Let’s start a new thread for looking after our wellbeing and mental health not just over the next few weeks and months but moving forward, I’ll share some EventWell bits and pieces, would be great for everyone to share their top tips and suggestions too 🙂
Here’s a post from EventWell on looking after your mental health during C19 https://eventwell.org/2020/03/21/quick-tips-to-managing-your-mental-health-during-c19/
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Thanks Helen for sharing your tips. So many people must be going stir crazy right now. It’s harder, to some degree, for people that live alone and are missing social interaction. Horrid situation for everyone.
It is tough Saul, but physical distancing doesn’t mean me need to social distance (we really need to change the terminology). We should still be connecting in whatever way we need to maintain our mental and emotional health. Technology is there to help us do that, video calls have taken on a whole new meaning in this crisis and we’re seeing people adopting this in ways that we haven’t seen before. Horrid times for everyone yes, but important to remember that it’s “keep physical distance, keep socially connecting” 🙂
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Thanks Helen – Absolutely right.
It’s a difficult time which can feel turbulent and uncertain that’s for sure, for many the status quo had been put in a tumble dryer and came out wet. coupled with the confinement, C19 has created a breeding ground for mental health concerns. One of the situations of anxiety I have noticed around deliverable requirements.
For many in the world of sales, working at home during this time has a connotation of ‘nothing to sell, so you must be putting your feet up’… Smart, determined and self starting sales people realize this and often mount pressure onto themselves to deliver, deliver, sell, sell something, show my worth! For those used to performing at high standard and closing business regularly there is a certain endorphin rush that goes with creating a new business relations and ultimately closing a deal. The combination of the additional pressure to shine through adversity, while maintaining understanding dialogue with clients and ultimately not delivering the numbers, is a real hit to the sales person psyche.
For many, Furlough offers some solace when communicated correctly it says: We need you, we want you with us when we come out the other side, but for now, recharge the batteries, shut down the engines and when the time comes, come back fighting fit.
For those that remain WFH it is important to set a new understanding of deliverable/targets in this uncharted world. 53% of sales are done because of the sales experience or in other words the human interaction and rapport that was built over time. Now is the time, to take the time! speak to clients understand their situation, share advice from other meaningful conversations, hey, make them laugh! target your team on the number of meaningful conversations and insights they gain – because human interaction is more important than ever.
Just like being stuck underwater and all you want to do is breath the longer we social distance the more we will crave interactions, so send down a snorkel pipe in the form of communication! talk to each other, you might just find the conversations you have now are the ones that remind your client to call you when their budget lands and they have a project to deliver.
Remember that we are all in this together we are all in uncharted waters and it’s okay to feel uncertain, down or overwhelmed. Talk to a colleague, friend, partner, family, stranger (from a distance). you’ll be surprised how many people are experiencing the same concerns. A reminder of that can help re set your Status Quo.
Absolutely, I come from the world of sales and for me 80% of the work sales people do should actually be spent on the research and developing a greater and thorough understanding of the marketplace, and target audience, remembering the 80/20 rule, only 20% of my time was actually spent selling :).
This is the perfect time for sales and marketing people to reassess and plan strategy ready for things to kick start again later in the year.
Human interaction is more important than ever as we physical distance, it doesn’t mean me need to social distance at all. Connecting with customers to check in on them and find out how they are, rather than to sell something, is a great way of strengthening and building rapport, and they’ll remember you more for it.
We are all in this together, this is affecting the event industry in the same way it is affecting other industries, and that only serves to build strength in our community so we bounce back bigger and better than before.
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Such a good point. Great opportunity to get the research done and reassess your plans. Marketers must also be having a nightmare time because they are having to re-stimulate demand for postponed events all over again. It takes an immense effort to execute an effective marketing campaign and everyone has to dig unbelievably deep to find that energy again to kick-off and build campaigns. I have nothing but respect and admiration for everyone that is having to go through that process.
That’s me at the moment. All of my marketing campaigns with Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust are on hold, it’s gut wrenchingly tough, a bit “what do I do now, I’ve nothing to market” and then you also worry about your job. But I tell you what I’m still going to be pushing the value of what I do and will have a killer marketing strategy and content plan but the time this is over 🙂
Well, I’ve done a few years of marketing events, so if you’d like any support or share some of your new ideas, let me know. Also I found this article quite inspiring…
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52094332
Hi everyone – I’d like to flag up an amazing new support line launched by Laura at Stress Matters. It’s for everyone, free of charge to access a mental health first aider – just in case people missed the info on EN and CN last week: https://exhibitionnews.uk/stress-matters-launches-mental-health-hotline-during-covid-19/
Fantastic, EventWell has had a support line since we started in 2017, free of charge and with access to mental health first aiders, as well as trained councellors, here are the details of that for anyone who needs it https://eventwell.org/support/
Hi everyone – I’d like to flag up an amazing new support line launched by Laura at Stress Matters. It’s for everyone, free of charge to access a mental health first aider – just in case people missed the info on EN and CN last week: https://exhibitionnews.uk/stress-matters-launches-mental-health-hotline-during-covid-19/
It is an awesome support line. Laura has worked hard to set up a professional FREE service supported by trained volunteers And currently she is covering the cost. A fantastic initiative.
Hi James, aren’t you one of the team helping out on the hotline? This is amazing work! I’m doing a follow up story for the next issue of EN and Laura has been really kind sharing more information, pics and stats (Up to 15 contacts from people across the industry a day) – HEROES!
Hi James, aren’t you one of the team helping out on the hotline? This is amazing work! I’m doing a follow up story for the next issue of EN and Laura has been really kind sharing more information, pics and stats (Up to 15 contacts from people across the industry a day) – HEROES!
Im not on the helpline but one of the team supporting Stress Matters and its peer to peer support system Buddies Matter. We are here to help support the industry and eventprofs. There is some great work being done out there by people to help one another. It is good to see.
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Just to add to this there are lots of amazing people across the industry that are putting their time, their energy, and their own money into supporting their fellow #eventprofs and peers.
So people know that there are options out there, EventWell’s support line is also there to support and we also have a pool of event professionals who are trained mental health first aiders, and counsellors, who are volunteering their time and doing this for free because they want to help and support.
It’s important to remember that are all in this together, and the more support lines we have at the moment the better.
Here is the link for EventWell’s https://eventwell.org/support/
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Here are some great posts that have just come in from Thrive Global:
How to eat well and move more
How changing the way we talk about Covid-19 can improve our mental health (probably my favourite)
How I manage working from home while parenting a toddler
Great reads, take 5 minutes to have a look.
Absolutely in terms of the parenting, I have a 3 year old (nearly 4) and we have had to build a day schedule that involves my husband working during the day, and then me working late afternoon/evening and us swap/sharing the parenting and home pre-schooling bits. Since this started I’ve favoured us using the term physical distancing over social distancing and changing the language we are using, these are great blogs to back this up.
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