room.
Tongue – in – cheek Paul opens our conversation with “Well it was hard to delegate at first.” Angie bursts into laughter at this. Clearly the two, now bonded over their experience can poke fun. Paul’s tenure had in fact made it hard to let go and allow Angie to take the reins. But she never pushed, or rubbed in her experience to thrust the issue. As she put it, she ‘understood the process’.
Paul: Eventually I did delegate and then I just sat back and kept my arms crossed…or was it my fingers? No, I’m kidding. Angie did great work, received ample compliments from our client and vendors.
RHG: So this is the TPN Tips moment. How do you delegate? Let’s face it – sometimes doesn’t it seem easier to just do it yourself?
Paul: To be able to delegate you have to trust the person you are working with. Angie is an excellent listener. The more we discussed the project and the client, the questions she asked showed me she understood the challenges and how to manage them. After that it was easy to hand her the reins and let her take the lead. The trick to delegating is to understand that once you hand something off ‘it is gone’ and will never be the project you would manage. Set yourself up as the resource point for the project and when questions come up, or something is out of whack, the manager can come to you for advice. Your delegates learn the client; you learn something new about the process and a fresh way to approach the project.
RHG: What about you Angie, anything to add to that?
AH: The hardest thing about being on the receiving end of delegation is the balance you need to find between deciding what you can be autonomous with vs. what needs a head nod. That knowledge comes with time and getting to know what your co-workers prefer. Once you have that rhythm, it’s so much easier!
RHG: It seems like you both do a variety of events that involve some element of training. Is there a formal process that you use? How can you be sure your training is getting through? You only have one shot at an event – are you confident your staff or volunteers will come through?
AH: I never fear that training will not come through with people – you have to trust your teams, but the fact is there is ALWAYS the possibility of error. Diminish your fears and empower your people by being proactive and plan what to do IF crisis strikes. That’s what we like to call ‘troubleshooting’ (wink).
RHG: Paul, you’ve worked on some of our more hi-profile events with Boeing. What’s your favorite?
PAUL: I’ve done Boeing events for 11 years as Project Manager. The State Visit of President Hu Jintao from China was my favorite! We had a head of state with an international profile “stopping in Everett”. Which is pretty cool. And what was going to be one event, starting in Everett turned into five events in five separate locations: Boeing Everett Flight line for the arrival and departure, a factory tour, and an address to the factory workers followed up with a semi formal business luncheon at Future of Flight with the region’s top business executives in attendance.
RHG: See there you have touched on SCALING. The big buzz word for event marketers in 2011. How does one “scale” an event? How can a client be confident that our model can go from one to five events, or from 10 x 10 to 30 x 50?
PAUL: Assessing the scope of a project is the starting point. This should include the purpose of the project, the target audience and message or take away for attendees. Once the fundamental scope is agreed to you can begin to scale the project to map to the clients goals and budget requirements. This is where things get interesting.
ANGIE: We have an amazing range of knowledge and skill sets within TPN, so that makes it easy for any client to scale up or down. We treat each project, no matter if it’s a 10 x 10 or a rock concert type of situation as the same importance, so you don’t have try to prioritize. They are all top priority!
RHG: Budget, brass tacks. How do you get to a budget that leaves the client happy and you able to pull off a great show?
AH: Keep updating the budget as it scope creeps so there are no surprises.
PN: Be able to explain clearly what drives costs, this goes a long way to a successful project. Communicating the risk and reward of client budget choices is key. This ties to your question on scope. If you budget a high end scenic and A/V package for a simple public address then you are missing the point of the project.
RHG: What is THE single most important thing to do when you have very little lead time on a big project?
PAUL: The key is to ask the experts and use any existing resources available. Be crystal clear in communications. Seek out advice – do what you know will work & engage the team as early as humanly possible! Like Angie says, “Don’t try to reinvent the wheel”.
ANGIE: Deferring to Paul (said in humor+ freaking adorable) Build a good relationship right away with the project’s PEOPLE – like your client’s tenured employees. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel – when you have two weeks you use the existing resources. This is not the time to try to prove how awesome your skillzzz are – put your ego away – there’s no time for it.
PAUL: The people who succeed are those who actively include the client and their team(s) as part of the production team – not those who try to do it on their own. In simple tip terms – be a TEAM player. With your internal team AND theirs. That’s Key.
RHG: With many events there is zero room for error. How do you even cope with that? Isn’t it unrealistic?
PAUL: There will always be error. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. You can minimize the opportunity for error. I just did a project for a client where there was no room in their plans for a power failure. The lights must stay on. We supplied the project with a completely independent power grid run on generators. While the region we were in was affected with power outages and highway closures due to wild fires our event was unaffected. No room for error means looking ahead, spotting developing situations that may go sideways and call on the team to steer the situation back on track. Keep looking for the big picture. With an ace team, the details will be taken care of.
RHG: But all events don’t go perfectly – what lesson can our readers take away from any mistakes you have learned from in your career? Is there anything you would have done differently?
Angie: I’m happy to answer that – Don’t make assumptions! I can look back on my last show and admit that I wish I had asked more questions at the onset.
RHG: How about you Paul? What’s an important Tip for our industry friends?
Paul: When planning…when something comes up in a conversation that requires ACTION – you have to stop and identify – at that time- WHO will take the action – if you don’t address that immediately it leaves room for doubt – and assumptions (to Angie’s point) about who will be on first. Be Bold in those moments. Interrupt the meeting – get a commitment on the action. Your client may even think you are rude at the time – they will thank you later.
Angie: Also remember that your clients are paying for these meetings. Your whole meeting can get lost in trivial conversation – if no one else is stepping up – you step up and get people back on the agenda. When problems arise – solve them, then and there whenever possible. This is especially true with quick planning windows. Don’t let stuff go off line – develop an environment of on the spot problem solving – vs. allowing the team to get stuck in conflicts. This boils down to efficiency on the clients behalf.
RHG: So what’s next for the dynamic duo?
Paul: Vacation in October. I have five more events between now and then – it’s my north star. (LOL)
Angie: I might be seeing Paul in a few events, but we have some super secret events coming up in New York that I am psyched about and a little bird told me I will see you there!
RHG: That’s right! I’ll be there. We’ll do another interview. In closing, what’s your favorite thing about working with Paul?
ANGIE: His attention to detail and his ability to explain things to me with patience.RHG: Paul, what did you like best about working with Angie?
Paul: Soft talker, big stick.
And so we stop where we started our interview…with a trail of laughter.
To learn more about Paul and Angie visit our website at http://tpnevents.com/aboutus/tpn-gallery-walls
