Long ago, I participated in and later staffed a series of workshops that profoundly affected my life. They led me to create a contract with myself that is still important to me.
Creating a contract with oneself is a common way to motivate yourself toward achieving desired goals. There are plenty of resources available for writing such contracts. (Here’s one that’s slanted toward event professionals.)
Toward the end of one of these guided visualizations, the workshop leader invited us to meet our magical child. I “saw” a large glowing black rock floating in space, sparkling with veins of fire. The rock embodied power, my power.
Later in the workshop, this experience helped me develop my contract with myself. In the workshop context, such contracts emphasize fundamental positive aspects of oneself with which we’ve struggled, for a variety of reasons.
Though the workshop process of creating a contract is unique for each person, mine evolved directly from my visualization experience. It seems obvious in retrospect, but it involved some hard work!
“I am a glowing, powerful, and complex man.”
That is the contract I wrote for myself in August 2005. Reminding myself of it helps me to stay in touch with these important aspects of who I am, which I sometimes lose sight of.
My contract with myself remains vibrant and relevant to me to this day.
Refuse to source venues in states with anti-abortion laws.
Include clauses in future contracts that allow for cancellation if subsequent legislation in the event’s jurisdiction is in conflict with a client’s mission.
“Forty-three percent of the 281 planner respondents to NMG’s Flash Survey fielded from May 13 to May 17 said state-by-state abortion laws will impact their organizations’ site-selection decisions. Of those planners, more than 80 percent say they will favor states that allow abortion, with 54 percent reporting they “will not meet in states with anti-abortion laws.”
1. Refuse to source venues in states with anti-abortion laws
Many meeting planners have considerable influence on venue selection. If you’re one of them, you can support a woman’s right to bodily autonomy by refusing to source venues in states with anti-abortion laws. These laws are changing as some states rush to make abortion illegal. A good resource for current state policies is the Guttmacher Institute. The map below shows abortion policies and access as I write this; click on it to view the current status.
US state abortion policies and access as of 6/22/22. Click on graphic to see current map.
2. Include anti-discrimination clauses in future contracts
An excellent article by Northstar Meeting Group provides examples of anti-discrimination clauses in contracts. These can allow clients to cancel contracts when the legal situation in the venue’s jurisdiction changes between the time that the contract is signed and the event takes place. The article’s survey reports that 72% of planners are considering adding such clauses to their contracts going forward.
From Northstar Meeting Group May 13, 2022 survey.
Some say that venues in anti-abortion states will resist or refuse such changes. Even if that is the case, bringing up the issue makes such businesses aware that there is a cost to doing business in an anti-abortion environment. Many of the successful boycott examples I referenced above were aided by the support of businesses concerned about or experiencing the effect of local protests.
Meeting planners: support women’s rights!
State sanctions that force pregnant women to give birth regardless of circumstances are barbaric. We don’t force someone to donate a kidney to save the life of another person. We don’t even force the giving of an organ at the time of the donor’s death to save the life of another person. Anti-abortion laws, on the other hand, remove women’s bodily autonomy, inflicting risks and suffering without a woman’s consent. And the consequences are life-altering for the woman, to say the least.
“The M&Ms provision was included in Van Halen’s contracts not as an act of caprice, but because it served a practical purpose: to provide a simple way of determining whether the technical specifications of the contract had been thoroughly read and complied with.” —Brown Out, snopes.com
If the group arrived at a venue and discovered brown M&Ms present, they knew they needed to immediately check all contract stipulations — including important matters like whether the stage could actually handle the massive weight of the band’s equipment. Apparently, David Lee Roth would also trash the band’s dressing room to drive home the point.
My experience with presenter contracts
Over the years I’ve contracted with hundreds of organizations for meeting facilitation and design consulting, and I’m starting to wonder if I need to adopt Van Halen’s approach.
For example, I have arrived at presentation venues to find, despite a written contract agreement to the contrary:
The room is full of furniture that prevents participants from moving around. “We didn’t realize it was important, and we need this room set for the session after yours.”
I can’t post materials on the walls. “Can’t you use some tables instead?”
The requested audio equipment isn’t available. “We couldn’t get you a Countryman/lav, but here’s a hand mike.”
The unobstructed free space is far smaller than what I requested or was told. “We needed a stage for the afternoon keynote.“/ “We decided to hold the buffet in the room.”
Ballpoint pens replaced fine-point Sharpies. “Oh, I see, yes, I guess no one will be able to read all the participant Post-Its at a distance. We’ll just have to make do.”
Projector resolution is not what I was told or requested. “Your slides will be a bit distorted, but I’m sure people will still be able to read them.”
Tables that were supposed to be covered with taped-down white paper for participant drawings are still bare. “Kevin said he’d cover them, but we don’t know where he is. Surely it won’t take long; can you help us?”
Carefully diagrammed room sets have been replaced with something different. “Well, our staff have never set up curved theater seating before — it’s not on their standard charts — so they set the rows straight.”
Why it’s necessary to read and follow contracts
It’s true that I’m not the standard-presenter-talking-from-a-podium-at-the-front-of-the-room — i.e. “Give me a room full of chairs and my PowerPoint and I’m all set!” Yet there are sound reasons for my, apparently to some, strange-seeming requests. Those contract provisions are not about making my life easier or more luxurious — I need them to provide participants with the best possible learning, connection, and overall experience during my time with them.
I am well aware of the incredible demands made on meeting planners before and during events. I’ve had that role for hundreds of events, and know what it’s like. Things rarely go according to plan, and we need to invent creative solutions on the spot. No matter what happens, I always work with planners to the best of my ability to ensure that the show goes on and it’s the best that it can be under the circumstances.
What’s frustrating is that we can almost always avoid complications like the examples above with a modicum of planning — if meeting planners read and take seriously the terms of presenter contracts to which they’ve agreed. I will bend over backward to resolve pre-event concerns, but being hit with last-minute surprises is, at best, annoying, and, at worst, can significantly reduce the effectiveness of what I have been paid and contracted to do.
Read contracts!
No, I’m not going to start trashing dressing rooms like David Lee Roth. (Full disclosure: nobody’s ever even offered me a dressing room.) But, folks, if you hire me, don’t spoil the ship for a ha’p’orth of tar. Please read my presenter contracts before signing. Ask me about anything you don’t understand or concern you so we’re clear about my needs and your ability to fulfill them. Take my requests seriously, and, as the event approaches, keep in mind your commitments so you don’t overlook them.
I will appreciate your professionalism and everyone — your attendees, you, and I — will reap the benefits.