A Lesson in Synergy

 

    It is said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When it all comes together; when everything falls into place, when the desired end springs forth, free from all constraints - that is synergy. There are times, however, that even the best of human synergy cannot break through the circumstances forced upon it by the sheer incongruence of fate.

     Months of planning, countless nights of brainstorming, immeasurable enthusiasm, and innumerable pledges to help and take part have all been poured forth with the aim of achieving a feat worthy of capping off the years that have been devoted to a game that has entrenched itself as an indelible part of our lives. Plans have been laid out as early as June, so many discussions have ensued, and the proposal has been submitted by August. As soon as everything fell on LU’s hands, things started to go downhill. As the weeks dragged on into months, the enthusiasm waned until all that was left were a handful of people still holding on to the initial motivation. When the approval was finally given two weeks prior to the event proper, I found it almost surreal, but then the handful who initially planned for the event mustered up enough enthusiasm to cram up everything that needed to be done in the meager week-and-a-half leeway before the event.

     Meetings were given priority instead of work schedules, and trips to Divisoria were interspersed with visits to the LevelUp office, canvassing of materials at Bambang, and working out investments from various people. I never thought that so much activities could be compressed within that span of time, but we somehow made it, although barely. A lot of the decors were either self-crafted or borrowed from our own houses, but the end result, although not glamorous, was really cozy and nice.

     We did run into a couple of problems and delays with the costumes for the cosplay as well. But the costumes turned out to be nice and the skit turned out fairly well, albeit really short. Profit-wise, it’s been tough trying to recover all investments but back-up plans have been made to try to make profit even after the event has transpired.

     Overall, though some plans went awry and a few activities haven’t been executed as planned, I would say that the learnings we’ve gathered were enough to make LU Live 2007 worthwhile for us. Maybe not as successful as we’ve initially hoped, but it was a good experience nevertheless. Now, a week after the event, ripples of tremors due to the event’s aftermath can still be felt and a few other issues still have to be addressed, but coupled with that are bigger, better plans for Live 2008. It never is too early to plan, after all. And although Live 2007 didn’t live up to the scientific formula of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts; as the efforts undoubtedly exceeded the results, I believe that this year’s event has given us grains of truth and realizations that would serve us well in the days to come.

     Thank you James, my angel, for standing firmly and spearheading this event from the start and seeing it through til the end. I am so proud of you. Thank you Jerri, Jhoi, Anna, Adam, Oton, and everyone else who pitched in to lend a hand for this event. And thank you, Father, for helping us through everything.