From high-heels to slippers
Natasja wakes up slowly by the intrusive sound of her alarm clock, in the early morning. After she has finished her fried egg and a cup of coffee, it’s time to start working. The journey to her workplace is a full floor upstairs. She slips on her slippers, and with a second cup of coffee, heads to her furnished home office.
A Quiet Start
Open your laptop, play some background music, and be the first to read your inbox. As an event manager, not a day goes by that Natasja does not receive new emails. Since she is organizing a special event today, she filters out the necessary and relevant emails. The email that catches the eye is from Anastasia. She is Event Consultant of the digital event platform where Natasja has been organizing all her events for a while now. She writes the following: “[…] Yesterday I checked if all settings are okay in your event, but if there are any issues, you can always call me. I wish you lots of success and fun today!”
“Anastasia has once again been a massive help with organizing this event”, Natasja thinks aloud.
Dry-run
Moments later, it’s time to run a digital Dry-run for the last time before the event starts. Natasja gives instructions to her two colleagues and the speakers of the event. It’s time to start with the very last test…
One hour later, the Dry-run is all finished. As with any dress rehearsal, a number of things went wrong, but fortunately – there’s no reason to panic. Accidentally having your laptop on mute while giving an online presentation happens to everyone, right?
All the preparations have been made
The CO2 savings-tracker is ready in the event, Natasja is 100% sure that she didn’t buy too much or too little food and drink, and since the travel time for the visitors is very minimal, most of them will hopefully arrive on time. All preparations are ready – the last Dry-run was successful. In three hours, the event can start. While Natasja is waiting for the first visitor of the event from her home office, she thinks back to how different her job looked about a year ago…
Ring, ring, ring
“Caro, where’s the phone charger”?! Natasja screams in an overly tense tone to one of her event employees. After all the calls during the day, the battery of her phone is almost empty.
A famous professor from Denmark who is going to give a presentation should have arrived an hour ago. It’s stormy weather outside, and therefore the plane is delayed. All thanks to this delay, Natasja’s program is completely in flames.
Caro suggests to Natasja: “Let’s have lunch half an hour longer, then we have a little extra time – and the visitors will have to continue eating”. Natasja looks at the abundance of lunch sandwiches, soup, crackers, richly filled croissants and all the other delicacies on a crowded buffet, and nods approvingly.
Better late than never
Three quarters of an hour later, Natasja finally sees a cab with Prof. Juhl Julius Kristensen entering the grounds. The professor is there, calling Natasja through her walkie-talkie to all employees. Caro accompanies the professor to her stage, and the most important part of the program can finally begin. About 45 minutes late Prof. Juhl Julis Kristensen warmly welcomes the audience for their attention and receives a thunderous applause. About half an hour later, the professor leaves the venue.
Never different again
Natasja is awakened from her memory of a year ago by the first check-in of an online visitor. What an incredible amount of stress during such a day, Natasja thinks. At a digital event, no one has to catch a plane, and the carbon footprint is considerably lower; no kilos of food are thrown away, and by going through the dry-run, Natasja feels more prepared than ever.
While the visitors of the event flow in neatly on time, she takes a satisfied look at her comfortable slippers. “I never want to do otherwise”, Natasja thinks.
