If you are like me, then you'd prefer not to go in the first place. Not because you wouldn't like to or don't want to, but your introvert energy would just prefer not to exert itself at an event.
Fast forward to the event (in this case, the Ecobank Adire Fair), you are having fun and don't want to leave, but have to leave just because, you get home laughing and wishing you could stay but all you want to do is go to bed and get rid of the massive headache because you've exerted too much energy in the 1 hour you were at the event.
I'm not even kidding. This is me every single time an event pops up on my calendar - work, personal or family related. Before, I used to just ignore some, but now, we are building a business
Events = networking = meeting people/growing my network = Client & Business opportunities. So now, I say YES to events more often than I would typically. However, there are certain things I do to be certain I'm all in one piece after the event (coincidentally, they are almost the same things most introverts do too so this is more like An Introvert's Guide To Attending Events)
- Schedule the event
Trust me when I say 'if it doesn't get scheduled, it doesn't get done'. I don't want to go in the first place but putting it in the schedule or marking it on the calendar means I'm committing to it and making sure I do all I need to do to generate the amount of energy required to make it happen. lol.
- Meditate
I'm an introvert means I run on mental and emotional energy more than I run on physical energy. I need to take time out to process the fact in my head and mind that I'll be around a lot of people, on a certain day, at a certain time. I need a backup of personal battery recharging so I'll have enough and spare for the event.- Pick an outfit
'It is better to be overdressed than to be under-dressed said no introvert ever.' I need to be the right mix of comfortable and inconspicuous, myself but a little bit extra. Just right. It takes time to plan this and that's part of why I need to plan ahead and be in the right mental space to align with the right outfit.- Draw up an Itinerary
What exactly am I going to do? Who am I going to speak with? Will I ask questions and interact? Or will I just hang out with the people I know and speak to no one else? These questions are really important to ensure I have a good time and utilise the opportunity properly. Anything else will result in my walking into the venue of the event and turning right back out OR sitting in a corner of the venue all through and speaking to almost no one throughout. - Plan Your Escape
If you don't think of anything else, think of this. I attend every single event with a time of departure in mind regardless of the type of event it is i.e. work related or just for networking. Planning a time of departure sometimes doesn't have to be an exact time and can be around a certain activity during the event e.g. after Davido's performance (regardless of the time this happens) or it can be at 11pm (regardless of whether he has performed or not). Makes sense? This will help you to know the amount of energy you need and how best to stretch it without total burnout.
Those are my tricks for a successful outing. Trust me when I say every introvert has their personalised way of preparing for an event but in the event you don't, feel free to use some of mine.
The Ecobank Adire Fair was a mix of networking and shopping but I had to had to
- Plan it a month ahead (from the moment I knew about it which was about a month prior)
- In my mind, I wouldn't need to have a lot of meaningful conversations so stacking spare energy for this was focused on the kind of content I would create for the event and some of the activities I would do on the same day before the event.
- At that time, I had only ONE Adire outfit in my wardrobe and as far as I was concerned, it was for sure a time as that, lol. I was going to make it work and look stylish in it.
- I knew I was going to visit the Adire Tribe stand because she had been the first one to tell me about the event. I also knew I would do a couple of videos for a reel and maybe buy an outfit for myself and my Mum. I prepared to do a bit more than that and knew when it would time for me to leave without necessarily having an exact departure time.
Did it work out the way I planned? Better than I had hoped.
Here's a recap reel I posted on Instagram which features a snippet of my experience at the Adire Fair
Calling all introverts! How do you get ready for events?
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