About our Guests
Nathan Yan is the DJ/event producer at All Your Stupid Friends, a dance party production. He is formerly an engineer at Robinhood and LinkedIn, and currently lives in Silverthorne, Colorado where he plans Taylor Swift parties and spends too much time chasing ski records. You can find him on Instagram or LinkedIn.
Main Takeaways from this Episode
Niche Communities Online and in the Real World
Humans are wired for connection. Social media has allowed many to find communities around shared interests, no matter how niche – from spooky lakes to Taylor Swift. Platforms like MeetUp.com, Facebook, and others provide ample opportunities to make these connections online.
Relying exclusively on social media does have limitations. Sociologist and clinical psychologist Sherry Turkle warns these tools can fall short of providing the connection we crave. Nathan talks about the crucial moment in his journey when he realized he needed to put down roots in order to have friends and community in the real world. What might have started as a standard trivia night at a local bar evolved into an even deeper connection with a niche community of Taylor Swift fans. This discovery of others who really understand and share our quirks and unusual interests can transform our sense of belonging much more so than vanilla or standard events. In Nathan’s story we see him create this opportunity for his local community, and people like him truly enrich our world by creating these unique and bespoke gatherings.
Runbooks
When faced with a complex event or process to execute, many of us at work will rely on runbooks or playbooks to reduce risk of something going wrong. Some key components of a runbook are:
Purpose or goals of this event/process
Required materials and resources before initiating the event/process
Detailed procedures to follow during the event/process
Troubleshooting guide in the event something goes awry
Runbooks provide a valuable framework, allowing us to meticulously plan and document the process while we are calm and collected, minimizing the risk of errors or overlooking important steps during the execution.
While runbooks can make your event or process more efficient, there is some risk that the spontaneity of the event will suffer. If your event is enlivened by the emergence of fun or creativity in the moment, consider making the runbook a general outline for the experience as opposed to a strict step by step process that cannot be adjusted on the fly.
Running Retrospectives
Nathan created a spreadsheet to enter his assessment of each event right after it happened. This allowed him to monitor the history of his events and notice and celebrate the improvements in each event as well his own experience over time. If you have an event or experience that repeats periodically, consider what criteria matters most to you. Here are a few other examples to inspire you:
Spring Cleaning:
Number of items donated to charity
Best cleaning materials
Family Teamwork
Team Pool Tournament
Pre-match pep-talk
Skill level matchups
Post tournament celebrations
Annual Halloween Party
Best new decoration
Guest favorite spooky appetizer dish
Pieces of candy given to trick-or-treaters
Our insights and observations fade over time, so capturing these ideas immediately following an event provides the greatest opportunity for improvement.
Product Links
Taylor swift albums on Spotify
Taylor Swift Party Decorations
Contact
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