In what proved to be, as many people have commented on in various memes on the Facebook and elsewhere, the longest year ever, January, is, at last, over.

Whew. 

I planned and managed four major events at work and helped a friend manage one that she couldn't be at. All went very well but, coming home every night, sometimes after 14 hour days, the Mister would get concerned when I'd (basically) dive face first into the couch out of exhaustion. Wasn't January supposed to be the 'dead' month? Yikes! lol 

Events are stressful and event planning is considered one of the most stressful jobs so it's natural that every so often one wonders - if it's that exhausting, why do it? 

Well, today I will tell the non-secret to why I do this job. I can't say if this is true for all event planners, or even any other event planners, but it IS why I do it.

Here goes: 

So one of the events I planned/managed was a four day training session for about 40 people from around the country. They are all contractors who work remotely and, as I found out, most of their trainings are done via webinar in the isolation of their homes. 

At the end of the first day, we held a reception at the hotel everyone was staying at and, during the course of it, I happened to sit down with some of the attendees. There was enthusiasm, not for the venue (which was beautiful) but for the chance to be out with other people who do what they do. The isolation, one fellow remarked, can be a bit much. 

Then, at the end of the week, while we were all on a bus at the airport, one woman said to another woman sitting in front of me that she'd be in touch once she got home. Once the first woman left to catch her plane, the woman in front of me turned to me, slightly crying, saying "there is still goodness in the world - I have been unemployed for the past three months, and once everyone in the training found out, they've all been helping me find job sites, and making introductions". 

These two moments are not usual moments that I have in my job - people usually shuffle in and shuffle out of meetings, conferences, and receptions, and while I as an intuitive person can tell if it's been a success or not, but rarely do you get this kind of direct feedback. 

And it reminded me why I do this - the human interaction that is literally life-changing. Oh, I don't mean to sound all grandiose about it, but it is nice to be reminded that there is a benefit to what I do; we cannot underestimate the effectiveness of simply getting people together in a room. 

I'm extremely happy to be a part of that and while yes, this is a stressful occupation, there are rewards there that keep us going.