Behind The Cortinas: Life As An Event Organizer
Mi gente! This is my first entry in a series I’m trying out on Sofrito For Your Soul, entitled “Behind The Cortinas”. My aim is to give you a little bit of background into my life as an event organizer, a performer, and a master of ceremonies. Enjoy! ——————————

With what looked like minimal effort, a full fledged show burst out in all directions like skyrockets across the room, we were an explosion of claps and colors with a dynamic co-host on stage, a professional DJ, a guest relations manager at the busy door, a partner in the back networking, an artist doing a live painting, a local baker with her custom cupcake tower displayed onstage, photo flashes everywhere and I managing the flow and timing of the event. My primo was like….
I hadn’t really thought about how it looked from the outside looking in.
My answer, in the absolutest shortest term, is pre-preparation. Weeks before, I had already talked to the DJ about the tone of the event, and sent her the new Capicu music intro. I had already discussed spacial dynamics with the visual artist and baker, already talked to the feature about performance expectations, already spoke to my team about issues related to guests and artists and venue, already spoke to the venue owners about our needs for the event in terms of staffing and amenities. Already reached out and invited community leaders, bloggers and local media. So the night before a Capicu is the calm before the storm.
Pre-preparation in the early days actually came down to me from my abuelita, who told me to wear clean underwear in case I get into an emergency cuz God forbid I’m carted away by an ambulance with dirty draws on (lol) but in my adult life stuck with me from a book I read many moons ago, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Corvey. The book outlined for me the importance of being proactive – taking initiative and responsibility as early as possible, lay out my goals first and then consider my steps towards those goals, prioritizing, make my projects mutually beneficial to everyone involved, listening, play to my teams strengths, and the importance of renewing myself. It also speaks about the Abundance Mindset, which is to view the world as full of resources that we can use for our benefits and causes. The book put these habits much more eloquently, but these core ideas have been key to my success as an organizer and host of live events. And… helping me to get to work in the morning without the stress of rushing. ( I set up the coffee machine, lay my clothes out and fold out the ironing board the night before, to save time and so I can be extra lazy if I wanna!)
It’s important for me to note that I’m not too crazy about self-help books in general, but I read this one at a time in my life when I needed to read its message and it proved effective for me in getting my ideas off the ground. Como dicen? “Results may vary“! But if you’re interested in what put some of the Swig in Swiggity… give it a browse!
http://www.amazon.com/Habits-
Annnd, there’s a show tomorrow, so Happy Capicu Eve. It’s a 6 Corona- Borderlands2-On-Playstation3 night for me. 🙂
Elevacion!
PaPo Swiggity
Your friendly neighborhood Chupacabra
CapicuCulture.com