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Hi winker! (I just made that up - it gave me a chuckle and a wink).

As we were honoring Labor Day this past weekend, it got me thinking about labor when it comes to events. Here’s the question I hear ALL THE TIME
​ “Do we really need this many people on this project/onsite??”

Spoiler: You do (if you trust that we know what it takes to make this event a success).
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When roles are unclear or under-resourced, the wheels fall off, usually at the worst possible moment and often for something as mundane as furniture movement.

Oh furniture....sounds simple, right? Assign it to a floater or volunteer. Until you're mid-program, and that person’s been pulled away to help at check-in, or troubleshoot catering, or update a slide. Now you’re the one scrambling. Not great for that special guest who suddenly has nowhere to sit. Ouch!

As you go about creating your next event, here are some principles to consider.

🧠 The Mindset Shift: Stop thinking of labor as a cost center. Start thinking of it as part of experience design. Your headcount is the experience. Because the backend shapes the frontend.

⚠️ The Real Risk: Cutting staff might save dollars upfront. However, it can cost you: missed cues, poor flow, angry attendees, and a crappy overall experience.

💡 The How-To: How to think about labor as part of experience design:

✅ Map every audience touchpoint
✅ Identify the behind-the-scenes roles tied to moments
✅ Ensure someone OWNS that moment
✅ Have redundancies
✅ Don’t combine roles just to cut costs. Combine only if the moments are low-risk

💸 The ROI Case: Think of labor as insurance for your audience/stakeholder/client/executives' experience plan.

Keep thinking, keep winking,

- Denise

About Twofold Story - It's "me", Denise (freelance executive producer, strategist, experience designer), and now also "we" when your projects call for more.

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