#HOPP14 - Turning an idea into reality

Two days have passed since #HOPP14 took place, but it’s been over half a year since we started planning it. We’ll probably sum up the event itself in a Tänktanken episode once everything has had time to marinate. What I’d like to emphasize in this short little post — and what I think accurately reflects how we work here (from my perspective) — is leveraging each other’s skills, the willingness to do that little (or fairly big) extra for the organization, and the strong leadership.

Whether it’s events, lectures, visits, or the “usual day-to-day operations,” I’m pleasantly surprised every time because my dear colleagues (and of course I include the students) always step up and deliver. What drives these people to do this? There are certainly many answers, but I think one of the big reasons is opportunities. Opportunities to turn ideas into something real. We want those of us at the school to feel that anything is possible. In this case it was our two counselors at the school, Martin Brav and Olof Hedtjärn, who had an idea for an event that would revolve around different people’s stories. They presented the idea and a few of us jumped on board. The school leadership set aside a budget and planning began. Arrange speakers, staff, venues, food, program, printed materials, DJ, website, contacts, coat racks/coat check, tables, cleaning — and a million other little things.

I know how hard these two initiators have worked — and seeing how it all came together and that we managed to deliver a successful event where everything just ran smoothly gives me enormous joy. Being able to sit back and see how everyone works for each other. They take responsibility for their areas. Then all the extra hours feel worth it many times over. There are extra hours, of course. We have our primary job to handle first. It’s a lovely environment to work in and now I’m just waiting for the next idea to jump on. I just need to process the emptiness a project like this leaves behind first. A big thank you for letting me be part of this journey in a small way. I won’t mention any names, other than the ones I’ve mentioned, since it (as usual) is a collective effort.

I’d like to extend a big thank you to all the staff and all the students at the school, who put themselves out there through thick and thin. You are awesome! A big thank you to everyone who visited us and helped make it the fantastic day it became. And of course a big thanks to all the speakers who packed us full of thoughts and reflections!