Terrible with remembering names?

Hello, 

My business partner Bobby asked me, "how are you so good at remembering names?" This forced me to examine the way that I approach name recollection. I heard somewhere that the key to remembering names is saying it three (3) times and three seems to be my magic number, so I agree with the rule. The interaction goes something like this: 

Me: Hi, my name is Fredson. What is your name? 

Player: My name is Paulo

Me: Hi Paulo (1x), meet Tim.  Tim is a long time Balizinha player. 

Player: Hi Tim

Me: Paulo (2x), is this your first time playing with us? 

Player: Yes, I have been meaning to play but couldn't find the time. 

Me (during the game): Nice goal, Paulo (3x)! 

As you can see, most of the hard work was done during the initial conversation; the challenge is doing it the third time as the event progresses. Don't do it three times in a row because you will sound disingenuous. At the next game, you are the first one to greet Paulo!

The Panna Social Leagues app helps organizers recall players, but it is contingent on players using their real name and adding a clear profile picture. Why is it important to remember names? First, there is nothing sweeter to the ear than a person's name. Second, players whether they realize it or not, rely on you to introduce them to other players. As an organizer, your job is to be a connector; to bring people together. Community starts with you! 

I co-founded a martial arts program in 2009, and we are celebrating our 10th year in business this year. Running the program I've had to learn over 500 student names and faces. I was able to do it using the method I detailed above. Try it and let me know how it works. 

Happy organizing!

Written by Fredson Gomes - cofounder of Panna Social Leagues and organizer of BalizinhaFC 

Charging money...

Hello, 

Yes, you read that right...I said the dirty word as it relates to organizing, money. Charging is the hardest thing to do when you are an organizer. You have a special gift of bringing people together, and it comes very naturally to you. Because you are a people person and sort of a people pleaser, you often reject charging people. I was of the same mindset, but I changed my perspective on charging.  Here are 5 reasons to start charging for your event: 

Value. Sadly, people do not value something unless there are paying for it. With any generalization, there are always exceptions but for the most part, when I didn't charge I had a higher number of no-shows, people blowing off the event. I knew I was heading in the right direction when a player approached me and said, "thank you for charging, it makes sure that people show up to the events." It made me realize that the players value time over money. They have a two (2) hour window to get their workout in, and they want to have as much control as possible. If they can be confident of a predictable outcome/ the desired result, they will gladly pay for it. 

Cost. There are costs associated with organizing events. I have spent money on pinnies, balls, goals, permits, speakers...you name it. I am never going to be able to recoup the money and time, but that is not the point. The fulfillment comes from having a successful event. 

Emotional labor. This is something that you don't think about when you start organizing but drains you so much. You are dealing with people. Organizing people comes with all sorts of challenges. A player of yours is having a bad day or going through a tough situation, you want to hear them out. You worry that a player is sick because they missed a couple of weeks. Checking up on players from time to time. You have to make sure to have spaces reserved well ahead of time. Making sure that you get everything ready before you leave for work in the morning and timing things just right so that your wife gets home from work to watch your daughter so you can get there 30 minutes before the event start time (or is this just me?). All of these little things take a toll, and it becomes harder and harder to justify organizing if you don't see progress with your events. I suspect that this is the final straw and why organizers choose to quit. It is just not worth it to them. 

Longevity. There is nothing I hate more than being wasteful. What is more wasteful than building something and it disappears as soon as you decide to step down? Making an organization self-sustainable/self-sufficient is the greatest gift. If you figure out the money piece and the organization continues to support itself, it will keep living on, and you will continue to improve lives well into the future. 

You. Yes, you are the biggest reason to charge. When you charge for your event, you also value the game a lot more because you'd hate to let your players down. My players will tell you that I have given full refunds if we've had to change venues last minute or if the event was not up to my standards. This attention to quality has the events going strong, and it is because the bar was raised when I decided to charge. 

Happy Organizing! 

Written by Fredson Gomes - cofounder of Panna Social Leagues and organizer of BalizinhaFC 

Are you an organizer?

Hello, 

Have you ever asked yourself, "why doesn't this exist already?" I asked myself this very question right before launching Balizinha. I wanted to play soccer and wanted to play in a specific style, and I wanted to do it at a time that I had available. I also didn't want to deal with any of the toxicity that is often associated with ad hoc games, poor organization, and bad players and being on a terrible team because I was the new guy. Launching the group gave me more control. 

I searched everywhere, and that's when I stumbled across meetup.com. Although the game times that I could make were not available, it gave me a way to create my own event. When I launched the group, meetup.com was sending a lot of players to Balizinha, but they were the non-committal type. For my first game, I had 11 people registered, but only 4 people showed up which was infuriating to me (on a later post, I will highlight how Panna Social Leagues is working to resolve this problem). 

One day I threw an event, and no one showed up (no one, zero, zilch, nada). This was definitely my lowest point in organizing, I had this terrible feeling in my stomach. I took "no one showing up" as rejection, and it made me physically ill. At that moment, I knew that I WAS an organizer. I didn't feel like giving up, I felt like going harder. How did I turn it around? Well, make sure to subscribe to my blog to get...just kidding, I wouldn't do that to you :)

When I fail at something, I always say to myself, "okay, this is a moment where I could call it quits. If I stopped right now, this thing would seize to exist. This logic helps me move forward with no fear." From that moment, with no players, I came up with the player cap idea. My first capped event was 18, and although I didn't hit the cap, I was surprisingly close.  Which gave me the insight that restrictions are where beautiful things happen. I started restricting other stuff like if you reserved a spot and did not show up, it would be cause for a week ban.  I also didn't open registration until 10 days before a game, so players would have a better idea of their schedule. The capped games and the smaller window created scarcity, and that really spiked the demand. 

Happy organizing! 

Written by Fredson Gomes - cofounder of Panna Social Leagues and organizer of BalizinhaFC