Event Vindication

I was on the Bible Committee in fifth grade, and I designed a scavenger hunt that scarred me.

I went to a small Christian school from grade 1–8. In the older grades, we had class officers, but I didn’t really care much for student office. We also had a Bible committee, a group of students that were in responsible for the religious growth of the student body. As someone who prided himself in Bible knowledge, this was much more my bag. (Yes, I was a huge nerd as a kid, which explains why I’m still a nerd now.)

One year, the Bible Committee was given the opportunity to do something fun and out of the ordinary for the class. As a fan of game shows where you had to find clues and solve puzzles like Where in The World is Carmen San Diego and Legends of the Hidden Temple, I suggested we do a scavenger hunt, and everyone agreed.

I had it all mapped out in my head, so I took the lead on it. I think all the other kids on the committee were content for our committee to get the credit with me doing all the work so they didn’t have to. I didn’t mind. I was excited.

I wrote clues on notecards that contained Bible verses with clues on them that led people to different locations behind our school, like the small forest or the tiny creek flowing nearby. I hid the cards in all the locations and the class got set up to play our game.

I explained the rules, and everyone got started. The game went fairly well, and we gave the team that won their prize.

As I was cleaning up and making sure I didn’t leave any trash outside, I walked past different groups of kids, talking and loitering after the scavenger hunt. I stopped to pick up a notecard on the ground, within earshot of the girl I liked and her group of friends.

“That was so corny.”

I froze.

“What a stupid game,” they laughed.

One of the girls who was facing me slightly nodded in my direction, alerting the group to the fact that I was nearby. They turned to look at me, slightly embarrassed at first about being caught but quickly sneering.

I felt my bottom lip start to quiver.

Oh no.

Then tears started welling up in my eyes and trickling down my face. No! Not in front of a group of girls! I tried hard to stop it to no avail.

My crush burst into laughter.

Thirty years later, that’s still a vivid memory for me. I believed that I wasn’t any good at creating events and experiences for people that they could enjoy, even if I enjoyed them. But, in the last few years, I’ve started to try again, despite this belief.

I’ve realized that my rich life includes playing basketball and eating at Michelin-starred restaurants. So I’ve started to see if other people are interested in doing these things with me.

I recently attended RenderATL (Render Atlanta) , and I organized a dinner for 20 people at Michelin-starred Atlas.

I recently attended Figma Config, and I organized a dinner for 18 people at 3-Michelin-starred Quince on one night and a pick-up basketball game for 40 people the next night.

10-year old me would never have believed this in his wildest dreams.

There’s more.

Not only did 38 people come to 2 dinners, but nearly 300 people applied to attend these dinners.

Almost 200 people registered to play basketball.

Sponsors gave me money to make these events special for everyone that attended. We made shirts and bags and gave out books and cookies and so much more. (Thank you to my friends at Omlet and Wix Studio for believing that these are worthwhile things to do for a community.)

There’s something really powerful about finding your tribe, finally realizing that there are people in the world who like the same things you do, who want the same things you want. The trick is finding that tribe. I’m learning that sometimes I have to be the one that gives us a place to meet.

The clincher for me—the thing that filled my heart—is hearing from people who attended each event that it was the highlight of their conference experience. Funny enough, that’s also partially what made those events the highlights of my conference experience.

Also, just to give 10-year old Dan his flowers, I printed up notecards for the dinners with conversation starters on them. They were a hit.

—Dan