Written Karma

I did not expect events organizing to be full of, well, paperwork. When I applied and got accepted to the post, I imagined a frenzied lifestyle of going to and fro meetings, coordinating with talents and suppliers, and running the show proper. The tedious paperwork and endless research is not part of my so-called gameplan and the statement “I thought wrong,” is to put it mildly.

I used to point out that I have four requirement s for the perfect job: (1) non-confinement to a workspace/cubicle, (2) flexible time sched, (3) non-existence of an office uniform, and (4) opportunity to travel. The first phase of my actual job hunting was aimed to a job post for Greenpeace. My four requirements blend easily with the Greenpeace lifestyle/ job flow. But because of withholding forces, otherwise known as mom, plus plus other factors, such as fate, health and surgery, I wasn’t even able to submit an application.

Needless to say, I jumped to the plane bound for Manila stripped of job targets and left with only one goal—prison break.

My first days were filled of plans of submitting resumes and job applications only to end up drinking at Guilly’s in Glorrietta 5 with Lyde and the rest of his crew from Convergys at the height of noon. Di bale na walang trabaho, nasa gitna naman tayo ng Intercon at Ascott. Lyde’s friends were telling me that if worse comes to worst and I’m still drinking my ass off by the time the mother-imposed-month-long-grace-period-of-finding-a-job is up, I can always work upstairs (the Glorrietta 5 branch of Convergys) and say “Thank you for calling AT&T, how may I help you,” and “Sorry, my system was just uploading,” for a living. I cringed at the thought and gathered all my willpower to get up and start the hunt. My failed and only-time of attempting to pass a resume was downright comedic, storm and flood in Makati notwithstanding.

So it was the high heavens who whisked me to the events and promotions company of a Silliman alumnus, a week after the escape from the previously- enforced reclusion perpetua. I was ecstatic to have found a job of my first choice, events organizing and I was all the more eager to get started.

Boy! What paperwork and research. Pre-prod requires humungous amount of time to get all the data gathered to ensure a “purple cow” event while post-prod requires near-divine patience to compile all those post-event survey forms and tabulate redemption sales and all those hullabaloos.

The event is the crowning glory. You have to do the needed research and paperwork to make sure the crown is yours. One wrong move in post-event and/or sales reports and you get dethroned.

So here’s to deciding to work for events to escape all those paperwork crap. It’s been almost two months since I started and to borrow Jordan’s words, “I’m still coping.”