Thomas Sterner, DES
Chief Event Officer @ Complete Meeting Production Services | Live Event Executive Producer | Producer | Event Production | Freelance Project Management | Freelance TD | Freelance Stage Manager
May 18, 2025
By Thomas Sterner
In live events, we wear a lot of hats and some of us wear them all at once. Show caller. Technical Director. Problem solver. Therapist. Firefighter. Magician.
We get it done. We always have. But lately, I’ve started asking: At what cost?
After 33 years in this business, one thing is clear it’s not the big mistakes that take us out. It’s the culture we’ve quietly accepted.
Here are 9 habits we’ve normalized in the event world that are slowly draining the best people from it and a few ways we can start shifting that.
1. Endless Output, No Off Switch
There’s barely a breath between the strike and the next inbox explosion. Travel, wrap reports, new RFPs all before your feet are back on home turf.
Try This: Schedule post show recovery time. Call it “essential decompression” because it is.
2. Understaffed is Not a Badge of Honor to many companies do this
We applaud teams that “did the impossible with half the crew.” But the truth? That’s a red flag, not a trophy.
Try This: Plan for stress, not success. Resource realistically with margin for surprises.
3. Perfectionism in a Polished Suit
We say we’re setting high standards. Often, we’re just afraid of being blamed when things slip so we over perform, overwork, and overthink.
Try This: Recognize and reward smart pivots, not just smooth results.
4. Creative Chaos Dressed as Vision
Ideas are cheap. Execution is expensive. “What if we…” becomes “Why aren’t we…?” and somehow your deadline stayed the same.
Try This: Tie every creative suggestion to the timeline, team capacity, and actual cost before you say yes.
5. Always On, Never Done
The next event starts before the last one ends. The wrap report is due while you’re still tearing down equipment.
Try This: Create blackout windows. Protected time where no emails, calls, or requests are allowed. Yes really.
6. Riding the Adrenaline Train
That “event rush” is real. But it’s not a business model. And it’s not how you build a sustainable life.
Try This: Build intentional downtime into every production cycle even if it’s just 30 minutes of quiet backstage.
7. The Client is Not the Center of the Universe
“Go above and beyond” has morphed into “accept the unreasonable.” We bend until we break.
Try This: Clarify scope. Communicate limits. Protect your team’s energy like it’s part of your inventory.
8. The Hidden Weight We Carry
Nobody writes “manage speaker meltdown” or “mediate supplier drama” in the production plan but we all do it.
Try This: Make space in the debrief to acknowledge the emotional load, not just the timelines and gear.
9. Silence Isn’t Strength
We don’t talk about burnout in planning meetings. Only over late-night drinks, when it’s already done damage.
Try This: Start every debrief with one question: “How are you holding up?”That one moment can change the tone and the culture.
Final Thought
We’ve built a culture of resilience. But real resilience doesn’t mean pushing through at all costs it means knowing when to pause, reset, and ask for support.
We don’t need to stop delivering great shows.
We need to stop destroying ourselves to do it.
What would change if we started valuing recovery as much as results?
Let’s find out together.
